Beer column: This easy-drinking IPA supports Canada’s busiest search and rescue team

This week’s beer column is a little bit different.

It focuses on a beer that may be pretty difficult to find unless you’re planning a visit to Bridge Brewing in North Vancouver in the near future.

But it’s more about the story behind the beer, a call to action to watch a documentary about Canada’s busiest search and rescue team, and a shoutout to some of Bridge’s more findable brews.

The Trip Plan IPA was originally created by the minds at Bridge, North Vancouver’s original brewery, back in 2022.

It’s an easy-drinking IPA that comes in with an ABV of 5.5% and 40 IBUs, meaning it’s hoppy, but not too hoppy.

Partial proceeds from sales of the beer go to Tim Jones Legacy Fund, which was founded in memory of the late North Shore Rescue (NSR) leader following his death in 2014.

The fund is all about Jones’ dreams of raising enough money to make financing for the ongoing operations of NSR self-sustaining.

Along with being Canada’s busiest search and rescue team, NSR is arguably the country’s best-known team as well as they are tasked with the challenging job of overseeing the North Shore’s rugged mountainous terrain.

Their efforts were featured in a five-episode documentary series on the Knowledge Network called Search and Rescue: North Shore, which debuted in late 2020 and has returned for a second season this spring.

The first episode of season two premiered on May 28 and new episodes, which are free to watch on the Knowledge Network, drop weekly every Tuesday.

That’s why the Trip Plan IPA, named for one of NSR’s most important pieces of advice for people heading into the backcountry, is back in the spotlight.

I will honestly tell you that I’m not sure if the Trip Plan IPA is being sold outside of Bridge’s North Vancouver brewery at this time, but it’s worth checking your local private liquor store.

If you don’t have success finding it, it will be easier to track down a couple of the brewery’s core beers that are similar in nature, the Ironworkers Bridge IPA or the North Shore Pale Ale.

Bridge also has a tasty Bourbon Blood Orange Wheat Ale that is stocked at most BC Liquor Stores across the province.

For those who can’t find the Trip Plan IPA but still want to support the Tim Jones Legacy Fund, you can do so by making a donation online!

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.