Guinness Tastes Better in Dublin
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 | Beer, Breweries, Pubs | 5 Comments
Our extended stay across the pond was always going to involve a trip to Dublin and a visit to the Guinness Storehouse. I obviously needed to look into the widely speculated rumor/myth/fact that Guinness tastes better in Ireland. Hopefully you’ve already gathered from the title of this post that I did indeed find this to be the case (if not it’s you, not me). I also find Guinness to taste better in London than in Vancouver, and better in Dublin than in London. Why might this be? I think the answer has to be freshness.
Gate to Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, other tourists taking pictures
Beer is like food and the same principles of freshness apply (although Guinness isn’t a meal in a glass; it has the same calorie content as most other beers and it’s the nitrogen bubbles that make you feel full). The differences in flavor I tasted I would describe in terms of freshness and staleness. The Guinness over here has a deeper roasted malt flavor than the Guinness at home and just tastes fresher, where the latter might have something to do with the oils contributed by the hops not yet breaking down. Guinness in Vancouver tastes like a mere shadow of what I tasted in Dublin.
Brew Kettle in the Guinness Storehouse
When you consider that Guinness is brewed in Dublin and is widely consumed in the British Isles (meaning kegs don’t sit around for long), it makes sense that the majority of the Guinness consumed here is fresh as can be. Whereas Guinness in Vancouver has taken a boat trip across the Atlantic, a train trip across Canada, and then sat in a BC Liquor Cartel warehouse or shelf for a while. Had I any foresight whatsoever, I might have brought a can of Guinness over here to consume along side a fresh pint from the Storehouse in direct comparison. In addition to being fresher, Guinness over here is much better taken care of. Bars carrying Guinness have Guinness representatives coming into clean their keg lines quite frequently. Bars are supposed to clean their lines regularly anyway, but most don’t. Dirty lines can sully a good beer, but no Guinness in Ireland is subjected to such shame.
Barrels in the Guinness Storehouse, they show you the whole industrial beer making process
This past year we were contacted by Guinness’ PR firm in Canada and asked to write about why Guinness was so remarkable for it’s 250th birthday. I wasn’t so sure Guinness was that remarkable, from a beer perspective at least. Now, having visited the Guinness Storehouse, I know why Guinness has thrived for 250 years, marketing and branding. The Storehouse itself is all part of the experience and the most impressive piece of beer tourism I’ve ever seen. You are ushered through five floors of Guinness history, from how it’s made to Guinness adverts of ages gone by. And what happens at the end? A free pint of fresh Guinness in the rooftop bar with panorama city views of Dublin. The Guinness Storehouse is a must see for anyone, not just beer lovers. You will surely feel more affection for Guinness having completed the tour, sheer marketing brilliance.
The bar on top of the Guinness Storehouse, pouring Guinness is an art
There’s more to Dublin that just Guinness though, and we made a point of checking out one of Dublin’s microbreweries. We actually ended up at Porterhouse Brewing Company’s Temple Bar location more than once. This maze like pub spanning several floors was packed out on both Friday and Saturday nights. They had the most amazing Guitar player on Friday night too (he put my Guitar Hero dominance on medium to shame). The beer was phenomenal too, way better than Guinness, we’re talking top quality microbrewery stuff. I particularly enjoyed their Oyster Stout and the Temple Brau lager. This is a great pub and another must visit.
Do you remember when lying was okay in advertising? Oh wait, it's still okay.
We also did a Literary Pub Crawl of Dublin. It was really fun, not for the beer, but for the story telling and literary history. Turns out every famous Irish writer was a massive drunk. But we were only in Dublin for two days and did our fair share of drinking, so who are we to judge?
