Central City Brewing
Bad BC Beer News
Sunday, February 14th, 2010 | Beer | 2 Comments
A couple of my favorite BC breweries are going through some turmoil. Old Yale Brewing from Chilliwack is a very small brewery that brews really good beer. Their beer is available direct from the brewery, in some BC Liquor stores, and in the better beer stores. Canadian Beer News is reporting that the brewery is up for sale. I’m hoping that whoever buys Old Yale preserves their recipes and quality standards. I imagine that anyone purchasing the brand would move the brewery from their tiny strip mall location and I can only hope that such changes wouldn’t tarnish the beer. I can imagine why the two man team at Old Yale would want to sell; they are likely over worked and underpaid. I really hope Old Yale stays alive.
Central City Brewing, my favorite local brewery from Surrey BC, is being sued by California’s Bear Republic Brewing for trademark infringement. Bear Republic brews beers with the names Racer 5 and Red Rocket, which they claim are being confused with Central City’s Red Racer brand. The dispute arose when Central City began distributing its highly acclaimed beer (for good reason, it is wonderful) in the USA. Bear Republic likely views Central City as a threat now that they’ve moved into some of their markets, but Bear Republic can be purchased here and you don’t see Central City complaining (FYI Bear Republic, I won’t be buying your beer anymore). Both breweries brew wonderful beers and it is a shame to see small time craft brewers like these fighting each other. I hope the dispute is quickly and cheaply resolved, but I have a feeling that Central City will either have to re-brand or pull out of US markets. To support Central City, start buying their delicious beer from BC Liquor Stores. Not only are the Red Racer beers delicious, but they are one of BC’s cheapest beer options. Both Canadian Beer News and BeerNews.org have more coverage of the lawsuit.
Cheers,
Chris
Beer Battered Fries
Thursday, October 1st, 2009 | Food and Recipes | 3 Comments
On to round three of what is now a world renowned beer dinner, Beer Battered Fries. We considered baking our beer battered fries, but then what’s the fun in that? We lost our deep frying virginity that night and it was good.
Our beer battered potatoes in the deep fryer
We didn’t exactly make fries so much as we cut little potatoes in half. We (again, we more refers to the talented cooks in the kitchen) first baked our potatoes drizzled with oil in the oven for 15 minutes to mostly cook the potatoes. We then prepared out batter and put the pot of canola oil on the stove to heat up. To tell when your oil is hot enough, drop a little piece of bread in and see if it quickly starts sizzling and turns brown. If you get that good sizzle and your bread fries up nicely, you are good to go (eat the bread, it’ll be tasty). Our beer batter recipe was originally meant for fish and came from here. We used Central City’s Red Racer Pale Ale again, mostly because we bought a six pack. Here are the ingredients we mixed together for our batter:
- 1 egg
- 1 cup Central City Red Racer Pale Ale
- 1 1/8 tsp. baking powder
- 1 c. flour
- 2 tsp. salt
- 3/4 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. garlic salt
We battered our mostly cooked potatoes and dropped them into the pool. Watch out, the oil is freaking hot! I splashed myself and it hurt a lot. Cook until the batter turns a nice golden brown and looks crispy. Remove the potatoes with a small collinder of sorts and let the potatoes dry on a paper towel.
Scoop them out with a small collinder and be careful!
We were probably the most skeptical of how successful we would be with our beer battered fries, but they were delicious! They were perfectly cooked and wonderfully crispy. Combined with the soup, it was a very heavy meal. The salad provided a very refreshing contrast to the rest of the dishes. Despite the heaviness, dinner was excellent. I recommend deep frying to you adventurous sorts.
The salad balanced out the fries and the soup
Cheers,
Chris
Beer Cheddar Soup
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 | Food and Recipes | 2 Comments
Dish number two in my famed beer dinner series is Beer Cheddar Soup. I hadn’t had too many, if any, Beer Cheddar Soups before, but I was excited to give it a try because beer and cheese are two of my favorite things. The combination sounded mouth wateringly magical to me.
