Breweries
Beer in Thailand and Cambodia
Friday, April 13th, 2012 | Beer, Breweries | 5 Comments
I recently spent some time in Thailand and Cambodia, which are very cool places that just happen to be far too hot. As ever on my travels, I made an effort to observe the beer scene. You may be surprised to know that beer is the most commonly consumed alcoholic beverage in both of these countries. There are a few reasons for this, those being that beer is relatively cheap, wine spoils in the climate, and beer can be served icy cold. Those locals who can afford to drink, drink locally made beer.
There were many times when I felt like I absolutely needed a beer because I was so freaking hot. In Canada, we beer nerds often lament marketing that promotes subzero beer temperatures, and for good reason. In Southeast Asia, such advertisements are most appealing. Many establishments often serve beer with ice in it, which might seem sacrilegious to us westerners, but is almost necessary in the tropics. One downside is the health risk ice made with sketchy tap water poses. I chanced my wellbeing on many occasions, if only to feel a few degrees cooler for a few moments. I didn’t die once.
Drinking Chang on Khao San Road, so hot in Bangkok
We mostly came across lager beer, as befitting the climate, but did see the occasional import ale from prominent beer drinking countries. I never ordered one, considering that beer quickly warms up to above room temperature within minutes, practically spewing condensation all over the place.
Most of us are quite familiar with the few Thai beer brands because we frequently come across them in western Thai restaurants. Change, Singha, and Leo rule the roost, mostly because the only competition comes from locally brewed Heineken, Tiger for India, or Beer Lao from Laos. We started off ordering regular Chang because it was the cheapest and it was cold and it didn’t really matter what it tasted like. We paid about $1 for a 330ml bottle and $2 for a 650ml bottle. We quickly tired of regular Chang (terrible tasting adjunct lager) and switched to Singha and Chang Export, which are made with actual malt and taste much better! We weren’t really saving much money drinking the cheaper Chang. Chang and Chang Export are brewed by Thai Beverage Plc and Singha and Leo are brewed by Boon Rawd Brewery, both in Bangkok. Nothing to write home about beer wise, though I’m doing it anyway.
Sweaty Singha in Koh Samui
In Cambodia, we mostly drank Angkor Lager, which is similar to Chang and would also cost about a $1 or less. I was pleased to find that Angkor brews a very tasty Export Stout, which is a very high alcohol stout. Many former British colonies brewed high alcohol stout (to prevent spoilage in the tropics, alcohol kills bacteria), but Cambodia was a French colony. I haven’t been able to figure out why Export Stout exists in Cambodia, does anyone know? The other beer available in Cambodia is Kingdom Pilsner, which was also fairly generic. Both Angkor and Kingdom breweries are located in Cambodia.
Angkor Lager in Phnom Penh
If you know nothing of Cambodia, educate yourself. The Khmer Rouge regime killed more than 25% of the population and almost all modern Cambodians are missing family members. Cambodia was a decent place before 1976 and is now one of the most corrupt and poor countries in the world. Worse, the US aided the Khmer Rouge before they took power and recognized them as Cambodia’s official government well into the 90s. Most Cambodians have lived and still live a life of poverty and terror, with no help from the west. As such, tourism is one of the biggest industries in Cambodia and Cambodians make most of the clothes you are wearing. Despite all this, Cambodians are friendly happy people. As a westerner, think about Cambodia the next time you hate your life because you’re stuck in traffic or because of something else trivial. Above all, go visit Cambodia and do some good with your extra money.
Angkor Export Stout? Hooray!
Cheers,
Chris
Boston Pizza Owner Invests in Dead Frog
Tuesday, March 27th, 2012 | Beer, Breweries | No Comments
CBC’s television series The Big Decision featured Aldergrove’s own Dead Frog Brewery in yesterday’s episode. The Big Decision is a recently created business oriented reality series where successful business people assess the investment potential of a struggling company (can they turn things around?). If you missed the show yesterday you can view the episode on-line here.
Apparently Dead Frog Brewery has been struggling financially and was in need of an estimated $500,000 to expand brewery capacity and properly grow their business. Jim Treliving, a successful Canadian businessman, saw potential in Dead Frog and decided the brewery was an investment worthy of his time and money.
Jim’s intent with Dead Frog is quite clear according to yesterday’s episode- grow the business and sell to a major. This is a relatively common exit strategy in the business world, but will this corporate vision be good news for British Columbia’s craft beer scene?
