Love Good Beer

First Annual Whistler Brewhouse Beer Festival

Friday, May 29th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries, Events, Pubs | 2 Comments

The Whistler Brewhouse is an establishment that I love.  I’ve been going there for many years, long before I’d even fully discovered my love of beer.  Some friends and I stumbled upon it during a ski trip one winter and have been going back ever since.  We found the fresh beer and food to be excellent and the atmosphere to be delightfully cozy after a day on the slopes.  The Whistler Brewhouse was also where I first enjoyed many lesser known beer styles, including a cherry ale, barley wine, and dunkelweizen that I can recall.  When I found out that the Whistler Brewhouse would be hosting a beer festival this year, my interest was piqued.

I heard about the festival via the CAMRA Vancouver email newsletter, but haven’t been able to find very many details online besides the image included in this post and a Facebook event.  The festival is said to be happening on Saturday June 27th from 12PM to 6PM and over twenty unknown microbreweries will be on hand.  Tickets are $25 ($20 for CAMRA members) and are on sale at the Brewhouse and at Dix in Vancouver.  Despite the lack of official details, the mere mention of a beer festival at the Whistler Brewhouse is enough for me.  Erirk and I will be heading to Whistler that weekend for the wives for what will surely be an excellent time.  To all my friends who expressed interest in previous beer festivals and were less than impressed when I didn’t invite them, please feel encouraged to join us at this one.  It is going to be fun.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: Barley Wine, beer festival, camra vancouver, cheery ale, Craft Beer, dix, dunkelweizen, microbrewery, whistler brewhouse

Beer in Greece

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries | 2 Comments

I’ve returned from our vacation in Greece and am now sufficiently recovered from jetlag to write a bit about the beer there.  While in Greece I learned that hobbies of Greek people include yelling at each other, smoking, and driving their vehicles wherever they might fit.  I also learned that Greeks drink macro lager.  Everywhere in Greece that sells beer, and there are a lot of places in Greece that sell beer, offers Amstel, Heineken, and Mythos in bottles and cans.  Literally everywhere, no matter where we were, we could count on picking up a 500ml bottle of one of these three for a euro or so.  We did encounter a few different varieties of lager for sale here and there, including Alfa (the other big Greek brand) and Lowenbrau, but always lager.  But as they say, when in Greece do as the Greeks do.  We did enjoy some of these brews (mostly because they were cheap) while sitting on patios or watching sunsets and we did find them refreshing in the Greek heat.  We also noticed that some establishments in Athens had Craft Lager on tap, Craft being the name of the brewery.

A cool Mythos at a taverna on a hot Athens day

We ventured to visit the aptly named Craft Microbrewery, the only microbrewery in Athens.  I expected great things of Craft based on the glowing Beer Advocate reviews of the place, but left a bit disappointed.  They certainly put the effort on presentation with shiny vats and tap handles glistening at their location, but we found their “pub” reminiscent of every other Athens cafe we’d visited.  They did not manage to put forth the homey brewpub atmosphere I’d hoped for.  I was impressed to be presented with a complimentary taster of their six brews upon arrival.  The beers themselves consisted of a lager, a pilsner, a dark lager, a red ale, a wheat beer, and a smoked lager.  I found all of the beers to be very light and hollow tasting, merely average, and was not particularly impressed.  Still, I am glad I visited the only microbrewery and brewpub in all of Greece.

Craft Microbrewery Athens

Tasters at Craft Microbrewery Athens

The bottle lineup at Craft

A pint of Craft's Athens Lager

As suspected, it turns out that Greece is not much of a beer country, some great wine though.  We did come across a few specialty bars and restaurants serving some interesting Belgian and German beers where I enjoyed a very expensive Paulaner Hefeweizen (could have had eight Mythos!).  Other than the odd case, it was just the big three everywhere.  I do have fond memories of enjoying Mythos or Amstel in some fine locations, but I think it may have had more to do with the locations.  The Greek islands were lovely, but the wife has already agreed to my beer tour of central Europe for our next trip!

