Love Good Beer

I miss hops and hockey

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011 | Beer | 4 Comments

Obviously I know that almost all beer has hops in it, but not necessarily the high levels you find in the pacific northwest. When I moved to London I thought I’d be moving to a beer mecca, cask beer everywhere! I actually feel like I’ve taken a step down beer-wise. While there is a thriving pub culture here that I very much enjoy, I can’t say as much about the quality of the average beer. The majority of cask ales have been open a bit too long and taste a bit stale. Even the freshest cask of English ale can only be described as a mild pale ale by west coast standards. We’re blessed in Vancouver to have been influenced by the hopheads of Oregon, Seattle, and Northern California and it tastes good.

Sweet, sweet Central City IPA

I didn’t realize quite how much I missed a 60 IBU West Coast IPA until I had a slew of visitors gift me fantastic bottles from the motherland. Amongst my blessings I counted Central City IPA, Granville Island Imperial IPA, and Deschutes Hop Trip. They were delicious, thanks for asking. Of course there are British exceptions, such as the brilliantly hoppy offerings from Brewdog in Scotland, but I can definitely say that UK brewing lacks the adventurous extremes of the North American west coast and Belgium. Lucky for me, I’m making a quick return to Vancouver next week. Canucks woooo!

I knew that I missed hockey, but (again) I didn’t realize how much until I was reminded of it’s absolute awesomeness. Game 4 of the Vancouver Canucks vs San Jose Sharks series was at noon pacific time, meaning it was on in London at 8PM. I seized my big chance to watch live hockey for the first time in over a year at the Maple Leaf pub in Covent Garden, as did every other hockey starved Vancouverite in London. I can honestly say it was one of the best atmospheres in which I’ve ever watched a hockey game. The place was packed out with fervent Canucks fans decked in blue and teal, complete with UK levels of alcohol consumption, which resulted in really good times. What choice do I have but to come home for the parade?

At the Maple Leaf for game 4

Hank didn't touch it, we're good

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: canucks, central city, deschutes, Granville Island Brewing, imperial ipa, India Pale Ale, IPA, london, maple leaf pub, red racer, stanley cup, vancouver, west coast

Vij’s Restaurant and Vij’s Rangoli

Monday, June 22nd, 2009 | Beer | No Comments

As a present for her birthday, I bought my wife tickets to see Les Miserables, on Father’s Day, oops.  We managed to see our Father’s on different days and still take in Jean Valjean in all his glory.  We wanted to go out for a bite to eat after the show, and when looking for places nearby the Stanley Theatre, famed Vij’s seemed the logical choice. Our plans hit a snag when we found out that Vij’s doesn’t open until 5:30.  Our show was a matinee and ended at 4:45, so instead of waiting out front, we popped into the more casual Vij’s Rangoli next door.  Now I’d heard that people line up to get into Vij’s, but I had no idea how popular this place really seems to be.  Do people line up?  Do they ever!  By 5PM they were nearly fifty people lined up down the street, and not all of them made it in.  Some stayed to wait another hour or two for the first service to end, others joined us in Vij’s Rangoli.  I was impressed by the fanfare, but also feeling foolish at not seizing my chance to get in.  The food must be freaking good!

People Waiting in line at Vij's

I wasn’t feeling too badly though, because Vij’s Rangoli was also quite good.  It is more of a deli style place, complete with market, than a restaurant.  The food was delicious, I had a lamb curry dish and Rachel had shredded pork, but I was particularly impressed with the beer menu.  Instead of the usual lineup of Canadian and American macro lagers, Vij’s Rangoli had Propeller ESB, Anchor Porter, Pilsner Urquell, and Rickards White.  These four beers are not similar and offer a variety of tastes, better suited to pairing with different dishes.  In this town, where beer is often overlooked, I was pleased to see they put some thought into the menu!  Checking online, I also note that Vij’s main restaurant has Storm Pilsner, IPA, and Scotch Ale on the menu, pretty solid.  What could be better than a well prepared curry dish paired with a well prepared IPA?  Not much, which is why I’ll be waiting in line next time.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: anchor porter, curry, IPA, jean valjean, les miserable, pilsner urquell, Propeller ESB, rickards white, stanley theatre, storm brewing, vij's, vij's rangoli

Ozarks Famous BBQ

Sunday, April 26th, 2009 | Beer | 6 Comments

A new southern BBQ restaurant name Ozarks Famous BBQ recently opened in Langley. This is the first authentic BBQ restaurant in Langley, although Boonies BBQ & Soul Food sits right next door in the neighboring Cloverdale area. After waiting a few weeks for the restaurant to get past the typical problems that most restaurants experience in the first few weeks of operation, I decided to stop buy and give it a try.

