Love Good Beer

The Brockton IPA Launch

Saturday, April 25th, 2009 | Beer | 2 Comments

Erik and I attended the launch of Granville Island’s Brockton IPA at the GI Taproom last night.  For us, because we’ve both written about Brockton IPA before (Erik did a group taste test and I posted some general impressions last week), the night was less about the beer itself and more about having a good time.  But if you did want to know, we find Brockton IPA to be a decent beer, although somewhat lacking in balance and merely resembling a hoppy version of their pale ale.  It isn’t killer IPA, but it will definitely draw more Vancouverites to craft beer, and for that we are thankful.

When we arrived at the busy Taproom, we were asked whether we were with the press or from the liquor board.  We were press!  I suppose I should be less excited about that, but I had never been referred to as press before.  If press are commonly treated as well as we were last night, I wouldn’t mind being with the press more often.  We were given three pints of IPA, an excellent spread of food provided by a nearby culinary school, and a complimentary cab ride home.  Also, Almira of Jive Communications, who invited us, recognized Erik right away (not hard, he is a behemoth of a man and extremely good looking) and gave us a thorough welcome.

We were also lucky to meet Vern Lambourne, the brewer at Granville Island.  Vern perfects Granville Island’s recipes before sending them up North to Kelowna for production.  More importantly, Vern brews all of Granville Island’s seasonal beers on Granville Island.  I especially enjoyed his Porter and eagerly await next week’s release of GI Bitter.  Last month’s Ginger beer, although not to my tastes, was very popular and sold out fast.  Vern let us into the brewery for a quick peek and a picture, and also invited us back for a tour another day.  It is always awesome to meet brewers, not only because they make the delicious beverage we enjoy, but because they are always such nice, humble guys.  Cheers Vern, thanks for showing us around.

We also ran into the honorable Rick Green, who is always a pleasure to chat with.  Rick is the king of BC beer and always has the inside scoop.  He introduced us to Crystal Henrickson of Yelp, who is their sole Vancouver employee.  She is trying to build a Yelp Community in Vancouver and I hope she succeeds.  Yelp is a great site when it is well populated with reviews.  I’ve found it really helpful when visiting US cities, but Vancouver is still catching up on volume.  Crystal convinced me to go beyond consuming other people’s reviews and make some of my own.  I’ve now signed up and rated a few of my favorite places.

The launch of Brockton IPA was surely an experience, one which I enjoyed.  If any other breweries, or even restaurants, would like to wine and dine us press at future launch parties, we’d be more than happy to oblige.

The crowded Taproom

Erik with a Brockton IPA

Me with a Brockton IPA

Vern in his brewery with his latest creation

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: bitter, Brockton IPA, ginger beer, Granville Island Brewing, jive communications, launch party, Porter, rick green, taproom, vern lambourne, yelp

Granville Island Brockton IPA

Thursday, April 9th, 2009 | Beer | 2 Comments

When we started this blog we set out to learn a lot and have a good time, which we have done thus far.  It was also our hope to somehow achieve the level of celebrity that warrants free beer.  I think we are getting closer to meeting this goal.  This week we were contacted by the PR firm of Granville Island Brewing and invited to attend the launch of their recently released Brockton IPA.  This isn’t the first press release we have received, but is certainly the most applicable.  We are going to go to the launch on April 23rd and will definitely be writing a post about it.  What I find a tad funny about this launch party is that the Brockton IPA has been out for a solid two weeks now.  I picked up a six pack from Brewery Creek the day it came out in stores.  So technically the beer was already launched, but who doesn’t like a party?

Since I’ve already tasted Granville Island’s IPA, I can give you my thoughts on it.  I thought it tasted like their English Bay Pale Ale with extra hops. I really wondered if it was the same recipe with added grain, plus the extra hops.  It had the same vanilla taste (maybe imparted by their yeast strain?) that I associate with the other widely available Granville Island beers.  If you like Granville Island’s other beers and don’t mind the added hop bitterness, you’ll like the Brockton IPA.  If you are a serious IPA drinker, I doubt you’ll find this “finally a west coast IPA” anything special.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy this beer for what it is, but I’m not buying the marketing hooplah.  That doesn’t mean I think it won’t be widely successful, because I think Brockton IPA will be a big hit with Vancouverites.  Granville Island has done really well at positioning themselves as Vancouver’s beer, even though their main lineup is brewed in Kelowna.  Only their seasonals are actually brewed on Granville Island, and by a different brewer no less.  Apparently, the Brockton IPA recipe was taste tested by Vancouverites for Vancourverites before being put into production, a fact that will surely tickle the locals.

I really like it when breweries release new beers; it gives me something new to try and something to write about.  While I don’t think that the Brockton IPA is a truly special beer, I appreciate that Granville Island will be broadening the horizons of many macro swilling Vancouverites with a new craft beer offering, for many will find this new beer in their Minglers.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: brewery creek, Brockton IPA, english bay pale ale, Granville Island Brewing, launch party