Bikes and beers: Breweries north of the river launch Hop Pocket

Breweries in north-central Edmonton will be dishing pints all weekend to cheers to the launch of the Hop Pocket.

Much like Happy Beer Street, eight taprooms biking distance to each other hopped into business together to create Edmonton's latest area to drink beer, including Odd Company Brewing, Irrational Brewing Company, Asymmetrical Brewing, Arcadia Brewing Co., The Growlery Brewing Co., Polyrhythm Brewing, Brewsters Brewing and Campio Brewing Co.

"We wanted something that highlights the beer that's being made in Edmonton right now," Growlery co-founder Kevin Danard told CTV News Edmonton.

"We have really great beer…we got a really exciting scene that's starting to pop up."

To toast the Hop Pocket, the taprooms will be holding a cask relay all weekend.

Irrational and Arcadia will get the party started Friday afternoon; Growlery and Polyrhythm are next on Saturday; and Odd Company and Asymmetrical will close it out on Sunday. Brewsters will have a cask going all weekend.

"We're really hoping that this creates a collective and gets people engaged, exploring and supporting local businesses," said Chelsea Tessier, Polyrhythm's co-owner and head brewer.

Her brewery, just a few months old, is about a 15-minute bike ride from Growlery to the east and the other breweries to the south of the Hop Pocket, Tessier said.

Polyrhythm Brewing is about a 15-minute bike ride from the other breweries in the new Hop Pocket. (David Ewasuk/CTV News Edmonton)

If you want to get to your second beer a little faster, Vamoose Electric Cycle will be a part of the cask relay on Saturday with up to 20 bikes, and some trikes and cruisers.

"They're so close together, all these pubs…to get people to go from one brewery to another is really nice," said George Pinckney, Vamoose Electric Cycle Ltd. co-founder.

"Remember, it's a vehicle…ride responsibly while you're drinking and make sure you're able to ride."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk