Saturdays at The Kernel Brewery in London
Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 | Beer | No Comments
The Kernel Brewery is a very good brewery in London. I first tasted their beer at the Euston Tap, where I had their delightful Centennial/Citra Pale Ale. It’s hard to find particularly inventive brewers in London, but Kernel makes fantastic strong IPAs and dark beers. I like them a lot.
Recently, The Kernel started having open houses on Saturday at their Maltby Street location in Bermondsey, London. Their brewery is conveniently located along the Maltby Street market. Be warned, it’s incredibly hipstery at this market, so much so there’s a shop selling only vintage fixie bikes. If that bothers you, steer clear. If you can look past the ironically dressed clientele, visiting The Kernel on a Saturday is very nice.
Kernel Brewery at Maltby Street market
They have a table setup where you can order a pint or buy some of their beer in bottles. We had the basic stout and one of their IPAs at the market and I took home bottles of the Centennial/Citra pale ale, 2010 Centennial IPA, Export India Porter, and Imperial Brown Stout. I haven’t had them yet, but, from what I’ve tasted so far, I can’t imagine they’ll disappoint.
The beer menu, some good stuff on there
Me buying some Kernel beers
The Kernel bottles I took home
Vancouver, take note. The Kernel served and sold beer out of the back of their brewery right onto the street! There were no fights, car accidents, underage drinkers, or even drunk people! Why can’t we do this in Vancouver?
Cheers,
Chris
Coal Harbour Brewing starting up in Vancouver?
Thursday, January 19th, 2012 | Beer | 1 Comment
I heard about Coal Harbour Brewing a few years ago and was very curious as to what they might become. Turns out they’ve been working away at starting up a new craft brewery in Vancouver and they are now up and running. I got this email from their brewer Kevin Emms:
After an excruciating and lengthy setup period, Coal Harbour Brewing is now open for business! We are ready to debut our first round of beers, all ready to be packaged and sold in 58.7 L kegs.
We want to be a craft brewery that serves our tastes rather than replicating the styles being brewed by others. With that in mind, we will not be exclusively brewing hop bombs. We like lagers, as do our friends, and it is important to enjoy beer with friends! Also, we take great pride in brewing intriguing, satisfying and unique ales:
“three-11” helles lager – A genuine, Munich style pale lager. Brewed with care and aged appropriately to provide a mellow and refreshing drinking experience that pairs well with any occasion. Priced very competitively, this beer is your best choice to satisfy diverse groups of people.
“Vancouver” Vienna Lager – A painstakingly brewed authentic golden coloured European lager. The 3-step mash ensures excellent body and maximum conversion of sugars. The massive amounts of German malts contribute to the continental flavour. This is a fine lager for a more upscale market.
“Triumph” Rye Ale – A true Pacific Northwest style craft ale, not quite like what you have tasted before. High portions of rye malts combine with northwest hops to give this copper coloured ale a complicated and intriguing, yet smooth and surprisingly drinkable flavour.
Our plans for the future include introducing some unique new ales into our catalogue, and producing seasonal and ‘one off’ batches of very special beers.
Sounds promising, I look forward to trying their beer and I wish them all the best!
Cheers,
Chris
Ensemble Tap
Saturday, January 14th, 2012 | Beer, Pubs | No Comments
I’ll admit it, I am a bona fide Food Network geek. I was quite excited to see local chef Dale Mackay take home the coveted Top Chef Canada award earlier this year, ousting Calgary’s Connie DeSousa and Toronto’s Rob Rossi. Just prior to claiming victory to one of our nation’s top culinary prizes, Dale opened Ensemble, his first restaurant. I was eager to visit Ensemble to see for myself how legitimate the judging of this television competition really is.
At Ensemble, Dale has created a unique dinning experience – semi-traditional French cooking meets modern Westcoast dinning. The menu does not flow from first to final course, instead diners are encouraged to order freely from the menu and construct their own meal. Of course the serving staff are more than happy to make recomndations on what might be an appropriate appetizer or main, but in the end the decision remains in the eater’s hands. The food is tasty, well priced and foodie friendly.
Clearly on a role, Dale opened a more casual beer focused eatery in December, Ensemble Tap (eTap). Boasting an impressive bottle and tap selection, I was eager to visit this new creation. The menu is a mix of burgers, sandwiches and hearty entrées. The food displays a level of refinement that a non-traditional fine dinning chef brings to a modern gastropub, I get a sense this menu reflects the food that the chef likes to eat at home.
