Archive for November, 2009
More BC Winter Beers
Sunday, November 29th, 2009 | Beer | No Comments
I made some glaring omissions in my previous post about BC Winter beers. My list was not complete and so I felt compelled to add the following beers to it:
- R&B Auld Nick Winter Ale
- Howe Sound Father John’s Winter Ale
- Tree Spiced Reserve Ale
- Granville Island Jolly Abbot
- Cannery Maple Stout
Also, from outside of BC:
Any of the above beers will warm you up on a cold winter day and I highly recommend picking them up should you find them.
Cheers,
Chris
Beer Cellar Steward at Charcut
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 | Beer | 2 Comments
The PR firm representing Charcut, a soon to be opening roast house in Calgary, recently emailed to let us know that Charcut will have on their staff a beer cellar steward. I’d never heard of a beer cellar steward before, but I think the idea is pretty cool. It is my opinion that beer pairs with food just as well or better than wine. I’ve been to a few establishments employing sommeliers with epic wine cellars, so why not do the same with beer? If I’m in Calgary (flames suck) anytime after January, I’ll surely pay a visit to Charcut to see how they are getting on.
Erik got us introduced to Charcut’s steward Kirk Bodnar, author of Beers ‘n Such, who I’ve found to be a really cool guy from our conversations so far. Kurt was kind enough to share with us a few of his favorite beers and food pairings:
I have to say that Fall/Winter is probably my favourite time in terms of seasonals – there’s something about having a nice full bodied Doppelbock or Barley Wine in the warm indoors when it’s cold outside! Then again, you really can’t beat drinking a refreshing Kölsch in a Biergarten in the summer in Cologne (I recently moved back to Canada from Germany). But anyway – here’s what I have been drinking over the last few weeks:
Ayinger – Celebrator Doppelbock. A classic! A winter must for me!
Unibroue – Maudite – again, nothing new, but great – especially with cured meats/charcuterie.
Dieu de Ciel – Route des epices – spicy – almost Christmas-like to me.
Les Trois Mousquetaires – Doppelbock – probably my favourite doppelbock currently.
(I’m really liking Quebec beers right now…)I’m still drinking a fair amount of Hefeweizen as well – although they are summery, I never really get tired of them. Tree’s Hefeweizen is still tasting great, and I also like Kaltenberg’s König Ludwig Weissbier.
As far as interesting pairings, I recently paired some Dupont Saison with a warm roasted wild mushroom and spinach salad – very nice! The earthiness of the Saison paired perfectly with the similar elements in the mushrooms. Also, to stick with my current Quebec beer infatuation, I put together a Les Trois Mousquetaires Noire (Black Lager) with a tiramisu – it was a perfect! The beer has considerable coffee and chocolate notes, which go perfectly with the tiramisu. I even had some oreo ice cream with the Noire, and it worked too (though not as well, but decently).
All the best to Kirk and Charcut on their new endeavor! I hope their passion for beer and food pairings educate and delight their patrons.
Cheers,
Chris
Winter Beer Season in BC
Saturday, November 21st, 2009 | Beer | 7 Comments
As the seasons change, so does the availability of craft beer. I, for one, am thankful for this, especially as I regard the changing of the current season as going from bad to worse. What better way to cheer yourself up in this dreary weather than to sip a winter warmer from one of BC’s great breweries? I can think of a few things, but none so simple and effective as grabbing a winter ale (or a few) and watching the healing Canucks thrash Colorado.
Many BC breweries have already released their winter beers and a few still have barley wines on the way. Joy to the world! Here are a few BC winter brews you might consider trying:
- Central City Winter Ale
- Granville Island Winter Ale (lovingly referred to as choco beer by my friends)
- Lighthouse Winter Ale
- Vancouver Island Hermannator Ice Bock
- Phillips Barley Wine (coming soon)
- Phillips Instigator Doppelbock (coming soon)
- Nelson Faceplant Winter Ale
- Driftwood Old Cellar Dweller Barley Wine (coming soon)
Also, some other fine non BC breweries have produced tasty winter ales:
- Anchor Christmas Ale (my favorite so far)
- Pyramid Snowcap
- Whychwood Bah Humbug
- Lost Coast Winterbraun
If the rain, darkness, and cold displease you as much as they do me, I suggest one of the above as a temporary and enjoyable remedy.
Cheers,
Chris
Rickard’s Dark Review
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 | Beer | 14 Comments
Chris, the kind man that he is, patiently waited for me to arrive at his house yesterday to try Molson’s latest creation, Rickard’s Dark. I must admit, my expectations were not all that high going in – a major brewer such as Molson has aggressive sales targets and reaching sales targets often translates into brewing bland beer. Sadly most macro-brewed Canadian beer has to appeal to most beer drinking Canadians, and most beer drinking Canadians are intimidated by a dark flavorful porter. With that said, There is nothing stopping Molson from brewing quality porter and I was hopping for the best.
