russell brewing
Local Surrey Beer, no not that Surrey
Sunday, April 18th, 2010 | Beer | 6 Comments
The irony that I’ve moved from Surrey near Guildford in Canada to Surrey near Guildford in England (at least until we head up to London next week) isn’t lost on me. This time I’m not talking about Central City, Russell Brewing, or Big Ridge, but Hogs Back Brewery. Much to my surprise, I learned of Hogs Back Brewing through Google Buzz. It was recommended to me by a friend of friend in Canada who originally comes from Surrey. Without a car, I was trying to figure out how to get to Hogs Back when a random Google Buzz user let me know of a few pubs in Guildford that carry their brews. Who knew people used Google Buzz? Anyway, I eventually found Hogs Back’s beers at a small beer and wine shop in Shalford.
I picked up TEA and OTT, which stand for Traditional English Ale and Old Tongham Tasty (Tongham is the town Hogs Back is based in); both are bottle conditioned. I’ve only tried TEA so far and I quite liked it. As the name says, it is a traditional bitter. I found it to be pleasantly malty and full of flavor, if lacking in hops for my tastes. So far I’ve found that English brewers tend to focus on malt and its subtleties, versus North American brewers who make much more use of hops to provide bold flavors and bite. While both approaches have their merits, I’m currently enjoying the excellent session brews the British brewers are brewing (most bitters weigh in at 4% ABV). I’ll definitely buy TEA again and I can’t wait to try the other interesting beers that Hogs Head has to offer.
Cheers,
Chris
More Lime Beers?
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 | Beer | 4 Comments
I received an email from Russell Brewing today announcing their new Cactus Lime Lager, to be sold at Cactus Club restaurants. This news depressed me. Does the market really need more lime flavored beers? I hope the Cactus Lime Lager is better than their Russell’s Lemon Ale, which I have previously tried and, similar to Bud Light Lime, found it to taste like bad Sprite. I thought I might enjoy the taste of “real lime flavor” in beer because I enjoy the occasional fruit wedge dropped into certain brews, but I really, really don’t. Those of you that do like lime flavored beers, what is it about them that you enjoy? Some say it is easy to drink, but so too are many other lagers (also water). I just don’t get it.
I really thought that Russell was going in the right direction with their recent IP’eh release, which I found to be a very tasty beer. I hoped they might introduce more well brewed limited edition beers (like the Blueberry Wheat they had at the Dix Caskival) to the market, but am instead disappointed to find them jumping on the lime flavor band wagon led by Bud Light Lime. It must make good business sense to be brewing this kind of beer, because they aren’t the only ones. In addition to BLL, Michelob brews a lime flavored beer, as does respected Canadian craft brewer Big Rock. I can only hope that other brewers don’t follow suit.
Cheers,
Chris
Limited Release Russell IP’eh
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 | Beer | 8 Comments
Russell Brewing emailed me today announcing their first limited release beer Russell IP’eh, a Canadian IPA, eh? We have a significant history with Russell (which you can read about here, here, and here); one of the criticisms we had of them was that their beer was rather uninteresting. It is for this reason we are happy to see Russell branching out with a bolder limited release. Erik and I actually tried a cask of Russell prototype IPA at a Dix Cask Thursday in the not too distant past. The beer we tried was delicious, hoppy, and well balanced. If this limited release is of the same recipe, then I eagerly await this beer. Of recent BC IPA releases, it would surpass Granville Island’s Brockton IPA and give Central City a run for their money. We are only speculating at this point, but we have our hopes and we’ll definitely be giving this one a try.
No specific release date was mentioned, but we were told that the IP’eh will be available in draught form. There will also be 1500 650ml bottles sold at Brewery Creek, Darby’s Liquor Store, Firefly Fine Wines and Ales and Liberty Wine Merchants in Vancouver. If you see it, purchase this rare bottle and give it a shot.
