![\"Barnside](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Barnside_BeerFlight_1-1024x683.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&ssl=1\")
First things first, city slickers: to get to Barnside Brewing for their \u2018farm fresh\u2019 beer, you have to slow down.<\/p>\n
Twenty-five kilometres south of downtown Vancouver, at the junction of highways 99 and 17A, you\u2019ll drift down to 50 km\/hr or less onto 60th<\/sup> Avenue. It\u2019s a two-lane road that is not curbed with sidewalks but by a mix of tall deciduous and coniferous trees, waving as you cruise by like onlookers at a parade.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll pass farms that have, at various times over the past 100 years, converted from dairy production to vegetable and food farming. The cattle are gone, but the long red barns have been maintained, so you would be excused if you didn\u2019t notice that one of them housed a brewery. The giveaways: a street-facing patio and a vintage wordmark that reads Barnside Brewing Co.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n You can sit outside on that patio, lined with hay bales and planters of marigolds, or head inside to a tasting room featuring family farming photos and century-old maps drawn on the walls. You\u2019ll find tables, walls, beams, and counters all made from reclaimed wood from two local barns, but you won\u2019t find any televisions. Conversation, connection, and craft beer grow here.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The story of Barnside Brewing, which opened in 2020, starts with a reconnection of farming friends who grew up together in the same neighbourhood where the brewery now stands. As kids on the farm, their toys ranged from mini-bikes to full-size tractors. Instead of tree forts, they built hay forts, and the flat landscape was perfect for ball hockey.<\/p>\n Telling the story is one of those friends: hop farmer and Barnside\u2019s co-founder Ken Malenstyn. He\u2019s an energetic, compelling storyteller with no shortage of interests, and serves as Barnside\u2019s general manager (and occasional landscaper). Conveniently, he lives across the street from the brewery and on the same property as his hop farm.<\/p>\n Speaking over the rhythm of an October rain and Shania Twain on the Barnside patio, Malenstyn recalled childhood memories about farming in the same area he\u2019s sitting in now. Different families\u2014from kids to grandparents\u2014came together to help with harvest days, whether with manual labour or by sharing equipment. Coffee breaks involved great conversations, often paired with fresh baking from his mother.<\/p>\n \u201cCool memories, right?\u201d Malenstyn said. \u201cIt was way more community-involved rather than people working, isolated. When we’re doing hops, we get quite a crew together. It\u2019s kind of cool that a harvest still brings people together and that’s what I enjoyed about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Delta remains an important agricultural area today. According to the City of Delta<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n As Malenstyn\u2019s generation of friends grew up, they took over their family farms. Unbeknownst to each other, they started growing crops that would cover off all brewing ingredients.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole process of opening the brewery came about organically,\u201d Malenstyn said. He was looking to grow hops as something new to do on the farm while another friend was growing grain. Another was delving into homebrewing. So, they figured, why not pool their resources, skills, and knowledge to open a brewery, since they had all the elements they needed\u2014including an authentic backstory?<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all farm families and have been here at least 70 or 80 years in the community,\u201d Malenstyn said. \u201cGrowing the ingredients and making beer, that seemed like it could be a pretty good story. In a day and age where people like going to the farm to buy their food, why wouldn\u2019t they want to buy their beer right where it\u2019s made and grown?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe could have opened two years sooner if we had done this in an industrial area,\u201d Malenstyn added, \u201cbut it really would have missed the mark.\u201d<\/p>\n Starting a brewery by committee was helpful. Coming up with a brewery name by committee? Not so much.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, it was over a year\u2026 everyone had a different idea,\u201d Malenstyn said. Favourites like Cultivator and Barnraiser were already taken in one form or another in North America.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we finally got to Barnside, it was a bit of a compromise\u2026 but I liked the old signage on barns, so Barnside worked for that.\u201d He pointed back to the barn doors adorned with the brewery\u2019s name. \u201cIt feels obvious now.