beer wars
Iceholes, Beer Wars, Stone, Oh My
Saturday, February 6th, 2010 | Beer | No Comments
Some beer notes from this week, each not enough for a post, but worth posting about:
- Beer Wars On Demand – I missed the Vancouver screening of Beer Wars last weekend, which I’d heard was a really good time (could have been the ten or so kinds of beer available). At the screening, it was announced that Beer Wars would be available on demand from your cable provider. I watched it last night at my convenience and it only cost me $5.99 from Shaw. I really enjoyed the explanations of the three tier distribution system, the beer lobbyists in Washington DC, and the plight of craft brewers like Dogfish Head‘s Sam Caglione, which made the movie worth watching. I also found the documentarian Anat Baron insufferable. She eventually gets into the movie after enlightening us as to how great she is for ten minutes or so. She also describes her experience in the beer industry with Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Wait, what?
- Stone! – At the same Beer Wars Screening, Stone Brewing‘s Greg Koch did announce that Stone would be making a one time shipment to BC. I was mostly right in my prediction, but I’m pretty choked at the one time part. Brewery Creek got their shipment in on Thursday, what followed was my single most expensive beer purchase of all time. I got one of everything, those being their Imperial Stout, Old Guardian Barley Wine, Smoked Porter, Vertical Epic Ale, Ruination IPA (six pack), Pale Ale (six pack), Levitation Ale (six pack), and Oaked Arrogant Bastard. If you want to buy any of these, it would be best to get to your local independent purveyor of fine beer as soon as possible.
R&B Iceholes Celebration Lager is now available! Colbert can suck one.
- Syrup Sucking Iceholes – I was the first person on the entire internets to write about R&B’s Iceholes Celebration lager, but now the bigger sites have gone and stolen my SEO. Oh well, who wants to be the first search result on Google anyway? R&B launched the beer last night at Capones in Vancouver and the Pumphouse Pub in Richmond. I managed to get a bottle last week. I haven’t had it yet, but I’ve heard it’s a good pilsner. Apparently Iceholes will be available at Capones and independent beer stores this February only. And it has reportedly been arranged for Colbert to suck as many Iceholes as he pleases.
- Olympic Beer Selection Fail - Since Molson is the official sponsor of the Olympics, the only beers available at anywhere affiliated with the Olympics will be Coors Light, Molson Canadian, Molson Ex, and maybe Rickards (sometimes, if you’re lucky). And get this, venues that used to server other, better beers can no longer do so. Lame.
Cheers,
Chris
Beer Wars Screening in Vancouver
Monday, January 18th, 2010 | Beer | 2 Comments
For those of you who don’t know, Beer Wars is a movie about the struggles of craft brewers to stay competitive in a beer market dominated by giant corporations like AB InBev and Molson-Coors. The movie itself has gained substantial attention, praise, and scrutiny from beer enthusiasts North America wide. It hasn’t made its way to here yet, but CAMRA Vancouver has organized an upcoming screening for us. The screening was originally supposed to be last night, but unexplained complications resulted in the event being pushed back to Sunday, January 31st at 4PM. To make up for the delay, CAMRA has recruited some of our local brewers to be on hand to serve beer, those being Steamworks, Yaletown Brewing, Granville Island with their new limited release Chocolate Stout, and Red Truck with their Limited Release Porter. Since District 319 is a licensed and private venue, patrons will be able to have a few beers while watching the movie, something many of us haven’t legally ever been able to do. To get tickets, head to the CAMRA event page and purchase away.
I’ve also heard a rumor that there might be an epic beer announcement made at the screening. Considering that Greg Koch, CEO and co-founder of the legendary Stone Brewing Company, is said to be attending, I wonder what this rumored epic beer announcement could be? I’ve already guessed at it and have been sworn to secrecy, but I’m hoping our clever readers will be able to guess at my suspicions.
Cheers,
Chris
Cool Vancouver Beer Events in early 2010
Saturday, December 26th, 2009 | Events | 1 Comment
I expected to enjoy many good holiday beers this Christmas season, but instead my beer drinking and merry making have been derailed by a gastrointestinal virus. Luckily for me, I’ll have plenty of chance to make up for lost time in the new year what with three cool events coming up.
- 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
Beer Wars: The Movie
Friday, April 17th, 2009 | Beer | 6 Comments
I came across Beer Wars on the intertubes a while back, but immediately forgot about it because I just assumed I would be reminded when it came out in theaters. Turns out I was foolishly mistaken, Beer Wars was shown across the USA for one day only, which happened to be last Thursday. How then, do I watch this movie in Canada? I wouldn’t dare download it illegally (yes, I would), so I’ll have to wait until it is available on some form of recordable media.
Anyway, from what I gather, Beer Wars is about the craft brewing industry’s uphill battle against the international beer conglomerates that rule the North American beerscape (new word I just made up, no big deal). I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t learn much from this movie, having already given my support to the little guys and their delicious beer, but I still want to watch this movie anyway. I think this movie would be good for the macro swilling uninitiated, who could learn a thing or two about the brewing industry. One key point I hope comes through is that there are many tastier beers out there than the standard lager offerings from brands like Budweiser, Miller, Coors, and Molson.
Check out the trailer:
Cheers,
Chris