Tag Archives: brewery creek

List of BC Beer Awards Judges

So the BC Beer awards last weekend have garnered much online attention. I previously posted a few comments and the list of winners. One thing I often wonder about beer awards is, who entered? Something I wonder about less is, who judged? Well, I happen to have a direct line of communication to the guys at Brewery Creek who put on these awards, so I asked them for both lists. BTW, the direct line of communication I have with the guys at Brewery Creek is the cashier line.

I failed to get the list of entrants because Brewery Creek “[has] no interest in hi-lighting the losers”. I totally get this and don’t begrudge them at all. Similarly, nobody needs to know that I finished last in the grade seven district cross country race I foolishly entered or that I never finish last at sex.

Brewery Creek was much more accommodating when it came to the judges and I admire their transparency. Turns out they put together a pretty respectable list of qualified beer tasters. Below is the list as Brewery Creek sent it to me, though I added a few links when I knew who someone was. Most of these people are super qualified and/or home-brewers actively involved with VanBrewers.

Nigel Springthrope : Beer Expert - experienced judge – Never heard of him, owns Alibi Room?
Randy Shore: Media – Vancouver Sun’s The Green Man
Chad McCarthy: BJCP ranked beer judge – Cicerone, on Twitter
Tim Ellison: Sommelier - experienced judge – PICA Instructor
Adam Henderson :BJCP ranked beer judge – Beer Importer and Cicerone
Dave Shea: BJCP in training – CSS Legend and Mobifier
Aaron Peterson : BJCP ranked beer judge
Bob Boufford: BJCP ranked beer judge
Danny Seeton: BJCP ranked beer judge
Ian Crook: BJCP ranked beer judge
Katy Wright: BJCP ranked beer judge
Liam Wake: BJCP ranked beer judge
David O’Halloran: BJCP ranked beer judge
Ben Coli: BJCP in training – experienced judge - Sloppy Gourmand
Nicole Coetzee: BJCP in training - experienced judge – Ginger Beer Blog
Scott Butchart: BJCP in training - experienced judge
Rob Ardies: BJCP in training - experienced judge

So yeah, they probably aren’t going to ask me to be a taster next year. For a few first hand accounts of the tasting process, check out this and this.

Cheers,

Chris

Driftwood Sartori Harvest IPA 2012 is now

You might already be too late. Today is the day Driftwood Sartori Harvest IPA hit the shelves, sometime around eleven this morning. Brewery Creek has a three bottle maximum and were already down four of fifteen cases within an hour of shipment at noon today. Viti has a two bottle maximum and were down two cases out of six when I got there at one. Yeah, I was on my game today. Anyway, the point is, fly like the wind to your nearest quality beer store or miss out and lament.

If you don’t know, Driftwood Sartori is the consensus best beer in BC. It’s brewed once a year with still-wet hops freshly harvested from Sartori Cedar Ranch. It’s also brewed with barley malted by artisanal maltster and islander Mike Doehnel. And then partial proceeds are donated to the Land Conservancy of BC, making this beer all sorts of local and rad.

Get out of the way milk!

I’ve delayed tasting this year’s batch to send you this alert, but I expect it to be as good as previous years. If you’re wondering how good that is, it’s seriously excellent. Check out some past reviews. Also, for more info checkout the Province’s recently posted interview with the brewer.

Here’s hoping you get some!

Cheers,

Chris

BC Beer Awards 2012

Speak of the devil, shortly after I write a post criticizing beer awards, the BC Beer Awards are announced. I swear I didn’t know this was going to happen. Notably, in previous years this event was done in conjunction with Vancouver Craft Beer Week. Interesting that the 3rd beer awards didn’t line up with the 3rd VCBW, do I smell a rift?

I really like a few things I see in the press release below. First, they clearly state that they’ll only have twelve categories, that these will be inclusive of all BC beers, and that judging will be based on taste. Second, this event will be going on at the same time as CAMRA’s Harvest Cask Festival.

I’m not super keen on the idea of celebrity judges. What if they like lime flavoured beers? I hope these celebrity judges are carefully vetted. Do marginally talented beer bloggers count as celebrities? If so, I’m hereby volunteering to judge.

Press release below.