Dead Frog has never been at the forefront of the local craft beer movement. Instead of targeting beer geeks (and also passionate product evangelists) with hoppy IPA’s and other bold creations, Dead Frog has focused on light beer with their pepper lime lager and mandarin orange amber ale. Dead Frog does offer a number of beer fanatic friendly drinks in 650 ml bottles, but the quality and consistency of these offerings have always been lacking and appear to be an afterthought.
Bud Light Lime is a very successful product, but Bud Light Lime drinkers do not drink craft beer. Dead Frog is offering a product that competes directly with Bud Light Lime. Budweiser can produce a light lime flavoured lager at a much lower cost than Dead Frog and they can also properly support their products with international distribution and a multi-million dollar marketing budget. Dead Frog may offer a better quality and more natural product, but Dead Frog has never really had a chance. I hope Jim sees this and makes a change. Make great beer that beer drinker’s drink – simple.
The craft beer market segment has been growing for quite some time. Big beer companies know this and want in on the action. These industry giants lack the entrepreneurial spirit and passion for beer that only a craft brewery has. Macro brewers like to invest in (or buyout) successful craft breweries to help increase sales and possibly add some much needed passion into a stale industry.
Jim’s strategy is to turn Dead Frog into a successful business – can’t argue with this strategy. Dead Frog will need to post impressive numbers year over year (double digit growth) in order to attract attention from a major brewer. Dead Frog needs to sell more beer.
Do craft beer drinkers buy light lime lager? Not really. I believe Dead Frog has no choice but to take a step back and realign their product strategy with market demands. Doing so will give Dead Frog the best chance at success.
The more successful craft breweries British Columbia can support the better, but in order to survive breweries must offer a world class product.
Cheers,
Erik
Phillips Brewing – 9 Donkey’s of the Hopocalypse
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 | Breweries | No Comments
Phillips Brewing Company turned nine this August and what else would any self respecting West Coast brewery do other than release a hopped up imperial strength ale? Titled 9 Donkeys of the Hopocalypse this anniversary ale is a powerful “hop bomb” brewed with 9 hop varieties including: Centennial, Chinook, Cascade, Palisade, Amerilo, Citra, Millennium, Hallertaeur and Simcoe.
As expected, this is an in your face mouthful of west coast hop bitterness. This beer is not meant to be balanced but the hopiness is somewhat offset by a pleasant malt sweetness, which helps smooth the intense almost resin like hop flavour. Just don’t drink this one straight out of the fridge – malt flavour tends to hide in the cold, making this beer too hoppy for my liking. Any hop head will be sure to enjoy this seasonal ale. The beer has a surprisingly small aroma, which could be a result of aging. This beer was released almost a month ago and hop aroma fades fast.
Phillips has built a reputation as being one of BC’s more creative breweries and I have always enjoyed their often challenging seasonal releases. Happy belated anniversary Phillips!
Cheers,
Erik
Guinness Tastes Better in Dublin
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 | Beer, Breweries, Pubs | 11 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
Turning Point Brewery – the inside scoop
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 | Breweries | 24 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.
Stanley Park 1897Amber
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries | 20 Comments
Two weeks ago I went out for dinner at The Vault in Cloverdale. I have promoted this restaurant with vigor before, but it is truly a great restaurant with consistently good food and great atmosphere and is worthy of strong support. Every time I visit the beer menu seems to grow, often with a number of local craft beers. On this past visit the server mentioned they had Stanley Park Amber Ale on draught – I immediately asked who brewed this unknown mystery ale. Our server, somewhat confused that anyone would care about beer to such a level as to ask who brewed one certain beer, responded with “Stanley Park brewing… I think”. I, embarrassed that I had never heard of said brewery, sheepishly replied “thanks,” and ordered the ale.
The beer turned out to be an impressive well rounded amber ale. Immediately upon arriving at home I took to the internet with haste – in pursuit of learning more about this new brewery found in my own back yard. Sadly, not much was to be found about this mystery ale. After quite some time of searching I came a across Turning Point Brewing Company – the brewers of Stanley Park 1897 Amber Ale. Their website is lacking and I couldn’t find very much information about Turning Point. All I know is that Turning Point is a new brewery (or possibly a brand) built around sustainability, which is quite a trendy work these days, and that they have a wind generator.
