Once upon a time I toyed with the idea of becoming a wine connoisseur. However, as I enrolled in classes and went on winery tours I was turned off by the nuanced snobbery and feeling of inferiority I sensed whenever I wasn’t “perceptive” enough to taste a subtle hint of cloves or grass — that and my wallet ran dry. When I first moved to Vancouver Island, I was stunned by how seriously the locals take their beer. There are four local breweries and three brewpubs in Victoria alone — not bad for a city of 330,000 — making it a microbrewery Mecca. Finally I found the muse I’d been searching for: craft beer.

Every Feb. 14, we’re inundated with pink decorations, boxes of chocolates and bouqets of flowers. It’s a time of romantic dinners, stressed-out boyfriends and exchanges of frilly, colourful cards. But not everyone likes the holiday of love.