This hut was built in 2005 and sits at 1686 m on an exposed alpine ridge just south of Mt. Brew. It sleeps about 12 people comfortably, but it has fit as many as 20. The hut is open to non-motorized, non-commercial users.
The Brew area receives huge amounts of snow in winter and is a popular destination for backcountry skiing. In summer, hikers visit the heather meadows around Brew Lake, swim in the tarns, and walk up nearby Mt. Brew.
The hut has a wood stove (winter use only), a solar-powered light, and an outhouse. Firewood should be used sparingly, because it is carried in by volunteers. There are small tarns west of the hut for drinking water (no swimming!), although in winter it is sometimes necessary to melt snow. For more information, see the VOC Wiki.
Turn onto Chance Creek FSR from Hwy 99 (1.8 km south of the Garibaldi Rubble Creek turnoff). The road is rough but passable for 2WD vehicles until near km 4 or km 5. In winter, park in the ploughed parking lot at km 1.6, shared with snowmobilers and Powder Mtn Catskiing. Continue up the road and keep right at major junctions. In summer, park at the new bridge over Roe Creek (km 5.9). For the next 2.5 km, the road is heavily deactivated and is slow travel on skis (but fine in summer). Stay right at major junctions until the trail leaves the road in a cutblock (50.00728, -123.18716; easy to miss). Walk through the forest to Brew Lake, then follow gentle slopes northwest then north to a col. The hut is just east of the col.
In winter, this route is 13.2 km and 1300 m elevation gain. In summer, it is 9.0 km and 990 m elevation. The last section of trail is in open subalpine terrain, is unmarked, and is covered by snow well into the summer. Whiteout conditions are common in every season, and you should have a GPS or be proficient navigating with a map and compass to reach the hut. In winter and spring, there are a few short sections of avalanche terrain.
2022 Brew GPS track
Date: November 2-3, 2024
Route: Roe Creek
Distance: Total 9.38km each way (~5 km on FSR & ~5 km from old trailhead to hut)
Total Time: 5 hours up to the hut, 3:45 down
Conditions: ~2-3 feet of fresh snow at the hut
Had a great night up at brew hut. Saturday was cloudy with a little snowfall. Sunday morning on our way out was sunny and beautiful. Hut has 2 large pots for snow collection, a couple extra summer sleeping bags and some yoga style sleeping mats.
If you're heading up plan for snow and cold. Gaiters and proper boots were enough for us.
We did lose a can of bear spray (fell out of a side pocket without being noticed). If anyone comes across a Fronterisman can please reach out.
Nov. 2, 2024
We drove a SUV MODO car up till the Summer parking lot. That went well! There were some really big gaps on the FSR that was sometimes difficult to get over with the car.
The trail via roe creek was good! There was so mud here and there, that makes it slippery. Waterproof shoes are a must, maybe some gaiters and pols are good for the balance. If you love Mushrooms there are all kind of mushrooms đ on the way really cool. There is no snow around the summit yet. The Views where amazing! On the way up, follow the rock piles, these help keep you on track. There is one on the FSR to the start of the real trail ahead. In the hut there are 6 spare mats and 3 warm sleeping bags. There is a stove and people tried to use it but they couldnât figure how it works. So bring extra little stoves for Iron Chef. There are still 2 cooking pots. We had a great time! We all loved it. We are back soon Brew! đ
Oct. 15, 2024
The trail via roe creek is very wet, so waterproof shoes are a must. There is a lot of snow close to the summit. On the way up, follow the rock piles, these help keep you on track.
The hut has around 6 spare mats and 3 warm sleeping bags. Packing a jet boil and a hot water bottle saved us. I wish I would have packed slippers for the hut. The hut has 2 cooking pots.
Oct. 5, 2024
The road to rogue creek was a bit tricky as there were some deeper holes. The trail was in good condition and easy to find. We didn't notice anything broken in the hut except for a role of toilet paper that was half eaten by a mouse (that we also saw at night).
