seargents ipa | Love Good Beer

Happy New Year to BC beer geeks, Old Yale Brewing is coming back! Old Yale was a pretty cool brewery, brewing out of a strip mall in Chilliwack of all places. Their IPA and Pale Ale were both delightful and I was sad to hear of their demise a couple years ago. Luckily, some passionate beer people purchased the brewery and are reopening it with the same brewmaster and recipes. They are also going to be selling their beer in cans, signalling greater ambition this time around. Here’s the blurb I received:

I wanted to let you know that Old yale Brewing co. is back open and brewing again! It has been purchased by a small group of beer lovers and we have the same brewmaster, Larry Caza. The recipes are the same and the first few batches have come out excellent. Our new group is excited about getting our superb beer to more people.

We have just began shipping beer in large bottles to a few liquor stores in the Chilliwack and abbotsford area. We have a few establishments with our beer on tap again. We are in the very early stages and a lot will be happening over the next month or two.

We will be offering our Sergeant’s IPA and the Old Yale Pale Ale in cans soon.

I’m wishing them a very successful 2012!

Cheers,

Chris

I attended a wedding in Chilliwack yesterday. We had a substantial break between the ceremony and the reception, so the wife and I decided to check out Old Yale Brewing. We arrived to find that the brewery itself is tiny. There was little differentiation between the brewery, the beer store, and their office, which were all in one big room. We were greeted by the brewer Brian (very friendly) and his young assistant, who were busily cleaning out the mash tun. I chatted with Brian for a bit, he let me know that besides him and his assistant, Old Yale has only one other employee (the owner). Brian also let me know that most of their beer is sold to Vancouver “because Chilliwack is full of hicks who love their bud.” Haha!

After inquiring about beer sales, I had my purchase rung through right beside the grain mill. It was really cool to see such a small brewery in action, run by friendly folk producing highly regarded beer. Old Yale brews four beers and I left with one each of their Cultus Lake Pilsner, Old Yale Pale Ale, Seargent’s IPA, and Sasquatch Stout. I haven’t tried any of them yet, but I’m sure I’ll get find an opportunity soon enough. Old Yale also sells party pigs (8.5L) and 20L or 60L kegs of their beer at very reasonable prices. If you are ever out near the ‘wack and you need a wack of beer, consider stopping by.

Some pictures of the brewery: