Did you miss me?
You may or may not have noticed, but there was no beer column last Saturday, the first weekend without one since I started this endeavour all the way back in August 2023.
Usually when I’m away from work I pre-write beer columns for when I’m gone, but this time around it was a very personal matter that whisked me away from the office last minute.
While I’m now back in action, that personal matter still requires a lot of my time and attention, so these last two beer columns of 2025 will be pretty straightforward.
My hope is to ramp back up to something big to kick off 2026 in a couple of weeks!
I’ve featured Fernie Brewing quite a few times over the past 2.5 years and I’m going back to the Kootenays for this week’s column.
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Photo Credit: NowMedia
If you’re looking for a nice mix of delicious hoppy beers to enjoy at a holiday gathering, the Fernie Hop Trick Mixer Sixer is a perfect solution at less than $20.
This six pack contains two each of a trio of the brewery’s year-round core IPAs – Waymark West Coast IPA, Hit The Deck Hazy IPA and Slingshot Session IPA.
You may be thinking to yourself, “a trio of IPAs, that’s not variety,” but the variety comes in the very different tasting experiences each of these beers offers.
- Waymark West Coast IPA (6.5%) – This is a more classic IPA with notes of citrus and pine. It’s dry and crisp with a grapefruit finish, perfect for those who like a more complex hop creation.
- Hit The Deck Hazy IPA (6.4%) – From west coast to east coast, this hazy will hit just right if you’re looking for a more juicy hop creation. Several different hop varieties combine to produce this beer that’s light and cloudy, but low in bitterness.
- Slingshot Session IPA (4.5%) – Dry-hopped to provide the distinct citrus taste with a touch of classic IPA pine, this is the perfect easy-drinking, low-alcohol option if you have to be a little more responsible. This was a beer option at my wedding, so that’s a pretty high recommendation right there.
Josh Duncan is the NowMedia news director and a craft beer lover. Reach him at josh@nowmediagroup.ca. His beer column appears every Saturday afternoon in this space.
