When Ryan Parfitt tried his first craft beer, he wasn't exactly enthralled by the experience. “I distinctly remember not loving it,” he chuckles. “It was super strong and piney – almost like Pine-Sol. I was so used to drinking macrobrews, it was just such a shock to my palate. I hadn't realized how full-flavoured beer could be.”
Luckily, those flavours quickly changed his mind, and in October of 2016, after more than a decade of homebrewing, he – alongside his wife Eleanor Stewart and longtime friends Anique Ross and Federico Stucchi – opened the doors at Luppolo Brewing, a cozy, boutique microbrewery on the edge of the Vancouver district affectionately known as “Yeast Van.” Situated off the Adanac Bikeway, Luppolo is a beer lover's dream come true: alongside tasty Italian-inspired snacks, their tasting room features a changing roster of IPAs, pale ales and saisons, alongside more exotic offerings like sours and goses.
“I'd been passionate about craft beer for a long time,” Ryan recalls. “I was brewing beer at home, and I'd always wanted to have an establishment of some kind, so it made sense, especially watching the craft beer boom happen. It seemed like a good time to get in.”
