Calculation and Brewing Tenacity at Foamers’ Folly Brewery
Much of the excitement around recent growth in BC craft beer has taken place in Vancouver. Looking to the areas surrounding Vancouver however the renaissance continues and shows an even greater force. Pitt Meadows is about a 40 minute drive from downtown Vancouver and is nestled between Port Coquitlam and Maple Ridge. This small community is home to local farming, a growing local business sector, value-seeking home owners and Foamers’ Folly Brewery.
Foamers’ Folly is not your typical small-town brewery. While it may look small, out of the way and not in a position for exponential growth, looks can be deceiving.
When you step into the tasting room there is a fair bit of room. Tables line the windows and a bar skirts the serving area giving a decent amount of room for those enjoying on-site. From the tasting area you can also see a portion of the equipment being used by the brewing team.
Horizontal fermentors line the close wall and behind those a series of verticals mark a decent sized capacity for this seemingly small brewing space. As you venture further into the brewery you will see the line of vertical fermentors extend further and more horizontals in the corner. Turning around and looking up, even more is hiding from plain view.
The Foamers’ Folly brewery is a jigsaw puzzle of equipment crammed into the space and they have not even been open a year. The space is packed full but not as a band aid solution. The layout was methodically planned and everything serves a purpose.
As with many breweries in BC, expansion is on the horizon but no timeline is set for the growth. Looking at surrounding buildings will be necessary to grow and allow for packaging and increased volume capacity. One thing is sure, when the team does decide to expand they will plan it well and execute with the same attention to detail that created the current plan.
When you are sitting down and enjoying the fruits of Foamers’ labours there are 6-10 or so beers that pour at any one time. From light to dark and through a gamete of flavours the roster is daring and conventional all at the same time giving a sense of exploration and experimentation. The brewing team has not settled into a set list of beers and does not plan to any time soon. Some of the more generic names will stay on the menu but most of the recipes see tweaking along the way. When you visit, the beer will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because for the time being, when it’s gone, it’s gone.
Learn more at foamersfolly.ca or visit Foamers’ Folly at 19221 122a Ave, Pitt Meadows, BC.
