Beer column: A Tackle Box you can use (drink) year round

I’m sorry to remind all the anglers out there of this fact, but fishing season is still a ways away.

Snow has blanketed much of the province and your tackle box is likely tucked away in the garage, but there’s another tackle box that can help you thwart the winter blues.

I’m talking about the Tackle Box from Fernie Brewing Co., a mixed pack featuring four stellar beers that checks all the boxes of what you’re looking for in a variety pack.

There are actually two renditions of the Fernie Brewing Tackle Box, but this week’s column will take a look at the one that is readily available for consumption at BC Liquor Stores across the province.

It includes the Straight White Line Belgian Witbier, the Tunnel Creek Kölsch, the What The Huck Berry Ale and the Thunder Meadows IPA.

You couldn’t ask for a better variety of beers in a mixed pack, so let’s dive into each one.

• Straight White Line Belgian Witbier - An unfiltered Belgian-style Witbier. It’s brewed with orange peel and coriander that team up with the Belgian yeast to give the beer spicy notes. It’s smooth, citrusy and refreshing.
• Tunnel Creek Kölsch - A light and refreshing German-style beer that’s clean, crisp and crushable. It masters the balance between slight amounts of fruity esters and noble hop character. This beer placed third in the Kölsch category at the 2023 BC Beer Awards.
• What The Huck Berry Ale - Possibly Fernie Brewing’s most popular beer, it's blended with wheat to create a smooth and creamy feel. A touch of berries are added post-fermentation to ensure the deep colour and slight sweetness of the berries comes through.
• Thunder Meadows IPA - With an IBU of 40, it’s less bitter than most IPAs but high on aroma and flavour. The brewery touts the use of wheat malt and flaked oats as the reason this beer has a great body. It’s a tasty IPA with delicious pine notes that is named after a legendary local cabin.

The Tackle Box from Fernie Brewing includes two tall cans of each of the four beers, for a total of eight 473 millilitre cans.

The other edition of the Tackle Box still includes the What The Huck Berry Ale and Thunder Mountain IPAs, but they go alongside the Campout West Coast Pale and The Professor Amber Lager.

While BC Liquor Stores currently have the Tackle Box this column talks about in stock, for under $25, you may be able to find the other one at your local private store.

Josh Duncan is the NowMedia news director and a craft beer lover. Reach him at [email protected]. His beer column appears every Saturday afternoon in this space.