\u201d<\/p>\n Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Barnside had to shut those barn doors only two months after opening. However, navigating the experience brought some clarity to their service model as the brewery opened back up. Table service, which was not part of the original plans, was permanently adopted and food offerings were improved. The patio was developed to take advantage of relaxed rules about outdoor service. As keg sales to restaurants slowed, a canning line was installed ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n What never changed was the dedication to brewing beer with their homegrown ingredients.<\/p>\n While economies of scale keep the brewery from exclusively using their own ingredients in all their beers, they aren\u2019t far off. Some beers are indeed made with 100% locally grown ingredients; they are referred to as their \u201cone-mile\u201d beers, a little one-upmanship to the 100-Mile Diet. The yeast used in their sour beers, including their core Hop Yard Sour, is their own yeast that was gathered from the hop yard.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of brewers would find [using only local ingredients] limiting because they want to use hops from all over the world\u2014and there’s nothing wrong with that!\u201d Malenstyn said. \u201cBut the one thing I want people to take away is that the beer you’re tasting isn’t trying to be anything else but an expression of the land that you’re standing on: our terroir<\/em>, our farming practices, our ingredients.”<\/p>\n “You can\u2019t get this anywhere else, and that’s what we want you to appreciate about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Speaking of hops: \u201cWe don\u2019t buy any hops,\u201d Malenstyn said. \u201cWe use the hops grown across the road. We use as much of our own grain as we can. We grow all of our own base malt and we do some specialty malting.\u201d<\/p>\n If not grown on their own farms, fruit for fruit beers is purchased from other local and BC farms. The tasting room\u2019s food menu features references to nearly a dozen local food providers and farms, and Oughtred Coffee<\/a>\u2014a BC company with a roastery in Delta\u2014is the coffee of choice.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more you can support locally, the more you keep your local community vibrant and your local economy vibrant,\u201d Malenstyn said. \u201cWe’re not going to be using stuff that’s grown in Florida. It just wouldn’t make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The description of the tasting room\u2019s Caesar salad bears this out. Romaine lettuce is from Crescent Island Farms<\/a>\u201460 metres down the road\u2014while tomatoes are grown at Windset Farms<\/a>, nine kilometres away. The crostini? It’s made by L\u2019Aromas Bakehouse<\/a>, 10 kilometres south of the brewery.<\/p>\n The farming spirit of collaboration can be seen among the brewery employees. Barnside employs two dozen staff, and chances are you\u2019ll be served by multiple cheery members of the tasting room staff while visiting. The tasting room\u2019s kitchen was recently expanded and often features a line of three cooks turning out comfort food and snacks, including Ladner lox flatbread, an in-house hopped cheese board, and\u2014Malenstyn\u2019s favourite\u2014the Farmhouse Grilled Cheese Sandwich (*add bacon<\/em>).<\/p>\n The brewing is run by a team of two: KPU graduate and Head Brewer Justin Larter (who spoke with Kim Lawton<\/a> in March for the \u201cHops Among Friends\u201d series) and Brew Ops Manager Calum Huntingdon.<\/p>\n \u201cSure, they have different titles,\u201d Malenstyn said, but in the spirit of pitching in on the farm, \u201cthey do everything.\u201d He added that the brewers have been given more freedom to work on limited releases and tasting room-only beers, but to always think within a farm structure.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really want to share the fact that we\u2019re farming,\u201d Malenstyn said, and referenced their Ladner Clay IPA, named after the productive soil in their region.<\/p>\n \u201cThe farm is our canvas to tell different stories.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Malenstyn is hopeful to branch out into foraging-style beers and to do more farming collaborations. Their second annual Grainstorm Collab, a fresh hop white IPA, was released in early October and included pilsner malt from The Beer Farmers<\/a> in Pemberton, malted white wheat from Locality Brewing<\/a>, and Cascade hops from Barnside\u2014all BC farm-based breweries. The brewery is also collaborating with two post-secondary institutions on special hop projects. At Langley\u2019s Kwantlen Polytechnic University<\/a>, the Applied Genomics Centre<\/a> is researching the breeding and development of new hop varieties. With Langara College in Vancouver, Barnside is working with researchers who have identified and collected different types of feral hops<\/a> from around the province. \u00a0The goal is to identify commercially viable hops that have developed farming and flavour traits unique to British Columbia. Malenstyn noted that \u201c[h]aving those new varieties to play with elevates our hop industry in BC when all growers have access to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Growers and non-growers alike can get up close and personal with the Barnside hops. During the growing season, Barnside hosts hop yard tours, and culinary fans have been treated to food and drink pairings as part of the brewery\u2019s \u201cBetween the Bines<\/a>\u201d dinner series.