Oct. 2, 2024
Started the hike up at 6pm on Sept 27th, got to the hut by 11:30pm. Fit 13 VOC'ers inside the hut (3 on the bench downstairs, 1 on the table, the rest upstairs). At night it was 4'C and the temperature in the hut was completely fine (no firewood used). The firewood shelter has some wood left for winter but should get restocked (a few logs inside Brew hut as well). The window beside the door (to your right as you enter) is broken but can be opened and closed by pushing it closed from the outside, no issues. Trail is in good shape. Snow fell and accumulated the morning of Sept 29th. Overall no issues, only great views!
Sept. 30, 2024
There are 2 windows with broken mechanism. You can open but not close them. They are the ones on the wall where thereâs the counter. Itâs still possible to close them if someone pushes the window from the outside of the hut.
The trail is becoming overgrown, especially at the first part, in the cutblock. Thereâs also some sections in the woods that is starting to be overgrown.
Otherwise the hut is beautiful. Thank you for the hard work!!
Aug. 20, 2024
Took about 4.5 hours to the hut and 2.45 hrs down. Road was fine to get up to. No issues in the hut!
July 27, 2024
The windows on the west side of the hut do not close with the crank. We tried to push them closed from the outside and were able to lock one but not the other. One of the hinges is broken on the woodshed door as well.
July 20, 2024
The road was in perfect condition and there is no snow till we parked. We had to park in the first washout as it is impossible to cross so that adds 3.5 additional km to the hike. It took us 5.50 hours to get there from the parking lot
The hut was in perfect condition, low in wood tho
The trail was covered in snow after the first 2K and snowshoes are highly recommended. We got hit by a snowstorm on Saturday (May 18th) so please be prepared for all type of weather and we had -5 on Saturday night (again be prepared)
Some mice inside the hut, please be careful with the food and donât leave garbage behind.
Thank you VOC, you are amazing đ
May 20, 2024
One member of the group had bad knee, we turned around 7 km up the trail because the pace on the small trail went down to 1 km/h. Snow was patchy on the upper part of the clear cut area. Very slushy and heavy snow. Heard and saw avalanche on the opposite mountain.
May 3, 2024
Road is consistently snow-free up to R200. From there it's patchy for a few hundred metres before it becomes a struggle to walk. Others might think it's worth the sufferfest to ski, but we were quite happy to opt for slowshoes and enjoy the views.
Please email me at [email protected] if you come across my (quite new) Nalgene which I stowed quite carelessly on my pack on the way down. Who knows, there may be a beer in it for your trouble ;)
April 17, 2024
If puffy is yours contact me [email protected] to arrange pick up. Skiable from the R200 branch (minus 1 or 2 stream crossings) and could drive to summer lot and skin from there with some avoiding gravel patches.
March 30, 2024
We had to park at 4.2 km of Roe Creek fsr due to snow. Snow was patchy up to the first switch back where we headed up R200. It is still possible to ski down to Roe Creek Road if you take your skis off for the cross ditches. All of these are melted and flowing. Snow is firm and spring like. We had about 10 cm of fresh snow on top of corn snow and ice. The cabin is in great condition, there is still fire wood left.
March 27, 2024
We went up last Sunday night using snowshoes. We parked our car at the junction where the gate is.
From there to the next junction branch R200 very little snow coverage. There is snow to start skiing at this point, the snow was hard until the hut.
The hut was very dirty downstairs. We cleaned and repaired the piece of metal under the chimney. There is firewood.
We had one of the best sunset ever!
Next morning it was white out conditions and snowing.
March 24, 2024
We took Brew mountain via Roa Creek Trail unfortunately past R200 snow patch was dense and we didnât have snowshoes so had to turn back! We hiked 13Km with total 45pounds weight on our back and didnât even make it to our destination! Wish we knew best trail to access the Hut.