Cheers,
Chris
A cask Thursday at Dix
Friday, March 13th, 2009 | Beer | No Comments
Dix BBQ and Brewery has a cask of special ale available every Thursday (that is not a game day) at 5PM. This past Thursday, Erik and I met up with the honourable Rick Green to sample this week’s offerings and talk about beer. This week was a bit special, not only did Dix make a cask of their own Texas Brown Ale (think brown IPA) available, but Russell Brewing was testing out a new IPA recipe of theirs. Considering our history with Russell Brewing, I was really interested to try their IPA. I think we both enjoyed it, or at least I did. I hope that Russell adds this beer to their production lineup. It would be by far their most alluring brew and a beer I could see myself purchasing.
Dix cask nights are regularly advertised in the CAMRA Vancouver weekly newsletter, always tempting me. I was surprised to see just how many CAMRA members actually show up on a weekly basis, fifty or so by my estimation. We had a great time talking about beer with Rick and had the pleasure to meet other CAMRA members, including local brewers, illustrious beer store owners, and friendly beer enthusiasts. I hope I can make my attendance at Dix Cask Thursdays a more frequent occurrence. Good fresh beer and good times.
Cheers,
Chris
Pregame at the Kingston
Sunday, March 1st, 2009 | Beer | No Comments
I went to the Canucks vs Lightning game on Friday. It was not a good game, but at least the Canucks won 2-1. Before the game, in need of a post work meal and a pregame libation, we decided to go to the Kingston Taphouse and Grille. I’d often heard about the Kingston when listening to the TEAM 1040. The 1040 guys regularly do their Canucks pregame shows at the Kingston, so I thought it would be a cool place to hang out. It wasn’t bad, but I can’t say there is much to taking in a live radio show. The place was packed out and we couldn’t even hear what Rick Ball and Don Taylor were saying. I guess I expected some fan interaction. Is a hug from local sports legend Don Taylor too much to ask for?
The crowded bar at the Kingston, Rick Ball of 1040 in the background
As for the Kingston itself, I can’t say I was overly impressed with their beer selection. They had some local microbrew on tap from Granville Island, Russell, and Red Truck. They also had the typical Canadian macro lagers, plus Guinness and Cafrey’s, but nothing that got me excited. I also found the bar to be too crowded, but the burger I ordered was suitably tasty. We had a decent time at the Kingston, but I much prefer the freshly brewed beer and atmosphere of Dix for my pregame warmup, which is where you’ll find me next time.
The taps and the big screen
Cheers,
Chris
Russellfest
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 | Beer | 2 Comments
Thanks in large part to Russell Brewing, I had some friends over for Russellfest this past weekend. We sampled Russell’s Cream, Pale, and Honey Blonde Ales, as well as their Extra Special Lager. My friends, many of whom were affected by the original incident, got to taste what Russell’s beer should taste like. We were also treated to several of my wife’s homemade pizza’s, which were delicious and very quickly devoured. It was a great party and everyone had a great time, as far as I know at least.
Considering that Russell’s beer was the focal point, we did discuss it in depth. One piece of feedback we have for Russell is that we wish they were more adventurous with their beer. When tasting, we noticed that not much sets each beer part from the other. I do enjoy their beer, the Cream Ale the most, but I would not call it spectacular or even great. It seems to me that they are targeting the average beer drinker who prefers less flavorful, simpler beer. As a craft brewery, I would expect some greater differentiation throughout the lineup and a few interesting seasonal releases. On our tour, we noticed that they only used two kinds of hops (I forget which two, but Erik will know). We thought, why not be bolder? Keep the Cream and Honey the same, but why not make the Pale Ale something to remember? This is just our opinion.
Thanks again to Russell for making amends and taking us on a tour. We really thought they were very nice, very passionate people who care a lot about their beer. I hope they continue to thrive and I hope they release the odd something special every now and then.
Some pictures from the party:
The cooler full of mostly Russell Beer
Russellfest in all its glory
Peter in his Russell Shirt
Me doing Blue Steal
Cheers,
Chris
A tour of Russell Brewing
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries | 3 Comments
A month or so back I wrote about a bad experience I had with Russell Brewing. Russell found the post a short time later and contacted me. Angie Harris, a marketing manager at Russell, invited some friends and I in for a tour of their brewery and a tasting. Living not so far away, I gladly took them up on the offer last Saturday.
