Love Good Beer

Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries, Homebrew | 5 Comments

Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies located in Vancouver’s threatened Heatley Block is the soul of Vancouver’s growing craft beer movement.   Yes that is correct, the very soul of craft beer in Vancouver is a homebrew shop.    If craft beer was a body, the many fine brewers in BC would be the heart, retail shops, restaurants and pubs such as Brewery Creek, the Alibi Room and The Whip would act as the arms and  legs, and the dedicated consumers represented by groups such as CAMRA Vancouver would be the mind.  All parts play an integral role in a successful beer revival, and although all parts are equally important, Dan’s will always hold a special place in my heart.

My love for beer came from an interest in homebrewing – without Dan’s I may never have been exposed to the diverse selection of beer that the world has to offer.  The entire Vancouver area is littered with many small u-brew and u-vint businesses that carry a limited selection of homebrew ingredients and supplies, but none of these compare to Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies.  Dan’s is the only retail store in the entire Vancouver area where whole-leaf  hops, hop pellets, a full selection of barley, wheat and rye malts, brewing supplies and brewers yeast can be found.  This list does not include the friendly advice and recipes that Dan and his staff are more than happy to provide to their customers.  Here is a video put together about Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies.

The most creative and experimental beer will always be homebrew.  I have to admit that some of the cask beers that brewmasters graciously provide are delicious and very creative, but craft brewing is still a business and the beer they produce must be commercial enough to sell.  Whereas homebrewers do not sell their beer and only have to please themselves and their usually appreciative friends – the only limitation homebrewers face is their own imagination.  For a mere sixty dollars on supplies and twenty to thirty dollars for ingredients, and add in a small amount of patience and there it is,  an incredibly unique and flavorful beer.

The  North American craft beer renaissance that was started in Northern California over thirty years ago was largely influenced by hombrewers.  Homebrew shops have always and will continue to play a vital role in the growth of craft beer.  For anyone interested in homebrewing, I highly encourage a  visit to Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies – I am sure Dan and his staff would be more than happy to help.

Cheers,

Erik

Tags: alibi room, camra vancouver, Dan's Homebrewing Supplies, Homebrew, the whip

Cask Ale Sundays at The Whip

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 | Beer | 2 Comments

Two incidents made Sunday a strange day for me.  The first happened that afternoon during my soccer game.  I was subbing into the game when a spectator’s dog bit me on the thigh.  I’m not sure what I did to provoke it, but the dog lunged at me as I was running past it onto the field.  I’m still sporting fang punctures and a nasty bruise. How often does that happen? Had you asked me right then, I would have assumed that would be the strangest thing to happen to me all day.  I was wrong.

It was Erik’s birthday this week and the Wolfe family tradition entails going out for a meal together.  Tempted by the CAMRA newsletter, we chose The Whip to enjoy the cask ale they feature every Sunday.  Sadly, CAMRA members had already consumed the cask of R&B Red Devil Pale Ale by the time we arrived.  No bother, The Whip has an excellent beer menu and we were able to drink some tasty local craft beer.  I enjoyed pints of Storm‘s Hurricane IPA and Black Plague Stout, both of which were highly enjoyable.  Some undercooked yam fries aside, the food was also excellent.  I really enjoyed my Mexican chicken burger.

It was as we were eating that Sunday’s second strange incident occured.  We were enjoying our meals when a group of extremely intoxicated people arrived, taking a table near us.  They were no trouble, but I can’t say I enjoyed their company.  The serving staff quickly took note of their level of innebriation and cut them off.  I heard one remark “this is the third bar we’ve been kicked out of” only for the waitress to reply “this is isn’t a bar, it’s a restaurant!”  The group was allowed to finish their beers, giving one fellow the chance to expose himself in the middle of the dining room, perform the “windmill”, and place his genitals in his friend’s glass.  How often does that happen?

I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like it, I mean the incident, not the…  I don’t blame The Whip in the least.  Upon hearing of the infraction, the offending group was quickly removed.  The Whip’s staff even gave us coupons for a free pint and 15% off during our next visit.  We’ll definitely go back because the food, beer, and atmosphere were great.  Happy birthday Erik, you’ll definitely remember this one.