I would love to learn more about Turning Point Brewing Company and their beer; if any of you have any info I would love to know more.
Cheers,
Erik
Granville Island Brewing sold to Creemore Springs
Monday, October 19th, 2009 | Breweries | No Comments
I just got this press release from Granville Island Brewing, looks they got themselves bought:
GRANVILLE ISLAND BREWING AND CREEMORE SPRINGS BREWERY ANNOUNCE INTENTION TO JOIN FORCES
VANCOUVER: October 19, 2009 – Granville Island Brewing and Ontario-based Creemore Springs Brewery will be joining forces, to continue bringing Canadians superior craft and specialty beers.
Creemore announced today its intention to acquire Granville Island Brewing from Andrew Peller Limited. These two leading Canadian craft brewers, each with specialty product portfolios that complement existing offerings across Canada, will be able to offer their wide range of brands to more markets in Canada, while continuing to maintain their distinct positions in BC and Ontario.
Celebrating its 25 year anniversary, Granville Island Brewing has built a strong reputation as a brewer with super-premium and select small batch beers. Granville Island Brewing is a natural addition to Creemore, which has demonstrated leadership in its home market of Ontario as a leader in craft brewing for since August 1987.
“The Granville Island Brewing brand portfolio compliments Creemore’s portfolio and will strongly position us for growth in the craft and specialty segment, providing beer drinkers an enviable selection of the finest craft beers,” said Jason Moore, President and CEO, Creemore Springs Brewery. “Granville Island Brewing brands, when added to our Creemore Springs brand portfolio, will bring a wider range of selection in taste and profile for discerning beer drinkers. Creemore’s intention is for Granville Island Brewing to continue operating as a distinct organization benefiting from its own people, knowledge, recipes and marketing methods, in much the same way that Creemore operates in Ontario,” added Moore.
The Granville Island Brewing brand image and brewing operations will remain unchanged. The acquisition presents Creemore with a strong potential to enhance product sales, and expand to new markets. Creemore will work with the organization to evaluate expansion opportunities to other parts of Canada, as well as increasing Granville Island Brewing’s awareness through increased investment in marketing, which will remain truthful to the brand identity.
“Creemore understands and appreciates what is special about the Granville Island Brewing brands, much like their Creemore brands in Ontario,” Moore added. “These brands are true authentic craft beers, and with 25 years in the market delighting consumers with a West Coast affinity and award winning quality, Granville Island Brewing is a clearly tremendous asset and we welcome it to the Creemore family.”
“We’re pleased to be joining forces with another of the great craft brewers in Canada,” said Walter Cosman, Director of Marketing and Sales for Granville Island Brewing. “Creemore is committed to keeping the unique formula that has made Granville Island Brewing what it is today – finest quality ingredients, unpasteurized product, dedicated people and brewed locally in British Columbia, while leveraging their abilities to enable more and more people to enjoy our west coast inspired craft brews”.
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.
About Creemore Springs Brewery
Creemore was established in 1987. Its direct fire brewing process uses only pure spring water, from the Creemore Springs, the finest malt barley, imported hops and select yeast to make its unique amber lager. Each batch is crafted by a team dedicated to producing the perfect beer. Creemore employs approximately 75 people in Ontario and its craft brews enjoy a great reputation among beer connoisseurs. Creemore is part of Molson Coors Canada. www.creemoresprings.com
My initial thought is that this is not necessarily a good thing, but I’ll post more about this later on once I’ve given it some more time to consider.
Cheers,
Chris
Thanks for the Spam PR Guy
Thursday, July 16th, 2009 | Breweries | 3 Comments
Yesterday I received a couple of emails (spam) from the PR firm on behalf of Steam Whistle Brewing. For those who don’t know, Steam Whistle is an Ontario based brewery who brew a pilsner and only a pilsner. Steam Whistle Pilsner is sometimes available in BC at the better beer stores (Brewery Creek for example), but the average BC beer drinker won’t have heard of it, much less tasted it. It is a tasty pilsner though, a beer I would recommend to you Bud Light Lime drinkers out there, and it is a shame it is not more widely available out west.