Our soup simmering on the stove
We used a five year old sharp cheddar and, again, Central City’s Red Racer Pale Ale. The recipe we started with was found online here, but we (those actually cooking, not me) made some alterations. We meant to add bacon, but ended up forgetting it. We also left out the leeks, mostly because we didn’t have any. Here is the recipe that we used:
Ingredients
- 2 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch dice (1 cup)
- 2 celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch dice (1 cup)
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
- 1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
- 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (14 fl oz)
- 1 (12-oz) can of Central City Red Racer Pale Ale
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 lb 5 year aged Cheddar, grated (4 cups)
Preparation
Cook carrots, celery, garlic, and bay leaf in butter in a 4-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to moderately low and sprinkle flour over vegetables, then cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Add milk, broth, and beer in a stream, whisking, then simmer, whisking occasionally, 5 minutes. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt, and pepper.
Add cheese by handfuls, stirring constantly, and cook until cheese is melted, 3 to 4 minutes (do not boil). Discard bay leaf.
Our soup was very delicious, you could really pickup the sharpness of the aged cheddar, which balanced out the richness of all the added fats. The flavor of the beer was also apparent, contributing positively to the soup. Our gracious host thought our soup compared favorably to the one he regularly orders from Big Ridge, success!
Cheers,
Chris
Beer Can Chicken
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 | Food and Recipes | No Comments
Some friends and I conglomerated on a beer themed dinner last weekend. We made beer can chicken, beer cheddar soup, beer battered fries, salad (lame), and beer floats. By “we made”, I mean that I mostly stood around and watched while others with more skill actually cooked, although I did get the token easy job here and there.
This week I’m going to blog about each dish (except for the salad) and share with you the recipe we used. First up, Beer Can Chicken…
Our cooked beer butt chicken, so tasty...
Personally, I prefer the name Beer Butt Chicken over Beer Can Chicken, but that isn’t really very important. I’ve previously blogged about beer and chickens, so we used the same recipe I’d previously posted. Why mess with success, right? If executed correctly, this recipe produces a wonderfully moist chicken that almost falls off the bone; the skin will also be delightfully crisp and tasty. This is a very easy recipe, but be careful not to miss the crucial step of drinking one and half beers before getting started. We used Central City’s Red Racer Pale Ale as our beer stuffing/stand because it is both cheap and delicious. One pitfall to avoid would be dumping the beer into the drippings when attempting to remove the beer can from the chicken. I did this and the gravy we made from the drippings ended up being more bitter than the beer itself. Luckily, our chicken was so good that we didn’t need the ruined gravy.
As for the recipe itself, you should try it because it is really easy, very tasty, and it seems impressive. Here it is:
- Season the whole chicken (skin on) with salt and pepper. Chop some rosemary and thyme and rub it on the dry chicken. Take a few rosemary springs and shove it under the breast skin.
- Drink one and a half beers (minimum) – leave half of one beer in the can and put some of the fresh herbs used in the rub into the can.
- Get a chicken stand and put the beer can into it. Shove the stand with the can in it into the chicken’s butt.
- Turn one side of your BBQ on and leave the other side off – you want a convection oven effect. Once up to 350F put the bird on the off side of the grill. Cook for one and a half hours or when you hit 165F internal temperature. Rotate the bird once or twice during the cooking process.
- Once done, wrap the chicken in foil and let is rest for 2o minutes or so before carving.
It should be noted that we didn’t use a chicken stand. We stood the can holding the chicken on a pan to catch the drippings for gravy purposes, which worked just fine. I wouldn’t put a can right onto the BBQ for stability reasons.
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
Review: Hells Gate Pale Ale
Monday, January 12th, 2009 | Beer, Review | 5 Comments
I have fallen in love with Central City’s Red Racer Pale Ale. This modestly priced brew retails for $10.40 in BC liquor stores, although often times I find it on sale for $8.95 – a few dollars below most BC craft beer. As a result of finding this hidden gem tucked away beside a range of under appreciated beer, I have begun a quest in search of the best “value priced” beer in BC. Over the next few weeks I will purchase, drink, and review all “value priced” Pale Ale available in BC – any beer over $10.40 will be excluded. If you have any beer recommendations please let me know.
Pale Ale is one of my favourite styles of beer, but only when brewed to style. Pale ale should be pleasantly malty with a mild sweetness that is balanced by a noticeable hop flavour and aroma. Most serious brewers offer a version of pale ale, although this style typically varies a great deal – as long as the brew is pale and ale it may be correctly, or incorrectly labeled pale ale. Choosing pale ale also helps to eliminate the large contingent of over proof lagers brewed for the sole purpose of drunken tomfoolery. I want to review beer that is brewed to taste great – with plenty of room for tomfoolery on the side. Pale ale is the perfect style of beer for this challenge.