Although I was a bit disappointed that they chose to cook their burgers through, the food is delicious. Dale is a gifted chef who can seamlessly incorporate spices and global flavours into food he prepares his way. The popcorn prawns with tempura sea asparagus and Thai spice mayo was the highlight of the menu. All of the food pairs well with the long list of local and international craft beer.
It is is exciting to see that eTap has recently announced a number of beer pairing events and paired menus. eTap is a unique contribution to Vancouver’s growing beer culture.
Cheers,
Erik
Brewdog has a pub in London now
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 | Beer | No Comments
In Camden to be exact, and it’s been there for about a month. I was really excited when I found out Brewdog opened their first non-Scottish pub in London (4th pub overall) in December. There are few epic beer bars in London, especially when you consider the scale of London and how much time people spend down the pub. Brewdog Camden joins Craft and The Euston Tap as beer nerd destinations in Londontown.
Erik was around over the holidays, so naturally we hit up Brewdog Camden. I was very impressed by the look of the place, which is very clean, modern, and on brand. I was even more impressed by the beer on offer, there were twenty odd taps and hundreds of bottles. The bottle selection was almost solely constituted of hardcore craft beer, mostly American (mostly Californian), some Danish (mostly Mikkeller), and Hitachino Nest of Japan. The majority of the taps were of Brewdog’s own beer, but there were also a few guest kegs from the likes of Stone and Mikkeller. Much of the Brewdog beer on tap I’d never seen in bottles before and I believe some were experimental. I really enjoyed the Winter Porter and the Hops Kill Nazis (a hoppy imperial red). I didn’t love the Wasabi Stout or the Dogma, but that’s just me.
Us guys at Brewdog Camden
What I really liked was that both Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32% ABV) and Sink the Bismarck (41% ABV) were on offer, £6 for a 25ml taste. I’d only ever come across these beers in bottles in the UK and didn’t buy because they carry a hefty price tag, so this was my first taste. We tried Tactical Nuclear Penguin (they were out of Bismarck) and it was a delight. It’s very syrupy in the glass and it tastes very sweet, more like madeira than beer. It also warms the throat in a good way, like a fine brandy or cognac might. A bottle would be dangerous in my hands.
Tactical Nuclear Penguin in the glass (Hops kill Nazis in the background)
Erik tasting TNP with an aristocratic air
London beer tourists, in this order, visit Craft, Brewdog Camden, and the Euston Tap. My one criticism of Brewdog Camden is that there aren’t many session beers to be had, which might turn off the casual beer fan. I don’t think Brewdog cares though, beer for punks after all.
Cheers,
Chris
Old Yale Brewing is back
Sunday, January 1st, 2012 | Beer | 10 Comments
Happy New Year to BC beer geeks, Old Yale Brewing is coming back! Old Yale was a pretty cool brewery, brewing out of a strip mall in Chilliwack of all places. Their IPA and Pale Ale were both delightful and I was sad to hear of their demise a couple years ago. Luckily, some passionate beer people purchased the brewery and are reopening it with the same brewmaster and recipes. They are also going to be selling their beer in cans, signalling greater ambition this time around. Here’s the blurb I received:
I wanted to let you know that Old yale Brewing co. is back open and brewing again! It has been purchased by a small group of beer lovers and we have the same brewmaster, Larry Caza. The recipes are the same and the first few batches have come out excellent. Our new group is excited about getting our superb beer to more people.
We have just began shipping beer in large bottles to a few liquor stores in the Chilliwack and abbotsford area. We have a few establishments with our beer on tap again. We are in the very early stages and a lot will be happening over the next month or two.
We will be offering our Sergeant’s IPA and the Old Yale Pale Ale in cans soon.
I’m wishing them a very successful 2012!
Cheers,
Chris
Great Food, Great Beer – Ulis
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011 | Beer, Food and Recipes, Review | 2 Comments
It is no longer a challenge to find a restaurant or pub in Vancouver that offers a good selection of craft beer, thanks in part to the efforts of CAMRA Vancouver for helping promote a craft beer culture in Vancouver. It is also not a challenge to find great food in Vancouver. Those who live in the Vancouver area are fortunate enough to enjoy a food & drink culture that is diverse, and for the most part, unpretentiousness and affordable. Although at times this unpretentious laid-back approach to food migrates so far from an exclusive haute cuisine experience that an establishment once again develops and air of exclusivity where entry is determined by the tightness of ones pants and the number of speeds on ones bicycle (one is preffered). Do keep in mind that these comments, particularly the latter, come from a kid born and raised in the sticks and still living in the backwoods of Vancouver’s quiet suburbia.
