To celebrate 7 years of Bomber Brewing and the release of our 7 Year Anniversary "Local Heroes" Double Pilsner, we're looking back and sharing our 7 favourite beers and why they mean so much to us.
Pop into our taproom to enjoy our Local Heroes Double Pilsner or take a 4-pack to go.
Also available at your select favourite beer stores; Darby's, High Point, Legacy, Liberty Commercial, Toby's Commercial, and Sorry The Gull.
Our 7 favourite Bomber beers thru the years, and why...
#1 - Bomber Pilsner
The reason there is a Bomber Brewing and how our founders met. After drinking home-brewed one night, post-Bombers hockey game, our Head Brewer crafted this beer with teammates in mind – trying to make it a combination of Pilsner Urquell (a personal fav) and Molson Pilsner, a cooler filler that several teammates enjoyed. This is easily the beer drank most by the team, year-round.
#2 - Double Secret Probation Doppel Sticke Altbier (collaboration w/ Coast Mountain Brewing)
The true essence of the craft brewing industry has for years been about collaboration. This one was born of a beer-fueled conversation with talented brewer/friend Kevin Winter, who had just opened his own brewery in Whistler (Coast Mountain Brewing), after years of working for others. After talking thrpugh several iterations of styles, and finally landed on this one, a beer rarely seen on this side of the Atlantic. Oh, and it may have won Gold at the 2018 BC Beer Awards for Specialty Beer.
#3 - Bomber Russian Imperial Stout
After our first collaboration brew, which only happened to be with Steve Gonzalez of Stone Brewing, the team kept in touch with him over the years. When we were formulating the recipe for our Imperial Stout, we asked him a couple of questions about their approach, since they were well-known for their vast array of stout releases. That beer has become one of our favourites, year-round, and it is absolutely a better brew because of Steve's input.
#4 - Ram's Kick Maibock
Easily one of our favourite styles to drink, we became obsessed with brewing it after a visit to the Weyermann malting facility in Bamberg, Germany in 2016. We used all Weyermann malts in the Fresh Hop version made in 2018, then in March of 2019 we did the same this time blending noble and new German hop varieties. Both turned out great, and were malty and hoppy in harmony!
#5 - SuperPest Double IPA
Many of the brews in our first year drew inspiration from team mates on the Bombers beer league hockey club. This one was no exception, but it was elevated for a few reasons. Craig was a teammate on the Bombers and earned the nickname SuperPest (also an enjoyer of hoppy beers!). So this one wrote itself, and it has been fun to adjust the recipe year on year, always upping the dry hop, each time trying to aromatically outdo the previous iteration. Cheers to the SuperPest!
#6 - Toto Darkness Black Lager (for East Van Panto 2018)
Thanks to Christine and Don's friendship with the troupe, every fall since we opened we've had the privilege to craft a beer to pair with the fairy tale chosen to be performed for the East Van Panto. Christine always comes up with a great name, and this one was one of the best. Appreciating lagers across broad styles, we jumped at the chance to brew a Schwarzbier, or Black Lager. It's colour belied its crispness, and, while it had a soft roastiness, it just landed so softly. Like the Panto itself, Toto the beer turned out to be a real crowd pleaser, too - and that's always the most important part!
#7 - BC Craft Brewers Guild Oktoberfest (2017 Collaboration brew with ALL BC brewers!)
It was an incredible experience to interact with many of the brewers from across the province for this one. Getting input from veteran brewers like Gary Lohin and Verne Lambourne, to name a couple, was humbling, and once again resulted in a better final product. BSG Canada (malt supplier) donated a pile of Weyermann German malts, and we kept it very traditional, using only German noble hops. Our crew worked extra hard to make this one of our best brews ever, and it turned out unbelievably tasty! We received loads of favourable comments from people at that year's BC Beer Awards event, where it was served in the handsome style-appropriately-labeled, 500ml cans.
