Meet Diamond Strickland of Granville Island Brewing. Diamond is not only the Taproom and Retail Manager at one of the most popular breweries in town, she also takes care of our tour groups. Busy girl? You betcha. To learn more about Diamond, and some exciting new beer news from GIB, read on.
1) Tell our readers a little about yourself
I have been in the industry since I turned 19, immediately knowing I wanted to be a part of the growth of beer and cocktail culture starting as a bartender, moving to managing a private liquor store and now managing the site here for Granville Island Brewing.
2) What do you enjoy about working at GIB?
There really isn’t much not to like. We have a great staff, brew a great product, and are proud of our personal growth as well as contributing to the growth of craft beer culture in general.
3) Any exciting news coming out of the brewery you’d like to share with our readers?
Vern has been working hard in the brew house to bring us the much anticipated Pucker Meister Berliner Weisse Small Batch brew. This sour wheat ale is extra exciting for us as it is Vern’s first time making this type of beer. It should be released within the next couple of weeks and I can’t wait to try it!
4) You’ve been a big supporter of our brewery tours. Why did GIB choose to be a spot on our craft brewery tours?
Like I said, we want to be a part of nurturing the overall growth of beer culture in Vancouver. We have a lot of history here being the first craft brewer in Canada and have been doing these types of tours for so long that I was excited to be able to reach more beer enthusiasts than we do without the collaboration. The more people being educated about beer makes me a very happy person!
5) What’s your favourite GIB and non-GIB beer?
Favourite has got to be Ginja Ninja this year! Before Ginja, it was Cypress Honey Lager hands-down, but I am a huge fan of this new brew. Favourite non-GIB beer I will take to my grave as it’s a little embarrassing and insulting to the beer world…everyone has to have at least one guilty pleasure, right? 😉