Enjoying the Santorini Sunset with an Amstel

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: alfa, amstel, athens, craft microbrewery, greece, Heineken, lowenbrau, mythos, paulaner

Sampling some Utah brews

Friday, May 8th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries | 1 Comment

A great thing about having a beer blog is that my friends know it and are often willing to bring me back some beer from their travels.  My friend Tristen was just in Moab, Utah on a dirt biking trip.  Before he left, he offered to bring me back some beer.  I was a little skeptical because I’d heard that in Utah, what with the whole Mormon abstinence thing, beer could be a bit scarce.  Tristen managed to find and bring back beer from a couple of the very few brewpubs in Utah.  We drank it last night after work, while watching the Canucks lose, and it was delicious.  Thanks Tristen, you are a good man.

Utah brews, imported by Tristen

We sampled Provo Girl Pilsner and Full Suspension Pale Ale from Squatters Brew Pub, as well as 1st Amendment Lager and Polygamy Porter from Wasatch Brew Pub.  I’m not sure what I expected, but I found all four beers to be quite good.  In fact, I wish more BC brew pubs bottled their beers for general consumption.  I got an especial kick out of the Polygamy Porter slogan, why have just one?  The beer itself was a nice roasty, chocolaty porter.  I also really enjoyed the Full Suspension Pale Ale, which had a tremendously hoppy floral aroma while not tasting particularly bitter at all.  It is good to know that the citizens of Utah can turn to these brews in times of need.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: 1st amendment lager, full suspension pale ale, moab, polygamy porter, squatters brew pub, utah provo girl pilsner, wasatch brew pub, why have just one

Kamloops

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 | Beer, Breweries | 2 Comments

I am in Kamloops this weekend for a friend’s wedding. Prior to making the trip up, I did a fair amount of research online to find the best places to visit for food and beer in Kamloops. From what I have seen so far, Kamloops is not a great city for beer – nor is information readily available online about restaurants, pubs and breweries in the Kamloops area. Urbanspoon and Yelp were of little help – both have an almost nonexistent online-presence in Kamloops.

Unlike most large cities in British Columbia’s Thompson-Okanagon region, Kamloops is not home to a brewpub, and the only brewery in town, KB/Whistler Brewing/Bowen Island Brewing, is confusing, mediocre and therefore somewhat unsatisfying. This lone craft brewer was once name Kamloops Brewing prior to a series of corporate mergers that eventually ended up with the decline of KB beer – Whistler Brewing is now this brewery’s flagship beer. This misleading beer is brewed using glacial water trucked in over the long mountainous roads from Whistler – ridiculous. I am in Kamloops right now and the water tastes great, but why use local water when “ultra-premium” water can be shipped in – climate change is a myth.

We did manage to find a local pub named Duffy’s Pub within walking distance of our hotel that offers KB Black Bear Ale on draught. Black Bear is still brewed using local Kamloops water and has a delicate roasted malt flavor with a pleasing aroma that is distinct to the Kamloops area and their local water supply. The food was typical Canadian pub fare – pizza, burgers, pasta, steak and other simple dishes; the beer selection was made up of light lager and a few other darker ales. According to the limited number of reviews on urbanspoon, Duffy’s Pub is one of Kamloops’ top 10.

In doing some research I did come across Rethink Beer – a herb infused lager brewed at KB Brewing. I have no idea if this gimmicky product is still in production or if this brand ever achieved success. According to Rethink’s website their beer is not available in Kamloops. But lets be serious for a minute here, no amount of ginseng, ginko or tribulus will make beer any healthier or tastier. Beer is a naturally nutritious beverage that does not need to rely on herbal additions to attain a healthy status – red wine is not the only healthy drink option.

Local breweries play a big role in the development of a city’s beer culture. Vancouver Island for example, is a destination for beer enthusiasts, largely because of the number of small craft breweries that support and encourage a growing regional beer scene. Unfortunately, the only brewery in Kamloops no longer focuses on servicing it’s surrounding area and instead has opted to pursue flashier export markets with the internationally recognized brand Whistler Brewing.

