Brockton IPA
An Interesting Coincidence
Thursday, June 11th, 2009 | Beer | No Comments
A couple of months ago I went to the launch of the Granville Island Brewing’s then new Brockton IPA. There I met Crystal Henrickson, Yelp‘s only Vancouver based employee. I told her that I liked Yelp for its reviews, but really didn’t contribute any myself. Crystal is Yelp’s community manager in Vancouver, meaning her job is to get Vancouverites using Yelp. To get me to use Yelp, she took the unexpected approach of chastising me for consuming other people’s opinions without contributing any of my own. In case you are getting the wrong idea, she did this in a friendly way that I appreciated. I hadn’t really thought of it that way and, swayed by guilt, I signed up for Yelp to review a few of my favorite places.
Tonight, had I the choice of beer drinking venues to situate myself, I likely would have been at Dix tenth anniversary celebration that featured five casks of IPA from each of the Mark James Group brewpubs. Instead, I went to the Alibi Room for a business meeting, which is never a bad place to find yourself. It turns out that the Alibi Room is one of the first places I reviewed on Yelp. Loving it so, I gave it five stars for their friendly service and commitment to providing excellent local craft beer and delicious food. After I ordered today, I was surprised when Nigel, the owner of the Alibi Room, thanked me for my review on Yelp! First off, I had no idea that he knew who I was. Secondly, I should be thanking him for all the hard work he’s put into providing an excellent establishment for me to enjoy. Later on, I ordered a pint of Spinnakers Oatmeal Stout from Nigel. He kindly let me know that he thought his remaining stock of this beer might not be up to snuff and suggested I order a Pike Extra Stout instead. I took his advice and not only did I greatly enjoy the recommended Pike Extra Stout, but Nigel also brought me a taste of the beer I’d originally ordered. He was right, the Spinnakers Oatmeal Stout had gone off, a problem we’ve noted in Spinnakers packaged products in the past. What service! This is a great example of why the Alibi Room is a stand up joint. Also, don’t get the wrong impression about Spinnakers in general. It is a great pub to go visit, but I’d avoid ordering their products anywhere else.
Thank you Crystal for getting me onto Yelp. I’m glad that one little review that took a few minutes of my time to write could be noticed by, and possibly help, one of my favorite establishments. If anyone out there is interested, this is my Yelp page. I’ve not been keeping up with my reviews and could use some encouragement.
Cheers,
Chris
A taste of Wild Rose IPA
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 | Beer | 2 Comments
Craig, a friend of mine, returned to his native Calgary recently and graciously brought back some Wild Rose IPA for Erik and I. We traded him a delicious Old Yale Sergeant’s IPA, which I though was pretty fair. Craig, despite being from Calgary and being a flames fan, is a good man. He is a fellow beer enthusiast and married to Alex, one of my oldest friends from way back to elementary school. Craig hadn’t heard of Wild Rose Brewery before, but I’d recently read about them in Taps magazine and so tipped him off. Wild Rose is one of the more celebrated craft breweries from Alberta and so I was rather excited to give them a try.
I found the Wild Rose IPA (100% Wild by Volume) to be rather similar to the Granville Island Brockton IPA we’ve recently been writing about. It was good, but not outstanding (kind of like the Flames). The Wild Rose IPA was pleasantly hoppy, less so than Brockton, and also better balanced. The malt flavor was more detectable in the Wild Rose IPA, which I enjoyed. I would have loved to try more of Wild Rose’s brews, but consider myself lucky that Craig thought of us at all. If I end up in Calgary in the future, I’ll definitely stop by to try more of their lineup, and hopefully a seasonal too. I find that a brewery’s seasonal brew is usually where they shine brightest. Thanks Craig.
Cheers,
Chris
More Brockton IPA Launch Pictures
Monday, April 27th, 2009 | Beer | No Comments
Further to my last post, the honourable Rick Green sent me a few more pictures he took at the Granville Island Brockton IPA launch party. He has a real camera and his pictures are way better than mine, so I figured I’d post them. Plus, who doesn’t want to get a look at the sweet, sweet Brockton IPA keychain that doubles as a bottle opener.
