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Tri-Cities Cask Festival this Friday

Burnaby brewery taking part

Dan Helmer is offering the best of both beer worlds.

A co-founder of Moody Ales, Helmer is heading up this Friday’s inaugural Tri-Cities Cask Festival, an event that marries old-world brewing techniques with the microbrew craze that’s swept across the taste buds of suds lovers in recent years.

Helmer said the tradition of serving beer in casks, which are similar to a wooden barrel, began to die out in the 19th century, though the renaissance of that practice is very much in the here and now.

That re-emergence just so happens to coincide with the proliferation of craft breweries, and those beers account for roughly 20 per cent of all beer sold in B.C. annually.

“Cask beer is really big in the craft community,” said Helmer, who also serves as the head brewer at Moody Ales. “They are really one-off experimental beers, so it’s a really unique and neat event.”

Set from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at the RockyPoint Taphouse, the festival will include offerings from 14 craft breweries in Metro Vancouver, including Port Moody’s other craft beer connoisseurs from Yellow Dog Brewing.

Those in attendance will get a voucher that allows them a chance to try each of the beers at the event, and an hour-long educational meet and greet with the brewmasters will also be included.

“In terms of the breweries that are taking part, I tried to focus on the ones that don’t get a chance to participate in these types of festivals very often,” Helmer said. “I really wanted to focus on the little guys, but I didn’t realize that I’d get a 100 per cent response from these folks. Every single one that I’ve approached wants to participate.”

Helmer’s company set up shop on Murray Street about six months ago, during the winter months when traditional thinking would suggest beer sales would sag.

Not so.

“It’s definitely exceeded our expectations,” Helmer said. “This has gone beyond everything we thought with our business plans and projections. We had a really strong winter and I’m relay excited about the summer, when beer consumption typically picks up.”

Helmer said his company’s success has largely come by capitalizing on a recent movement towards all things organic and local — as more attention is paid to where ingredients are sourced, the better his business will do. Having a reusable container, called a growler, to package the product in also helps, as does the proliferation of social media. Helmer admits that his company invests little in advertising, and couldn’t compete with bigger breweries in that respect even if they tried to.

A lack of brand loyalty among his customers, coupled with a healthy dose of curiosity, has also helped the business grow.

“What’s really cool about the average craft beer drinker is that they’re not loyal at all,” Helmer said. “It’s totally unlike Budweiser of Molson Canadian where some people say, ‘That’s my brand and I’m totally sticking to it.’ It’s completely the opposite. Craft beer drinkers are interested in trying everything from everywhere.”

Fourteen local breweries are participating in the festival, including Burnaby’s Dageraad Brewing.

The Tri-Cities Cask Festival takes place from 5 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, April 3. Tickets range in price between $25 and $32 and can be purchased online.