Chris displaying his pouring skill
Rickards Dark, a self proclaimed “porter”, poured a deep, but nowhere near deep enough, ruby-brown. Of course I was only able to appreciate the colour after removing the supplied blindfold. I would very much love to speak with the marketer who came up with that idea – most brewers are proud of their beer’s appearance.
Blind Taste Test
The aroma was quite mild and I couldn’t much detect any maple syrup. Similar to the color and aroma, the beer was mild and tasted quite similar to other Rickard brews. Faint flavors of roasted malts, chocolate and nuts was detected, key word being faint. For a more in depth tasting review check out Greg Clow’s review at Taste T.O.
The Final Verdict
Rickards Dark is just not a porter, it is much closer to a mild ale or nut brown ale. Porters are dark, rich and flavorful – Rickards Dark was neither of the three. It is certainly not a great beer, but not foul in any way either. My hope is that Rickards Dark will serve as a gateway beer, introducing many beer drinkers to the unknown world of dark beer.
Cheers,
Erik
Coming Soon: Rickard’s Dark
Saturday, November 14th, 2009 | Beer | 6 Comments
Erik and I received an email from a PR firm who wanted our address so they could send us a sample of a soon to be launched beer. I was a bit worried it was someone I’d offended coming to punch me in the face, so I gave them my work address. Lucky for me, a package arrived on Friday instead of a fist. I opened the package to find an elaborate wood box labeled Rickard‘s Dark. The box contained two bottles of Rickard’s Dark, two beer glasses, two coasters, and a blindfold. I found the inclusion of a blindfold a bit odd, but I suppose it is for doing a blind tasting? Or maybe for post tasting kinky fun times? Either or, I doubt I’ll be using it.
Opening the package to find the Rickard's Dark box
Contents of the Rickard's Dark Box
I haven’t tasted the beer yet. Erik is coming over on Monday and I figured I’d wait for him. Rickard’s Dark is supposedly a 4.8% ABV English style porter with added Quebec maple syrup. I do love me some porter, but I’m not so sure I’ll like Rickard’s Dark. I used to drink Rickard’s beer in my younger days because I found it to be a breath of fresh air when compared to Molson Canadian. I’ve since expanded my beer horizons well beyond Molson’s own Rickard’s brand and no longer care for their Red and Honey Brown like I once did. That being said, I hope that Rickard’s Dark is wonderful and that it might get some non craft beer drinkers into porter and onto other wonderful porters like Black Butte from Deschutes. Expect to see Rickard’s Dark on the shelves in Rickard’s Taster packs within a few weeks.
Cheers,
Chris
Washington Winter Beer Festival 2009
Thursday, November 12th, 2009 | Events | No Comments
The Washington Beer Commission is holding the 2009 edition of their Winter Beer festival this December 4th and 5th. I recently received an email containing the beer lineup and it looks to be a good one. I attended the Washington Cask Beer Festival last Spring and really enjoyed it, so I imagine the winter edition is similarly epic. Serious BC beer fans should consider heading down the I5 to take part in what promises to be a good festival. I really considered buying tickets, but am planning on attending the Dix Winter Caskival on December 5th instead. Both events will be good, but Dix is just so much closer to home!
Cheers,
Chris
Turning Point Brewery – the inside scoop
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 | Breweries | 16 Comments
After posting about Turning Point Brewery’s Stanley Park 1897 Amber Ale last week, I received an interesting email about Turning Point and their future plans. I thought the email was worth sharing. Cheers – Erik
I was reading through some of your blog entries recently, and happened to see that you were looking for more information on Turning Point Brewery. I can gladly give you some information, as well a bit of their history of how they became a brewery. I will be honest though, of all the local breweries I have dealt with in the past, this is one brewery I choose not to build a strong relationship with. I will get to that point in a minute, and I must say, it is a completely biassed opinion.
Turning Point Brewery first started brewing very recently. Their first beer on the market, you can find in many stores, and will never find in a restaurant. The beer is masked as another brewery – Hell’s Gate Brewing. This was how they kept their “imported brewers” busy while they planned their marketing for the “Stanley Park 1897 Belgian Amber Ale”. The brewery itself, was planned to use the wind turbine, however it does not produce enough power… so it is powered from another source to run purely for “show”. I have been told that they are looking into other forms of renewable energy to try and eventually become sustainable. Their brewers (I might not remember 100%) have been brought over from Scotland, England, Belgium, and Germany. That’s right. 4 brewers! Their brewery is STATE OF THE ART. These guys have everything… and I would say one of the best setups in North America – or at least in the top 5.
