It’s red, but it tastes like gold.
Beach Fire Brewing in Campbell River won the gold medal for its Ember Red Ale at this year’s Canada Beer Cup awards in Niagara Falls. Brew pub owner Darrin Finnerty says it’s based on his personal home-brew recipe, which he’s been modifying for 10 years.
“The red definitely had a lot of tweaks to it, it’s a fairly complex recipe. Since we’ve been brewing it here, it’s probably the beer we’ve tweaked the most times to try and get where we want. I’m pretty happy where it’s at now, and now that it’s won a gold, I guess I can’t change it again,” he says with a laugh.
He says it was a thrill to take home the gold in the English and Scottish style ale category. Ember Red is a Scottish-style ale with hints of nuts and coffee, made with specialty malts from the UK and as many local ingredients as he can source. It’s brewed on site at Beach Fire Brewing’s 11th Avenue location and is one of the most popular items on the menu.
It’s available at some local restaurants, but Finnerty says he’s decided to avoid distributing his beers in cans, which can change the flavour — he likes to make sure customers taste what he is tasting.
“If you want the beer come here,” he says, pointing to the bar taps connected directly to the tanks in the back. “It’s the freshest beer you can get.”
Finnerty says the win wouldn’t have been possible without his brewing team, Quinton Armstrong and Scotia Siider, who are already hard at work getting the next batch of Ember Red ready for locals to enjoy.