Cheers,

Chris

THE BRITISH COLUMBIA BEER AWARDS RETURN TO VANCOUVER ON OCTOBER 13^TH!

3^rd Annual Event Showcases the Very Best of Local Beer and Brewers

Vancouver, BC – June 27, 2012 - We’re back!!

Eagerly anticipated by BC beer fans and brewers alike, the 3^rd Annual British Columbia Beer Awards, sponsored by The Brewery Creek Liquor Store and in partnership with CAMRA BC, is set to return to our city to help launchBC Craft Beer Month on Saturday, October 13^th, 2012.

One of the most focused beer events in Western Canada, the BC Beer Awards showcases and celebrates the very best of locally-made beer. Open to the public, this one-day-only event will be held this year at Chapel Arts(304 Dunlevy, Vancouver) and will include not only the awards ceremony itself, but also CAMRA’s Harvest Cask Festival, with food provided by some of Vancouver’s acclaimed and beer-friendly restaurants.

Last year’s award ceremony included over 400 unique entries from over 35 BC breweries and brewpubs, with winners selected in 12 distinct categories. Judges included certified Beer Judges, Cicerones, Sommeliers, Journalists, as well as noted beer and food lovers.

Highlights from the forthcoming 2012 event will include:

* A one-day-0nly afternoon event that includes both the 2012 BC Beer Awards presentation ceremony, as well as the hotly-anticipated CAMRA’s Harvest Cask Festival consumer tasting.

* Certified Judges paired alongside celebrity panellists in order to increase festival attendance and exposure.

* Participation of acclaimed Vancouver restaurants.

The primary goal of the BC Beer Awards is to reward excellent beers even if not brewed exactly to strict style guidelines. Secondary is ensuring that every beer brewed in BC can be entered regardless of whether it fits in a style or not. A preliminary list of categories will be issued shortly, with reference to the various BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) categories they include.

Tickets for the 2012 BC Beer Awards, including the awards ceremony and Cask Festival are set to go on sale on September 1^st. Please visit www.BCBeerAwards.com for the latest updates.

Vancouver Craft Beer Week Events and Tickets

Vancouver Craft Beer Week is shaping up with many tantalizing events announced recently. If you haven’t heard, VCBW is a week long celebration of local beer taking place around Vancouver May 10-16. There will be many events at many different venues, for the full list click here. I’ve just learned that tickets to two of the most exciting looking events have just come on sale and aren’t expected to last long.

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

Love Good Beer goes international

Jet lagged in Guildford two years ago

My wife and I moved to London, England last week. We’ve been staying with my gracious great aunt in Guildford, Surrey, an accessible train ride from the city. We’ll hopefully be able to continue doing so until we find our own flat (British for apartment), which will hopefully be soon. It is true that everyone here talks funny and drives on the wrong side of the road, but I suppose we should be thankful the British sent all of their smart, good looking people to Canada (and their dumb and ugly to the US) 400 or so years ago to improve upon their language and culture. Even though Canada is eleven times better than the UK, we decided to come experience the old country and the rest of Europe before we became bored enough to try having babies. In all seriousness now, it was time for a change in our commute heavy and not entirely fulfilling lives, so here we are. I mean no offense to people who have babies (we’ll be them soon enough) and very little offense to the UK (come on, it isn’t perfect here).

What does this mean for LoveGoodBeer.com? Not a whole heck of a lot really. We’ll continue blogging, Erik from Vancouver and myself from here. And while I’ll miss the burgeoning BC beer scene, there will be plenty of new beer experiences for me to have and write about. I’ve already been to two British pubs (the Lamb and Flag and the Grantley Arms) and sipped real ale, but I also plan to visit Belgium, Oktoberfest, and more of the UK, including the GBBF, in the coming months. Erik plans to visit twice too, meaning our entire staff of writers will be reunited, however briefly, across the pond. Back to things that I’ll miss, I don’t know how I’m going to live without Brewery Creek and the Alibi Room, not to mention my friends and family, for however long we’re over here. Hopefully the experiences will make up for any sense of loss, but I’ll just have to hope everything isn’t too different when I get back. I will miss Vancouver and those close to me there dearly.

Cheers,

Chris