We were met by Angie and her brother Paul, a brewer with Russell, at their brewery in Surrey, BC. It turns out that Russell is somewhat of a family affair, employing many of the Harris clan. It also turns out that Angie, who is on maternity leave at the moment, and Paul came into work this past Saturday specifically to meet us and give us a tour. Right off the bat they showed great commitment to their product. They were also effusively apologetic for the bad batch of Russell Cream Ale I came across. They were very nice, very passionate people who were very excited to tell us about all of the great improvements that Russell is making to their business. They admitted that they’d had some problems with their canning process a few months back. They’ve since made changes to their equipment, improved filtration, and hired one of the top quality control guys in the brewing industry. I thought it was really great of them to be so open and honest. I can tell you from first hand experience that these people love their beer and are doing their best to make it awesome, even while on maternity leave.
Paul showed us around the brewery while Angie prepared a tasting for us. It was really cool to see how a microbrewery operates. We got to see everything from Russell’s new bottling line to the latest forklift dent in the refrigerated storage area. When it came to tasting, it was refreshing for me to taste how good Russell Cream Ale really can be. I hadn’t purchased any since last summer, but will surely do so in the future. We were also able to taste Russell’s Lager, Honey Blonde Ale, and Pale Ale, as well as the Pale Ale and Dark Ale of new Manitoba partner Fort Garry Brewing. All were very simple, good quality beers. Angie was also kind enough to suit us up in some Russell t-shirts, which you’ll see us sporting in the pictures below.
Russell more than made up for their mistake in my books. I thank them very much for the tour and the tasting, which made for an excellent Saturday afternoon.
Pictures of the tour I took with my iPhone:
Paul starting the tour off.
The Mash Tun
The Brew Kettle
Conditioning Tanks
The new bottling machine
The canning machine
The canning machine up close
The super high tech can lid placer
Angie and the six pack making machine
Taps in the lunch room? Awesome.
Angie pouring us some tasters
Peter, Tristen, Dave, Chris and Erik in our new Russell shirts
Cheers,
Chris
A bad experience with Russell Brewing
Friday, December 19th, 2008 | Beer | 20 Comments
Note: I’ve since written a follow up post, check it out here.
This past summer Russell Brewing sponsored the World Ultimate Frisbee Championship held in Vancouver. A friend involved in the tournament let me know that Russell was selling leftover Russell Cream Ale at a cut rate price. I enjoyed a Russell Cream Ale every now and then and so did some of my friends, so I bought five flats of it. I appropriated these flats of beer to myself, Erik, my soccer team, and some other friends. No sooner did we get into the beer, we noticed that it had an odd sour taste. It had gone bad and was virtually undrinkable. Understandably so, my friends, soccer team, and Erik were none too pleased with me.
In one fell swoop, I had turned twenty of my fellows into Russell Cream Ale haters. That did not sit well with me and I wanted to give Russell a chance to redeem themselves. I emailed them to let them know what happened and to ask them if an exchange of my skunky beer for their fresh beer could be arranged. This is what I received back from Russell:
Once in a long while, our cans of beer can go sour. This can be for a number of reasons.
One is the improper storage of the beer. We don’t pasteurize our beer or use preservatives, so the beer is more affected by temperature changes. However, this also means our beer has the best possible flavour.
Regardless, I’m sure we can work something out.
I thought that was pretty cool of them to get back to me so soon. I emailed them back, a few times actually, but never heard anything again. I was pretty choked by that and have since not purchased any Russell products. Neither have any of my friends involved, as far as I know. I don’t really have a problem with Russell’s beer (save their lemon ale, not my bag), just a sour taste in my mouth, literally and figuratively.
What I ended up doing was taking the beer back to my local BC Signature Liquor Store, where they let me exchange it with no questions asked. I used my store credit not on Russell products. I actually had a lot of fun spending my store credit on my favorite beers. Yes, I would like liquor store gift certificates for Christmas.
I don’t really have anything against Russell. For all I know, the beer could have been baking in the sun all days, thus spoiling it. What I do know is if they are brewing their beer right, that it should last for years under the right conditions. Another certainty is that the word is out and spreading that Russell Cream Ale is no good, because I’m sure I wasn’t the only one affected by this.
Cheers,
Chris
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