Pubs
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
Our own Whistler Beer Festival
Monday, June 29th, 2009 | Beer, Pubs | 1 Comment
We heard about the Whistler Beer Festival about a month ago and decided to go, only to find out it would be canceled, but not before we’d booked ourselves in Whistler for the weekend. Long story short, we went to Whistler last weekend to not go to the Whistler Beer Festival. There are definitely worse things in life to contend with than a weekend in Whistler, so we made the best of it and had our own beer festival.
We ended up staying at an awesome complex called Glacier’s Reach, which we booked through the rental-by-owner site alluraDirect.com for a very affordable price. We had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a hot tub on our deck(!), and we were right across from the village. I’d definitely stay there again. Erik and I brought up a bunch of good beer, mostly purchased from Brewery Creek, the best of which (besides Erik’s homebrew) being Coney Island Lager and Coney Island Human Blockhead, two very flavorful lagers. We stayed in the first night to make our own pizza and enjoy our tasty beers. The next day, our attempt at being active consisted of a walk through the village and around lost lake. Then the rains came, signaling it was time to head to the Brewhouse.
The Whistler Brewhouse was very apologetic and immediately refunded our beer festival tickets, a wise move by them because we swiftly gave our money right back. While the wives went shopping (blah), Erik and I sat at the bar, where we were treated to a few complimentary pints and a locals discount on the rest of our bill. The Brewhouse had two seasonal’s, a smoked porter and a Belgian wit. I found the wit a bit dull and the smoked porter a bit too smokey, but their Wolf Creek Bitter and Grizlly Brown Ale were as delicious as ever. The wives later joined us for dinner after, thankfully not having bought too much stuff. In the end, I think I was there for almost five hours. I had a great time because the bar their is as close to heaven on earth as it gets for me. Beer, chicken wings, sports on HDTV…done.
Man Heaven - the bar at Whistler Brewhouse
Holly and her sampler
We may have continued drinking beer that night. We may have drank too much. We may have wandered the village and purchased hotdogs unnecesarily, who can tell these things? Whatever we got up to, it was all in the past by the next morning because we had more work to do. We drove down to Squamish and to the Howe Sound Brewing Company for lunch. Erik and I both ordered the sampler there, but decided not to double down when we saw the size of the first one. Ten generous samples! A bit much considering I still had to navigate the remainder of the Sea to Die Highway. Sadly, we found the beer a bit underwhelming. My personal favorite was the Father Johns winter ale, which reminded me of gingerbread. We also enjoyed the Blonde Ale, the Mettleman Copper Ale, and the Diamond Head Oatmeal Stout. Also, I had the half roast chicken for lunch and it was delicious.
Erik and the epic Howe Sound Sampler
This was indeed a very good weekend. It would have been better if we’d had some more activities to do, but the rain held us at bay. Next Winter, head to the Whistler Brewpub for a warming apres ski pint. On the way home, skip the Tim Horton’s when you get hungry and head to the pub at Howe Sound for a tasty lunch. You won’t regret either decision.
Cheers,
Chris
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
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
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.
Where did the flavour go – take II
Saturday, March 14th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries, Events, Food and Recipes, Homebrew, Pubs | No Comments
I have been battling a cold all week. For a person who loves food and beer, a cold is far more than a runny nose and a sore throat – a cold renders taste buds useless, clearly it is evil in its purest form. I have not been able to taste anything all week which has made for a somewhat mundane week. I was saddened to arrive at DIX Cask Thursday with a numbed pallet. The company at DIX was quite enjoyable, but both ales, which I am told were delicious, tasted only of bitterness. Now both Cask beers were quite hop heavy and bitterness is to be expected; however, I missed all of the subtleties and nuances that the brewer has intended for. Fortunately I am well on my way to recovery and should be in good drinking condition this Sunday for the cask at The Whip.
Prior to this cold destroying one of life’s greatest pleasures, I found a great ale house/beer bar in Everett, Washington last Sunday. This unintentional last hurrah for my taste buds took place at the poorly named Flying Pig Brewing Company. I have read that the Flying Pig was once a brewpub, but recently stopped brewing and now only serves local Northwest craft beer. Their selection of beer is quite impressive, but I do think a name change would be in good order.
After getting over the fact that no beer was brewed on site I ordered a pint of Hood Canal Oatmeal Stout. This stout has a delicious roasted malt flavour and a thick mouth feel. I had no choice but to order the pulled pork sandwich – my love for pulled pork is bordering on obsession. It wasn’t the greatest pulled pork, but nothing to complain about either. My wife order a pint of Alaskan Pale Ale, and from the sips I manage to steal, it was quite tasty. All in all it was a great place for a Sunday lunch.