<\/p>\n In September, the inaugural Barnside Harvest Festival<\/a> welcomed more than 23,000 music fans to Paterson Park in nearby Ladner for three days of music headlined by The Sheepdogs and 54-40. Putting together a multi-day music festival was a way to show appreciation for their hometown\u2014one that supported their brewery through pandemic beginnings and growth into a craft beer destination.<\/p>\n And is Malenstyn cool with having a craft beer destination across the street from his house? Absolutely\u2014just pay due attention to the tractors that still chug up and down 60th<\/sup> Avenue during the harvest. Come by on a weekend and reconnect with friends\u2014chances are he\u2019ll cross the street to join you.<\/p>\n \u201cSunday brunch [at the brewery] is my favourite day,\u201d Malenstyn said. \u201cDogs, families, all ages, a real mix of people.”<\/p>\n “These are the days when I can sit here and say, \u2018This is the brewery I always wanted to visit,\u2019 and we\u2019ve built it like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Four Barnside Beers to Bet the Farm On<\/strong><\/p>\n Barnside Brewing is part of the South of the Fraser Ale Trail<\/a>. This trail features nine breweries and seven taphouses in Greater Vancouver communities south of the Fraser River: Delta, Richmond, Surrey, and White Rock.<\/p>\n The brewery is less than two kilometres from the intersection of highways 99 and 17A and, for folks visiting by ferry from Vancouver Island, only 15 km from the BC Ferries terminal at Tsawwassen. Pro tip: the roadways from Tsawwassen to Delta are almost completely flat, so consider travelling by bicycle<\/a>!<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Barnside_RedBarn_Sign.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&resize=700%2C700&ssl=1\")
![\"Barnside](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Barnside_TastingRoom_withCustomers-1-1024x683.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&ssl=1\")
![\"A](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Working_Farm.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&resize=933%2C700&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Barnside-OldPhoto1.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&resize=532%2C700&ssl=1\")
![\"Ken](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/K_Malenstyn.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&resize=933%2C700&ssl=1\")
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![\"Brewery](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Barnside_BrewingTanks_Beside_TastingRoom-1024x683.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&ssl=1\")
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![\"Barnside](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/12\/3-Barnside-Brewing-Delta-BC-Ale-Trail--1024x684.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&ssl=1\")
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![\"Barnside](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Barnside_Bar2-e1698371532771.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&fit=1024%2C738&ssl=1\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>![\"Taplist](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Barnside_Bar_1-e1698371584818.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&fit=1024%2C706&ssl=1\")
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<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t![\"Barnside](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Barnside_GrilledCheese-e1698371766378.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&fit=1024%2C826&ssl=1\")
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![\"Grainstorm](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Grainstorm-collab-from-facebook.jpeg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t![\"Grainstorm](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Grainstorm-label-from-facebook.jpeg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1\")
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\n<\/b><\/p>\n![\"Between](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Barnside-Between-the-Bines.jpeg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&resize=700%2C700&ssl=1\")
![\"Barnside](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tylergarnham_Barnside_Harvest_Festival-1024x683.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&ssl=1\")
![\"Sunday](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Barnside-Brunch_FreshHop.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&resize=525%2C700&ssl=1\")
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![\"Barnside](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Barnside_FarmFreshBeerGlass_Landscape-1024x683.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&ssl=1\")
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![\"Farm](\"https:\/\/ef5pdbk7uqr.exactdn.com\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/BarnsideFreshHop2022_HR.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&avif=80&sharp=1&resize=840%2C700&ssl=1\")
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