Cheers,
Chris
Canada Day in Trafalgar Square
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 | Events | 1 Comment
Turns out there is a giant Canada Day celebration in Trafalgar Square every year. It’s an all day event featuring a road hockey tournament during the day and a raucous concert in the evening. They even had Canadian beer! What beer did they choose to represent all of Canada to London? Sleeman‘s honey brown and genuine draft. Not what I would have chosen, but probably the most popular beer available nation wide in Canada. It was all gone by the time I showed up anyway and I had to drink Carlsberg, gross. Also on hand was Tim Horton‘s coffee and doughnuts, Mission Hill wine, and Bison burgers. This was no slouch of a party either, the concert featured Jully Black and the Hawksley Workman, among others. It was one of the better Canada Day celebrations I’ve ever been to, which is a bit sad. As a nation, we’re more interested in the day off than truly celebrating our nation. We’re just too polite to make a scene…
Canada Day in Trafalgar Square
The most amazing part of the evening for me involved one of the Canadians we were meeting turning up in a circa 1994 Gino Odjick Canuck jersey. There were thousands of drunk Canadians in Trafalgar Square that night and a good portion of them, most of the ones from BC at least, all stopped by to hug, pose with, or otherwise worship the Gino jersey. The first incident I saw involved an extremely attractive woman practically throwing herself at the Gino jersey. If you are a young single Canadian, I recommend showing up next year in a Gino (or suitable 1994 Canuck hero, Linden, Ronning, Mclean, Momesso, Adams, Babych and others not including Bure might do the trick) because you’ll be the toast of the town. I always knew the 1994 Canuck run was a big deal, but it pretty much defines my generation. If nothing else, we have that in common. It’s a bit embarassing though, what with us not even winning. Ginooo!
The Power of Gino is immense
After the celebration we decided to go to the Maple Leaf, the one Canadian bar in London. Guess what? So did everyone else and we didn’t get in. I’ve yet to check out the Maple Leaf, but I’ll get there and let you know how it goes.
Cheers,
Chris
Hops and Glory is a good book
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 | Beer | 2 Comments
Erik bought me the book Hops and Glory as a Christmas present last year and I just recently finished it. The book is written by a man, Pete Brown, who endeavors to take India Pale Ale by boat from England to India. Not only this, but he plans to take his beer the long way around the Cape of Good Hope. He reckons the journey hasn’t been made this way since the Suez Canal opened in 1869 (I’m sure he’s right, why would you bother?). Despite only hearing good things, it took me a while to get into this book because I sincerely doubted there was enough material on the topic of IPA to fill a book. I was wrong, this book is a fascinating journey through not just the history of IPA, but also of British colonial rule in India and of the British brewing industry.
The first part of the book describes (and laments) the dilution of the IPA style from a good, strong, hoppy beer to a mere shadow of its former self in England. Having lived in England for a while now, I can confirm there is very little India Pale Ale that we West Coast hopheads would deem up to snuff. Greene King IPA is the most common IPA you’ll find around these parts and it more closely resembles Alexander Keith’s IPA (blah) than anything good. Side-note: I have seen Sierra Nevada Torpedo multiple times around town. Not to give the book away, but Pete does his research and brews his IPA as it would have been brewed in Burton for export in the early 19th century. It sounded delicious.
The book then alternates chapters between Pete’s voyage and the story of that historical voyage. Knowing nothing about international shipping, I was just as enthralled by the journey as I was with the history. I don’t want to spoil the book for you, but it’s crazy to think there is so much of this globalized world that remains so foreign to us city dwellers. As for the history, I found the details of British rule in India and the history of English brewing very illuminating in understanding aspects of modern politics and commercial brewing. I had no idea that Bass was the UK’s first registered trademark and was once the world’s largest brand. I was also taught in school to think the British were benevolent colonists, misguided in trying to help modernize their territories. I was wrong, the British were a big bunch of jerks.
This book is not as much about beer as you would think and would appeal to all those interested in interesting things. I recommend giving it a read. There was one very profound quote in the book that I particularly wanted to share with you, but now I can’t find it.
Cheers,
Chris
Pubs that used to be banks
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 | Pubs | 1 Comment
Having lived in London for a few months now I’m getting pretty used to hearing that this or that pub is hundreds of years old and Charles Dickens just happened to go on a bender with William Wallace here. Okay, that’s a bit of stretch, but I have been to pubs that Dickens frequented when he was writing his horribly depressing books (I’m looking you right in the eye Hard Times). Anyway, we had some friends visit recently who wanted to check out some pubs that used to be banks. Rick Steves tipped them off and it’s true, more than a few old bank buildings have turned into pubs. Turns out ATMs and some crisis that recently happened have negated the need for fancy old buildings in the banking industry, but the depressed bankers that remain still need to drink.
