Tuesday, redeemed.

Monday night we decided that on Tuesday morning we would drive to Whistler. After what has become a typical morning routine of coffee . . . breakfast . . . lounging . . . etc . . . we got in the car and embarked on the 2.5 hour drive to Whistler. It was a gorgeous drive, winding along the coast, through Squamish valley, and finally into Whistler itself. We arrived right around lunch time. So our first task was finding somewhere to eat lunch. Our first thought was to hit up Whistler Brewing Company, but after finding it, we discovered they didn't open until 2:00. The next idea was to hit up pub that had good online reviews, but after walking in and looking at the menu, we decided to pass. The third idea was to hit up a sushi restaurant, but after driving over and walking in, we discovered that they were a cash-only operation, of which we possessed none. By this time we were ready to start gnawing on our arms, so we settled for Boston Pizza which was in the same shopping center as the sushi restaurant. Ugh. I really pride myself on trying not to eat at chains, especially whilst on vacation . . . I love checking out all the locally-owned restaurants . . . but this time hunger and convenience won out.

Having been frustrated by all the driving around just to end up at Boston Pizza, the day got worse when we tried to find a local chocolatier, only to be frustrated by the apparent complete lack of parking near Whistler Village. We also had it as a goal to watch all the mountain biking that Whistler is allegedly known for, but were further frustrated by our inability to locate them. So having spent the better part of an hour driving around looking for things we couldn't find, we finally headed back to Whistler Brewing Company for a little tasting and tour of their facilities.

We were there a little early for the tour, so while we waited we sat in the tasting room and had a couple of samples.

Shortly thereafter, the tour commenced:

The Lauter Tun (L) and the Brew Kettle (R)

It was a small tour group, so they let us climb up the ladder to inspect the lauter tun.

The fermentation tank, capacity 30 hL.

The Sample Cock on the Bright Beer Tank. Yes, that's really what it's called.

Filtration system. Yes, their beer is cold-filtered.

Canning System.

The highlight of the tour was when he explained that the lauter tun & brew kettle had bought from a little brewery in Nevada called Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and asked if anybody had heard of it. I graciously explained that in fact they were in California, right up the road from us. A second highlight was going back to take a picture of the sample cock and getting a sneak-peak at one of their recipe sheets. Cool.

After the tour was over, we chatted a bit with some folks in the tasting room and they gave us the beta on watching mountain bikers, so we drove back up the road to Whistler Village, found the parking lot, and walked up the hill a bit. I took a ton of pictures, here are just a few:

It started to drizzle and we were getting tired and hungry, so we decided it was time to head back to Vancouver. We had dinner at a wonderful little sushi restaurant called Sushi Mart where we had a great meal. The dining room is tiny, the menu is small, but all of the food was super-fresh and delicious. They even brought us miso soup although we had not ordered it.

We were really impressed by Sushi Mart . . . a great restaurant concept. Small dining room, quick turn-over, low prices, fresh sushi. Seems like a guaranteed money-maker.

Thus we concluded our Tuesday, and what started out as somewhat of a frustrating day was redeemed by a fun tour of the brewery, a nice walk up the mountain while watching the mountain bikers, and a lovely meal.

On tap for Wednesday: Granville Island!