The output of small craft brewers is still just a drop in British Columbia’s billion-dollar beer market, but its ripples continue to spread rapidly, according to the latest sales report from the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch.

Sales at B.C.’s microbrewers during the three months ending June 30 were up 53 per cent by volume and almost 60 per cent in value — to $19.6 million — compared with the same quarter a year ago.

That, as the term micro implies, is still tiny in comparison with an overall beer market worth $298.4 million in the quarter, according to the BCLDB report, but the growth illustrates what consumers have witnessed on the beer scene in the last year.

The craft-beer phenomenon has been growing for a couple of decades across North America, most notably in other Pacific Northwest cities such as Portland and Seattle.

In Vancouver, the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood has become somewhat of a brewer’s alley, with several new facilities opening up. Elsewhere in B.C., small craft breweries have started up in communities as far flung as Valemount, which is on the way to Jasper National Park.

And while the amount of beer they sell is still small, the share of the market that belongs to microbrewers has grown to almost six per cent of the provincial market in the most recent quarter, compared with 2.4 per cent in 2010.

“We knew this was going to explode,” said Chris Bonnallie, beer supervisor at the Legacy Liquor Store in Vancouver’s Olympic Village. “It’s not a shock to us.”

The Sun talked to a couple of experts to get their thoughts on why B.C.’s craft-beer market manages to stay on such a steep growth curve.

Strength in numbers:

“It’s just the sheer amount of breweries (starting up),” said Ken Beattie, executive director of the B.C. Craft Brewers Guild. “We’re probably over 10 this year alone, with another five or six coming, easily.”

Accessibility:

With the growth in the number of small breweries has come easier access to equipment that’s small enough and cheap enough for beer enthusiasts with an entrepreneurial bent to get into the business, Bonnallie said.

“A lot of home brewers have looked at it and said, ‘If that guy can open a brewery, I can open a brewery,’ ” he added.

Beattie said there are also local manufacturers, “so you don’t have to wait a year to get equipment.”

Evolving tastes:

With the amount of effort brewers have put into educating their customers on the wide range of types and styles of beer that they’re brewing, consumer tastes are becoming more sophisticated. It started with the B.C. wine industry, “and we were able to ride those tailcoats,” Bonnallie said.

“Everyone is getting smarter about beer, our palates have got better,” he said.

Beattie added that with the number of beer festivals, tasting events at restaurants and cask nights at pubs, consumer access to microbrewery beer “is at an all-time high.”

Women:

Bonnallie added that female consumers are also helping to drive sales in the craft-beer sector as well.

“Women have a better palate and want more variety,” Bonnallie said. “And they’re willing to pay a premium price. The amount of women who have come into the craft-beer scene is fantastic.”

The local factor:

Beattie said microbrewers are benefiting from the same consumer preferences that have helped drive the growth of the local food movement in B.C., with a flowering of artisanal food producers selling in small venues such as farmers’ markets.

“It has to do with the perception of flavours and quality and local ingredients,” Beattie said. “And the fact that when you go to a (microbrewer), you’re meeting the brewer who made that beer.”

Total B.C. sales and sales increase for 3 months ending June 30:

Breweries over 160,000 hectolitres

Draft: $20.1 million, up 4.52%

Packaged: $167 million, up 7.4%

Total sales: $187.1 million, up 7.4%

Breweries between 15,000 - 160,000 hectolitres

Draft: $5 million, up 7%

Packaged: $26.4 million, up 6.8%

Total sales: $31.4 million, up 6.8%

Breweries under 15,000 hectolitres

Draft: $7.5 million, up 53.7%

Packaged: $12.1 million, up 62.7%

Total: $19.6 million, up 59.1%

1 hectolitre = 100 litres, equivalent of approximately 2 kegs

depenner@vancouversun.com

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