We ended up heading to the Counting House, which was built in 1893 as Prescott’s Bank, but is now a Fuller’s pub. They carry the whole Fuller’s line on tap or in bottles and I was pleased to enjoy a delicious Fuller’s London Porter (or five), which is surprisingly not readily available in London. The building itself was quite ornate for a pub, typical of the over the top opulence on display near the Bank tube station. If you’ve never been to London’s financial district, it is impressive. We’re talking fancy cars, everyone in suits, and people running around making deals that actually affect fluctuations in currency and the price of petrol (British for gas). As such, I really enjoy heading to the area in a t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops. If you enjoy drinking tasty beer in a pub that is a product of the financial industry’s well deserved misfortune, I recommend checking out a pub that used to be a bank.
Conversation over a pint at the Counting House
Cheers,
Chris
Boonies Southern Soul Now Open
Saturday, June 26th, 2010 | Beer, Food and Recipes, Review | 7 Comments
About a year ago I posted about a restaurant called Boonies BBQ & Soul Food that was located in the Cloverdale curling rink. Bonnie, the head chef and proprietor, quickly outgrew the curling rink as his reputation for delicious BBQ and comforting soul food grew larger than the curling rink could handle. Boonie has recently relocated to Langley and with a larger location and a full menu – including beer and southern classics such as Jambalaya, black-eyed peas, red beans and rice, cornbread and more. This new restaurant is aptly named Boonies Southern Soul.
Boonie and his wife Tina realized that Southern food and beer belong together and invited Chris and me to make a few food and bee paring recommendations. Chris had a hard time justifying a flight out to Vancouver just for this, so I went in solo. I helped put together a list of four different ales from local craft brewers that will all compliment different menu items.
Boonies Southern Soul is the real deal and I would encourage anyone with a passion for good food to go and check it out. Here is a sample of the current beer menu.
Amber Ale
The best match for this beer would be the pulled pork sandwich but it also pairs wonderfully with a good portion of the menu. Amber Ales tend to have a sweet malty flavour with a medium hop bit, which will work with the sweet and spicy flavours in many of the dishes.
Tree Brewing Thirsty Beaver Amber Ale
Pale Ale
Pale Ale is hoppier (citrusy, pleasant bitter flavour) than an amber ale and works well with spicy foods, but can also match earthier flavours, such as jambalaya. It would also work nicely with the BBQ Smoked Ribs, Cajun Chicken and the Hot Link Bites.
Tree Brewing Cutthroat Pale Ale
Nut Brown Ale
Nut Brown Ale is brown coloured ale with a mild hop flavour and a medium roasted malt flavour. This would work great with less spicy dishes such as BBQ Chicken or a Burger.
Dead Frog Brewing Nut Brown Ale
Stout
A Stout is a classic partner with smokey BBQ. A dark ale with mild hop flavour but tons of roasted malt flavour and has an almost sweet, smokey molasses flavour. This beer would work great with Burgers, Cheese Steak and would be wonderful with the BBQ Smoked Ribs!
Nelson Brewing Blackheart Stout
Cheers,
Erik
Strawberries and Cream, Beer at Wimbledon
Thursday, June 24th, 2010 | Beer | 1 Comment
One item on the to do list was always going to get done and that was to visit the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. We didn’t have tickets, but that didn’t stop the wife and I from heading down to Wimbledon from London to try our luck anyway. We waited 1.5 hours in a kilometer long line, but eventually made our way in. Entry to the grounds after 5PM cost us £14 and tickets to centre court after that were only £5 more. It was amazing to see centre court where so much tennis history has taken place, not to mention it’s where the Queen herself is sitting today. We saw Victoria Azarenka thrash Mirjana Lucic while making noises I felt would be more suitable in the bedroom than on a tennis court.
