Enjoy a Pint (or Two) at the Whistler Village Beer Festival 2014

Spend four days in Whistler. Drinking beer. How’s that for a sales pitch?

Wet your Whistler at this year’s beer festival

Spend four days in Whistler. Drinking beer. How’s that for a sales pitch? The second annual Whistler Village Beer Festival (September 11-14), like the name suggests, is all about downing beers in our favourite alpine resort.

Okay, maybe we’re simplifying things: over the course of 96 hours there will be seminars, parties, awards and ample opportunity to sample some of the finest brews available (over 150 different selections from 50-plus breweries).

If you are new to the brew, don’t miss Beer 101, where the uninitiated can get a crash course on everything beer as well as a tour of Whistler’s own brewery.

Also on deck is Bat & Brew, a softball tournament that, appropriately, will have its very own beer garden. And to open the festival, The Rheinlander Oompah Band, an authentic Oktoberfest polka act, will perform in full lederhosen.

It’s only fitting that Whistler, once host to the Olympic Winter Games, will continue its tradition of fostering competition. This time it’s for Best in BC, a brew-haha of epic proportions, where different B.C. brewers will face off, putting forth special cask ales to determine who’s got the best suds.

If you’re looking for an excursion that focuses on the important things – beer, beer and more beer – mark your calendar and remember to show up thirsty.