Here is where the problem comes in. The original idea behind Turning Point Brewery, was to make local beers that would be different. Something I would think best to compete with the imported brands that are becoming ever so pricey. However, they have decided to take a different approach. Their marketing campaign is to do whatever it takes to remove local breweries from any establishment they approach. Essentially they’re stepping on every toe in town.
The brewery is owned by a larger distribution company, and they act like it. The Mark Anthony Group is at the helm, and they are looking to take a very large stake in the Vancouver market, attempting to push the little guys out. If you have not heard of the Mark Anthony Group before, it is pretty easily summed up. They carry a very large wine portfolio that offers cheap prices rather than quality. They also represented Corona for many years, until recently, hence wanting to open their own brewery. The brewery was even built in a very commercial area… Annacis Island – if you’re curious to see it for yourself, it’s not far from the sewage plant (hence why they don’t tell you where the brewery is!)
I’m not always this bitter about beer, so don’t take me the wrong way. I’m just very disappointed to see such a nice brewery end up in the hands of a corporation, rather than someone who truly loves to make beer.
Hopscotch Festival 2009
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 | Events | No Comments
The annual Vancouver Hopscotch Festival is an event that showcases scotch, whiskey and beer. The 2009 edition starts this weekend, with the Grand Tasting Hall events taking place next Thursday and Friday, the 19th and 20th of November. Erik and I went to the Grand Tasting Hall last year and weren’t particularly impressed from a beer perspective. We don’t drink whiskey or scotch regularly enough to judge the quality of that aspect of the event, but the beers on hand were highly uninteresting. There were a few winter ales available that were good to try, but still nothing unavailable in stores. That being said, we are likely more knowledgeable about beer than the average person and someone who isn’t much into beer would likely enjoy trying the different styles on hand. For me, why would I pay for a ticket and wait in lines for tiny cups of beers I’ve already tried and can easily just buy off the shelf? The answer this year, I wouldn’t, so I’m not going. Hopscotch also provides attendees with the chance to get publicly drunk amongst a large crowd of people, which can be enticing (including to me, but not this time round).
An upcoming beer festival that I am excited about is the Dix Winter Caskival, which will feature upwards of twenty cask condition winter concoctions crafted by some of BC’s more adventurous (and talented) craft brewers. The summer Caskival was a blast, so I’m looking forward to December 5th. To get in, just line up outside of Dix at noon, no purchase of tickets beforehand required.
Cheers,
Chris
Lonely Planet Vancouver features Alibi Room
Sunday, November 8th, 2009 | Pubs | 2 Comments
Alibi Room owner Nigel Springthorpe
I enjoy traveling and am obsessed with the Lonely Planet series of guide books. If you’ve never traveled with one or you have used lesser guide books, then you likely missed out on a few hidden gems. I am particularly fond of the Lonely Planet Encounter series, which each profile a city sectioned into neighborhoods for easy reading. I was at Chapters today and noticed that Lonely Planet very recently published a Vancouver Encounter, likely to cater to Olympic Visitors. I was, of course, curious and flipped through it to see what travel experts recommend to see, eat, and do in Vancouver. I wasn’t surprised at all to find the Alibi Room recommended, but I was surprised to see how much attention they paid to it. Usually restaurants and bars get a two sentence blurb, but the Alibi Room garnered two pictures and an interview with owner Nigel Springthorpe! This attention is warranted in my mind and is a testament to the hard work Nigel has done in building Vancouver’s best beer bar. It pleases me that visitors to Vancouver, if they take the Lonely Planet’s excellent advice, will get to enjoy an establishment of such fine quality, likely giving them a positive impression of our fine city. Although there is one negative, I imagine a seat at the Alibi Room will be an impossible commodity to come by during the Olympics.
The Alibi Room wasn’t the only beer destination recommended in the Vancouver Encounter. Six Acres, The Irish Heather, Dix Brewery, Yaletown Brewing, and Steamworks were also listed.
Cheers,
Chris
Granville Island Lions Winter Ale Cooking Competition
Saturday, November 7th, 2009 | Beer, Food and Recipes | 5 Comments
This past week Granville Island Brewing in partnership with the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts held a cooking competition to celebrate the seasonal release of their much loved, but not so much by me, Lions Winter Ale. The challenge of this event was to come up with the best dish that included Lions Winter Ale as an ingredient.
Unfortunately I was unable to attend the event myself, but the good people at GIB were kind enough to send me a list of the winners, including the winning recipes.