Pictures of our visit:

Erik and Holly enjoying their beers

The wife and I

Papa Wolfe

Kelly and Concord, they don't drink beer:(

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: camra vancouver, Cask Ale, Craft Beer, hurricane IPA, R&B brewing, red devil pale ale, storm brewing, the whip

A cask Thursday at Dix

Friday, March 13th, 2009 | Beer | No Comments

Dix BBQ and Brewery has a cask of special ale available every Thursday (that is not a game day) at 5PM.  This past Thursday, Erik and I met up with the honourable Rick Green to sample this week’s offerings and talk about beer.  This week was a bit special, not only did Dix make a cask of their own Texas Brown Ale (think brown IPA) available, but Russell Brewing was testing out a new IPA recipe of theirs.  Considering our history with Russell Brewing, I was really interested to try their IPA.  I think we both enjoyed it, or at least I did.  I hope that Russell adds this beer to their production lineup.  It would be by far their most alluring brew and a beer I could see myself purchasing.

Dix cask nights are regularly advertised in the CAMRA Vancouver weekly newsletter, always tempting me.  I was surprised to see just how many CAMRA members actually show up on a weekly basis, fifty or so by my estimation.  We had a great time talking about beer with Rick and had the pleasure to meet other CAMRA members, including local brewers, illustrious beer store owners, and friendly beer enthusiasts.  I hope I can make my attendance at Dix Cask Thursdays a more frequent occurrence.  Good fresh beer and good times.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: camra vancouver, Cask Ale, dix, rick green, russell brewing

What is cask ale?

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 | Beer | 7 Comments

Cask beer is pumped

I was telling a few friends about some of Vancouver’s periodic cask ale events and was shocked to realize that they didn’t even know what cask ale is!  I suppose it is one of those terms that I just take for granted.  In any case, I thought I should post a blurb for the uninitiated.

Cask ale is unfiltered, unpasteurized beer that is served right from the cask it is conditioned in.  Cask ale must be served via a pump (or gravity) because there is no artificial pressure, which is usually generated by added CO2 or nitrogen.  Cask ale is often dry hopped, meaning that hops are thrown into the cask before the secondary fermentation phase, which is generally referred to as conditioning (live yeast remains because it is not filtered out).  Cask ale is usually served a little warmer than most beer, at about ten degrees Celsius.  Cask ale is the real ale that the Campaign For Real Ale is promoting.  The cask ale Wikipedia page has a lot of great information if you are interested in learning more.

I really enjoy real cask conditioned ales, which are generally more hoppy (bitter) and less carbonated than their un cask conditioned counterparts.  I also find cask conditioned ales to be smoother and more flavorful.  If you are interested in tasting some cask conditioned ale, I recommend signing up for the CAMRA Vancouver mailing list.  Their weekly email will tell you where to find cask ale, which is available every day at the Irish Heather, every Thursday at Dix, and every last Friday of the month at Big Ridge.

Also, if you were wondering, bottle conditioned ale is similar to cask ale, save that it is aged in the bottle and not in a cask.  Give it a try if you see it in your local liquor store!

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: big ridge, bottle conditioned ale, camra, camra vancouver, Cask Ale, dix, irish heather, real ale

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.

The CAMRA AGM at the Alibi Room

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

Good beer is regional

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 | Beer | 13 Comments

I received the fall issue of Taps Magazine from erik for Christmas.  Taps bills itself as “Canada’s Beer Magazine”, probably because it is Canada’s only beer centric magazine, beginning operations in 2007.  I’ve enjoyed reading Taps, but in my estimation, Taps is more like Ontario’s beer magazine.  Don’t get me wrong, I like Taps and I think that it is well worth reading for any Canadian beer enthusiast.  At the same time, it is irksome as a westerner to read a “Canadian” publication that is so Ontario focused.  I don’t blame the good people of Taps for their bias; they are from Ontario and Ontario is what they know.  That being said, start on the Leafs and I’ll throw some hate your way.

