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Talk, taste with a Port Moody brewmaster

Liam Murphy is part of the Salon Speaker Series
Liam
Liam Murphy

Liam Murphy isn’t quite sure how he’s going to squeeze it all in.

For his two-hour talk at Coquitlam’s Place des Arts next Friday, the head brewmaster for Yellow Dog Brewing will have a lot on his plate to share about his trade.

But Murphy has broken his lecture into four categories to make it all fit.

He’ll be speaking about the history of craft beer in North America; the raw ingredients (i.e., malt, hops and yeast) needed to blend a beer; the difference between the art and the science of brew making; and B.C.’s craft beer revolution.

And somewhere in between, Murphy will have some tastings and pairings for participants who have paid a bit more to be part of the whole experience.

Murphy, who will soon call Port Moody home, has been part-owner of Yellow Dog since it opened on Murray Street two years ago.

Since then, the small business in Port Moody has doubled its capacity and has won numerous accolades along the way including at the BC Beer Awards and a Spike Award as the city’s best tourism destination.

Two other breweries (Moody Ales and Twin Sails) have since joined the landmark and another is on the way (Parkside), scheduled to open this spring.

“It’s great,” Murphy said. “We have all come together to make Brewery Row. We are all on the same side of Murray Street, too, across from Rocky Point Park. It makes it easy for residents and soon, we’ll have SkyTrain to bring even more people to our doorstep.”

Murphy’s passion for beer making started about a decade ago. His training took him to The American Brewers Guild in Vermont and, before he joined Yellow Dog, he worked as a shift brewer at Parallel 49 Brewing Company.

Murphy said the microbrew he shares with Mike and Melinda Coghill now has eight beers on tap — and enough staff to allow him to take time to work on other operational projects such as researching and testing out new recipes.

• Tickets for the Salon Speaker Series with Liam Murphy on April 22 at 7 p.m. are $5 for the talk or $25 for the talk plus a tasting event. Call Place des Arts (1120 Brunette Ave.) at 604-664-1636 or visit brownpapertickets.com.

jwarren@tricitynews.com
@jwarrenTC