March 17, 2024
After waiting for an unexpected bridge repair. We made it to the start of the trail around 11 AM. We found that there was no snow after the switchback on the fire road around kilometer seven we looked at the mountains around and saw that there wasnât much snow either. decided to turn around
Feb. 22, 2024
Like others I ended up transitioning to my skis basically at the tree line, 1,350m or so. Snow was extremely variable but I had incredible views on Monday. Full whiteout for the ski out on Tuesday. I was able to ski a little lower into the forest, maybe 1,250m. Chopped a bunch of wood, gave the hut a good sweep and really enjoyed my stay. Iâd say firewood shed is 1/3 full.
Feb. 19, 2024
Hike up to about 1350m elevation, don't bother even trying to ski, you will need to remove skis at every water bar on the road. Shouldn't need cramp-ons. Snow cover on the road got worse from after a day with the sun. We parked about 1.5km from the bridge/washout, road looked a little slick for 2wd.
Hut is clean and in great shape! There is a Carbon Monoxide alarm, however it was mounted up on the shelf above head height... it won't do much good there for anybody on the bottom floor, VOC should mount this near to the floor, thanks. Also, couldn't find a 2024 guest book!
Skiing was not great, thick icy crust on top of heavy snow, with many wind affected areas on top of it all, if you're only going for the views you might be better off in snowshoes. Survival skinning at best up to brew peak and keg peak. Good times!
Feb. 17, 2024
We drove to the washout just before the Roe Creek bridge in a truck with no snow on the road. I would recommend bringing running shoes or hiking boots as it wasn't possible to start skinning until about 1350m elevation. The snowpack was solid enough that you can walk on top of the snow in shoes until you put skis on. The hut was in good condition, the leak in the ceiling was fixed by VOC members on February 10th. There is a 1lb propane tank in the hut left by a previous party that is incompatible with the current Coleman stove, it may come in handy one day.
Good skiing to be had on North and East facing slopes down to about 1200m if you can stay out of the trees with about 15cm of facet snow on top of a very solid base. South and West slopes were affected by wind or sun and were very firm.
Feb. 9, 2024
Just a few of us ended up going to Brew hut for the weekend. The warm storms rained to the top, washing away most of the snow around the hut. Water bars and creek crossings were difficult. Hut is in good shape but there is a strong leak around the flume of the stove and the roof. The loft floor remained soaked all weekend. Needs some caulking or something. There's about 1/4 of the wood pile remaining.
Jan. 27, 2024
Nice trip to brew with cold temperatures and fresh tracks after the spur turn off the main logging road. Beautiful! Hut is in good shape. The waterbars on the road were not as much of an impediment with all this recent powder. Took us about 6.5h to approach from the parkinglot. The apline is windblasted but the trees ski'd great.
Jan. 13, 2024
Unlike the previous group from December 15th where they mentioned crossing (30 - 40) water bars - we actually encountered 53 on this trip. Be ready to boot pack 3/4 of the way up barely no snow on the FSR let alone along the trail once you leave the road. It took us 8.5 hrs mostly due to boot packing. Hut in good shape no issues. We didnât use a lot of wood because it wasnât that cold and we only stayed one night.
Dec. 22, 2023
The approach and exit was rough. 30-40 open water bars to cross, and then some very patchy coverage up to the lower lake. Very heavy snow and 5 logs each on our packs made this a 6hr approach! The hut is in good shape - log store about half full but we didnât use much as it was very warm overnight. Aside from the friendly mouse family, we didnât see anyone for three days and found coverage and snow quality above 1500m to be surprisingly decent. Thanks for having us!
Dec. 15, 2023
3 former VOCers made their way to the hut on skis. Parked 1.5 km from the bridge on snow. Knee deep heavy snow had accumulated in the past 24h making for tough trail breaking all the way to the entrance of the forest. From there on, coverage was good in general, 1.25 m in many places, but a lot of hidden hazards await for you if you plan to ski back down. One window was left open when we arrived at the hut which had caused a fair bit of snow drift into the hut. It appears to not close properly, but please make sure you close it making sure the lever is in a position where it can't turn itself as the strong winds in the area would otherwise pull the window open for you. Outhouse has lots of room, but snow is accumulating in the hole too. Some bits of garbage, unwanted items found in the upper area. Please pack out your stuff. With another meter of snow things will become more fun. 1.2 m of snow in the meadows, sitting atop a crust and facets. 7.5h from car to hut.