Start of the giant Wimbledon line
Centre Court at Wimbledon, across from the Royal Box
While at Wimbledon we obviously had to eat strawberries and cream. We brought our own strawberries (£2 for a large basket) and crème fraîche (£1), which we sprinkled brown sugar on. It was delightful. We also sampled the strawberries and cream sold at Wimbledon. For £2.50 we received eight strawberries sitting in what looked like unwhipped whipping cream sprinkled with sugar. It was not nearly as good and if you go to Wimbledon, I recommend bringing your own delightful concoction. We also brought our own bottle of champagne, which I found pretty crazy considering the attitudes in North American sports concerning outside alcohol. We were well equipped, but I still needed to check out what kind of beer was made available to patrons at the All England Club. Guinness and Grolsch for £4.40 a pint, not an English beer in sight. I was a bit surprised by that, but then we were in the chump area and not in one of the fancier clubs, chalets, restaurants or other gathering places of the privileged few.
Strawberries and Cream with Champagne at Wimbledon
Wimbledon was an amazing place to visit and I’m going to register for 2011 tickets when the lottery opens in September. We even caught the beginning of Isner vs Mahut on Court 18 in what we didn’t know would turn into the epic longest tennis match of all time. Turns out Boris Becker was watching too.
Boris Becker above Court 18
Cheers,
Chris
Father’s Day Beer Dinners
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 | Beer | No Comments
In case you’ve forgotten, it’s Father’s Day this Sunday! To celebrate the occasion a few BC breweries have got themselves involved in some Father’s Day beer dinners. If your Dad likes eating good food and drinking good beer, then I can’t thing of a better Fathery’s Day gift than a trip to one of these dinners:
- Central City in Surrey will be offering a three course meal, each course made with beer as an ingredient and paired with beer, for $35 anytime between 4PM and 8PM on Sunday, June 20th. I haven’t been to one of the Father’s Day dinners at Central City before, but I’ve seen pictures and heard Erik’s account of last year’s dinner. Without yet seeing the menu I can say, and trust me here, it’s worth the money.
- R&B Brewing is doing a Father’s Day dinner with DIVA at the Met in Vancouver. This dinner is a five course affair with each course paired with an R&B beer. On Saturday, June 19th from 7PM to 9:30PM this dinner can be yours for a mere $49. Again, I wasn’t there last year, but I heard the reviews and saw the pictures. It looked amazing, as does this year’s menu below.
Cheers,
Chris
Sockeye Salmon Season
Friday, June 11th, 2010 | Beer, Food and Recipes | 2 Comments
Wild BC Sockeye Salmon is delicious. The good news for all of us on the west coast of Canada is that this wonderful fish is now in season. Fatty fish, such as sockeye salmon, is a perfect match for a number of ales, my choice tonight was Brasserie DuPont Moinette Blond.
A fish such as Sockeye deserves to be treated with a great deal of respect; this fish has been over fished and the fishery in BC has been closed or severely limited the past few years making sockeye a treat, as the scarcity of this fish does not allow it to become a staple food item as it may have been previously. In celebration of the Sockeye I cooked up a small feast for my Wife and me.
Pan fried Sockeye Salmon; ricotta gnocchi with a white wine, spinach and mussel broth reduction and cornmeal crusted mussels. Unfortunately the mussels were below par and tasted far to fishy. The Moinette Blond was a great pairing .
Please enjoy Sockeye Salmon with a great deal of Gusto while in season, but of course with a sense of measured moderation.
Cheers,
Erik
GIB Ginger Beer Seasonal Release
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 | Beer | 5 Comments
Granville Island Brewing recently released their latest seasonal special, ginger beer. I tried this beer last year and found it to be one of the better ginger beers. The ginger flavor is noticeable but not over the top and fiery. Here is the press release. Enjoy.
The Wait for the Warmth is Over – Granville Island Brewing Brings Back Limited Release Ginger Beer
Vancouver, BC – We know every season offers something unique in Vancouver, and Granville Island Brewing’s latest limited release is no exception. On June 4, 2010, it is time to heat things up as we roll out Ginger Beer.
“GIB’s version of a traditional ginger beer is the perfect combination of spicy Caribbean warmth and refreshing taste, making it the ideal summer refreshment,” says Vern Lambourne, Brew Master, Granville Island Brewing.
