Without Frank Appleton craft beer quite likely would be nothing like it is in British Columbia today. I’m not saying it would not have happened but between Frank Appleton the author of this Biography and John Mitchell opening up the first Brew Pub in Canada since prohibition they helped spark the revolution we have today.
This book was a real page turner for people interested in the Craft Beer industry in this province. You may not have heard of him but in craft beer circles he is a rock star. The book starts with his early career as an Industrial Microbiologist and his eventual immigration from England to Canada. It talks of his time at O’Keefe Brewery one of the big breweries of the 1960’s and how that part of his career progressed and then regressed. It gets into how John Mitchell got him on board to start Horseshoe Bay Brewing at the Troller Pub in West Vancouver in 1982. This was the first brewpub in Canada and one of the first in North America after prohibition!
Not only did he help set up Horseshoe Bay Brewing’s system and their first recipes but he has been involved with many other breweries in Canada and around the world. One of the most impressive breweries that he helped design and set up was for Deschutes Brewery in Oregon. He did such a good job that when they upgraded their system they hired him back to design that system also.
Without delving into to much detail about the book and ruining the reading experience I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves craft beer and its history. You do not have to be from British Columbia to enjoy this book as Frank Appleton helped spur on the Craft Beer boom in the country of Canada and helped get some really popular breweries up and running outside of Canada.
It is people Like Frank that make the Craft Beer industry the amazing industry and make people like me want to advocate for it!
Pick up your copy of the book at from the following locations:
Mike's Craft Beer 
Sounds like a really interesting read.I’m a huge craft beer fan and have seen it grow exponentially over the last 10 to 20 years. Nice to see it from a Canadian view point.
He also helped set up a brewery in California that was more recently bought out by a different craft brewery. Can’t remember the name off hand. It was a good read. If you pick it up I hope you enjoy it.
I just finished this ad./book?
It’s funny how someone who walks from a brewing job, Nov.1992. From swans.
changes all hopping in all recipes can get such a good review.
Cheers
Chris Johnson
brewer swans 1992-2003
I would say that one of the two fathers of Craft Beer in BC and Canada is going to get a good review of his book if it is well written and fun to read. I didn’t know the beer of swans back in 1992 and I was definitely not drinking it then. Did he change it all from whole cone to pellet?