What I want to know is, why did Steam Whistle waste their money on hiring these PR guys? Neither email I received was addressed to me and both were clearly spam, likely sent to every beer related website in Canada. Also, the first email was an invite to a pub crawl in Toronto on Thursday (I’ll be there) and the second was promoting a contest, where the link to the contest in the email didn’t even work (the correct link is on Steam Whistle’s website and it looks like a good contest worth winning). I have nothing against Steam Whistle, but I do feel like this means of marketing is a problem in the beer industry. Why hire an ineffectual PR firm to promote Steam Whistle Pilsner in BC when it is hardly available here? In my opinion, using the PR money (PR firms aren’t cheap) to get their beer into BC liquor stores would be a better strategy. An even better strategy would be to have Steam Whistle employees who know and love their beer establish real relationships with prominent beer bloggers (probably not us, but we’d be friends with them anyway). Why pay a passionless suit when there is this whole free internet thing out there that companies can use to reach people with?
Cheers,
Chris
Nice little weekend
Sunday, June 21st, 2009 | Beer, Breweries, Events | 2 Comments
Dave, Tristen, and I enjoying too many free cocktails at The Vancouver Club
This past weekend was a good one for my friends. On Friday, my friend Dave had a party to celebrate earning his Masters degree. Master Simington lives in Chilliwack near Old Yale Brewing and treated his guests to a 19L keg of Old Yale Pale Ale. Old Yale is not a very well known brewery in these parts, but is definitely one of my favorites. It was cool to catch up with old friends and celebrate with a keg of tasty, affordable, local craft beer.
On Saturday, I attended Adam and Lesley’s wedding at the Vancouver Club. I’d previously posted about the Vancouver Club, wondering what their beer selection might be like. I guess Adam and Lesley read the post because they both asked me if I approved of the beer. I didn’t really, but the wedding was awesome! The venue, the food, and the company were all wonderful. The Vancouver Club is a great place for a wedding, shoddy beer menu aside. All the best to Adam and Lesley, thank you for inviting us to enjoy your special day! We had planned to stop off at The Railway Club before the reception, but didn’t quite make it. There was a cocktail hour before the reception featuring drinks and tasty food, and who am I to pass up graciously provided sustenance? And if you were wondering, the beers available were Molson Canadian, Stella Artois, Heineken, and Becks, four generic lagers.
Also at the wedding on Saturday, I received the most surprising text message of my life to date. As we were sitting down for dinner, Peter, of guest post fame, announced the birth of his first child, wooooo! Baby Aaliyah Chandler arrived 18 days early, but healthy and with minimal fuss. We visited the newly formed Chandler family this morning and can attest to the cuteness of said family, thanks in large part to the most recent addition. To tie this event into beer, I’ve heard that stout is supposed to help in breast milk production. This may or may not be true, but I’ve also heard that drinking stout is good times, so who really cares? The Chandlers can expect some stout from me in the near future.
Congrats to my friends on their major life achievements! If you are up for further celebration, I’m up for a few beers.
Cheers,
Chris
Phillips Accusation Ale Tasting
Monday, June 1st, 2009 | Beer, Breweries | 1 Comment
Phillips used to produce a beer called Blue Truck, which was a tasty pale ale. It was a popular beer on Vancouver Island and growing in popularity on the mainland when the Mark James Group sued Phillips Brewing for trademark infringement. They thought that people would confuse Blue Truck with their Red Truck brand. Phillips, being a small brewery, relented and changed the name of their pale ale to Blue Buck. It was shortly after this time that Phillips began producing their cleverly named Accusation Ale, an Extra Special Bitter style ale. I received a hilarious email from Phillips today announcing a preview tasting of this year’s first batch of Accusation Ale:
I hope you can read the invitation because it is really quite clever. I would gladly attend the tasting if I was in Victoria, but alas, I will have to wait until it arrives at Brewery Creek. ESB is one of my favorite styles and I’m really looking forward to this one. I suppose I have the Mark James Group to thank for Accusation Ale, but I really think what they did was stupid. In my opinion, the craft beer scene in BC isn’t big enough for lawsuits. But MJG has felt the repercussions, incurring the angst of many Vancouver Island beer drinkers. If the individual MJG pubs like Dix, Yaletown, Whistler, Taylors Crossing, and Big Ridge weren’t some of the very fine few options for fresh beer hereabouts, I’d probably show them a little angst myself. I do believe the brewers at these establishments had nothing to do with the lawsuit, and so their beer remains morally pure:)
Cheers,
Chris
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