What reading Taps has made me realize is that good beer is largely regional.  If I can’t buy the beer or visit the pub or brewery being discussed in a publication, what good does it do me? Mill Street might be the best brewpub on earth, but reading about it just gets me angry at its inaccessibility.  The exception to my regional outlook on beer might be travel, where learning about a destination’s beer culture ahead of time might be a very tasty investment.

When considering starting this beer blog I did a lot of research, I read a lot of beer blogs and I went to a lot of beer websites.  The only two websites that I consistently have the urge to revisit are the BC Beer Blog and CAMRA Vancouver for their wealth of local news and information.  These two sites are coincidentally operated by one Rick Green, who’ve been lucky enough to have comment on this blog.  Rick, we love getting our weekly CAMRA newsletters, but that last month between blog posts was torture!  What I love about Rick’s writing is it’s local focus; he tells us of upcoming events I can actually attend, of casks we can actually drink from, and of all the beer goings on in and around our area.

Don’t get me wrong, I will continue to read Taps and I will definitely try some of Mill Street’s wares the next time I’m at the Irish Heather.  I’m only an Ontario hater when it comes to the Leafs.  My point is that the beer news that excites me the most is local beer news, which is convenient considering that the good beer I will most likely enjoy is local beer.  I want to stay abreast of everything going on in the beer world, but I feel like most people would be missing out by not delving into their local beer scene.  Imports will always have their place, but to me, good beer means local beer.  You never know, the tastiest brews might be just down the road.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: BC Beer Blog, camra vancouver, irish hether, leafs suck, mill street brewery, rick green, taps magazine

CAMRA Vancouver 2009 Membership

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 | Beer | 6 Comments

This year I became a member of CAMRA Vancouver and I’m pretty excited about it.  For those of you who don’t know, CAMRA stands for Campaign for Real Ale and it is an organization that promotes the creation and consumption of quality beer.  It began in the UK to combat the proliferation of mass produced, generally poor quality lagers that began to dominate the beer market.  CAMRA has really caught on amongst beer enthusiasts worldwide, so much so that we have our own Vancouver chapter.

You might be wondering what the point of joining an organization like CAMRA is.  For me the benefits are quite obvious.  With my 2009 CAMRA Vancouver membership I get:

• 10% off at Brewery Creek, the best beer store in Vancouver
• 10% off at Firefly, the second best beer store in Vancouver
• 10% off food at the Alibi Room, a great place to drink beer in Vancouver
• Special pricing at local beer related events
• A newsletter containing info on all the great local beer related happenings

The membership only costs $25, which I will recoup within a month by saving 10% on my Brewery Creek purchases.  In additon to the financial benefits of joining CAMRA, members also play an important role in encouraging our local brewing community, which will surely lead to increased quantity and variety of quality beer produced in Vancouver.  Sadly, I’ve already missed out on the first CAMRA affiliated event of 2009, the sold out Feast of the Five Firkins at The Whip, next time…

If you are a beer enthusiast, I suggest joining your local CAMRA chapter.  At the very least, sign up for the mailing list.  I think you’ll find it well worth it.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: alibi room, brewery creek, campaign for real ale, camra, camra vancouver, feast of five firkins, firefly, the whip

Christmas gift idea: The Beer Belly

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 | Beer | 2 Comments

Wondering what to get for the beer lover this Christmas?  Why not get them The Beer Belly!  A camelfront(?) beer dispenser that covertly disguises itself as a beer belly.  Useful for “bar-b-ques with the in-laws, sporting events, parades, political rallies, weddings” and more.  It holds up to two liters of beer, is made of neoprene to keep the beer cold, and costs just $39.99!

I came across this hilarious invention in last week’s CAMRA Vancouver newsletter and kind of want one.  The idea of paying $10 for beer for consumption at a sporting event and getting more than a Dixie cup is compelling.  At the same time, I’m pretty sure my wife would never actually let me use this.  Also, drinking out of a fake gut isn’t exactly how I usually go about enjoying beer.

On second thought, you probably shouldn’t get this for a beer lover, maybe for a frat boy though?  If you do need a gift for that beer lover in the family, I recommend going to a store specializing in beer and asking the resident expert to recommend you something interesting.

Cheers and happy holidays,

Chris

Tags: Beer, beer belly, camelfront, camra vancouver, christmas, gift