First up for review is Hells Gate Brewing Pale Ale, coming in at a whopping $8.95 for six cans. Hells Gate Brewing is owned by the Mark Anthony Group, the owners of Mission Hill Winery and a range of spirituous beverages. Hells Gate is a new brewer in the Vancouver region, and has launched this new brand with a small teaser campaign. This means their website contains only a small description of their two new brews and an online postcard from their Brewmaster. I hate teaser campaigns.
I bought this beer thinking it was pale ale; after all it is labeled pale ale, but their website claims otherwise describing it as Canadian Style Amber Ale. Adding to the confusion, the text on the can states, we cold age our beer to lock in the flavour. I’m not sure what this means. Cold aging sounds a lot like the lagering processes, but I have no idea what lagering has to do with locking in flavour and why the Brewmaster would lager ale? But this is about beer, not my distain for Hells Gate’s confusing communication strategy.
This beer pours a light copper, not quite amber, with a small white head that dissipates quickly. Don’t look at head retention too much here; my glass may have been improperly rinsed after washing with soap. The hop aroma is almost impossible to find, but I’m sure it is there somewhere. This pale ale has a somewhat sour aroma with a hint of toasted bread. The flavour is on the sweet side and is poorly balanced – again the hop flavour is hard to find. There is a subtle toasted bread almost dough like flavour – this was a pleasant surprise. This beer finished with a lingering sour note. Overall, this beer tasted more like a cross between cream ale and light amber ale, not pale ale.
I can’t say this beer is a winner, but it is better than most overpriced macrobrewed beer. In time, I’m sure Hells Gate will work out the kinks in their system and offer great beer – its just not there yet.
Erik
The Beer Cellar Updated
Sunday, January 11th, 2009 | Beer, The Cellar | 5 Comments
Further to Erik’s great post on cellaring beer and his creation of The Cellar page, I thought I should post about my philosophy on the beer cellar and what beers I am currently aging. Until very recently, my philosophy on cellaring has been to not cellar anything. I’ve realized recently that I was flawed in my thinking because aging can definitely enhance the flavors and take the edge off of a strong beer. What really helped me realize the greatness of aging beer was the Thor’s Hammer Barley Wine we recently enjoyed at Central City Brewing, which was fantastic. I had the opportunity to compare this barley wine, aged 18 months, to other younger barley wines, where the aged beer far surpassed the young beer in smoothness and in flavor.
I’ve learned the hard way that strong beer should be aged, having impatiently consumed a Fullers 2008 Vintage Ale, a Philips Burley Barley Wine, and a Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron far too early. In fact, I’ve noticed the pattern that I always immediatly drink a strong beer worthy of aging, only to have Erik realize my folly and buy the same beer for his cellar. This works out well for both of us, Erik gets to taste the young beer I hasten to enjoy, and then I get to taste Erik’s aged bottle a year or so later. Look forward to some great reviews of aged beer in the coming year, complete with first hand insight on how the beer has matured with age.
As for my cellar, it is humbly located in a dark, tucked away corner of my garage where the temperature ranges from 10-20 degrees Celsius throughout the year. I may have to make other arrangements in the summer during heat waves. My cellar consists of very few beers at this point in time, but my stockpile will grow. The meager number of bottles in my cellar has to do with my lack of patience and the knowledge that Erik will probably share his aged goods with me.
My cellar currently contains:
- Phillips Burley Barley Wine (November 2008)
- Fullers Vintage Ale (2008)
The stock in my cellar will surely grow this year. That being said, old habits die hard. I have a Driftwood Old Cellar Dweller Barley Wine in the fridge right now, ready to be warmed up and consumed at a moments notice. When will I learn?
We’ll be updating our Cellar Page with new acquisitions as they arrive. Please check back with us for reviews of aged brews as we consume them. Also, we’d love to hear of other worthy candidates for our cellar if anybody has any recommendations.
Cheers,
Chris
Pizza and Beer: Did they just become best friends!