Cheers,

Erik

Tags: Bowen Island Brewing, Duffy's Pub, Kamloops, KB Breiwng, Rethink Beer, Urbanspoon, Whistler Brewing, yelp

Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries, Homebrew | 5 Comments

Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies located in Vancouver’s threatened Heatley Block is the soul of Vancouver’s growing craft beer movement.   Yes that is correct, the very soul of craft beer in Vancouver is a homebrew shop.    If craft beer was a body, the many fine brewers in BC would be the heart, retail shops, restaurants and pubs such as Brewery Creek, the Alibi Room and The Whip would act as the arms and  legs, and the dedicated consumers represented by groups such as CAMRA Vancouver would be the mind.  All parts play an integral role in a successful beer revival, and although all parts are equally important, Dan’s will always hold a special place in my heart.

My love for beer came from an interest in homebrewing – without Dan’s I may never have been exposed to the diverse selection of beer that the world has to offer.  The entire Vancouver area is littered with many small u-brew and u-vint businesses that carry a limited selection of homebrew ingredients and supplies, but none of these compare to Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies.  Dan’s is the only retail store in the entire Vancouver area where whole-leaf  hops, hop pellets, a full selection of barley, wheat and rye malts, brewing supplies and brewers yeast can be found.  This list does not include the friendly advice and recipes that Dan and his staff are more than happy to provide to their customers.  Here is a video put together about Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies.

The most creative and experimental beer will always be homebrew.  I have to admit that some of the cask beers that brewmasters graciously provide are delicious and very creative, but craft brewing is still a business and the beer they produce must be commercial enough to sell.  Whereas homebrewers do not sell their beer and only have to please themselves and their usually appreciative friends – the only limitation homebrewers face is their own imagination.  For a mere sixty dollars on supplies and twenty to thirty dollars for ingredients, and add in a small amount of patience and there it is,  an incredibly unique and flavorful beer.

The  North American craft beer renaissance that was started in Northern California over thirty years ago was largely influenced by hombrewers.  Homebrew shops have always and will continue to play a vital role in the growth of craft beer.  For anyone interested in homebrewing, I highly encourage a  visit to Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies – I am sure Dan and his staff would be more than happy to help.

Cheers,

Erik

Tags: alibi room, camra vancouver, Dan's Homebrewing Supplies, Homebrew, the whip

After 25 years it is finally here: Brockton IPA

Friday, April 24th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries | 5 Comments

The Granville Island Brewing Company turned 25 this year, and to celebrate they released a new beer titled Brockton IPA. Granville Island Brewing is one of British Columbia’s first craft brewers – all BC beer fans, even those whose tastes are not always satisfied with Granville Island’s regular offering, owe a big thank you to this brewing pioneer.

Granville Island’s non-seasonal six-pack beer is generally speaking, not brewed to please the discerning pallet of a passionate beer drinker, but that is good. Not all craft beer needs to be challenging and thought provoking. Granville Island’s beer serves as a great entry point into the world of craft beer. This brewery has done a great deal of work in developing a market for craft beer in Vancouver. Although I am no longer a diehard fan of Granville Island English Bay Pale Ale, I still have a great deal of respect for this ale. Had this mild pale ale never existed I may not have been exposed to BC’s burgeoning craft beer scene – English Bay Pale Ale was one of the first craft beers that I tasted, enjoyed and began to purchase regularly.

To please fussier beer drinkers, such as myself, Granville Island Brewing offers a good selection of creative and flavourful seasonal beers. Unlike their regular offering, which is now brewed in Kelowna, their season beer is still brewed on Granville Island. To me, the true definition of a craft brewer is not how many liters a brewery produces annually, but whether or not a selection of seasonal beer is offered. Seasonal releases are a great way for brewers to challenge their customers’ taste buds and push the boundaries a bit. Having achieved success with a previous IPA seasonal release, Granville Island Brewing decided that now was the perfect time to release a milder version of their seasonal IPA.

Because I fall into the “fussy” beer drinking category, I assumed that Brockton IPA would not be for me. My assumptions were correct – there is nothing wrong with this beer and I believe it is a great IPA for those who have never experienced the full on flavour assault of an IPA, I just prefer a bigger, bolder IPA. Knowing that Brockton IPA was not for me, I decided to invite a few friends over, all who like beer to varying degrees, to sample the beer and offer their unbiased opinions.

Here is what they thought:

Brad Wiens:

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It is a good beer, but somewhat weak. Similar to other Granville Island Beer.

