Beer column: BC brewery’s award-winning salted lime lager is a trailblazer

La Cerveceria Astilleros does things a little differently.

The Mexican-inspired, woman-managed, North Vancouver brewery is about as authentic as you can get.

The head brewer is from Mexico, as is 90% of the team, and the tap room features beer and food inspired by their home country.

Before La Cerveceria Astilleros even opened a brick-and-mortar location near North Vancouver’s Shipyards, the brewery was already pumping out delicious craft beers.

That includes the El Valle Salado salted lime lager, which recently won a gold medal at the Canadian Brewing Awards.

Not only is the beer an award winner, it’s also a trailblazer, as La Cerveceria Astilleros is credited with being the first British Columbian brewery to introduce a salted lime lager back in 2019.

El Valle Salado is a crisp, clean Mexican lager made with Mexican limes and world-renowned culinary salt from its namesake, and UNESCO World Heritage Site, El Valle Salado in Ananas, Spain.

It’s a tasty, refreshing lager that’s perfect for a hot summer day and La Cerveceria Astilleros says it can safely replace a beer like Corona as your summer staple.

And if you find El Valle Salado to be to your liking, it’s not the only refreshing perfect summer beer from La Cerveceria Astilleros that could be a part of your summer rotation.

The brewery also has La Paloma, which is a crisp Mexican light lager brewed with fresh grapefruit zest and flaked salt, also imported from El Valle Salado in Spain.

Both beers are widely available at government and private stores across BC, as well as on tap at all Cactus Club locations, and are just waiting to be enjoyed on a hot summer day.

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.