Dec. 3, 2023
The 2023 Brew Debacle went up this weekend to the hut. Skinnable snow didn't really start till past the clear cut at the trailhead (Around 1100m of elevation), though there was shaded ice that went down to the R200/cypress turn off. It was melting on the way down on Sunday. Water bars are still present and flowing.
The alpine had a fair bit of surface hoar and facets forming on top of a crust. It made for great skiing but is definitely worth keeping an eye out for as the season progresses. There was also pinwheeling on South Facing slopes. It was clear and sunny the whole weekend, and probably got up to ~5ÂșC on Sunday.
We moved the pile of firewood that Cassandra and Tom placed on the ridge last year. Some wood from the Roe Creek and trailhead piles were moved as well, though there is definitely a lot more to move.
All in all a great weekend.
Nov. 26, 2023
We were a group of 3 trying to skin up to brew hut!
Roe creek FSR is clear and passable (with high clearance, used 4WD for going over ditches) until the parking lot at the bridge where the road becomes deactivated
Boot packed our skis/splitboard until 900m elevation, then there was enough snow to switch to skins
Skinning wasnât feasible for us after entering the forest. At times, we were moving at a pace of under 500m/h because of how difficult it was to break a trail in the snow. Snow was knee~waist deep in many places, very very soft and super STICKY. Snow shoes would be the better move at least until snowpack is more established. Decided to turn back at about 3.5km from the hut due to fatigue and lack of daylight. Ran into a group of two on the way back who also decided to turn around. It took us approx 12h car to car. Leave for your hike early!!!!!
Nov. 11, 2023
We only made to the big boulder field to the left (1.3km?) from the trailhead following the existing tracks made by a 3 people of backcountry skiing/snowboarding group, we decided to return when we met the 3 people group who had to return at about 3.5 km to the hut.
We used snow shoes and ice spikes, however we found it was very slow to proceed and difficult to look for the trail signs in dark. Generally the trail was covered by deep snow (0.5 m - 1.0 m ) from the trail head. Over 20 ditches we had to jump over from the parking lot to trailhead. Sad we had to drop off the wood log the one we carried from the second log pile along the FSR at the big rock where we turned around. So need patience and give yourself enough time.
Nov. 11, 2023
Went up with a friend from Nov 5-7, saw another party of 3 the second night. ~15cm of snow fell while we were up there. Snow started after the first lake. Microspikes helpful, but no need for anything more right now.
Hut is in good condition and tidy. Hut log book is nearly full. The trail was in good condition and well marked. Access to the trail head on Roe Creek was the same as described in previous posts. Lots of new wood to bring up -- wood shed is a bit less than half full.
We had a great time - thanks VOC for such a well maintained hut!
Nov. 8, 2023
I have lost a Arcâteryx black puffy jacket along the trail, possibily near the creek crossings in the middle. Please please please keep an eye out for me and text 777-321-1322 I will be forever grateful!
Oct. 29, 2023
Group of 16 VOCers spent the night at the hut October 28th.
FSR: the ditch just before Roe Creek bridge remains deep. Before that there are a few smaller ditches that can be handled by cars with higher clearance but one of our 2WDs got stuck and had to park 1.5km before the bridge.
Trail: is in good condition. There is some mud (easily avoidable) and ice on the lower parts of the trail, some snow (5mm?) on the boulder fields (just enough to make it slippery but no need for microspikes / floatation yet), and higher up, the creek and lakes are frozen over. Obviously it wonât remain like this for long though.
Hut: hut, outhouses and woodshed all in good condition. Tarns are frozen, we broke some ice and melted snow for water. Thereâs still more firewood to be taken up at the trailhead.
Oct. 29, 2023
Thank you to the previous party for posting about the broken window and cash box. Two VOC'ers went up on Monday and took care of both issues.
