molson
Iceholes, Beer Wars, Stone, Oh My
Saturday, February 6th, 2010 | Beer | No Comments
Some beer notes from this week, each not enough for a post, but worth posting about:
- Beer Wars On Demand – I missed the Vancouver screening of Beer Wars last weekend, which I’d heard was a really good time (could have been the ten or so kinds of beer available). At the screening, it was announced that Beer Wars would be available on demand from your cable provider. I watched it last night at my convenience and it only cost me $5.99 from Shaw. I really enjoyed the explanations of the three tier distribution system, the beer lobbyists in Washington DC, and the plight of craft brewers like Dogfish Head‘s Sam Caglione, which made the movie worth watching. I also found the documentarian Anat Baron insufferable. She eventually gets into the movie after enlightening us as to how great she is for ten minutes or so. She also describes her experience in the beer industry with Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Wait, what?
- Stone! – At the same Beer Wars Screening, Stone Brewing‘s Greg Koch did announce that Stone would be making a one time shipment to BC. I was mostly right in my prediction, but I’m pretty choked at the one time part. Brewery Creek got their shipment in on Thursday, what followed was my single most expensive beer purchase of all time. I got one of everything, those being their Imperial Stout, Old Guardian Barley Wine, Smoked Porter, Vertical Epic Ale, Ruination IPA (six pack), Pale Ale (six pack), Levitation Ale (six pack), and Oaked Arrogant Bastard. If you want to buy any of these, it would be best to get to your local independent purveyor of fine beer as soon as possible.
R&B Iceholes Celebration Lager is now available! Colbert can suck one.
- Syrup Sucking Iceholes – I was the first person on the entire internets to write about R&B’s Iceholes Celebration lager, but now the bigger sites have gone and stolen my SEO. Oh well, who wants to be the first search result on Google anyway? R&B launched the beer last night at Capones in Vancouver and the Pumphouse Pub in Richmond. I managed to get a bottle last week. I haven’t had it yet, but I’ve heard it’s a good pilsner. Apparently Iceholes will be available at Capones and independent beer stores this February only. And it has reportedly been arranged for Colbert to suck as many Iceholes as he pleases.
- Olympic Beer Selection Fail - Since Molson is the official sponsor of the Olympics, the only beers available at anywhere affiliated with the Olympics will be Coors Light, Molson Canadian, Molson Ex, and maybe Rickards (sometimes, if you’re lucky). And get this, venues that used to server other, better beers can no longer do so. Lame.
Cheers,
Chris
Coming Soon: Rickard’s Dark
Saturday, November 14th, 2009 | Beer | 6 Comments
Erik and I received an email from a PR firm who wanted our address so they could send us a sample of a soon to be launched beer. I was a bit worried it was someone I’d offended coming to punch me in the face, so I gave them my work address. Lucky for me, a package arrived on Friday instead of a fist. I opened the package to find an elaborate wood box labeled Rickard‘s Dark. The box contained two bottles of Rickard’s Dark, two beer glasses, two coasters, and a blindfold. I found the inclusion of a blindfold a bit odd, but I suppose it is for doing a blind tasting? Or maybe for post tasting kinky fun times? Either or, I doubt I’ll be using it.
Opening the package to find the Rickard's Dark box
Contents of the Rickard's Dark Box
I haven’t tasted the beer yet. Erik is coming over on Monday and I figured I’d wait for him. Rickard’s Dark is supposedly a 4.8% ABV English style porter with added Quebec maple syrup. I do love me some porter, but I’m not so sure I’ll like Rickard’s Dark. I used to drink Rickard’s beer in my younger days because I found it to be a breath of fresh air when compared to Molson Canadian. I’ve since expanded my beer horizons well beyond Molson’s own Rickard’s brand and no longer care for their Red and Honey Brown like I once did. That being said, I hope that Rickard’s Dark is wonderful and that it might get some non craft beer drinkers into porter and onto other wonderful porters like Black Butte from Deschutes. Expect to see Rickard’s Dark on the shelves in Rickard’s Taster packs within a few weeks.
