Townsite Brewing spotlighted by BC Ale Trail with new award
Townsite Brewing wins first annual BC Ale Trail Best Brewery Experience Award
The three managing partners are Michelle Zutz, Director of Sales; Chloe Smith, General Manager; and Chloe’s husband, brewer Cédric Dauchot—the only Belgian-born brewmaster in British Columbia. I met him in the Townsite taproom on a Sunday evening after a quick BC Ferries “ocean cruise” across from Comox on Vancouver Island. It was December 2nd, and Christmas music was already playing.
“I wanted to hold off on the Christmas music until December 6th,” he said with a smile, his Belgian accent rolling and lolling off the tongue in stark opposition to a table of four people in the corner singing semi-accurately along to Feliz Navidad, “but the staff overruled me.”
The affable Cédric may have ceded control of the stereo, but he’s made his mark with the beer. Staff served glasses and samplers to young couples at tables and a group of older men at the bar. Christmas lights framed the chalkboard bar menu, growlers and bombers and merchandise lined the opposite wall, and a vintage video game machine blinked and blooped from the centre of the room. I’m surprised to learn later on that the arcade machine is free play—a great way to entertain the kids so Mom and Dad can have some of their own time.
