Beer drinkers soaking up $2 suds

By Mark Hasiuk-Staff writer

Most Vancouverites associate Vancouver's microbreweries and their finely crafted beers with the trendier neighbourhoods in town.

But one pub has brought the tradition of making local beer deep into the heart of Chinatown. So deep, in fact, it's basically underground.

Kanwar Singh Boparai, co-owner of the Pacific Pub on Main and Georgia, invested $450,000 to build a microbrewery in the basement of his pub three years ago. After some struggle, it's now a success.

"Our goal was to make a maximum profit off a pint, and this was the best way to go," said Boparai, whose brewery cranks out 6,000 litres of the aptly named Vancouver Lager each month. It's sold for $2 a pint-a bargain compared to other Vancouver bars that rarely break the $3 barrier.

The pub's location near the infamous Venus Theatre, is light years away from the trendy districts of other microbreweries, like the Yaletown Brewery and Steamworks Brewing Company in Gastown. But Boparai was confident his idea would fly. "We knew it would work in this area because of the cheap price we could sell our beer for," he said. "It's all about economics."

Boparai brews his beer from scratch-grains and malt-avoiding the beer kits popular with many amateur brew masters. But before coming up with a marketable product, he went through painful trial and error.

"In the beginning, in the testing stage, customers were turned off," he said, pointing to fluctuating CO2 and yeast levels.

"There are many variables to consider in the brewing process, but we worked out the problems and now Vancouver Lager accounts for 95 per cent of all our beer sales."

The brewery is spread out among three rooms in the old pub's bottom floor, which rests below street level. Part of the brewery room sits under the Georgia Street sidewalk, which can be seen above. Three full-time workers tend to a 3,000-litre beer kettle, a 2,000-litre hot water tank and a mash tank that grinds the malt with boiling water to produce a clear-looking lager with a 5.1 alcohol percentage.

Boparai is considering kegging Vancouver Lager and selling it to other bars.

A nearby Downtown Eastside bar has noted the success of Pacific Pub's home brew, and is setting up its own microbrewery.

"The equipment has been installed and we are just waiting for the liquor inspector to give us the green light," said Daryl Nelsen, general manager of the Patricia Hotel and Pub on East Hastings Street.

The Pat's Pub brewery will be housed in a storage room off the main floor and cordoned off by Plexiglas so patrons can get a sneak peak at the brewing process.

Nelsen said the home brew should reduce overhead costs and add to the identity of his pub.

"The clientele we attract, a lot of the Commercial Drive crowd that enjoy our live music, are into the micro brews and beers off the beaten path," he said.

Pub patrons can participate in a contest to name the new Pat's Pub beer by submitting entries to the pub's suggestion box.

published on 11/17/2006