Love Good Beer

CAMRA Vancouver Award Nominations

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 | Beer | 5 Comments

The CAMRA Vancouver AGM is coming up on January the 17th, which is where the CAMRA Vancouver awards will be announced.  Beforehand, each CAMRA member is able to nominate three of their favorites in each category.  Those garnering the most nominations are then voted on by members.  The trouble I am having is coming up with three nominations in each category.  In some categories I find myself wanting to only nominate what I consider to be the one clear winner.  In others (best BC beer for example), I find there are just too many choices.  I’ve settled on at least one nomination in each category, which I’ll share below:

Best Local Brewpub – Big Ridge! Why?  Because the few brewpubs we have in the lower mainland are fairly similar (they are all pretty good) and Big Ridge is close to my house.

Best Local Beer Cafe, Pub, or Restaurant – Alibi Room! Why?  Because they have the largest and most interesting beer selection around.  It is also has a cozy atmosphere and delicious food.

Best Local Liquor Store – Brewery Creek! Why?  The best beer selection and the most knowledgeable staff.  Gerry and Chester are rad.

Best Local Beer Event – Dix Caskival!  Why?  The best selection of delicious, creative, and fresh craft cask beer under one roof.

Best BC Brewery – Driftwood!  Why?  Because they set out to brew interesting beer when they started not long ago and they haven’t wavered.  Their beer is also delicious.  This was a tough one, Central City and Phillips will likely be my other nominations.

Best BC Beer – Central City Red Racer Pale Ale!  Why?  Because it is a wonderful session beer that enthrals serious craft beer and macro drinkers alike.  Another tough one to call, so many good beers in BC.

Best BC Seasonal Beer – Driftwood Old Cellar Dweller Barley Wine!  Why?  Wow, this is good stuff.  Complex, hoppy, bold, and delicious.

Who would you nominate?

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: alibi room, big ridge, brewery creek, camra agm, camra vancouver, camra vancouver awards, central city pale ale, dix caskical, Driftwood Old Cellar Dweller Barley Wine

CAMRA Vancouver AGM at Alibi Room

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 | Beer | 2 Comments

This past Sunday, Erik and I attended the CAMRA Vancouver AGM at the Alibi Room in Gastown.  The Alibi Room is a really cool place to hang out in and of itself.  They have on tap (19 taps mind you) the best beer selection in BC hands down, check it out. On this special occasion they were freely pouring from two firkins generously donated by their brewers: Yaletown Oud Bruin and Swans Espresso Stout.  They also provided an excellent spread of tasty snacks for this occasion.

As for the AGM itself, it was atypical of the typical AGM.  The atmosphere was much more celebratory than business like, surely brought on by the consumption of large quantities of beer.  It was very cool to be in the company of master brewers, restauranteurs, and fellow beer enthusiasts.  When it came down to business, the honourable Rick Green was re-elected president and a new CAMRA executive was put in place.  The CAMRA Vancouver Awards were also doled out.  I find these awards quite interesting and thought that others might too.  I hope they don’t mind me posting them:

Best Local Brewpub
Gold: Dix BBQ & Brewery
Silver: Central City Brewing
Bronze: Yaletown Brewing

Best Local Beer Cafe, Pub, or Restaurant
Gold: The Alibi Room
Silver: The Whip Restaurant & Gallery
Bronze: The Wolf & Hound

Best Local Liquor Store
Gold: Brewery Creek Cold Beer & Wine Store
Silver: Firefly Fine Wines and Ales
Bronze: BCLS Signature Store (39th & Cambie)

Best Local Beer Event
Gold: The Whip Real Ale Sundays
Silver: CAMRA On a Mission to Mission; Feast of Five Firkins (tie)

Best BC Brewery
Gold: Phillips Brewing Co., Victoria
Silver: Storm Brewing Ltd., Vancouver
Bronze: Crannóg Ales, Sorrento; R&B Brewing, Vancouver (tie)

Best BC Beer
Gold: Central City Empire IPA
Silver: Storm Black Plague Stout
Bronze: Crannóg Back Hand of God Stout

Best BC Seasonal Beer
Gold: Yaletown Oud Bruin
Silver: Steamworks The Grand espresso stout
Bronze: Granville Island Winter Ale

I will definitely attend the CAMRA AGM next year, especially if it is somewhere awesome like the Alibi Room.  Here’s to another good year of beer.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: agm, alibi room, camra vancouver, camra vancouver awards, swans espresso stout, yaletown oud bruin