In 2018, Expedia named Penticton Canada's second-best "beer town." Then just two months ago, The Lonely Planet went one better than that. It labeled us "Canada's craft beer capital."
Such brew-tastic endorsements shouldn't come as a surprise. Penticton may be surrounded by vineyards and wineries, but there's little doubt that the city itself - and particularly its downtown - has already become a craft beer haven worthy of national prominence.
If you need more evidence, just take a look at what's happening at the suddenly humming construction zone at 187 Westminster, where the skeletal framework of the long awaited Neighbourhood Brewing now rises high into the sky.
Better still, check out the artist's rendering of the facility. Fresh from Neighbourhood co-owner Mike Coghill, it's an accurate look at what to expect when the facility is completed and open to the public this summer.
Clearly, it's a stunner. Featuring lots of glass and brick and a modern aesthetic, Neighbourhood Brewing looks set to become a key player in Penticton's already burgeoning craft beer scene.
It'll also be big. Really big. Coghill confirmed with PentictonNow that it'll pack no less than 10,000 square feet over its two storeys. That's enough to seat 98 people on the main floor, 120 on the mezzanine, 100 more in an interior special event area, and 153 on a huge outdoor patio.
Indeed, given the height of some of the girders currently being put into place, one could be forgiven for thinking it'll hit the three-storey mark. But Coghill says the added height merely reflects the extra-tall ceilings needed for Neighbourhood's planned 25-hectolitre (2500 litres per batch) brewhouse.
That it'll utterly transform the intersection of Westminster and Winnipeg, known chiefly in the past for its multiple parking lots, almost goes without saying. That it's also just a block from both Bad Tattoo Brewing to the north and Slackwater Brewing to the southeast would seem to solidify that area as the city's obvious craft brew epicenter.
Neighbourhood Brewing ownership will go in front of Penticton City Council March 3rd, this Tuesday, seeking approval for hours of operation and more.
