Cheers,

Chris

The Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court

To give you a bit of back-story, the GBBF is held every year at Earls Court (an enormous convention center in London) the first Tuesday to Saturday of August.  CAMRA UK organize GGBF, which is well attended by hundreds of brewers from around the UK who provide casks of beer.  It costs £8 to get in, another refundable £3 for a tasting pint glass (yes, pint), and then beer can be purchased from various bars in 1/3, 1/2, and full pints at rather affordable prices.  I was used to having my testing vessel at a beer festival come in the form of four ounce taster sized cup and was quite surprised at the full pint glasses on offer.  Luckily, most British beers are lower in alcohol content than typical North American festival beers, so the full pint did not do me in.

I was quite pleased with our pints

In searching for quality beer, we did indeed find that almost half of the beer listed was sold out.  We didn’t particularly enjoy what we tried of the other half.  It might be that the beer was starting to spoil after five days sitting in an open cask or that only the poorer quality beer was left, but I was not particularly impressed with the overall beer quality of what I tasted.  I admit that this might have been to do with me lacking in knowledge of the vast number of British brewers and I’ve vowed to do my research in the future.  Next year I’m going to go earlier in the week and come prepared with a list of fine beers to try.  What I am quite sure of is that the beer available at GBBF was nowhere near as adventurous or varied as what you might find at a festival in the Pacific Northwest.  I’m sure the various ales on offer were chock full of subtlety, but subtlety detection seems to disappear after a couple pints.

All the good stuff sold out...

After a few disappointing pints, I stumbled upon the international bar where I found a few of my west coast favorites.  I took comfort in a bottle of one of my favorite beers, Deschutes Black Butte Porter.  I then went back to challenge myself with a 500ml bottle of Green Flash Double Stout.  You might say this did me in.  I’m once again going to complain about the propensity for festival organizers to hold events such as these during the day.  I wasn’t particularly inebriated at 7PM on Saturday, but what’s a slightly inebriated person going to do post GBBF at 7PM on a Saturday?  Carry on, that’s what.  Needless to say, the following Sunday was one of those “I’m never drinking again” days, which usually last me a week.  However, I’m in England now, so I only managed to take one day off.

Festival goers at GBBF

All and all, it was a very interesting experience and a fun time, I’ll be back.  Next year, I’m going on a Wednesday night and I’m going to go prepared.  This strategy will hopefully help me come up with some non useless commentary in 2011.

Cheers,

Chris

Canada Day in Trafalgar Square

The most amazing part of the evening for me involved one of the Canadians we were meeting turning up in a circa 1994 Gino Odjick Canuck jersey.  There were thousands of drunk Canadians in Trafalgar Square that night and a good portion of them, most of the ones from BC at least, all stopped by to hug, pose with, or otherwise worship the Gino jersey.  The first incident I saw involved an extremely attractive woman practically throwing herself at the Gino jersey.  If you are a young single Canadian, I recommend showing up next year in a Gino (or suitable 1994 Canuck hero, Linden, Ronning, Mclean, Momesso, Adams, Babych and others not including Bure might do the trick) because you’ll be the toast of the town.  I always knew the 1994 Canuck run was a big deal, but it pretty much defines my generation.  If nothing else, we have that in common.  It’s a bit embarassing though, what with us not even winning.  Ginooo!

The Power of Gino is immense

After the celebration we decided to go to the Maple Leaf, the one Canadian bar in London.  Guess what? So did everyone else and we didn’t get in.  I’ve yet to check out the Maple Leaf, but I’ll get there and let you know how it goes.

Cheers,

Chris

Hoppapalooza at the Alibi Room on Monday, May 10 is looking like the pick of the litter so far.  Apparently Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson will be on hand to kick off this event, which marks the beginning of VCBW.  For $50, your ticket gets you a taste of over 25 hop forward beers, a dish of bison chili, and the enjoyment of local blues musician Rich Hope.  Buy tickets here.

The BC Beer Awards Tasting Event brought to you by Brewery Creek will be held Friday, May 14 at Heritage Hall on Main street.  At this event, $30 for your ticket lets you taste the winning beers from the first annual BC Beer Awards.  The winners haven’t been announced yet, so that will be part of the fun too.  Buy tickets here.

There are many other beer dinners and pubcrawls to choose from, so make sure to check out the other events. Also, take a look at this video released for VCBW:

I am a Canadian Craft Brewer from VancouverCBW on Vimeo.

Sadly, I’m not going to be able to go to any of the VCBW events, what with moving to another continent and all.  I have consoled myself, if only a little, by buying tickets to the Great British Beer Festival coming up in August.

Cheers,

Chris

Best Local Brewpub

Gold: Central City Brewing

Silver: Steamworks

Bronze: Dix Barbecue and Brewery

Best Local Beer Cafe, Pub, or Restaurant

Gold: Alibi Room

Silver: The Whip Restaurant & Gallery

Bronze: The Railway Club

Best Local Liquor Store

Gold: Brewery Creek Liquor Store

Silver: BCL 39th & Cambie

Bronze: Firefly Fine Wines & Ales

Best Local Cask Night

Gold: Dix Cask Thursdays

Silver: The Whip Real Ale Sundays

Bronze: Yaletown Making it Real (Ale)

Best Local Beer Event

Gold: Alibi Room 100th Beer Menu Rotation

Silver: Dix X-mas X-treme

Bronze: CAMRA on a Mission to Mission

Best BC Brewery

Gold: Phillips Brewing

Silver: Driftwood Brewery, Red Racer aka Central City Brewing (tie)

Best BC Beer

Gold: Red Racer IPA

Silver: Phillips Longboat Double Chocolate Porter

Bronze: Crannog Back Hand of God Stout

Best BC Seasonal Beer

Gold: Driftwood Sartori Harvest IPA, Phillips Crooked Tooth Pumpkin Ale (tie)