I am a huge fan of real BBQ cooking and am happy to see that people are finally beginning to realize the difference between high heat grilling and low heat barbecuing. Ozarks is a true BBQ restaurant following the time honoured traditions of slowly smoking inexpensive, tough-yet-flavourful cuts of meat until they become delicious and tender. BBQ also happens to pair excellently with a number of beer styles from IPA to robust porter. This should come as no surprise seeing that many local brewpubs serve BBQ influenced dishes.

Ozarks is a locally owned family business with a number of years experience in BBQ. Prior to opening this restaurant, the owners mastered the art of southern BBQ by offering an award winning selection of BBQ meat and sauces at Ozarks Country Meats in White Rock. There years spent perfecting slow smoked BBQ cookery is very apparent. Every piece of meat I tasted, including pork riblets, BBQ chicken and beef brisket were all barbecued to perfection. Nothing was overly sauced nor was it too dry – it was moist and tender with a noticeable but not overpowering hardwood smoke flavour.

The BBQ was great- no complaints about the food, but the selection of beer was clearly not well thought out. Only one of the beers available even has a chance of standing up to the bold flavours of southern BBQ. The restaurant’s draught beer selection is exclusively Granville Island Brewing – including two light lagers, a mild pale ale and the newly release Brockton IPA. The IPA fared relatively well alongside BBQ pork riblets, but did nothing to complement the other dishes we ordered. The two light lagers and the one pale ale are far too mild to match the restaurants southern food. Porters, Southern Brown Ales, Smoked Ale and other full flavored beer would complement the food much more than light lager. Such a great opportunity to match great food with great beer and again the opportunity was missed – such a tragedy.

I would like to encourage all the craft breweries with BBQ appropriate beers to contact Ozarks Famous BBQ. Perhaps all the restaurant needs is a nudge in the right direction.

Overall, Ozarks’ food is good and it is without a doubt worth a visit. If more appropriate beer was made available I would certainly become a regular customer.

Cheers,

Erik

Tags: Boonies BBQ and Soufood, Granville Island Brewing, IPA, Lager, Ozarks Famous BBQ, Pale Ale, Porter, Souther BBQ

After 25 years it is finally here: Brockton IPA

Friday, April 24th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries | 5 Comments

The Granville Island Brewing Company turned 25 this year, and to celebrate they released a new beer titled Brockton IPA. Granville Island Brewing is one of British Columbia’s first craft brewers – all BC beer fans, even those whose tastes are not always satisfied with Granville Island’s regular offering, owe a big thank you to this brewing pioneer.

Granville Island’s non-seasonal six-pack beer is generally speaking, not brewed to please the discerning pallet of a passionate beer drinker, but that is good. Not all craft beer needs to be challenging and thought provoking. Granville Island’s beer serves as a great entry point into the world of craft beer. This brewery has done a great deal of work in developing a market for craft beer in Vancouver. Although I am no longer a diehard fan of Granville Island English Bay Pale Ale, I still have a great deal of respect for this ale. Had this mild pale ale never existed I may not have been exposed to BC’s burgeoning craft beer scene – English Bay Pale Ale was one of the first craft beers that I tasted, enjoyed and began to purchase regularly.

To please fussier beer drinkers, such as myself, Granville Island Brewing offers a good selection of creative and flavourful seasonal beers. Unlike their regular offering, which is now brewed in Kelowna, their season beer is still brewed on Granville Island. To me, the true definition of a craft brewer is not how many liters a brewery produces annually, but whether or not a selection of seasonal beer is offered. Seasonal releases are a great way for brewers to challenge their customers’ taste buds and push the boundaries a bit. Having achieved success with a previous IPA seasonal release, Granville Island Brewing decided that now was the perfect time to release a milder version of their seasonal IPA.

Because I fall into the “fussy” beer drinking category, I assumed that Brockton IPA would not be for me. My assumptions were correct – there is nothing wrong with this beer and I believe it is a great IPA for those who have never experienced the full on flavour assault of an IPA, I just prefer a bigger, bolder IPA. Knowing that Brockton IPA was not for me, I decided to invite a few friends over, all who like beer to varying degrees, to sample the beer and offer their unbiased opinions.

Here is what they thought:

Brad Wiens:

i

It is a good beer, but somewhat weak. Similar to other Granville Island Beer.