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Cheryl Wiens:

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It tastes like a pill that I tried to swallow and then coughed up

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Holly Wolfe:

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It is okay, but a bit too bitter. I prefer their Winter Ale.

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Rachel Richardson:

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Piney tasting – Where is the citrus flavour?

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Chris Richardson:

Chris has already posted his comments, but to reiterate:

i

It tastes like a hoppier version of English Bay Pale Ale

i

ii

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No one seemed to fall in the love with Brockton IPA, but aside from Cheryl, everyone did finish their beer. Subjective opinions aside, Brockton IPA is a great introduction to hoppier, flavourful beers and I am always excited to see a brewer release a new beer. I look forward to seeing what Granville Island brews next.

Cheers,

Erik

Tags: Brockton IPA, english bay pale ale, Granville Island Brewing, hops, IPA, Review

Mission Springs Brewing Company

Saturday, April 18th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries, Pubs | No Comments

My search for the perfect pizza and beer combination continued yesterday evening at the Mission Springs Brewing Company in Mission. Mission Springs is home to a large restaurant and pub complete with an outdoor beach volleyball court, but the purpose of this visit was not to play volleyball, it was to see what they can do with their in-house wood fired pizza oven. Yes, you read correct, Mission Springs brewing company serves fresh local craft beer alongside what could potentially be the perfect pizza. Hallelujah!

Getting strait to the point, the pizza was well below average and quite disappointing. The crust was completely dry and tough – offering none of the tender, crispy and chewy quality’s that a good pizza crust should have. Over topping, a common mistake made by many pizza chefs, made for a soggy, greasy pizza experience. However, not all was bad, as shown below the pizza arrived at our table in an oblong shape – this is a good thing. There is no reason for pizza to be perfectly round – a slightly misshapen pizza pie is a clear sign that caring human hands were involved in the pizza making process. An off-round pizza has far more charm and character than a perfectly round, and lifeless, pizza.

The perfect imperfect pizza shape

Aside from the pizza disappointment, my wife and I had a great evening and were able to enjoy some great local beer. Mission Springs’ current seasonal is a Red Ginger Ale (the ginger is actually very mild in this particular beer). The beer was served far too cold and was at first dominated by a spicy earthiness, after reaching a more appropriate ale temperature, a pleasing fruitiness became noticeable making for an enjoyable experience. My wife ordered not one, but two pints of the Bombshell Blonde Ale over the course of the evening, which she kindly allowed me to steal a taste of. Mission Springs’ Blonde Ale is one of my current favourite light craft beers, and is a great introductory beer to those not yet exposed to the craft beer world.

The real highlight of the evening was the gravity defying Black and Tan. Breaking the laws of physics and all things science this exclusive pub-only beer consisted of a rich Oatmeal Stout floating inexplicably atop a bed of well balanced India Pale Ale. The Black and Tan was equally impressive to the eyes as it was to the taste buds and stomach. A proper black and tan is a beer experience worth celebrating.

Black and Tan

This was not my first visit to the Mission Springs Brewing Company,and nor will it be my last. They may not know how to make the perfect pizza, but the unique country-bar atmosphere and simple yet delicious beer offerings help to make up for their erroneous pizza pie.

Erik

Tags: black and tan, Bombshell Blonde Ale, India Pale Ale, Mission Springs Brewing Company, Oatmeal Stout, Pizza

Where’s the Greek Beer?

Saturday, April 18th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries | 5 Comments

The wife and I are heading to Greece in May and I am pretty excited about it.  We plan to start in Athens and then head to a few of the islands.  Naturally, I’ve been searching the intertubes for Greece’s best beer.  It turns out beer doesn’t have much of a presence in Greece, beyond the lagers of major international brands like Heineken and Amstel.  Greece is more of a wine country (I’ll manage), but they do have a few breweries on the side.  Mythos is one such brewery, although they do not fair to well on BeerAdvocate.  Searching for craft and microbrews I found only one establishment in the entire country, the aptly named Craft Microbrewery.  At least I won’t have to make any choices, right?  Actually, all the reviews I’ve read for Craft have been glowing, so we’ll definitely be stopping by when in Athens for our one beer related excursion.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: Add new tag, amstel, athens, craft microbrewery, greece, Heineken, mythos