Thursday, January 8th, 2009 | Beer, Food and Recipes | 1 Comment
Sourdough Pizza and Red Racer Pale Ale
Pizza and beer, when put together create something magical. I know that pizza and beer paired together is nothing new, but every time I have the two I am blown away by how well they complement each other. Typically when I get excited about a meal, I pump my fists in the air like I just won some sort of medal – my wife thinks this behavior is abnormal, I think people don’t appreciate their food enough. Proper pizza and good beer typically get a two handed fist pump in my house.
Good pale ale, which I think is perfect with pizza, has a noticeable, but not overpowering hop flavour and a mildly sweet, sometimes fruity malt flavour. Good pizza is made with good quality hand made dough, fresh tomato sauce, and should adhere to the less is more principle when it comes to toppings. The more toppings placed on pizza, the worse it gets – a few quality ingredients is all it takes. Most pizza is over topped, hiding the flavour from the crust and sauce. The sweetness and bitter hop flavour from pale ale complements the sweetness and fresh herb flavour that a tomato sauce should have – if it doesn’t have those flavours it is not proper pizza. Beer and bread is a natural combination that should always go well together and carbonation helps cut through the greasiness from the cheese. This is a perfect combination.
For anyone in BC, I highly recommend Central City Brewing Red Racer Pale Ale; it has a great hop kick and a good malt flavour, plus it is one of the cheapest six packs available in a BC liquor store. For the pizza, I suggest visiting Jamie Oliver’s website for a great pizza dough recipe. If you want a great pizza dough, follow Jamie Oliver’s recipe, but use a sourdough starter instead of commercial yeast. As far as toppings go, always remember to keep it simple and that less is probably better than more.
Like myself, I am sure most of you have tried pizza and beer together; they are best friends after all. Next time you enjoy this combo, take a minute to appreciate how special this amazing combination is. And do not feel any shame in celebrating with loud cheers and fist pumps; I believe this too be normal behavior, it would be almost weird not too.
Erik
Beer Day: Brewery Creek and Yaletown Brewing
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 | Beer | No Comments
two new additions to my cellar - Phillips Burley Barley Wine and Driftwood Old Cellar Dweller Barley Wine
Yesterday was beer day. Chris and I made a trip to Brewery Creek to stock up for the New Year and stopped for lunch at Yaletown Brewing. And of course we had to stop at the Gourmet Warehouse, even though it’s a bit out of the way. If you like to cook good food, go to the Gourmet Warehouse – it is nothing short of amazing.
This was my first trip to Brewery Creek. Chris was worried that he over hyped his initial Brewery Creek experience, but it was better than I could have possibly imagined. Their beer selection is fantastic with a good range of hard to find beer from local BC brewers. It was nice to see a beer store that tucks the 12 case of Budweiser and MGD into the back corner where it belongs. This is a store for real beer drinkers.
Needless to say, we filled the trunk up with beer and I added two new barley wines to my cellar, Phillips Burley Barley Wine and Driftwood Old Cellar Dweller Barley Wine. Prior to my growing obsession with barley wine, I thought cellaring beer was ridiculous, but I have seen the light. After tasting Thor’s Hammer Barley Wine (aged for 18 months) at Central City Brewing, I can’t go back to drinking young barley wine. Well, I actually can and probably will, but that is beside the point.
Carrying a full box of beer around is exhausting work – we needed food and drink in a bad way. We drove our hungry selves to Yale Town Brewing for lunch and were thoroughly impressed. We arrived and did what most thirsty beer drinkers do – ask for a sample of the seasonal ale. Who doesn’t love free beer? Yale Town’s current seasonal is Le Nez Rouge; a Belgian style ale with a bit of a twist. This beer is impressive to say the least. It is a huge beer with an ABV of 9.5%, but is so smooth you wouldn’t know it. Unlike many Belgian ale’s, the tartness from the yeast is not overpowering, allowing for the malt flavour to show its face resulting in a well balanced beer. Le Nez Rouge has a spicy aroma and flavour with a hint of banana similar to a hefeweizen. I highly recommend this beer, even if you aren’t a fan of Belgian style ales.
After downing the seasonal sample, we ordered food and a few more drinks. I was impressed with their Brown Ale, a nice roasted malt flavour with some nuttiness and vanilla, but found their IPA to be slightly under hopped. Check out beer advocate for a full review of Yaletown’s beer. We left with full bellies and smiling faces. Who wouldn’t be smiling knowing their car trunk is full of beer.