I did manage to snap a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.
The Flying Pig Brewing Company
Hood Canal Oatmeal Stout
Holly with an Alaskan Pale Ale
Beer Selection
Pulled Pork - ignore the finger, I'm not a photographer
Erik
A night at the Alibi Room
Thursday, February 26th, 2009 | Beer, Pubs | 2 Comments
Last night I went to the Alibi Room with my friends Peter, Dave and Gavin. Erik was going to come, but he was busy roasting a chicken, it happens. Our visit came about because of comment’s Rick Green left on Dave’s guest post, wondering what Dave might think of the Alibi Room in comparison to Original Joe’s. It didn’t take much convincing to get a group out for beers after work, considering we are always up for some good merry making. That aside, the Alibi Room has a fantastic beer selection to tempt any enthusiast.
The Alibi Room has 19 taps of fresh, relatively local draught beer, plus many more bottled options, as well as the odd cask, all of which are in constant rotation. For a beer drinker, this is heaven. Not only do they have the best beer selection in BC, but there is always something new. In fact, the owner makes special trips to the island to pick up casks and kegs himself
I had a very hard time choosing what four beers to put into my “frat bat”. I ended up going for the Swans Cask ESB, Longwood “Batch 1000″ Doppelbock, Dix Texan Brown, and Steamworks Roggenweizen. I also sampled the Swans Extra IPA and ordered a pint of the Swans Cask ESB later on. I think we all enjoyed the Cask ale the most, but I was also particularly impressed with the Longwood Doppelbock. I didn’t care too much for the Roggenweizen (too spicy) or the Texan Brown, but neither are preferred styles of mine.
Peter and Dave with empty plates/glasses at the Alibi Room
We also had some very tasty, reasonably priced food. After splitting some chicken wings and a cheese plate, we ordered two each of their roast beef sandwich special and their bison dip, which were both quite good. I planned to take some pictures of our glorious spread of beer and food, but I completely forgot until we’d pretty much finished everything to the last crumb/drop. Still, I have a picture of our empty plates and glasses, testament to the good times we shared with great food and beer at the Alibi Room. I hope we end up making this a regular after work occurrence!
Cheers.
Chris
Eastern Explorations Continued: Dieu Du Ciel
Monday, February 16th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries, Pubs | 1 Comment
One of my coworkers moved back to Quebec this past summer, but still works with us remotely. Our interactions are now mostly limited to instant messenger conversations, but lately we’ve been able to bond over our mutual interest in beer. Jerome is lucky to live near Montreal, the Canadian hotbed of interesting craft beer. One of the breweries we both enjoy is Dieu Du Ciel, who brew very interesting beers.
Jerome tempting me with imagery
One of the guys at Brewery Creek recommended them to me, so I bought one of each of the six brews available. Dieu Du Ciel (God of the sky) also gives their beers sweet names, not that this has anything to do with the beer itself, but it’s a nice touch. The six I tried are:
- Corne du diable (Horn of the devil): 6.5% American IPA that I enjoyed very much, pleasantly hoppy for an East coast beer.
- Dernière Volonté (Last will): 6.5% Belgian abbey style blonde, which I also enjoyed.
- Fumisterie (Smoke screen): 5.5% hemp ale, enjoyable, but smoked flavors aren’t my bag.
- Péché Mortel (Mortal Sin): 9.5% Imperial coffee stout, intense roasted coffee flavors, very interesting, but a bit too heavy for my liking.
- Rosée d’hibiscus (Pinkish Hibiscus): 5% hibiscus flower wit, quite possibly the girliest beer I’ve ever come across (besides Bud Light), but I really enjoyed this wit and look forward to sipping a few more this summer.
- Route des épices (Spice route): 5% peppercorn rye beer, tasted like a (good) pale ale with added pepper, too much pepper in my opinion.
You’ll notice that Dieu Du Ciel doesn’t brew your average beers. Even though I found them hit or miss, I love what Dieu Du Ciel is doing with their beer. They are going all out, you love it or you hate it, but the ones you love are masterpieces. The beer menu at the brewpub can only be considered epic, check it out. I’m hoping to make a trip out to Montreal in the not too distant future. Care to join me for a beer Jerome?