Restaurants come and go. The successful establishments rise above their competitors and remain standing by either continually adapting their menu to remain current with foods trends or transitioning themselves into a local institution that resists change but maintains a high level of service and food. I will travel a good distance for a good meal, but it is somewhat rare that I will return a second time. The options in this city are too great to not try something new. But occasionally a place worthy of a second visit emerges. And if the second visit impresses, the second will quickly turn into a third and so on.
Uli’s, a long-standing White Rock establishment has managed to win my business time and again simply by offering good beer and consistently delicious food in an unpretentiousness atmosphere. I have been a semi-regular at Uli’s for over two years and the quality of the food has continued to rise with every visit and the selection of beer has remained seasonal and well thought out. I now find myself close to being a regular.
Uli Blume, restaurant founder, has passed the daily operations over to his son Tyson. After sitting at a table for only a few minutes it becomes clear that Tyson has a passion for what he does and takes time to personally ensure that his customers enjoy their dinning experience. He also has love for good beer and keeps the cellar well stocked as the seasons change. Tyson and a number of team members approach and serve beer from the perspective of true fans continually searching for the next best beer. Tyson is always happy to chat about his current favourites and what he would suggest.
Instead of offering a large quantity of craft beer on tap, Uli’s has opted for a limited selection of draft beer with a well stocked and regularly rotating bottle selection. The most recent selection includes two Saisons from Fantome (both delicious) and the Westvleteren 8 and 12, the latter being a hard to find Trappist ale.
The menu is typical Westcoast fare with a number of modernized European classics. The dishes are not over-the -top creative, but are always flavourful and cleanly platted. The most popular item on the menu seems to be the 2.0 burger, which is easily one of the of tastiest burgers I have ever had. It seems one of every two plates arriving at a dinner table is the 2.0 burger. The burger alone is enough to warrant visiting, but it’s the combination of good food and good beer that will keep me coming back.
Cheers,
Erik
London Pub Guide
Thursday, November 10th, 2011 | Beer | No Comments
The Euston Tap is a really good pub
When I moved to London I expected to arrive in a beer nirvana, where cask ale rains from the sky and everyone is happily just a little bit drunk all the time. While my expectations may have been lofty, I was generally surprised at how few good pubs, from a beer perspective, I could find in London. Sure, there are pubs everywhere and the majority of the English population is drunk a lot of the time (though not exactly happily), but where are all the good pubs? Over time I managed to find a few here and there, no thanks to terrible pub finding websites like Fancyapint and Beer in the Evening.
It’s not like I wasn’t trying to find good pubs in London, I’m ever diligent. I even downloaded the CAMRA Good Beer Guide iPhone app, which is great for finding pubs serving cask ale. CAMRA, however, fails to distinguish between a pub serving nicely conditioned cask ale and a nice place to hang out. CAMRA highly recommends the Wenlock Arms in Islington, which I decided to check out. When I walked in, I found the place full of dishevelled looking regulars staring at me like I didn’t belong there. Though the beer was some of the best I’d drank in London to that point, I found the atmosphere to be very disconcerting. Lucky for them, their beer gets them on the list.
Lucky for me, I eventually started working in the same office as a fellow beer enthusiast. The list below comes courtesy of Lee Bacon aka Baconator, who I kindly thank for his good advice. The best two places I’ve visited on hist list are The Euston Tap and Craft, which are both fantastic beer bars that, in my humble opinion, stack up with the best in the world.
North London:
London Bridge:
Old Street:
Chancery Lane / Holborn:
Covent Garden:
West London:
If you have any other suggestions for me, I’d love to hear them.
Cheers,
Chris
Rickards Movember
Monday, October 31st, 2011 | Beer | No Comments
By now I think everyone has heard of Movember, where dudes (and sometimes ladies) grow moustaches in support of cancer research. I may or may not participate this year. I haven’t shaved in November yet, so I’m still a candidate. It’s just that my wife hates moustaches and I want to continue having sex. Also, I’d rather just give money to cancer research than grow a (some might say attention seeking) moustache. Anyway, we all know what Movember is.
Rickards, a MolsonCoors ’craft’ brand, has recently launched a Movember campaign by assigning each of their beers a moustache. I really hope Rickards is actually contributing financial support to Movember and not just capitalizing on the hype. Either way, you have to spend that marketing budget somehow, right? Below is some of the press info Rickards sent me. I also found a youtube video of what I assume is a Rickards commercial wherein two men mate their moustaches. Enjoy.