Erik and I conversing
Me and my sweet Brockton IPA bottle opener/keychain
Cheers,
Chris
The Brockton IPA Launch
Saturday, April 25th, 2009 | Beer | 2 Comments
Erik and I attended the launch of Granville Island’s Brockton IPA at the GI Taproom last night. For us, because we’ve both written about Brockton IPA before (Erik did a group taste test and I posted some general impressions last week), the night was less about the beer itself and more about having a good time. But if you did want to know, we find Brockton IPA to be a decent beer, although somewhat lacking in balance and merely resembling a hoppy version of their pale ale. It isn’t killer IPA, but it will definitely draw more Vancouverites to craft beer, and for that we are thankful.
When we arrived at the busy Taproom, we were asked whether we were with the press or from the liquor board. We were press! I suppose I should be less excited about that, but I had never been referred to as press before. If press are commonly treated as well as we were last night, I wouldn’t mind being with the press more often. We were given three pints of IPA, an excellent spread of food provided by a nearby culinary school, and a complimentary cab ride home. Also, Almira of Jive Communications, who invited us, recognized Erik right away (not hard, he is a behemoth of a man and extremely good looking) and gave us a thorough welcome.
We were also lucky to meet Vern Lambourne, the brewer at Granville Island. Vern perfects Granville Island’s recipes before sending them up North to Kelowna for production. More importantly, Vern brews all of Granville Island’s seasonal beers on Granville Island. I especially enjoyed his Porter and eagerly await next week’s release of GI Bitter. Last month’s Ginger beer, although not to my tastes, was very popular and sold out fast. Vern let us into the brewery for a quick peek and a picture, and also invited us back for a tour another day. It is always awesome to meet brewers, not only because they make the delicious beverage we enjoy, but because they are always such nice, humble guys. Cheers Vern, thanks for showing us around.
We also ran into the honorable Rick Green, who is always a pleasure to chat with. Rick is the king of BC beer and always has the inside scoop. He introduced us to Crystal Henrickson of Yelp, who is their sole Vancouver employee. She is trying to build a Yelp Community in Vancouver and I hope she succeeds. Yelp is a great site when it is well populated with reviews. I’ve found it really helpful when visiting US cities, but Vancouver is still catching up on volume. Crystal convinced me to go beyond consuming other people’s reviews and make some of my own. I’ve now signed up and rated a few of my favorite places.
The launch of Brockton IPA was surely an experience, one which I enjoyed. If any other breweries, or even restaurants, would like to wine and dine us press at future launch parties, we’d be more than happy to oblige.
The crowded Taproom
Erik with a Brockton IPA
Me with a Brockton IPA
Vern in his brewery with his latest creation
Cheers,
Chris
After 25 years it is finally here: Brockton IPA
Friday, April 24th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries | 5 Comments
The Granville Island Brewing Company turned 25 this year, and to celebrate they released a new beer titled Brockton IPA. Granville Island Brewing is one of British Columbia’s first craft brewers – all BC beer fans, even those whose tastes are not always satisfied with Granville Island’s regular offering, owe a big thank you to this brewing pioneer.
Granville Island’s non-seasonal six-pack beer is generally speaking, not brewed to please the discerning pallet of a passionate beer drinker, but that is good. Not all craft beer needs to be challenging and thought provoking. Granville Island’s beer serves as a great entry point into the world of craft beer. This brewery has done a great deal of work in developing a market for craft beer in Vancouver. Although I am no longer a diehard fan of Granville Island English Bay Pale Ale, I still have a great deal of respect for this ale. Had this mild pale ale never existed I may not have been exposed to BC’s burgeoning craft beer scene – English Bay Pale Ale was one of the first craft beers that I tasted, enjoyed and began to purchase regularly.
To please fussier beer drinkers, such as myself, Granville Island Brewing offers a good selection of creative and flavourful seasonal beers. Unlike their regular offering, which is now brewed in Kelowna, their season beer is still brewed on Granville Island. To me, the true definition of a craft brewer is not how many liters a brewery produces annually, but whether or not a selection of seasonal beer is offered. Seasonal releases are a great way for brewers to challenge their customers’ taste buds and push the boundaries a bit. Having achieved success with a previous IPA seasonal release, Granville Island Brewing decided that now was the perfect time to release a milder version of their seasonal IPA.
Because I fall into the “fussy” beer drinking category, I assumed that Brockton IPA would not be for me. My assumptions were correct – there is nothing wrong with this beer and I believe it is a great IPA for those who have never experienced the full on flavour assault of an IPA, I just prefer a bigger, bolder IPA. Knowing that Brockton IPA was not for me, I decided to invite a few friends over, all who like beer to varying degrees, to sample the beer and offer their unbiased opinions.