The top entrée was won by Felix Maristany for his winter ale Gumbo, for your cooking pleasure, the recipe is below:
Granville Island Winter Ale Gumbo
Created by Felix Maristany, Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
Crustacean stock
- 2 – 3 lbs lobster heads and bodies and spot prawn heads or any prawn shells would suffice.
- Mire poix of onion celery and carrot (rough chop)
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 cloves finely chopped garlic
- 1 stalk of lemon grass (cracked with the spine of a chef’s knife)
- 2L fish stock
- 1.5 bottle of GIB Lions Winter Ale
- 50ml olive oil
- 1/2 can of tomato paste
Method:
In a large sauce pan sweat the shells at medium-low temperature until they turn red.
Add mire poix and sweat until onions translucent and vegetables are slightly tender.
Add tomato paste and continue sweat 3-4 minutes.
Deglaze with beer and reduce slightly.
Simmer 45 minutes and strain pressing on the shells.
Gumbo:
- 1 red onion (small dice)
- 1 green bell pepper (medium dice)
- 1 red bell pepper (medium dice)
- 3 whole garlic cloves with peel (cracked using the back of a knife)
- 1 stalk of lemon grass (Cracked with the spine of a chef’s knife)
- 2- 3 tbsp filé powder
- Cayenne pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- Hot sauce to taste
- 1 fennel bulb (cored and cut into wedges)
- Andouille sausage (bias cut)
- 6 slices thick cut pork belly
- Spot prawns (With head on or off)
- Dungeness crab meat
- Mediterranean mussels
- 3 bottles GIB Lions Winter Ale
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Roux (40g Butter 40g Flour)
- 60ml meyer lemon juice
Method:
In a large sauce pan warm vegetable oil over medium-low heat, sweat onions, peppers, fennel, andouille sausage, and lemon grass. Add paprika and cayenne and sweat 1-2 minutes. De-glaze with 1 bottle of beer and reduce slightly. Add hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. For the roux, melt butter over medium heat in a small sauce pan, add flour and cook 4 minutes. Add a little stock to the roux gradually and mix with a whisk to prevent lumps. When all the stock is incorporated to the roux add mixture is to sauce pan containing vegetables, sausage etc. and continue to simmer.
In a separate medium saucepan add some finely chopped onions, garlic and 1/2 bottle of beer. Add cleaned mussels, prawns and crab meat. when mussels are open, add all the contents to the gumbo and simmer 10 minutes.
Serve over a bed of saffron scented rice and garnish with a meyer lemon wedge.
Winning Dessert went to Jazmin Villarreal who put together a Dessert Risotto Crumble:
Lions Winter Ale Beer & Dessert Risotto Crumble
Created by Jazmin Villarreal, Pacific Institute Of Culinary Arts
Rice Crumble
- 120 g arborio rice
- 20 g butter
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 100 ml milk
- 200 ml Lions Winter Ale Beer
- 50 g shredded almonds
- 2 medium Granny Smith apples (diced 5mm x 5mm)
- ½ vanilla bean
- 60 g granulated sugar
- Prepared muscavado crumble topping
- Prepared Lions Winter Ale Crème Anglaise
Method:
In a medium sauce pan place evaporated milk, milk and 100 ml of beer, warm on burner set at med heat. In a separate saucepan, melt butter and stirfry the rice for 1.25 minutes. Deglaze with 50 ml of beer. When the liquid evapourates start adding warm milk mixture. Add little by little and stir constantly. Cook until rice is ‘al dente’.
In an additional saucepan, place sugar with 20ml of water and ½ vanilla bean and cook until the sugar starts to caramelized (approximately 5 minutes). Add apples and stir until they are golden brown (about 4 minutes). Set aside.
To serve: Warm crème anglaise and add the risotto, almonds, apple and stir until combined and soft. Top with crumble and serve.
Muscavado Crumble Topping:
- 80 g Muscavado Sugar (or very fine brown sugar)
- 80 g Butter
- 160 g All Purpose Flour
Method:
In a mixer, cream sugar with butter. Add flour and mix until combined. Crumble mixture into small pieces and cook for 2 hours at 180 degrees celcius. Set aside until ready to serve dessert.
Winter Ale Crème Anglaise:
- 300 ml Whipping Cream
- 100 ml Milk
- 100 ml Winter Ale
- 6 Egg Yolks
- 125 g Sugar
- 1 Vanilla Bean
Method:
In a saucepan, combine cream, vanilla bean, milk and beer. Bring to a boil. Whisk yolks and sugar together. Temper the milk mix with the egg mixtures and return to stove. Reheat to 80 degree celcius and strain. To reserve, hold in a water bath.
I haven’t had a chance to try either of the recipes, but I hope to give them try in the next few weeks. Pictures should be posted of the event shortly.
Cheers,
Erik