{"id":62306,"date":"2025-10-23T15:20:57","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T22:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bcaletrail.ca\/?p=62306"},"modified":"2025-11-03T10:01:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T18:01:32","slug":"new-beer-from-spinnakers-replicates-canadas-first-craft-beer-collaboration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bcaletrail.ca\/new-beer-from-spinnakers-replicates-canadas-first-craft-beer-collaboration\/","title":{"rendered":"New Beer from Spinnakers Replicates Canada\u2019s First Craft Beer Collaboration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bay Ale, brewed at Horsehoe Bay Brewery by John Mitchell and Frank Appleton, was the first collaboration in the history of Canadian craft beer, and the spirit of that partnership is now being replicated in a new beer \u2013 The Transatlantic Collaboration IPA, a beer produced in collaboration with Spinnakers Brewpub<\/a> in Victoria and Fuller\u2019s Brewery in England.<\/p>\n

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In 1982<\/a>, John Mitchell was struggling to get a crazy idea off the ground: he wanted to brew his own beer and serve it in his pub, something no one else in Canada was doing. With the help of fellow British expat Frank Appleton<\/a>, he managed to scrape together money for some brewing equipment (adapted from a dairy) and a brewing space. Appleton had the skills to create a recipe and make the beer. Mitchell managed to get the necessary permissions to open his Horseshoe Bay Brewery<\/a>. But one magical ingredient was missing: yeast.<\/p>\n

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Frank Appleton (left) and John Mitchell inside Horseshoe Bay Brewery in 1982. (photo courtesy of the Frank Appleton collection)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mitchell\u2019s appeals to various large breweries to use some of their yeast had gone unanswered or were rejected. No one was interested. No one, that is, until Mitchell reached out to one of the top breweries in his native England: Fuller\u2019s Brewery, home of the famous ale London Pride. Under Appleton\u2019s expert hand and using the yeast shipped over from Fuller\u2019s, Horseshoe Bay Brewery produced a London Pride-style beer that they christened Bay Ale, the first keg of which they tapped in the summer of 1982. In his memoir, Appleton recalls the nervousness they both felt that first night, especially when the initial pour was cloudy. However, nerves proved to be wrong. Bay Ale was so popular that they soon found themselves selling out, and Horseshoe Bay Brewery became both a destination and an inspiration for other craft beer fans out there, including the people who would soon establish Granville Island Brewing, Shaftebury Brewing, and more.<\/p>\n

Bay Ale was the first collaboration in the history of Canadian craft beer, and the spirit of that partnership is now being replicated in a new beer \u2013 The Transatlantic Collaboration IPA, a beer produced in collaboration with Spinnakers Brewpub in Victoria and Fuller\u2019s Brewery in England. This is the first John Mitchell Signature Collaboration, with more planned for the future. The proceeds of this beer and future Signature Collaboration beers will go to the KPU John Mitchell Legacy Endowed Scholarship. After much anticipation, the Transatlantic IPA was released this week at special events held at Spinnakers Brewpub in Victoria and the Barley Merchant in Langley. To say that craft beer fans in BC were excited to try it is an understatement.<\/p>\n