A guys trip to Victoria

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries, Pubs | 3 Comments

This past weekend I traveled to Victoria with twelve guys for my friend Dave’s Bachelor party.  We stayed at the historic Swans Hotel, home of the excellent Swans Buckerfields Brewery.  Sadly, we were too busy engaging in debauchery to have a proper taste of the great beers available at Swans.  We did make our way home laden with a few excellent bottles though.  We did get to both The Canoe Club and Spinnakers Brewpub, one each night for dinner and some warmup beers.  It wasn’t looking good for us when we showed up to a packed Canoe on Friday night with thirteen guys.  Miraculously, we managed to conjure a thirteen man table in less than twenty minutes.  We achieved a similar feat at Spinnakers on Saturday, this time in less than five minutes.  We are still very proud of ourselves.  I really enjoyed the beer and food at Canoe and Spinnakers, but must say I preferred both at Canoe

Needless to say, our weekend was not focused on beer tasting and I have no meaningful beer related tidbits to share, besides that we had a great time at the brewpubs.  Our other activities included great rounds of golf at Cordova Bay and Olympic View, neither of which I had played before.  Olympic View was particularly beautiful, not to mention challenging.  We were a bit rough around the edges on Saturday and were lucky to have chosen a team format for the day’s round.  This applied especially to Dave, who actually tossed his club a solid sixty yards on his first full swing, unintentionally.  Not fully understanding the Victoria bar scene, we had less luck with our choices in nightlife venues.  We had a decent time, but were unlucky to have been involved in an altercation on the first night.  Turns out I can take a beer bottle to the head.  Although you won’t believe me, no I did not do anything to deserve it.  The second night, when Dave went out in his hot dog suit, was much more interesting.  I’ll let you guess at what might have happened.

All and all, Victoria was a decent place for a stag.  We’ve got another one coming up in Seattle and we’ll need to drink some beer.  I’ll keep you posted.

Cheers,

Chris
Some pictures, back to my crappy iPhone camera again:

Dave cannibalizing, you monster!

Kyle and Peter at Canoe, good times.

Jim, Dave, and Tristen at Canoe, good beer.

Tags: canoe club, cordova bay, hot dog suit, olympic view, spinnakers, swans, victoria

IPA Season

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries, Homebrew | No Comments

The spring season is finally here; the sun is shinning, the earth is slowly warming, the trees are beginning to blossom, my garden plants are sprouting and India Pale Ale is now is season.  My latest IPA that I started  six weeks ago has finally finished bottle conditioning and is now fit for enjoyable consumption, although it is still somewhat green and could use another three weeks to fully come together.

My IPA is not the only IPA of the spring season; many other brewers have used the early spring or late winter to launch their own IPA offering.  Central City Brewing, Russell Brewing, and Granville Island Brewing have all recently launched an IPA into the market to compete for the growing hophead  demographic.  I am most excited about Central City’s Empire IPA and, although it has been sitting on store shelves for quite some time, I have yet to pour it out of a can in the comfort of my own home.  Gary Lohin of Central City Brewing is one of British Columbia’s most talented brewmasters and he has yet to disappoint me.

I am less excited, yet still quite hopeful, about the Russell and Granville Island IPAs.  Both brewers have shown they know how to craft a delicious IPA, yet have a tendency to water down their beer to reach a larger market.  Granville Island’s past seasonal IPA was delicious and Russell’s IPA Cask served recently at DIX was flavorful and well hopped.  As previously mentioned, I am not a huge hophead and hope that both the Granville Island and Russell IPAs make great summer beers.

Granville Island’s IPA, named Brockton IPA, and Central City’s IPA have both been available for some time now.  Russell Brewing’s IPA has yet to reach liquor stores and I cannot provide a date when this new offering will be available.  I recommend visiting Rick Green’s Blog for updates on upcoming beer releases; Rick has an immense knowledge about BC’s beer scene.

As for my IPA, which as yet to be named, it is malty and not overly hopped, but sadly will only be available to those who stop by for a visit or to those who invite me over for dinner.

Cheers,

Erik

Tags: BC Beer Blog, Brockton IPA, Central City Brewing, dix, gary lohin, Granville Island Brewing, India Pale Ale, IPA, Rusell Brewing