Cheers,
Chris
A good bit of spam from PubQuest
Friday, February 13th, 2009 | Breweries, Pubs | No Comments
I get SPAM emails and cold calls at work all the time and I really hate it. No, I don’t want toner or for you to be our company accountant; thank you for interrupting my day unnecessarily. As such, I was annoyed when the first piece of spam targeted at this blog made it through my filter. I wasn’t annoyed for long though, turns out I was actually interested in the unsolicited email I received. In response to Erik’s trip to Seattle, Julie Wartell let us know about PubQuest.com, a map based mashup of brewpubs and craft brewers in North America.
PubQuest’s locater is pretty cool. You zero in on an area of interest and are then shown where tasty beer can be found within the bounds of the map. I tested it out for Vancouver, Victoria, the Fraser Valley, and the Okanagan. I found the listings to be very complete, which earned them my trust. I’ve made my own Google Beer Maps in the past, so I would for sure use PubQuest as a starting point for any future beer based road trips. If you are looking for a brewpub or craft brewer in your neighbourhood or near a travel destination, check out PubQuest.com.
Cheers,
Chris
Joe to the rescue
Thursday, February 12th, 2009 | Pubs | 5 Comments
A third guest post to LoveGoodBeer.com! This time we welcome David Reith to the fold. He is a good friend, a good writer, and an accomplished beer drinker. I hope you enjoy his post about a favorite local pub of ours. ~ Chris
As I read Erik’s post about local pubs, I couldn’t help but twinge when he insinuated that the beer and food at your local pub don’t matter as long as you’re amongst friends. It’s not that I don’t like a good time out with my buddies because I do. However, I think that a good time out with friends is often ruined by the experience of the venue. This includes most prominently the food and beverage, but also extends to the house staff and general atmosphere of the joint. Too often we suffer through poor food, boring beers, inept staff and other nuisances that can ruin a night before we even realize it.
The average local pub in the Fraser Valley usually falls woefully short when it comes to a selection of truly great beers. Even without getting into the selective world of cask ales and seasonal releases, there are more than enough craft and micro-breweries for pubs to choose from. Unfortunately, too many cater to the tasteless beer drinker or are forced to carry generic beer brands because of their chosen distributors. Erik is right in wanting more adventurous choices, and he is not alone.
To add to the shortcomings in brew selection, most local taverns forget that beer often leads to food and some thought should be given to the latter. As tasty as hot wings and nachos are (and believe me, I do love me some hot wings), they shouldn’t be the be all and end all of the pub menu. Along with thinking outside the box with their beer, pubs need to get adventurous with their menus.
With all this in mind, I want to commend a local watering hole on its achievements. Original Joe’s Restaurant and Bar is a Western Canadian chain of pubs from Saskatchewan to BC. Much like Tom Cruise in Cocktail, they sought to franchise the look and feel of the friendly neighbourhood tavern and I think they have succeeded. Admittedly, I have only visited one of their two BC locations (Coquitlam), but I have been a few times now and always enjoyed myself. When it comes to beer, I have not seen a better selection of craft brews outside of operating brew pubs. Their tap selection includes:
- Original Joe’s Red Ale, Honey Brown Ale, and Blonde Lager
- Okanagan Springs Brewing 1516 Bavarian Lager, Black Lager, and Pale Ale
- Russell Cream Ale
- Dead Frog Nut Brown Ale and Pale Ale
- Big Rock Traditional Ale, and Grasshopper Ale
- Whistler Black Tusk Ale, Import Lager, and Weissbeer
Their house brand, Original Joe’s, is brewed by Big Rock Brewing Co. in Alberta, but they venture outside of its boundaries to include some other interesting offerings, including local contributions from Dead Frog Brewing and Russell Brewing. To add to my enjoyment, they offer a different selection from the taps each day for just $4.75 for a big boy pint.
In addition to a great selection of beers, they also offer a diverse and exciting menu that truly entices. Pulled pork sandwiches, European sausages and handmade hamburgers all make appearances, as do some creative sides such as honey slaw, fries and homemade gravy, and mango pasta salad. And yes, for the stubborn or the un-brave they do have excellent wings and nachos, but my guess is that they kick the pants off the local frozen-to-fried fare served up at most local pubs. Plus, they have lunch and dinner specials that are actually that: special dishes at special prices (Note to restaurants: picking an item off your menu and printing it on a new page at the same price is NOT a special).
But the best part about Original Joe’s may not be the beers and it may not be the food. It’s got that X-factor. With portraits of local landmarks strewn about its red-brick walls and easily seen, but not overbearing TVs, O.J.’s provides just the right atmosphere for a good time with friends. The staff is friendly and recognizes you on repeat visits. So keep the faith beer-lovers! Great pubs are out there and they are waiting for you to find them. So grab some friends and venture out there. Cheers.
Dave Reith