Tag Archives: Okanagan Spring

Incendio West & Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company

My obsessive drive to find the perfect pizza and beer led me to two Kitsilano pizzerias – Incendio West & The Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company.  Both of these restaurants are situated within a stones throw of each other and have both received positive reviews, they also happen to offer a selection of craft beer in both bottles and  on draft.  If I was making  the effort to visit one pizzeria , I figured I should make the most of the evening and visit both.  If I really want to find the best pizza and beer in the Vancouver area I will have to make sacrifices.  This particular sacrifice comes in the form of eating multiple dinners in one night – a sacrifice I am more than willing to make.

We started the evening at Incendio West.  Incendio West belongs to the Incendio Group which operates two Italian pizza & pasta eateries and Stellas Tap and Tapas Bar.  Currently one of Incendio’s pizza joints is undergoing extensive renovations after a fire caused damage to the kitchen and dinning room -  after learning about the fire I was not all that surprised to discover that the word incendio means fire.  Chris recommended Incendio’s Gastown location to me months ago stating that they offered great pizza and a good selection of craft beer.  I was saddened when he told me the restaurant had caught fire and would be closed for quite some time, but was equally happy to find that Incendio West was in full operation.

The beer menu at Incendio West is made up of bottled domestic and international beer – mostly light lager.  Their draft selection includes R&B wheat ale and pale ale, Shaftebury Cream Ale , Okanagan Spring 1516 and Pale Ale and Stella Artois.  Having never tasted R&B Sun God Wheat I decided to give it a try – it turned out to be a mild wheat ale and was not impressive.  R&B Red Devil Pale Ale proved to have a much greater depth in flavour, which paired nicely with a Incendio’s pizza.

I originally thought that Incendio West baked their pizza in a wood fired oven – I was wrong, they use gas.  I have no evidence to support that a wood fired oven creates a better pizza than gas, but my preference leans towards the wood fired option.  Gas may be capable of creating enough heat  to properly bake a pizza, but gas will never have the same authentic charm that a wood burning oven does.  The pizza at Incendio’s was  good – well topped with an appropriate amount of sauce and cheese.  My only complaint was the soggy crust, a sign of an undercooked pizza.  Looking around at other tables I found that almost all of the pizza lacked a slightly charred crust, which is a sign of a well cooked pizza.  Proper pizza cookery requires enough bravery to leave a pizza in a hot oven long enough to fully cook the crust, even if the pizza is starting to  char around the edges.

After feasting at Incendio West and a taking quick walk through the neighborhood and along  Kits beach we arrived at The Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company.  After spending an hour walking with hopes of burning off at least one slice of pizza, still none of us were hungry enough to sit down for a second meal, so we opted for takeout instead.  Takeout would give me a chance to enjoy a fresh slice of their pizza while saving the remainder for the next day.  Waiting for the pizza  gave me enough time to poke around the restaurant to see if they used a wood fired oven and to also take a look at their beer selection.  I am happy to confirm that Rocky Mountain bakes their pizza in a wood fired oven.  Their beer selection is quite impressive as well, offering beer from Howe Sound Brewing in both 1 liter bottles and on draft – R&B  Beer was also offered on draft.  Seeing a table with a 1 liter bottle of Howe Sound made me wonder why more restaurants don’t offer 650 ml bomber bottles.  A bomber is the prefect size for sharing and does not require the restaurant owner to commit to a full keg.  The pizza at Rocky Mountain was good, but although the crust was fully cooked, it was noticeably inferior to  Incendio’s Crust.

I have many  places still to visit in my pursuit of finding the greatest pizza and beer in Vancouver.  By the end of this summer I  hope to conclude my search – I gladly welcome any recommendations for places to visit.

Cheers,

Erik

What is craft beer?

Last weekend during the Superbowl, a friend of mine picked up a bottle of Driftwood Ale I had just poured from, read the label, and asked “What is craft beer?”.  I know I just wrote a “what is” post, but craft beer is something that all beer drinkers should know about.

I don’t think there is an official definition of craft beer, at least not one that I could find, but I would say there are some things that are generally true about craft brewing:

  • Craft brewers consider brewing an art requiring special skill (hence the word craft).
  • Craft brewers stick to the four main brewing ingredients (water, barley, hops, yeast), save adjuncts for special brews, but definitely no preservatives.
  • Craft brewers are small microbreweries, brewpubs, or home brewers.
  • Craft brewers brew beer for taste and quality, not mass appeal and shelf life.
  • Craft brewers respect tradition and are independently owned.
  • Craft beer tastes better (most important to me).

There are always exceptions, note that I believe the above list to be only generally true.  Please comment if you have a different definition of craft beer or feel that more or less should be added or removed from my list.  In my web searching I found a really interesting article about the definition of craft beer where the author asked prominent brewing figures for their own definition.  I particularly enjoyed the response by the Anheuser-Busch employee, but recommend reading the entire article.  Beertown.org also has a good writeup on the subject.

Lately I’ve noticed that the words “craft beer” have become more of marketing catch phrase.  Okanagan Spring have rebranded themselves as a craft brewer, you may have noticed the new labels, packaging and commercials.  While I enjoy Okanagan Spring’s beer much more than most macrobrew, I’m inclined to think that their usage of the moniker has more to do with market segmentation and Sapporo‘s global brand strategy than beer artisanship.  I will point out that Okanagan Spring is not a member of the BC Craft Brewing Association.

I don’t really think that labels and terms matter.  I will always drink what tastes best (as long as it won’t kill me) and will only ever advocate that others do the same.  I do think that craft beer tastes better in general and I do suggest that beer drinkers give their local non-macro brewers a try.  A positive sign to me are the reports I’ve recently noticed that show craft beer sales on the rise, but I wonder how they define craft beer?

Cheers,

Chris