Cheers,
Chris
Canadian vs American beer, whose is best?
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 | Beer | 2 Comments
I have sincerely believed for the bulk of my life that Canadian beer is better than American beer. I have no idea why I thought this even as a child, but this sentiment remains pervasive amongst Canadian youth. Why was I so compelled to consider Canadian beer superior and which nation’s beer really is best?
My first inclination was that I was severely affected by the brilliant Molson “I am Canadian” TV commercials, which had a substantial impact on my generation in our formative years. Molson’s latest series still gets me going, considering I do feel bad putting my seat back on an airplane! What Americans might not understand is just how applicable these ads are to the average Canadian. I have also lit a hockey stick on fire trying to bend it (even though I don’t even play hockey), turned down the company of attractive females for the NHL playoffs, been asked by an American if I lived in an igloo, and also asked if I knew Joe from Toronto. Seriously. Silly as it may be, these nationalistic commercials that have not much to do with actual beer probably helped solidify in my mind the superiority of Canadian beer. When I consider that they used to sponsor Hockey Night in Canada, of which changing the theme song was a national issue, I realize that I likely have Molson to thank for my assumptions.
Researching the subject of Canadian versus American beer online, I stumbled across numerous forums accusing American beer of being watery. The basis for such arguments were generally that American beer contains less alcohol than Canadian beer. Considering that alcohol content is not paramount to quality or taste and that it should vary depending on beer style, I’d say the alcohol content argument is a bit ridiculous. Further investigation yields that Canadians measure alcohol by volume and Americans measure alcohol by weight. Alcohol weighs less than water, which means that, even though the percentages on the packaging read higher in Canada, similar American and Canadian beers contain the same amount of alcohol. However, I will contend that whatever beer I bought the last time I was at Quest Field in Seattle was a horrible, watery, waste of $10USD.
Reading up on the mainstream brewing industry in Canada, it seems that all the big, storied Canadians breweries have recently come under foreign ownership. Molson, founded in 1786 and the oldest beer brand in North America, is now owned by Coors. Labatt, founded in 1847, is now owned by InBev. And Sleeman, founded in 1834, is now owned by Sapporo. This leaves Moosehead as the largest Canadian owned brewer withonly own 5% of the Canadian beer consumption market. What I consider an even bigger tradegy than the foreign ownership of our big breweries, is that the majority of the population drinks the favlorless, uninteresting, substandard beer these guys are putting out there.
When it comes to making a choice, I’d probably go for a Molson Canadian or Labatt Blue over a Coors Light, Budweiser, or Miller Genuine Draft, but the truth of the matter is that I’d rather not drink any of them. I’d prefer to drink a microbrewed beer, Canadian or American, made by people who care, over any of the macobrewed stuff. Microbrewing is thriving in Canada and the USA and their are plenty of great Canadian and American microbrewed beers available that are consistently of higher quality. And when I say quality, I am referring to taste, natural ingredients, and pure brewing processes, not price. Proponents of price as a factor in buying beer have it all wrong. Sure, a 24 pack of Canadian or Bud might be the cheapest way to drink beer, but it’s not all about volume. One beer should fill you up; it’s what it was invented for! Give me a few large bottles of quality microbrewed stuff over a 24 pack anyday. Really, please give them to me.
My honest opinion these days is that neither Canadian nor American beer is better or worse. Both countries produce great, poor, and everything in between beer. I do think that America produces ten times as much bad beer as we do, though they also produce ten times as much good beer, mostly because they have ten times the population. I surely count American breweries among my favorites, including Anchor and Rogue to name two whose products are readily available in these parts. It’s a tragedy that BC is bereft of more of the great stuff coming out of the American Pacific Northwest. Likewise, I feel like Americans are missing out on some of the great stuff we produce up here, Philips is one example. For some info on good American beers, check out this Toronto Star article.
I really believe that the best beer can be found locally, in the USA and in Canada. There is likely somebody in your neighborhood making really good beer that could use your support. The pride I felt watching the “I am Canadian” commercials as a kid I hope I can feel again supporting my local beer community. In my view, it’s the only way back.
Cheers,
Chris