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Cheryl Wiens:

I

It tastes like a pill that I tried to swallow and then coughed up

i

i

i

i

Holly Wolfe:

i

It is okay, but a bit too bitter. I prefer their Winter Ale.

i

i

i

i

i

Rachel Richardson:

i

Piney tasting – Where is the citrus flavour?

i

i

i

i

i

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Chris Richardson:

Chris has already posted his comments, but to reiterate:

i

It tastes like a hoppier version of English Bay Pale Ale

i

ii

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i

No one seemed to fall in the love with Brockton IPA, but aside from Cheryl, everyone did finish their beer. Subjective opinions aside, Brockton IPA is a great introduction to hoppier, flavourful beers and I am always excited to see a brewer release a new beer. I look forward to seeing what Granville Island brews next.

Cheers,

Erik

Tags: Brockton IPA, english bay pale ale, Granville Island Brewing, hops, IPA, Review

Pizza and Beer – The Saga Continues

Saturday, April 11th, 2009 | Beer, Food and Recipes | 1 Comment

I realized how over the top my yeast obsession is after I had a sobering conversation with a friend while heading home from work this Thursday.  The conversation went like this:

Erik: “So, I’m making pizza for dinner”

Friend: “Oh – I love pizza, did you make your own crust”

“Yeah, but I’m a little worried It won’t turn out”

Puzzled look implying the question – what kind of  idiot doesn’t know how to make pizza?

“I used an unknown yeast strain to make the dough – I am a little obsessed with yeast.  I have been harvesting my own yeast since December; I have four different strains on the go at the moment”

Concerned look “umm…”

Awkward Pause – following by a nervous laugh – “Did that come across as strange?”

“Yeah… a little”

I then went on to better explain what I meant by “harvesting my own yeast” and that yeast is in the air surround us all the time and that some of the best breads and ales are fermented with wild yeast.  The tension was removed and the conversation carried on as usual – apparently harvesting wild yeast is uncommon.

I am fascinated by yeast – it is such an underrated and misunderstood little organism. Nothing captures the magic of this sugar loving, social lubricating creature better than proper pizza and real beer.  I made pizza last night with brewers yeast – it turned out good, but not over the top fists pumping in the air great.  The particular yeast I used, Wyeast 1968 ESB, imparts strong fruity esters during the brewing process and I was hoping that by fermenting and proofing the pizza dough for a solid 24 hours that the pizza would soak up some of these interesting flavour notes – but it didn’t.  Nonetheless, the pizza tasted great alongside its long lost friend and former partner, IPA.

I got out of bed this morning feeling unsatisfied and restless, which is a strange feeling to have on a long weekend Friday.   It only took me a minute of soul searching to find the source of this dissatisfaction – I was hungry and craving more pizza.  Upon this realization, I quickly shot out of bed and Googled “best pizza in Vancouver”.  I ended up heading to Marcello’s Pizzeria on Commercial drive- I was sold after reading about their wood fired oven.

Marcello’s is a great place for proper pizza – The authenticity that a wood fired oven creates cannot be matched.  I am now convinced more than ever that the only way to achieve perfection as a pizza master is with a hot wood fired oven.  A standard household electric oven is just not capable of pumping out enough heat to quickly cook a pizza leaving a crispy crust with an almost-but-not-quite burnt edge.

Marcello’s Pizzeria clearly knows how to make great pizza, but they have their own shortcomings and seem all too unaware about the magic that happens when a great pizza meets a great beer.  I was hopping to find a well hopped pale ale on the menu, but had to settle for Granville Island English Bay Pale Ale.  The beer was stale and almost offensive tasting and did nothing to complement the pizza.  What could have been the highlight of my week was turned into just a good lunch.  It saddens me to see a restaurant with such great potential fall short on such an important matter such as beer.

My search for the perfect pizza and beer combination carries on.  I think building a brick wood fired oven in my backyard may the next logical step.