“This specialty brew has all the elements of a craft brew – including ginger chopped by hand!”
Ginger Beer combines water, malt, hops and yeast with fresh hand chopped ginger root to create that perfect taste. GIB recommends this premium beer with spicy Jamaican Jerk, or milder foods like sushi for a less adventurous palette. The incredible aroma of ginger and spice emulates a beach day in the Caribbean.
Ginger Beer is available in individual bottles for 6 weeks only, in select liquor and beer stores across Vancouver and in our retail store on Granville Island. Vancouver – stock up on this great tasting brew while you can.
About Granville Island Brewing (GIB)
Established is 1984, Granville Island Brewing (GIB) is Canada’s first microbrewery offering a variety of award-winning beers which are brewed and sold here in BC. GIB is dedicated to handcrafting only the finest premium beers that are 100 per cent all-natural and brewed in small batches to provide consumers with the ultimate tasting experience. In celebration of their West Coast heritage GIB names each beer after iconic Vancouver locations that embody the local lifestyle. From the original Island Lager and English Bay Pale Ale, to Cypress Honey Lager, and now their latest innovation; Brockton IPA, GIB continues to produce a diverse portfolio of beers inspired by life on the West Coast. For more information, visit www.gib.ca.
Cheers,
Erik
The Best of the Pacific Northwest
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 | Beer, Food and Recipes | 4 Comments
I am completely and unhealthily obsessed with food and drink. I think about what I will make for dinner the next day while lying awake in bed. I couldn’t sleep for nearly three hours one night when I was trying to determine what Pacific Northwest cuisine is. I know we must have a unique food culture, but defining that culture is a challenge, especially when the clock reads 2:00 AM and your alarm wakes you at 6:00 AM.
I love where I live. This region of the world offers easy access to exceptional seafood, an abundance of local produce and some of the greatest brewers in the world live within a day’s drive of Vancouver.
I thought I would put together a list of my favourite local dishes, recipes included, paired with beer. I use local quite loosely as the 100 mile diet is too strict and is simply unreasonable. Growing wheat or barley in the Fraser Valley makes little to no sense.
Moules Frites
Some of the best mussels come from Salt Spring Island. My local fish monger, 1 Fish 2 Fish which is hands down the best food shop in Langley, offers these delicious bivalves when in season (year round excluding March and April). From my experience mussels need very little in the way of cooking – less is more. Here is what I consider to be the greatest way to prepare mussels:
Moules
- Finely dice one large shallot or two small shallots and sauté in a pan with olive oil until translucent
- Finely dice two ripe medium sized or one large tomato until almost a puree and add to the pan – cook for a minute or two
- Add white wine and reduce until it just begins to become syrupy (beer just doesn’t reduce as well as wine – sorry)
- Add mussels and cover the pan – one pound per person for a meal size portion works best.
- After 3-4 minutes (all cook books say 6-8 minutes, but I think they are wrong) uncover the pan, remove all mussels that have opened and put them aside, after one more minute throw away any unopened mussels.
- Reduce the mussel broth, with the mussels out of the pan. Once reduced toss the mussels back in the broth and finish with some roughly chopped parsley or any fresh tasting herb.
Frites
For the frites, I find Joel Robuchon’s method works quite well and is dead easy:
- Cut the fries - Yukon Gold is a good all around potato to use
- Place the fries in a pot with high sides
- Cover fries with frying oil
- Heat oil until 360 degrees F – the fries are now ready
- Remove fries and season with salt, enjoy.
Despite the reduced white wine in the broth, beer is still the ultimate partner for this dish. Any flavorful beer will work. An Oude Geuze is a traditional match, but any assertive Belgian ale will also do quite nicely.
Pizza
Pizza may not be local, but all of the toppings certainly are – it also happens to be one of my favourite things to eat.
Making a good pizza is not that difficult, but making a great pizza is a bit more of a challenge. There is no single recipe to follow to make great pizza. Pizza is more of a philosophy and set of rough guidelines than a recipe. I am nowhere near perfecting pizza, but here are a few tips I have learned along the way:
- Pizza toppings should always be local – fresh produce shipped long distances loses flavor fast.
