Alibi Room

In fact, when craft beer enthusiast group CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) doles out its annual awards, two medals are automatic: the Alibi Room wins Gold for best taphouse, and co-owner Nigel Springthorpe wins Gold for best bartender. Every year.

None of this could have been predicted when Nigel and his sister-in-law Raya Audet took over ownership of the Alibi Room in 2006. Initially they didn’t plan for much of an overhaul, but Nigel was intrigued by what he saw down the street at Six Acres restaurant. “They had a really impressive beer menu. But it was all bottles and mostly European. So I thought, let’s do draught and BC."

Those were the days before the craft beer boom, however, so Nigel’s options were limited. To supplement the handful of local breweries, he also approached local brewpubs, but they weren’t set up for keg sales and were anxious about an outside vendor handling their product and presenting it to consumers. Undeterred, Nigel prevailed by going directly to the facilities and befriending the brewers themselves.

“I still remember the first brewpub to come on board.” he reminisces fondly. "Mission Springs.” Next were the Vancouver Island brewpubs. “Once a month, I’d do my milk run. First Longwood in Nanaimo, then Craig Street in Duncan, then into Victoria for Swans and Spinnakers. I’d barely be able to see over my hood on the drive home because the back of my truck was so loaded down with kegs."