black butte porter
Coming Soon: Rickard’s Dark
Saturday, November 14th, 2009 | Beer | 6 Comments
Erik and I received an email from a PR firm who wanted our address so they could send us a sample of a soon to be launched beer. I was a bit worried it was someone I’d offended coming to punch me in the face, so I gave them my work address. Lucky for me, a package arrived on Friday instead of a fist. I opened the package to find an elaborate wood box labeled Rickard‘s Dark. The box contained two bottles of Rickard’s Dark, two beer glasses, two coasters, and a blindfold. I found the inclusion of a blindfold a bit odd, but I suppose it is for doing a blind tasting? Or maybe for post tasting kinky fun times? Either or, I doubt I’ll be using it.
Opening the package to find the Rickard's Dark box
Contents of the Rickard's Dark Box
I haven’t tasted the beer yet. Erik is coming over on Monday and I figured I’d wait for him. Rickard’s Dark is supposedly a 4.8% ABV English style porter with added Quebec maple syrup. I do love me some porter, but I’m not so sure I’ll like Rickard’s Dark. I used to drink Rickard’s beer in my younger days because I found it to be a breath of fresh air when compared to Molson Canadian. I’ve since expanded my beer horizons well beyond Molson’s own Rickard’s brand and no longer care for their Red and Honey Brown like I once did. That being said, I hope that Rickard’s Dark is wonderful and that it might get some non craft beer drinkers into porter and onto other wonderful porters like Black Butte from Deschutes. Expect to see Rickard’s Dark on the shelves in Rickard’s Taster packs within a few weeks.
Cheers,
Chris
BC lacks Porter
Monday, August 24th, 2009 | Beer, Favorites | 2 Comments
I love porter; it is one of my favorite beer styles. I find porter to be quite easy and enjoyable to drink, which might be due to the moderate alcohol levels and pleasant roasty and chocolate flavors one finds in porter. What I don’t like about porter is its relative scarcity in these parts. I can’t think of one BC brewer that regularly sells six packs of porter. You’ll sometimes find 650ml bottles of porter from BC craft brewers available in BC Liquor Stores, but these examples are often brewed with an additional element such as chocolate, coffee, coconut, or other fruit. While I definitely like these beers, what I’d really like to see is a widely available six pack of quality porter from one of BC’s many fine brewers. In the mean time, Deschutes has recently made its way into BC. Thank heaven for their Black Butte Porter, which is definitely one of my favorite beers! I picked some up from Brewery Creek last week and, with a few friends, made quick work of them. With craft brewing gaining ground in BC, I can only hope that a widely available porter is on the horizon. I’d suck one, or six.
Cheers,
Chris