Home made Pizza

IPA - Homebrew

Marcello's wood fired oven

Marcello's pizza

Marcello's pizza

Cheers,

Erik

Tags: Beer, Granville Island English Bay Pale Ale, IPA, Marcello's, Pale Ale, Pizza, Wyeast 1968 ESB, Yeast

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

Tags: BC Beer Blog, Brockton IPA, Central City Brewing, dix, gary lohin, Granville Island Brewing, India Pale Ale, IPA, Rusell Brewing

The New Imperial Empire

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 | Beer, Events | 4 Comments

As Chris mentioned in his previous post, we attended the Washington Cask Beer Festival.  As can be assumed, it was great; never have I seen so many casks of great beer in one single room.  For a first timer to this festival, I and possible the rest of the people in my party, may have gone a little overboard.  Half way through the evening we decided that the only way to possibly make it through a good number of the casks was to share each tasting three ways.  Those who adopted this sharing strategy made it through the night largely unscathed – those who choose not to share claimed to have had a ten minute conversation with Coldplay’s front man Chris Martin at the end of the event.  Perhaps adding a few chefs to the bill would have made for a slightly less alcohol intensive evening while adding a great opportunity for food and beer pairings – pretzels are only good for so long.

The three winners of the six to ten o’clock tasting round, Laughing Buddha’s Pandan Brown Ale, Harmon’s Vanilla Porter and Ram’s Coconut Porter, were all great and worthy of recognition, although the Vanilla Porter was a bit cloying for my tastes.  My personal favourite brewer of the evening was Port Townsend Brewing, hands down winner.  Both the Porter and IPA from Port Townsend were flavorful and brewed to style while remaining distinct from a myriad of other Porters and IPAs.  Ram’s coconut porter was my favourite adjunct beer of the night – the coconut flavour was very noticeable but not overpowering.  The beer selection was great, but I think beer diversity could be improved upon.

I would like to point out what I consider to be a growing epidemic in the world of craft beer – Imperialism; the super-sization of ale.  I may receive criticism from many beer lovers for saying this, but it must be said.  Brewing a stronger, imperial version of an existing beer is just not creative.  Not every beer becomes better by adding more hops and more grain – bigger is not always better.   The Washington Cask Beer Festival was filled with Imperial strength versions of a brewer’s standard offering.  If craft brewers continue walking down the imperialist path, I fear we may lose our much loved session beers.

Don’t get me wrong, I love strong ales – but when inundated with such potent brew over and over again, a person’s taste buds simply give up and that once enjoyable over the top Imperial IPA begins to taste like a tree.  There is no shame in showing up to a cask festival with a regular strength English Bitter – I personally would have loved to see a selection ranging from light session beer to heavily hopped Russian Imperial Stout.

It is time for all beer lover to unite, stand strong and say enough is enough – we demand regular strength cask ale.  This regular strength ale can of course be poured alongside a cask of imperial strength beer – this will add diversity to an often pallet numbing cask experience.

Erik

Tags: Chris Martin, Coconut Porter, Coldplay, Harmon Vanilla Porter, imperial ipa, IPA, Luaghing Buddha Brewing, Pandan Brown Ale, Port Towsend Brewing, Porter, Ram Brewery, washington cask beer festival

A night at the Alibi Room

Thursday, February 26th, 2009 | Beer, Pubs | 2 Comments

Last night I went to the Alibi Room with my friends Peter, Dave and Gavin.  Erik was going to come, but he was busy roasting a chicken, it happens.  Our visit came about because of comment’s Rick Green left on Dave’s guest post, wondering what Dave might think of the Alibi Room in comparison to Original Joe’s.  It didn’t take much convincing to get a group out for beers after work, considering we are always up for some good merry making.  That aside, the Alibi Room has a fantastic beer selection to tempt any enthusiast.

The Alibi Room has 19 taps of fresh, relatively local draught beer, plus many more bottled options, as well as the odd cask, all of which are in constant rotation.  For a beer drinker, this is heaven.  Not only do they have the best beer selection in BC, but there is always something new.  In fact, the owner makes special trips to the island to pick up casks and kegs himself

I had a very hard time choosing what four beers to put into my “frat bat”.  I ended up going for the Swans Cask ESB, Longwood “Batch 1000″ Doppelbock, Dix Texan Brown, and Steamworks Roggenweizen.  I also sampled the Swans Extra IPA and ordered a pint of the Swans Cask ESB later on.  I think we all enjoyed the Cask ale the most, but I was also particularly impressed with the Longwood Doppelbock.  I didn’t care too much for the Roggenweizen (too spicy) or the Texan Brown, but neither are preferred styles of mine.

Peter and Dave with empty plates/glasses at the Alibi Room

We also had some very tasty, reasonably priced food.  After splitting some chicken wings and a cheese plate, we ordered two each of their roast beef sandwich special and their bison dip, which were both quite good.  I planned to take some pictures of our glorious spread of beer and food, but I completely forgot until we’d pretty much finished everything to the last crumb/drop.  Still, I have a picture of our empty plates and glasses, testament to the good times we shared with great food and beer at the Alibi Room.  I hope we end up making this a regular after work occurrence!