Bronze: Phillips The Hammer Imperial Stout

Cheers,

Chris

My biggest concern with the event is the quality of the beer itself.  While both Fullers London Pride and GIB Lions Winter Ale are both good beers at the best of times, the international travel these beers will undertake won’t favor the quality of the beer.  Consider that beer is best served fresh and, save for high alcohol beers stored under the right conditions, will only deteriorate over time.  Now consider that these beers were brewed 4708 miles away from each other.  The beers must each travel across a continent by truck or train), across an ocean by boat, and then be stored at a liquor distribution center until the appropriate paper work has been filed.  I’d guess the age of these beers to be at least three months since packaging, which means that they are probably starting to go stale.  I’ve experienced stale Fullers London Pride often, but, considering that I bought this beer at a BC Liquor Store, it could have been up to a year old.

I hope beyond hope that both beers were shipped expediently after they were brewed, stored in optimal conditions, and are both tasting great. What would be even better is if the beers were casked and conditioned (under optimal conditions) on the way, but that might be too hopeful.  Best of luck to both GIB and Fullers in this endeavor.  However, I’d suggest keeping future international exchanges local in the interest of freshness.  Washington and Oregon aren’t too far away.

Cheers,

Chris

Cheers,

Chris

Last week, Emily from Touchwood Editions, publishers of the book, let me know that there is going to be a launch party for Drinking Vancouver at the Alibi Room on Thursday the 28th from 6-8PM.  There will be books on sale and you may even get to meet the author.  Even better, this event is open to all comers.  Check out the Facebook page for the event here.

ABOUT THE BOOK
With sharp, witty reviews of the best spots in town to slake your thirst, DRINKING VANCOUVER is the pocket-sized booze bible for locals and visitors craving a night out on the town. Written and compiled by travel and feature writer John Lee, this book is handily divided into eleven neighbourhoods from the heritage bars of Gastown to the slick joints of Yaletown to the gritty pubs of the Downtown Eastside. You’ll find special sections with top drinking, dining and ambience suggestions, as well as recommended watering holes for the next time you’re on the road in other parts of British Columbia.

With Vancouver’s long-overdue bar renaissance upon us, this is the first hands-on guide to toast the city’s newly hot bar scene.

Maybe I’ll see you there?

Cheers,

Chris

• Feast of The Five Firkins – The Whip restaurant hosts a five course feast with each course paired with a wonderful craft beer.  This is the third annual feast and I’ve heard each of the previous were wonderful.  The feast will be held January 10th and tickets are available from The Whip for $85 each.
• Belgianfest 2010 – The Washington Beer Commission presents the first ever Belgianfest, a craft beer event featuring Belgian style beers brewed by Washington craft brewers.  The event will be held Saturday, January 23rd at Georgetown Studios at The Engine Room in Seattle (close enough to Vancouver).  Tickets are $30.
• Beer Wars Screening – I don’t have many details on this one, but I’ve heard there will be a screening of Beer Wars at District319 in Vancouver on January 17th.

I hope your holidays have been better than mine thus far.

Cheers,

Chris

Onto the beer, my favorite was the wildly creative Mole Poblano Ale from Storm.  It  was brewed with chipotle peppers, ancho peppers and chocolate!  I would never have thought to combine mole and beer, nor would I expect the combination to taste good.  However, Storm brewer James Walton managed to marry the two (both complicated and intensive concoctions in their own right) into a spicy, chocolaty winter brew.  I’ll admit that I didn’t find the Mole Poblano Ale to be the best tasting beer, but it got my vote for being the most interesting.  I was also very fond of the Taylor’s Crossing Christmas Cake, which did indeed taste like Christmas cake.  This beer won the brewers choice award with R&B‘s Auld Nick taking home the people’s choice.

I took this one crappy iPhone picture well into the event when I realized I wanted to blog but wouldn’t have any pictures.  Once again, I fail.

Here is a list of the other beers that were at the event:

• Central City: Imperial IPA
• Crab Alley: Dead Pine IPA
• Dead Frog: Oaked Winter Warmer
• DIX: Barleywine
• DIX: Imperial Stout
• DIX: IPA
• Driftwood: Blackstone Porter
• Granville Island: Jolly Abbot Belgian-Style Tripel
• Howe Sound: Father John’s Winter Ale
• Longwood: Doppelbock (9.5%, Aged 8 months)
• R&B: Auld Nick Winter Ale
• Russell: Spiced Winter Warmer
• Swans: Legacy Ale (a Barleywine. Aged on oak for the past year)
• Spinnakers: IPA (charged with sweet wort and dry-hopped with Magnum hops)
• Storm: Mole Poblano Ale (Chipotle and Ancho peppers with chocolate)
• Taylor’s Crossing: Festbier (a strong Vienna lager spiced with Juniper berries)
• Taylor’s Crossing: Christmas Cake (an amber ale flavoured with molasses, traditional brandied fruits, and Christmas spices)
• Whistler Brewhouse: Dave’s Damn Dangerously Drinkable Double IPA (8.5%, 70 IBUs, Dry-Hopped with Cascades)
• Yaletown: Le Nez Rouge (a Belgian-style tripel. Iain’s choice of yeast results in a spicy, clove-like character)
• Yaletown: Oud Bruin (Iain’s pièce de résistance. A Flemish sour brown fermented with 6 cultures in total. Aged on oak since January!)

For more info and likely some post game recap (including non crappy pictures), check out the event’s Facebook page.  For those of you who didn’t attend, keep your eyes open for the next caskival (likely the summer version in August); this is the best beer festival Vancouver’s got.

Cheers,

Chris