central city
CAMRA Vancouver Award Winners
Monday, January 25th, 2010 | Beer, Events, Favorites | No Comments
The CAMRA Vancouver Award winners were announced last week. I was pleased to see many of my nominations amongst the winners. I’m extremely proud of CAMRA Vancouver and its members for rewarding true attention to and passion for craft brewing. Unlike many beer awards, these were given out by beer enthusiasts, which makes them more legitimate in my mind. The winners:
Best Local Brewpub
Gold: Central City Brewing
Silver: Steamworks
Bronze: Dix Barbecue and Brewery
Best Local Beer Cafe, Pub, or Restaurant
Gold: Alibi Room
Silver: The Whip Restaurant & Gallery
Bronze: The Railway Club
Best Local Liquor Store
Gold: Brewery Creek Liquor Store
Silver: BCL 39th & Cambie
Bronze: Firefly Fine Wines & Ales
Best Local Cask Night
Gold: Dix Cask Thursdays
Silver: The Whip Real Ale Sundays
Bronze: Yaletown Making it Real (Ale)
Best Local Beer Event
Gold: Alibi Room 100th Beer Menu Rotation
Silver: Dix X-mas X-treme
Bronze: CAMRA on a Mission to Mission
Best BC Brewery
Gold: Phillips Brewing
Silver: Driftwood Brewery, Red Racer aka Central City Brewing (tie)
Best BC Beer
Gold: Red Racer IPA
Silver: Phillips Longboat Double Chocolate Porter
Bronze: Crannog Back Hand of God Stout
Best BC Seasonal Beer
Gold: Driftwood Sartori Harvest IPA, Phillips Crooked Tooth Pumpkin Ale (tie)
Bronze: Phillips The Hammer Imperial Stout
Cheers,
Chris
Winter Beer Season in BC
Saturday, November 21st, 2009 | Beer | 7 Comments
As the seasons change, so does the availability of craft beer. I, for one, am thankful for this, especially as I regard the changing of the current season as going from bad to worse. What better way to cheer yourself up in this dreary weather than to sip a winter warmer from one of BC’s great breweries? I can think of a few things, but none so simple and effective as grabbing a winter ale (or a few) and watching the healing Canucks thrash Colorado.
Many BC breweries have already released their winter beers and a few still have barley wines on the way. Joy to the world! Here are a few BC winter brews you might consider trying:
- Central City Winter Ale
- Granville Island Winter Ale (lovingly referred to as choco beer by my friends)
- Lighthouse Winter Ale
- Vancouver Island Hermannator Ice Bock
- Phillips Barley Wine (coming soon)
- Phillips Instigator Doppelbock (coming soon)
- Nelson Faceplant Winter Ale
- Driftwood Old Cellar Dweller Barley Wine (coming soon)
Also, some other fine non BC breweries have produced tasty winter ales:
- Anchor Christmas Ale (my favorite so far)
- Pyramid Snowcap
- Whychwood Bah Humbug
- Lost Coast Winterbraun
If the rain, darkness, and cold displease you as much as they do me, I suggest one of the above as a temporary and enjoyable remedy.
Cheers,
Chris
Where’s the great beer in the Fraser Valley?
Friday, August 14th, 2009 | Beer | No Comments
We received an email today from a gentleman who just moved to Langley seeking our advice on where to find good beer in the Fraser Valley. His email inspired me to write a brief guide to good beer in the Fraser Valley. Sadly, the choices are few and far between, but there are options nonetheless.
Best Liquor Stores:
- BC Signature Liquor Store in Langley
- Central City Liquor Store in Surrey
Best (only) Brewpubs:
- Big Ridge in Surrey
- Central City in Surrey
- Mission Springs in Mission
Note: These brewpubs will let you fill up a 2L growler at the bar for a very reasonable price. Big Ridge fills a growler for $7 on Tuesdays, has cask beer available at noon the last Friday of every month, and hosts the occasional brewmaster’s dinner.
Other options:
- Old Yale Brewing in Chilliwack
Old Yale, and possibly other valley breweries, will let you buy direct from them. This is likely the best way to acquire fresh beer affordably.
Have I missed anything?
Cheers,
Chris
Great Canadian Beer Festival Tickets on sale
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 | Beer | No Comments
The Great Canadian Beer Festival is taking place on September 11th and 12th this year in Victoria (where it always is). I have never been to a GCBF, but plan on making this year my first one. I’ve heard it is awesome and I’ve also heard that tickets sell out fast. If you want to go, make sure you grab tickets soon after they go on sale this Saturday, July 18th. Brewery Creek and Central City are two of the fine lower mainland establishments selling tickets. The beer lineup from last year looks pretty solid, so best to make your arrangements sooner than later. If you do make it, make sure to say hi to us, we’ll be the ones silly walking around the grounds.
Cheers,
Chris
Central City Brewing 5th Anniversary
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 | Beer | No Comments
I love the beer brewed by Central City Brewing. I am particularly fond of their Imperial IPA and their Copper Bock, not to mention Thor’s Hammer Barley Wine when it is available. When we heard that Central City was going to be having a 5th anniversary celebration this past Saturday, we were all aboard. We were particularly excited about the special beer pairing menu and the five uniquely aged brews to be on offer:
- Belgian Trippell – brewed December 06, 9.0% alc/vol
- Smoked Porter – brewed October 07, 8.5% alc/vol
- Thor’s Hammer Barley Wine – brewed October 07, 10.5% alc/vol
- Imperial IPA – brewed June 08, 8.5% alc/vol
- Red Racer Winter Ale brewed September 08, 7.5% alc/vol
We decided to head to Central City last Saturday evening for 7PM, thinking any earlier would not suit drinking such strong beers on a chore laden Saturday. We thought this was a perfectly acceptable idea seeing as the Facebook event listed the start and end times at noon and 11PM respectively. It was to our tremendous dismay when our waitress had no clue what we were talking about when we asked for the special menu. We missed it! The festivities came and went in the afternoon. I was even more disappointed to hear from the honourable Rick Green that the party was held in the brewery itself and that all of the food and beer was free to CAMRA members. I’m still a bit depressed writing this up.
Us looking sad (but still kind of happy) at Central City
In any case, no trip to Central City is a waste when Empire IPA is readily available. I also think the food there is rather better than your typical pub fare. That being said, there’s nothing like having your ID scanned and your mugshot taken like you’re a criminal when entering a brewpub. I find the restaurant to be somehow disjointed from the brewing operation. The last few times I’ve visited Central City, our waitresses have seemed to think that displaying half of each boob makes up for impoliteness and poor attentiveness, but then to some that’s a boon. I even got the “oooh, have you had it before” when I ordered their Imperial IPA, which I ordered with authority mind you. It seems to me that they are not taking much pride in their beer. Maybe it’s just me though, am I visiting Central City at the wrong times?
Cheers,
Chris