Rickard’s Red: Imperial
- The Beer: This full-flavoured Irish-style ale holds a distinctive ruby-red colour. The fusion of three roasted malts combined with the sweetness of brewer’s caramel balances out the bitterness, giving it an incredibly smooth finish. These sweet malty flavours make it an ideal pairing with grilled meats, bean-based dishes and comfort foods.
- The ‘Stache: The imperial tends to be a large moustache growing from both the upper lip and the cheeks. Sometimes the whiskers from the cheeks are style pointing upward. The imperial was made popular in 18th century England, but famously worn by singer Frank Zappa.
Rickard’s White: Walrus
- The Beer: This unfiltered Belgian-style wheat ale holds mild hints of ground coriander and dried orange peel, which mingle to create a light spiciness that ends with a refreshing finish. The zesty spice and citrus notes are best enjoyed with light flavourful foods like seafood dishes and salads of any style. Try it with an orange slice to really bring out the citrus flavour.
- The ‘Stache: One of the most recognizable styles, the walrus moustache is very bushy and can hang down over the lips and sometimes will cover the entire mouth. The walrus was famously worn by actor Wilford Brimley and Albert Einstein.
Rickard’s Dark: Chevron
- The Beer: This English-style porter is rich and creamy with a smooth finish that holds just a hint of pure Québec maple syrup. It has an elegant roasted character that pairs well with braised dishes, cheese, and a wide range of desserts.
- The ‘Stache: The chevron is usually worn quite thick and wide and tends to be worn long to cover the top of the upper lip. The chevron was famously worn by Tom Selleck and Burt Reynolds, just to name a couple.
Rickard’s Blonde: Handlebar
- The Beer: This German-style pilsner is specially crafted with a unique blend of four hops for a refreshingly flavourful taste and a clean finish. Its lively hop character provides the perfect complement to white meats and sausages, and pairs well with dishes with a spicy kick.
- The ‘Stache: A handlebar moustache tends to be quite bushy and must be worn long enough to curl the ends upward or the ends grow downwards toward the chin. The downward turned handlebar was made popular in the late 19th century by Wild West figures like Wyatt Earp, but recognized in modern day for wrestler Hulk Hogan and baseball great Rollie Fingers.
Cheers,
Chris
Mikkeller in Copenhagen
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 | Beer | No Comments
Did you know that Danes highly value cosiness? Me neither, but they do, except they call it hygge because they have their own language. Did you know that Danes are also quite into their beer? I had an inkling there. What choice did I have but to visit a country that values both cosiness and beer, two of my favourite things.
I didn’t love Copenhagen that much. I’d heard that Danes were the happiest people on earth. If that’s the case, it’s not because their capital city is overly nice to look at it. I thought Copenhagen was a bit rough around the edges, especially the part in which we found the Mikkeller beer bar. If you’ve never heard of Mikkeller, let me fill you in. They are legendary craft brewers from Copenhagen who brew a lot of very different, some might say crazy, beers. If you ever come across them upon your travels or in your local speciality beer store, give them a try and you won’t regret it.
I took this picture upon arrival, flashing the whole bar, many people looked at me like I'm a complete idiot. They are not far wrong.
True to the Danish reputation, the Mikkeller beer bar in Copenhagen was definitely cosy. It was also very exciting to me, mostly because of the epic beer menu. I took a picture of it, but we lost our camera at an earlier destination on the trip, so you probably can’t make out all the beers in my fuzzy iPhone picture. There were twenty odd craft beers on tap, half of which were Mikkeller concoctions, the other half was comprised of outstanding examples from the States, Belgium, and England. I ordered a barley wine called Oatgoop, a collaboration brew between Mikkeller and Three Floyds in the US (legendary craft brewers in their own right). Rachel ordered a Mikkeller IPA that was listed as Texas Ranger, which my internet searchings tell me is supposed to be a porter. In any case, both were flavourful and delightful beers to drink. I would have spent a lot of time at this bar had I not already been a bit looped upon arrival. The bar is near the main train station, so definitely worth checking out if in Copenhagen.
The epic beer menu
Rachel with our delicious Mikkeller beers
Cheers,
Chris
BC Craft Beer Month
Friday, September 9th, 2011 | Beer | 4 Comments
There have already been two Vancouver Craft Beer Weeks and now there is going to be a BC Craft Beer Month. Apparently October is to become craft beer month this year and every year, featuring events and specials at many BC craft beer venues. All I know of this I learned from the website, which I found out about because one of my friend’s made it. BC craft beer fans should surely keep an eye on the site to see what awesomeness appears.
Cheers,
Chris
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