Cheers.

Chris

Tags: alibi room, dix, doppelbock, ESB, IPA, longwood, original joes, rick green, roggenweizen, steamworks, swans, texan brown

Brewday 2009

Monday, February 23rd, 2009 | Beer, Homebrew | 3 Comments

Last Saturday was the first of hopefully many brew-days this year.  I have been an active homebrewer for almost a year and a half now.   My love for homebrewing started while walking down a Home Hardware store in the small town of Qualicum on Vancouver Island.  This particular store sold a home brewing kit – the thought of brewing my own beer was intriguing and had never previously crossed my mind.  Although I did not buy the kit that day, I made it my personal mission to become a homebrew master – I’m not there yet, but one day.

Unfortunately, all of my friends, including Chris, who clearly cares more about Mats Sundin than me, were busy, so had to go it alone.  All in all it was a relaxing Saturday spent brewing what will hopefully become a delicious IPA.

Vorlaufing - Draining sweet wort from the mash and then recirculating back into the mash tun again and again until the wort runs clear. Any grain left in the wort could result in an astringent taste and mouthfeel.

Wort slowly filling the brew kettle

Sweet wort in the brew kettle approaching a boil. Once it reaches a boil the foam layer on top explodes everywhere - if the brewer is not standing by.

The Brewkettle

Adding hops to the wort. Centennial 60 min, Cascade 30 min, Amarillo 5 min

Immersion wort chiller cooling the wort. The hot wort needs to go from boiling to room temperature as quickly as possible. If not a nasty infection could spoil the brew.

Cooled wort beginning its week long ferment.

Erik

Tags: Homebrew, IPA

Great Beer Moments of 2009

Friday, January 23rd, 2009 | Beer, Breweries, Pubs | 2 Comments

Spending yesterday afternoon in search of great beer was a pleasant reminder to me about why I love beer.  Now I know we are only 23 days into this year, but I strongly believe yesterday will easily finish in my top five beer moments of 2009.  There was no one particular beer that made yesterday so memorable; it was the combination of great beer, great places, great food and great company that made yesterday shine through the dreariness of BC’s foggy start to 2009.

The afternoon started by meeting my good friend Brad in Burnaby, on route to Brewery Creek.  For those of us who live in the Fraser Valley, a trip out to Brewery Creek is not a weekly occurrence and is a noteworthy event.  Until yesterday Brad was a Brewery Creek virgin – I was excited to show him the bounty that is Brewery Creek, and he was excited to spend his entire beer budget in one fell swoop.  With grins on our faces we perused through the shelves slowly filling our carts with beer.  For those who haven’t been, Brewery Creek is like a candy store for adults, only the candy doesn’t cost 5 cents.  Brad loaded up on barley wine and I rounded out my collection with beer from Oregon, Washington, BC and Belgium. Had the day ended here it would have already been great – but it continued on.

We still had plenty of time in the afternoon and I had not yet satisfied my desire for new beer, so we decided to head to Firefly.  This was my first visit to Firefly, and with a parking spot left open beside the store it was meant to be.  Firefly has an impressive beer and wine selection, but I can’t say standing in a fridge while shopping for beer is ideal.  Nonetheless, I added a few more bottles to my collection and headed on out; Brad had already overspent his budget and had to go without.  I will be updating The Cellar shortly with my most recent additions, although most of my purchases will end up in my belly before they make it to the cellar.

By this time it was quarter to five and hunger was setting in.  Yesterday was Thursday, and DIX Brewery has cask ale on Thursdays – good news!  We headed over to DIX for an early dinner and to enjoy this week’s cask ale – a Rye IPA better know as Jack the RIPA.  The cask ale was fantastic, with hints of spice from the rye, a warming malt flavour, and a great hop kick.  One was all it took yesterday – sometimes simplicity and moderation (I can’t believe I am writing this) is a good thing.  The food at DIX was equally impressive, I ordered the BBQ Brisket Sandwich and Brad decided on a burger.  DIX was the perfect way to end an afternoon beer hunt.

I love beer because it is more than just nourishment to our bodies and a means for drunkenness.  Good beer, like good food, becomes exponentially better when enjoyed with good friends, and yesterday’s beer tasted pretty fantastic.

Erik

Tags: Beer, brewery creek, Cask Ale, DIX Brewery, firefly, IPA, Jack the RIPA, Rye