Brew Hut
Winter access: 7 hrs
Hut fee: $10 per person per night
About Brew Hut
About Brew Hut
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.
How to get there
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
Conditions reports
New reportLost 1.5L Nalgene Adam Steele
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 didn’t have snowshoes so had to turn back! We hiked 13Km with total 45pounds weight on our back and didn’t 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 wasn’t 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. I’d 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 didn’t use a lot of wood because it wasn’t 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 didn’t use much as it was very warm overnight. Aside from the friendly mouse family, we didn’t 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 ~5ºC 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 wasn’t 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
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 won’t 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. There’s still more firewood to be taken up at the trailhead.
Oct. 29, 2023
I have lost a Arc’teryx 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
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
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 deepened—the 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
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 didn’t 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
We hiked up from Roe Creek on July 22nd. We parked just before the bridge that crosses Roe Creek. There is a massive wash out, a few high-clearance vehicles managed a bit further. 2.4km in, there man-made obstructions and no way to carry on with any vehicle.
From the parking, it took us 4h to the hut. We hiked through meadows of over 2m tall fireweed. Plenty of streams and water along the way. The trail is in great condition. Sunny and hot. A few small patches of snow around the hut. Great time for a swim in the lake at the hut.
10 people stayed in the hut for the night with another 3 in a tent. Several other groups camped at Brew Lake and visited the hut during the day, evening and morning.
Observations: Hut is in great condition, everything in working order. The door of the wood shed seems to have been blown open at the hinges already a while back.
The next day, it took us 2h45m down to the parking, cloudy but hot.
July 23, 2023
The trail and hut were in great condition. Plenty of water and some snow left for drinking. The only thing in dire shape was the door to the woodshed. The door was dissociated from the hinges and is haging on with some makeshift contraption. it would take two new hinges and some screws to reattach the door to the shed.
July 19, 2023
July 14 - no snow on the trail. We parker right past the "heavily deactivated road" at Roe Creek. Half of the hike is on a forest service road with no shade. There is enough streams along the way to fill up your water bottle. The hut is simple and clean. We had the hut for ourselves. Loved it!!! The booking system is great!Outside toilet is nice and clean.
Beautiful views. Highly recommended as well as a swim in the lake! Thank you!
July 14, 2023
Awesome weekend! Parked just before the washed out bridge (summer parking) and hiked in from there. A little over 4.5h to the hut (with heavy packs at a very relaxed pace with a few breaks). Trail very well marked/defined until the lake. Snow and occasional postholing started a little bit above the lake, but as a previous poster from the past week had mentioned, microspikes weren't too helpful. Spotwx forecast was spot on: shorts/t-shirts during the day and spent the evening in puffies and toques. Prob went down to 5 degree C overnight, as forecasted. Only saw a few other day hikers on the way up and there was just one other group at the hut, which was incredible for the July long weekend. The Brew Hut poo hut was very clean/tidy and not too nasty ... everyone's been following the instructions to remain seated for the full performance I guess. Re: wood - didn't pay much attention.. my guess is woodshed is 1/4-1/2 full. Loved reading through the VOC journals at the hut! Thanks VOC!
July 4, 2023
While approaching the roe creek bridge on the descent, I saw a large black bear and cub run into the woods heading south on the east side of the creek. Luckily she wasn't feeling aggressive. Also noticed a significant amount of fresh/ up to a week old bear scat along the entirety of the logging road to the trail head so it might be possible that they've been in the area for a while/may stick around. Just a heads up for those planning on going up.
Trail was muddy after leaving the forest but fine, snow started a couple hundred meters up the trail from the lake, maybe a 1ft deep at the most but melting fast. Certain areas could certainly use some love and maybe a chainsaw/Digging. No significant bugs to speak of, but I was only up in the area for a day.
June 28, 2023
Well marked all the way to the brew lake, trail condition is great. 2-3 feet deep of snow after the lake. No need for crampons or snowshoes. The hut itself is in good condition too.
June 25, 2023
The hut was in good order and mostly tidy. We loved the trip - so thank you!!
June 24, 2023
Quick trip up to the hut after work. 4hours up, 3hours down from Roe bridge parking to hut, 10km ~1000m gain. Lots of snow after the lower lake, basically all the way to the hut but made it without snowshoes and minor posthole-ing. Hut is in good shape and trail is well marked. Lots and lots of mosquitos.
June 23, 2023
Hut was in great condition. Snow starting from just before the lake. Fairly slush made for a little slow going but not too bad, spikes and snowshoes not of much help (some in the group used each and didn’t make much difference). To be clear, the bridge that was removed awhile back has indeed been put back in. I found lots of conflicting information about this so thought I’d say it here so everyone actually knows! Many park just before the bridge as the washout is huge, but passable if you really wanted to. Not much point since the washouts continue after the bridge anyway.
June 18, 2023
8 of us went up, 8 of us came back. Trail had no real issues, we could drive to the trail head before the bridge (49.990584, -123.190993). Big water bar just before the bridge - not drivable, and following the bridge the path is also not drivable. Water bars were essentially impassable, followed by big logs blocking the path. Turn for trailhead from road was easy to miss. Trail was snow free until the small pond, then snow was on and off, until hitting the alpine meadow where snow, lots of it. Snowshoes or skis ;) were essential. We observed no issues with the trail, no avy exposure. Took us 4ish hours up and 3 hours down with faf.
Hut was in good condition - One of the lower windows was broken, but we fixed it with some brute force. Issue with the chimney was documented and will be reported back to the VOC. Woodshed door wasn't closing great. Coleman stove is working, but out of gas. Sign on the door was worn down/hard to read.
Summited Keg and spring skiing was awesome!
May 28, 2023