Local politicians raised a glass to the new Maple Ridge Ale Trail on Saturday in Memorial Peace Park.
MLA Lisa Beare, the tourism minister, Mayor Mike Morden and Ken Beattie, the executive director of the B.C. Craft Brewers Guild, tipped a small sample of a craft beer brewed locally to celebrate the new tourism initiative.
They sampled a collaborative effort by four local brewers at Foamers’ Folly Brewing in Pitt Meadows, the Ridge Brewing Company, Maple Meadows Brewing Co., and Silver Valley Brewing in Maple Ridge.
Beattie explained the local Ale Trail is a link to the B.C. Ale Trail, which is a self-guided tour highlighting local craft brewery destinations and the supernatural landscapes that surround them.
The Ale Trail links craft beer brewers in 116 breweries in 50 communities, and aims to tap into B.C.’s love of beer.
“We are the birth place of craft beer in Canada. It started in 1982 in Horseshoe Bay with the Horseshoe Bay Brewing Company,” Beattie said on Thursday.
“The B.C. Ale Trail was started because we believed there was a world-class beer culture here, and we’ve now seen that.
“We’re now up to 116 breweries on the B.C. Ale Trail and it spans over 50 communities and the latest is Maple Ridge which is fantastic,” Beattie said.
Locally the tour is advertised to take three days either by cycling, driving or walking to the four local craft breweries.