Here is what they thought:
Brad Wiens:
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It is a good beer, but somewhat weak. Similar to other Granville Island Beer.
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Cheryl Wiens:
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It tastes like a pill that I tried to swallow and then coughed up
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Holly Wolfe:
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It is okay, but a bit too bitter. I prefer their Winter Ale.
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Rachel Richardson:
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Piney tasting – Where is the citrus flavour?
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Chris Richardson:
Chris has already posted his comments, but to reiterate:
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It tastes like a hoppier version of English Bay Pale Ale
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No one seemed to fall in the love with Brockton IPA, but aside from Cheryl, everyone did finish their beer. Subjective opinions aside, Brockton IPA is a great introduction to hoppier, flavourful beers and I am always excited to see a brewer release a new beer. I look forward to seeing what Granville Island brews next.
Cheers,
Erik
Homebrewing for the first time
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 | Beer | 4 Comments
This past Saturday, Erik invited me over to brew a batch of porter with his good friend Brad. I had never homebrewed before, so this was completely new to me. I arrived at Erik’s house a while before Erik, who was running late, returned from Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies with the malt and hop ingredients. Luckily, I was really on time because Holly had just finished making lunch. I was already liking brewing by this point.
When Erik got home with the goods, the first thing we had to do was heat up some water for the first phase, mashing. Mashing involves mixing the malted barley (the recipe of which Erik can fill you in on) into hot water. Our malt mixture contained very little roasted chocolate malt (you could see the odd black fleck), which you might be surprised to find out is all that’s needed to give a beer that dark porter colour. The water had to be heated up to approximately 170F on the stove to get a temperature of 152F in the mashing vessel. How Erik knows this, I cannot tell. We used Erik’s fancy beer making software to figure out the ideal temperature of 152F. Apparently, anything three degrees above would lead to too many unfermentable sugers in the mash (leftover sugar means sweeter beer) and anything three degrees less would lead to too many fermentable sugars (not much leftover sugar means dry beer). After Erik had mashed in his barley malt and was ready to let it sit in the lautering process, we were dead on at 152F. Erik’s giant beer cosy system only loses 1F per hour, which I was pretty impressed with. Lautering is the process of letting the mash steep, to extract the fermentable sugars that yeast turns into alcholol.
Erik Mashing in the barley malt
Action Shot of Mashing in the Barley Malt
Lautering in the giant Beer Cosy
Now Erik would tell you that home brewing is easy, and it is fairly straight forward, but it is really only easy when you are me. It is true that while homebrewing, you do a lot of work in bursts and then wait around for an hour or so. Homebrewing is also fairly precise and requires a fair amount of careful sanitization, as well as a good chunk of knowledge (that Erik has and I don’t). For me, brewing consisted of playing a lot of frisbee with Luca, Erik’s dog, and drinking a lot of beer. Whereas Erik spent a lot of time tearing around, cleaning stuff, carefully measuring/mixing, and took part in a good deal of attentiveness. I had a great time though, because frisbee and beer drinking are pretty fun. We drank a lot of fantastic beers, including Mission Springs Fat Guy Oatmeal Stout, Swans Coconut Porter, Swans Berry Ale, and Anderson Valley Tripel. We also had Paddock Wood IPA, which I thought was more of a decent pale ale than a respectable IPA, and Granville Island Brockton IPA, finally a westcoast IPA.
Luca, good frisbee player
After an hour of waiting (drinking beer and playing frisbee), it was time to sparge. After draining the wort (unfermented beer) from the mashtun (Erik’s has a filter in the bottom), we poured hot water (hotter than the first go because we need no more extraction) through the mash to get more of the sugar out. We did this three times, stirring each time before draining more wort.
Erik draining the wort into the kettle
Wort going from the mashtun to the brew kettle
Chris stirring during sparging (one of my few tasks)
Bad, a good man
After we’d recovered the wort, it was time to fire up the brew kettle. Erik’s kettle is a turkey fryer that he heats with a potent propane burner. Bringing the wort to a boil was fairly challenging (mostly for Erik) because the wort wants to quickly extricate itself from the kettle. After achieving a boil, Erik immediately added the bittering hops for the hour long boil. After fifty minutes, the aroma hops were added. I do not recall the types of hops we use, but I seem to recall willamette being used for aroma. I’ll be honest, by the time the aroma hops were added I was out of beer making mode and into beer drinking mode. After the hour long boil, Erik cooled the wort using cold water running through a coper hose. Once cool, the wort was put into a carboy, to which yeast was added, and left to ferment for a week or so. After further ageing in the bottle for a few more weeks, we’ll have a tasty porter. Although, I fear my involvement may have somehow ruined this beer, but we’ll see. Erik, thanks for letting me make beer with you and I apologize if I somehow ruined it.