The giant ditch right before the Roe Creek bridge has been deepenedâthe logs that used to bridge the bottom have been removed. For those with 4WD rigs who were used to driving up to the R200 turnoff, this now adds about 30 minutes of walking on the road.
Oct. 9, 2023
We did a 2 nights trip on October 6th to 8th, 2 people in my group. Trail was easy to follow; when you get out of the forest, cairns help you find the way to the hut quite easily. There is sufficient water in the tarns close to the hut. Amazing weather, incredible views. Hut was a bit messy, and the mechanism of the window nearest the door is broken - it can't be closed. Not an issue by 15 degrees, but could be a problem in the winter. Money box is full - I had trouble inserting my contribution. But these are super minor issues - overall we LOVED our stay!
Oct. 9, 2023
Took the winter trail from the Brew Main FSR. Took us 6 hours with heavy backpacks. Would have been way easier and shorter to take the Roe Creek Trail.
Hut was great! It was 8 of us there the first night and 6 the second night.
Hut has everything you might need.
The area is just gorgeous!
We were lucky to have a sunny Sunday, but had to hike back in a rain and fog.
Thank you VOC! We had a great weekend
Oct. 2, 2023
Money box is full, I replaced the pump for the white gas stove.
Sept. 23, 2023
The hut was in good conditions and not much to take notes about. The only thing worth noting is the deteriorating road conditions on the way there. If you want to get closer to the trailhead you will probably need a 4WD with high clearance fairly soon.
Sept. 17, 2023
I booked this trip months ago for my friends 30th and the night before we went, I checked the reservation and 34 PEOPLE had signed up to the hut. Therefore we didn't even try and go up. There should be a cap on the reservation system as we didn't want to go all the way up not knowing if we could even stay there or not.
Extremely disappointed that we couldn't go. :(
Sept. 16, 2023
5 hours to the hut difficult hike my first time going up a Boulder field great times! Gorgeous little hut happy to play gutair and games at the top! Hut was in great condition
Aug. 28, 2023
Hut is in great condition and tidy. There was some wood chips on the ground when we got in but this was easily swept up. We went on a Wednesday and didn't see a soul on the trail.
Myself and three friends did the trail via the VOC trail (Roe Creek / Winter trail). We had heard reports that the bridge had been decommissioned but when we arrived there was a beautiful sturdy bridge there. However there was a large water bar just in front of it and I wasn't confident that my car would make it so we parked at the decommission spot. Beautiful trail and it was easy to route find. Bugs were bad but I've definitely been in worse. Lots of flies and horseflies on the way up and then very determined mosquitoes at the hut. They died down at nightfall though and we had some beautiful star watching and saw two meteorites!! We loved all the reading materials in the hut and enjoyed reading the binder about the history of the Brew 3 - a fun and hilarious read. Thanks!
Aug. 16, 2023
Parked before the bridge at 700m in elevation on the roe creek road as it was too hard to drive any further after that with a Chevy volt 4wd all the other larger cars were also parked there too you would (jeeps would also have a hard time continuing they would have to be extremely jacked). FSR was easy to navigate, forest parts were abit overgrown from the flowers but its all good. For the most part trail was clear and easy to follow, hut and outhouse was clean when we got there and when we left. Lots of bugs out from sunrise to sunset then the bugs disappear at dark. Warm weather sleeping bag was fine outside in a tent by the hut. Saw a mouse by the outside bench area. There is a small patch of snow left by the hut. ponds near by if you need to fill your bottles. Hike up to brew peak was hard to navigate at times and kinda sketchy at parts but manageable. Its worth the extra short hike up.
Aug. 6, 2023
The trail is becoming a bit overgrown in some parts and some of the markers have fallen off the trees or rocks. The hut is in good condition however the door to the firewood hut is broken and open. We didnât use any of the stoves however those were a bit dirty and looked quite rundown. I also believe the stairs to the first bathroom were slightly broken. Other than that it was an amazing stay and lovely hut, thanks so much for the opportunity to hike this beautiful mountain!
Aug. 2, 2023