- It is better to under top than over top.
- Pizza without tomato sauce is just fine
- Making tomato sauce from scratch is the best. Tomatoes from a grocery store are almost always picked when they are green and therefore taste a whole lot like water. Canned tomatoes on the other hand are picked when they are ripe and have more flavor. Use caned tomatoes. San Marzanos are the best, but they may be hard to find.
- Cheese does not have to be grated, it can be torn up by hand and tossed onto the pizza
- The faster a dough proofs, the worse it tastes - use a yeast that is slow rising, brewers yeast is my favourite
- Kneed the dough for more time than you may think is necessary, dough needs a lot of love.
- People who base the quality of the pizza by the thinness of the crust are fools -I was once one of these fools. Yes, a thin crust is delicious, but thinness is not the number one goal.
- Pizza needs to be cooked hot and fast. Many recipes say to put pizza on a stone in the bottom of an oven. I think this is wrong. The top of an oven is hotter – heat rises. I recently switch to the top of the oven approach and the results are superior.
- Hand tossing pizza is fun, but usually results in a mess. I try to hand toss all my pizza, despite how terrible I am at it.
Depending on the toppings, pizza pairs excellently with a spicy pilsner, pale ale, or even an IPA if the toppings are assertive enough. I find dark beers aren’t the best choice with pizza, but I could easily be proven wrong.
Fish & Chips
Our ocean is filled with wonderful fish, but don’t be fooled into buying the most expensive fish. Halibut may be delicious, but it is twice the price of snapper and is an inferior fish when it comes to battering and frying.
In my humble opinion the best batters are thin and crispy – I am not a fan of a thick eggy batter. Mixing cornstarch and flour together in a one to one ratio with a pinch of salt and enough beer to bring the mixture to the consistency of heavy cream has always work excellently for me.
For the chips, I wouldn’t suggest Joel Robuchon’s method – chips are a different beast than frites. I am not a fry master, but the best results have come with an initial poach/fry in oil around 260 – 300 F for 5-6 minutes. Remove the chips and bring the oil to 360 F and fry the chips again in the hot oil until golden.
The key to frying is managing oil temperate, too hot and food will burn, t0o cool and food will become soggy with grease. 360 F is a good frying temperate.
A good ESB works wonderfully with fish and chips – cask ale would be ideal. Any beer with caramel malt included in the grain bill would work well.
Wild Game Ragu
One of my close friends is a hunter and regularly provides me with quality venison. I believe beer is truly at its best when matched with the intensity of wild game. Ragu is nothing more than an Italian stew served with pasta, gnocchi or polenta and is the perfect meal to ejoy in the fall when hunting season begins
Here is the general recipe I tend to follow when making a venison ragu:
- Sauté lardons (French for bacon chopped into match stick sizes) in a pan until crisp and all the fat is rendered out of the bacon.
- Remove the bacon and leave the fat in the pan – don’t even think about removing any of this glorious animal fat, game has almost no fat and needs a bit of pork fat for lubrication. The bacon can be added back to the ragu at the end of cooking.
- Cube 1 pound of venison into one inch pieces and brown aggressively, remove all venison once browned
- Finely dice one large onion, one celery stock and one carrot and add to the pan, this should deglaze the pan a bit
- Add around a ¼ cup of tomato paste, more if you like tomatoes, less if you don’t.
- Add about a cup of stock (chicken, beef, vegetable)
- Add about a cup of red wine. If the venison is not completely covered by liquid add more wine.
- Cover with a lid and simmer for 3-4 hours or place in the oven for 3-4 hours at around 250 F.
- The venison should now be tender.
- If sauce hasn’t reduced enough, reduce stock on the stove top.
- Cool the ragu and place in the fridge overnight – ragu is best the next day, trust me.
- Before reheating on a stove top, shred the venison with a fork
- Once heated through serve the ragu with your starch of choice, pappardelle is my choice.
A Brown Belgian Ale would work nicely with this ragu. A Dubbel or even Biere de Garde would also work. A big tasting beer with some spicy yeast flavour is ideal for this meal. A big Cabernet Sauvignon would also be delicious.
Cheers,
Erik