Whistle Buoy Brewing Big Galaxy IPA (6%)

Whistle Buoy is not the newest brewery on Vancouver Island, but it is arguably the one making the most noise these days. At just four years of age in the summer of 2023, it has become the Victoria brewery beer-savvy locals mention first, or at least nearly first, when guiding visitors around the legendary local beer scene.

This renown is not because of its size – the brewery website brags about how small its brewing kit is! – but rather its location and, more importantly, its impact. Nestled in historic Market Square, just behind the city’s stellar Drake Eatery beer bar, Whistle Buoy fills up early and fills up fast, with locals and tourists alike seeking its eclectic mix of small batch beer styles and pop-up oyster service courtesy of The Wandering Mollusk. When the weather is fine, as it is surprisingly often in the BC capital, the inner courtyard beer garden is the place to be downtown.

I tried several beers during my early spring, 2023, visit to the brewery, but I walked away most impressed by its IPAs, including this offering, kettle-hopped with Cascade and Citra in the old school, West Coast style and dry-hopped with more Citra and, you guessed it, Galaxy, à la the modern ‘juice’ craze. The result is a lovely blend of the two techniques, with a fair bit of haze, big citrus and tropical fruit, especially mango and pineapple, on the nose, and a body that begins with softly sweet fruitiness, segues nicely to a drier, slightly spicy and bitter middle, and finishes with a flourish of grapefruity bitterness.

Unlike so many hazy IPAs, especially those overly reliant on multiple doses of dry-hopping, this is a beer with ‘quaffable’ written all over it, sufficiently quenching for summer supping but also bold enough for when temperatures plummet.

82 ($9/17 oz. at the brewery on tap)