Ask any craft beer aficionado and they will tell you; hops, and quality hops at that are the most important ingredients when brewing craft beer. The use of high quality, fresh hops is becoming more and important as craft breweries continue to come up with impressive recipes and products. The Tin Whistle Brewing Company prides itself on using fresh wet hop in the production of all their seasonal ales. For instance, the brewery’s limited-edition Penticton Harvest Honey Ale is the perfect reason why fresh hops can make or break a beer.
The Tin Whistle microbrewery is located in Penticton BC and has five flagship beers that are brewed all through the year. Occasionally, Tin Whistle also introduces additional seasonal that are supplied to customers at different or random points through the year. The Tin Whistle has been operational for quite some time as it was opened during the second wave of the BC craft beer pandemonium. The Tin Whistle was opened by owner Lorraine Nagy in 1995. The Tin Whistle was named after a train on the Kettle Valley Railway that operated in the region. As a matter of fact, a lot of the products are named after the flowers and vegetation that grows in the Okanagan region.
At the time of opening the brewery, Frank Appleton worked as the brewery consultant and he helped to get the brewery up to running speed. The products on offer at the time were mainly sold in kegs and bottles with a 650 ml capacity. After 1995, the brewery kept its head down, remaining relatively unrecognized until it started producing new and innovative products recently. Tin Whistle is famous among craft breweries for its innovative techniques and their quality.
All the ales produced by the factory are free of any preservatives or chemicals and are prepared with locally sourced ingredients. Fortunately, the Okanagan Valley, which is known in the world over for its production of wine is heavily populated with farms containing fresh produce and fruit. The Tin Whistle brewery relies on the superior produce for the production of some of the brewery’s seasonals.
Some of the beers on offer are Peach Cream Ale, which has been described by many as Okanagan contained in a glass owing to the rich aroma of the valley’s ripe peaches. The Killer Bee is a honey porter that has strong hints of chocolates and notes of coffee. The Scorpion is a double Indian Pale that is made with Amarillo hops, which gives it a beautiful grapefruit flavor, while the Chocolate Cherry Porter is the perfect beer to have during Christmas.