The Brew Kettle
Erik preventing extrication
We had a good time
Stirring in the bittering hops
Cooling down after the boil (cold water runs through)
Cheers,
Chris
Granville Island Brockton IPA
Thursday, April 9th, 2009 | Beer | 2 Comments
When we started this blog we set out to learn a lot and have a good time, which we have done thus far. It was also our hope to somehow achieve the level of celebrity that warrants free beer. I think we are getting closer to meeting this goal. This week we were contacted by the PR firm of Granville Island Brewing and invited to attend the launch of their recently released Brockton IPA. This isn’t the first press release we have received, but is certainly the most applicable. We are going to go to the launch on April 23rd and will definitely be writing a post about it. What I find a tad funny about this launch party is that the Brockton IPA has been out for a solid two weeks now. I picked up a six pack from Brewery Creek the day it came out in stores. So technically the beer was already launched, but who doesn’t like a party?
Since I’ve already tasted Granville Island’s IPA, I can give you my thoughts on it. I thought it tasted like their English Bay Pale Ale with extra hops. I really wondered if it was the same recipe with added grain, plus the extra hops. It had the same vanilla taste (maybe imparted by their yeast strain?) that I associate with the other widely available Granville Island beers. If you like Granville Island’s other beers and don’t mind the added hop bitterness, you’ll like the Brockton IPA. If you are a serious IPA drinker, I doubt you’ll find this “finally a west coast IPA” anything special. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy this beer for what it is, but I’m not buying the marketing hooplah. That doesn’t mean I think it won’t be widely successful, because I think Brockton IPA will be a big hit with Vancouverites. Granville Island has done really well at positioning themselves as Vancouver’s beer, even though their main lineup is brewed in Kelowna. Only their seasonals are actually brewed on Granville Island, and by a different brewer no less. Apparently, the Brockton IPA recipe was taste tested by Vancouverites for Vancourverites before being put into production, a fact that will surely tickle the locals.
I really like it when breweries release new beers; it gives me something new to try and something to write about. While I don’t think that the Brockton IPA is a truly special beer, I appreciate that Granville Island will be broadening the horizons of many macro swilling Vancouverites with a new craft beer offering, for many will find this new beer in their Minglers.
Cheers,
Chris
IPA Season
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries, Homebrew | No Comments
The spring season is finally here; the sun is shinning, the earth is slowly warming, the trees are beginning to blossom, my garden plants are sprouting and India Pale Ale is now is season. My latest IPA that I started six weeks ago has finally finished bottle conditioning and is now fit for enjoyable consumption, although it is still somewhat green and could use another three weeks to fully come together.
My IPA is not the only IPA of the spring season; many other brewers have used the early spring or late winter to launch their own IPA offering. Central City Brewing, Russell Brewing, and Granville Island Brewing have all recently launched an IPA into the market to compete for the growing hophead demographic. I am most excited about Central City’s Empire IPA and, although it has been sitting on store shelves for quite some time, I have yet to pour it out of a can in the comfort of my own home. Gary Lohin of Central City Brewing is one of British Columbia’s most talented brewmasters and he has yet to disappoint me.
I am less excited, yet still quite hopeful, about the Russell and Granville Island IPAs. Both brewers have shown they know how to craft a delicious IPA, yet have a tendency to water down their beer to reach a larger market. Granville Island’s past seasonal IPA was delicious and Russell’s IPA Cask served recently at DIX was flavorful and well hopped. As previously mentioned, I am not a huge hophead and hope that both the Granville Island and Russell IPAs make great summer beers.
Granville Island’s IPA, named Brockton IPA, and Central City’s IPA have both been available for some time now. Russell Brewing’s IPA has yet to reach liquor stores and I cannot provide a date when this new offering will be available. I recommend visiting Rick Green’s Blog for updates on upcoming beer releases; Rick has an immense knowledge about BC’s beer scene.
As for my IPA, which as yet to be named, it is malty and not overly hopped, but sadly will only be available to those who stop by for a visit or to those who invite me over for dinner.
Cheers,
Erik
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