Four Winds Beach House & Brewery

Four Winds Brewery has opened up a second location in sunny (and windy!) Tsawwasssen, in the heart of the up and coming Southlands development. Aptly named Four Winds Beach House & Brewery, the establishment is a restaurant with an in-house brewery, located a short stroll away from beautiful Centennial Beach.

We made our way up the front steps. Inside is the brewery’s unmistakable large stainless steel fermentation tanks. This is where the craft beer magic happens. To the right of the entrance, is a long wooden bar with high-back bar stools. A row of roll-up doors welcomed the sunshine, which poured into the long corridor. An overhead letter board showcased the specials of the day. Windy’s soft serve twister caught my eye. More on this later.

The bar corridor opens up to the main restaurant space – a spacious modern brewhall that reminded me of the inside of large wooden ship, thanks to the big windows, with burlap curtains, casually hanging diagonally on the side. On the back-left wall hangs Andy Dixon’s custom painting of a colourful ship sailing at full speed over choppy waves.

We were seated at the long communal table at the foot of the painting. The kiddos immediately got to work colouring and solving the puzzles on their “beach kids” activity sheets, which also doubled as the kids menu. It was so super sunny that we got nice tans, through the burlap curtains, which were put up to shield some of the brightness from the sun!

I was tempted to try a drink from the new cocktail menu. The cocktails here all feature one of the brewery’s beers! I was definitely eyeing the Nectarous Spritz, which is the restaurant’s take on an Aperol Spritz – Aperol, sparkling wine, with the interesting addition of Four Winds Nectarous dry-hopped sour! But, we were here for the beers, so cocktails next time!

Hubby and I went for a flight of beer each. I chose the mango passionfruit hazy pale ale, pink guava pale ale, and World’s Best Dad West Coast IPA. Hubby chose the Nectarous dry hopped sour, Juxtapose IPA, and Smoked Mexican lager.

The beers here are poured from specialized, imported taps in “free the foam” style – a Czech tradition where the beers are poured with a generous amount of the dense, wet foam. Sipping beer through the foam elevates the beer-drinking experience, much like how cold foam over cold brew elevates the coffee-drinking experience. I really enjoyed the tropical and vibrant flavours in the mango passionfruit. The perfect thirst-quencher for the scorching hot day!

For apples, we chose the “Hot” oyster mushrooms and the seafood chowder. Loved the crispy cornmeal coating on the fried oyster mushrooms, which were drizzled in hot honey. Would’ve loved even more of that tasty hot honey slathered over every piece. Served with pickles and a parmesan dip, this dish beats hot chicken and pickles any day!

The seafood chowder was a creamy New England style, with a good amount of mussels, clams, salmon, and cod. The grilled slices of sourdough that it was served with was well toasted, and was the perfect vessel to scoop up the chunks of seafood goodness with.

For mains, we shared the steak frites with chimmichurri add-on, Dungeness crab spaghettini, and the spiced cauliflower & polenta. The 8-oz flat-iron steak was cooked more medium, than medium-well, but the horseradish cream and chimmichurri helped to add moisture and a flavour explosion.

The al dente-cooked spaghettini had a nice crustacean aroma and flavour.. There was just enough broth to coat each noodle, and bits of juicy crab were a nice surprise. I liked the pops of sweetness from the corn kernels and the crunch from the toasted panko breadcrumb topping.

The cauliflower was a hefty main all on its own. Tender, perfectly cooked spiced cauliflower, complimented by nutty romesco sauce, toasted hazelnuts, and the creamiest square of polenta, generously topped with arugula and mixed greens! The tangy green olive bits were a nice addition, to add another layer of flavour and some acidity.

The younger kiddos enjoyed kids’ cheeseburgers and fries. The burgers were huge. Little dude could barely get a proper bite into it! Shockingly, he was able to finish the entire thing all by himself, including the fries!

Hubby ordered a pint of Ketsch Kölsch to wash everything down with. He enjoyed sipping the beer through the thick head of foam. So satisfying.

Don’t think I forgot about dessert! Back to that Windy’s twister: a cup of creamy and fragrant vanilla custard soft-serve and refreshing berry sorbet, which we enjoyed al fresco on the breezy patio.

Love the postcard of Centennial Beach, circa 1960 that came with the check!

Don’t forget to grab a 4-pack or two of canned beers to take home from the cosy retail space tucked to the left of the main entrance. Lots of cool branded merch, like mugs, shirts, hats, towels too!

We were so stuffed from the meal that we had to roll down the ramp!

The Southlands development, where Four Winds is located, is such a nice place to explore. Southlands is a farm and market district that brings the community together to celebrate people, food, and agriculture.

Across the street from Four Winds is an Earthwise garden, a community garden, a market square for the monthly Southlands Tsawwassen Farmers Market, and the Grange building and Red Barn for community events. The air is just fresher here and the surroundings are so green. And of course, Centennial Beach just down the road. Huge playground, tennis courts, sandy beach, and you can practically walk all the way to South Surrey during low tide. Absolutely work the trek from Vancouver to Tsawwassen!