Erik
Central City Brewing
Monday, December 15th, 2008 | Beer, Pubs | 1 Comment
We pushed through the snow this weekend and visited Central City Brewing in the classy city of Surrey, and it was good.
Of all the places to drink beer, I think that a brewpub is one of the best. To me a good brewpub is all about their beer – the menu, atmosphere and, of course, the drinks should all be based around their own beer. A good brewpub takes pride in their beer and all of their beer should carry a signature flavor of the brewery and brewmaster. The Stout should taste radically different from the Pale Ale, yet still carry a signature style that is unique the brewery.
At most modern pubs, the beer that is served is shipped in from all around the world and the beer lacks a local flavor. Historically, every city or town large enough would have its own brewery and sometimes a signature style of beer. A Kölsch, brewed in Köln, is one of my favorite German ales and is a perfect example of a beer with a local flavor. A true Kölsch comes from Köln and will have a flavor that can only be reproduced in Köln (Many brewers outside of Köln are brewing great Kölsch style beers). I love brewpubs because they serve good beer that is unique and with a local flavor.
Central City
Central City Brewing serves great beer – their lineup during our visit included:
Light Lager
Bock
Red Ale
Pale Ale
India Pale Ale
Stout
Wheat Ale
Raspberry Wheat Ale
Winter Ale (Seasonal)
Barley Wine (Sailor Hagar’s Thor’s Hammer)
Sadly I was the driver and did not have a chance to taste all of their beer. Chris, a passenger, had a sample of each beer available and, if asked nicely, I’m sure he will gladly share his opinions. I was fortunate enough to be with friends who let me taste their beers. All of their beer was good and nothing disappointing, but a few didn’t blow me away.
Central City’s Bock and IPA were the two standout beers (excluding the barley wine) – even though I did not have a chance to have full pint of either. The Bock, with a medium malt flavor and somewhat spicy hop finish, is a great first step into the world of beer for that friend we all have who only drinks lager. The IPA is fantastically hopped with the distinct citrus flavor and aroma of west coast hops, this is a beer for beer lovers. Overall, their beer is straight forward – no need to reinvent the wheel, with enough creativity to create a flavor unique to Central City Brewing.
The menu was good, serving a range of classic Canadian pub dishes. The Chef incorporated Central City’s beer into the menu perfectly, using beer as a braising liquid, in batters, cakes and more. I don’t think anyone was disappointed with their food.
The service was the only disappointment of the evening. I don’t like to be overly critical of servers; working in the service industry must be tough, seeing as the world has more than its fair share of jerks. Our server clearly didn’t have a passion for beer, describing their winter ale as “bitter” in a less than confident tone. After ordering their winter ale I can tell you that it is not very bitter and has a nice malty flavor. Everyone, even servers, are allowed to have off-days, I am going to assume this was an off-day for our server.
Barley Wine
The real highlight of my evening was Sailor Hagar’s Thor’s Hammer barley wine. Barley wine is a real treat for me – it is served so rarely and is hard to find at most liquor stores in the Fraser Valley. This beer, brewed at Sailor Hagar’s in North Vancouver, strays from my concept of what makes a good brewpub. However, this beer was still brewed locally at the now non-brewpub, Sailor Hagar’s, and is so distinct from everything else available at Central City that I feel serving this beer is more than acceptable. Additionally, Central City’s brewmaster, Gary Lohin, is the original creator of this beer and the former brewmaster at Sailor Hagar’s. This particular brew was aged for 18 month and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Typical of most barley wines, it is complex with a strong toffee flavor and a more subtle roasted coffee and chocolate flavour. Rumor has it that Sailor Hagar’s in North Vancouver is currently serving an 8 year old Thor’s Hammer barley wine. Needless to say, I will be making my way out to North Vancouver to give it a try.
Central City Brewing is a great place for good beer and good food. It is the perfect place to take your friends that like beer, but don’t necessarily love beer. None of their beer is overly complicated, excluding the barley wine, and will not intimidate those we are not familiar with micro-brewed beer. The Fraser Valley has very few pubs and restaurants with a good selection of microbrew – it is good to have Central City so close by.
Erik
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