Love Good Beer

Great Canadian Beer Festival 2009

Monday, September 21st, 2009 | Beer | 6 Comments

Us guys went to GCBF the other weekend in Victoria for what was an epic beer festival.  We left bright and early on Saturday morning and caught the 9AM ferry to make our way downtown before noon.  We parked where we were staying at Swans Hotel, but couldn’t check in until later that afternoon, and so headed out to start our day.  After a merely adequate breakfast at John’s Place, we walked over to the Royal Athletic Park where the beer festival was to be held.  It was a very hot, very beautiful late summer day for BC, perfect weather for an outdoor beer festival.

Now I’d heard that Saturday was the rowdier of the two beer festival days, but was still blown away by the level of rowdiness.  I figured that the stellar craft beer lineup would attract a crowd of beer enthusiasts.  However, I think its safe to say that over 90% of Saturday GCBF patrons were college age folk out for a good time.  I’d also surmise that the majority of attendees had little to no interest in the quality and craftsmanship of the beer on hand, which isn’t to say they didn’t consume it in large quantities.  I was actually quite shocked at just how much of a party atmosphere there really was.  Many groups of people made themselves beerfest costumes or uniforms running the gamut from team jerseys to spandex super hero outfits.  What with the hot weather and masses of inebriated youth, some might even suggest that far too many people were wearing inappropriately little.  In my opinion, the appropriateness of any lack of clothing depended squarely on the attractiveness of the particular person.

As for the beer itself, there was a good variety of deliciousness available.  My biggest problem with the beer selection was that there were more beers on hand than were advertised in the program.  I failed to stop by at a few of my favorite breweries because it didn’t look like they had prepared anything special.  It was to my great dismay to later find I’d missed out on a few unique brews, most notably a Blackberry Lambic from Driftwood Brewery.  As for the rest, I was very intrigued by many of the Washington and Oregon brewers made the trek.  I was also disappointed with our BC brewers who merely offered their regular brews.  I’d hoped for some more interesting brews from some of my local heroes.

There were no beer tokens included in the price of admission, which irked me a little.  Tokens cost between $1 and $2 each, depending on how many you bought at a time, and many of the tastes required two tokens.  It is for this reason that I did not try nearly as many beers as I thought I would.  I kept it mainly to unique to the area or cask conditioned brews, ignoring the draft versions of some of my favorites.  Notable standouts to me included:

• Boundary Bay cask conditioned Oatmeal Stout
• Central City cask conditioned Imperial IPA
• Crannog Back Hand of God Organic Stout
• Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
• Elysian Brewing cask conditioned The Wise ESB, Night Owl Pumpkin, and Saison Poivre
• Lagunitas Lucky 13
• Longwood Brewpub cask conditioned ESB
• Swans cask conditioned Scotch Ale

It might have been good that I tried less GCBF beers than I’d planned on because it enabled me to enjoy the rest of the evening.  We returned to Swans to check in and then went down to the pub for a few tasters.  We then spent our evening on the patio at The Canoe Club before wandering over to Spinnakers for a completely unnecessary nightcap.  We had to make our way back in the morning to pickup some of their delightful malt vinegar, which Spinnakers makes themselves.  Also, if you are ever in Victoria and in need of breakfast, head to Mole.  It was outstanding.

It was my first trip to GCBF and I enjoyed it.  If I lived in Victoria, I would go every year.  However, having to come over on the ferry from Vancouver and requiring a hotel have me questioning future trips.  While the beer selection was good, it wasn’t outstanding enough to warrant the expensive journey.  I consider more accessible beer events like Dix Caskivals and the Washington Cask Beer Festival more enjoyable.  What would be even better is a GCBF in Vancouver too.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: 2009, bc, blackberry lambic, boundary bay brewing, canoe club, cask conditioned, central city imperial ipa, crannog back hand of god, dogfish head 60 minute ipa, elysian brewing, GCBF, great canadian beer festival, john's place, lagunitas lucky 13, longwood brewpub, mole, night owl pumkin, saison poivre, spinnakers gastropub, swans buckerfields brewery, swans hotel, the wise esb, victoria

Seattle and Beer

Saturday, February 7th, 2009 | Beer | 1 Comment

I went to Seattle last weekend.  It was my friend’s stag – he likes beer – we drank beer, and then some whiskey.

We left Vancouver in the late morning and arrived in Mount Vernon for lunch at the Skagit River Brewery.  I fell in love with Skagit River Brewing from the minute I stepped out of my friend’s truck – the entire area surrounding the brewery smells like BBQ – not that fake propane BBQ smell, it was real smokey barbecue goodness.   I love BBQ and therefore love Skagit River Brewing.  I discovered this brewery a few months ago while on my way home from a weekend in Leavenworth – it smelled like BBQ then as well.  The beer was terrific, the pulled pork was beyond description and all was right in the world.  But good things cannot last forever and we were forced to move on in pursuit of more beer.

The Elysian Brewing Company in Seattle’s Capitol Hill region was our next stop .  My job was to navigate – I did not do a good job – Google Maps let me down – my friends laughed at me – we still found it.  Elysian Brewing is incredible; their beer is flavorful, creative and fun to drink.  Elysian Brewing is innovative while remaining true to beer’s four key ingredients: water, barley, hops and yeast.  I have no problem with adjuncts – they use them all the time in Belgium and I’m sure they use them at Elysian from time to time.  However, it is always impressive to see a brewer create a diverse selection of unique tasting beer without relying heavily on novelty ingredients such as coffee or pumpkin.  If you ever happen to find yourself in Seattle, please stop at Elysian Brewing -  their round of tasters is a very welcoming discovery.

Gordon Biersch was our dinner stop and I cannot say any of us were impressed.   The beer was okay, the food was not great, the service was mediocre and the atmosphere was somewhat “stuffy”.  This brewery did not capture the creative spirit that the other two brewpubs had.  When I visit a brewpub I expect to find  unique tasting beer imparted by the brewmasters personal style and simple yet tasty food.  Their beer was not bad and they had a good selection of German lagers, but this is not a place I would recommend to a true beer lover.   But It was not all bad, we at least were able to have fun with the word Biersch – it is a fun  name to say, especially after a few drinks.

I had planned to visit the Pike Brewing Company to give their barley wine a try, but the evening had other plans for us.  After parading my friend around  Seattle in a tight fitting A.C. Slater style wrestling suit we ended up at a cowboy saloon and spent the rest of the night drinking bourbon whiskey until our throats became too hoarse carry on.

Beer is such a great way to send a good friend off into the world a marriage.

Cheers,

Erik

Tags: elysian brewing, gordon biersch, pike brewing, seattle, skagit river brewing