Tag Archives: summer cask festival

Best of Central City Summer Cask Festival 2012

I went to the Central City Summer Cask Festival last weekend and it was rad.  I hadn’t been to a cask festival at Central City yet, having been away for the last two, and was very impressed.  Unlike at the old Dix Caskivals, there was actually room to move around.  It got busy, but not crazy busy, and the patio made getting some fresh air a breeze.  The food available was also very good, another bonus.  But, of course, the main draw was the beer.  According to my tasting notes, these were my favourites:

  • Whistler Brewhouse Oaked Amarillo Dry Hopped IPA – Very pronounced oaky vanilla flavours.  Amazing malt/hop balance, my pick of the bunch.
  • Tofino Brewing Sitka Spruce Tip IPA – Amazing aroma, appropriately malty IPA.
  • Elysian Brewing Splitshot Coffee Milk Stout – Somewhat sweet, milky taste.  Coffee detectable, but not interfering.
  • Central City Citra Dry Hopped ESB – Great fresh aroma, superb ESB.  I could (and did) drink a lot of these.
  • Water – Very watery, no malt, hops, or aroma to speak of. Excellent water taste.  I actually wrote this down, likely near the end of the festival.

There were a few duds but, on the whole, most of the beers were excellent. I was idiotically unable to get to Odin’s Thor’s Oakuinox to try it, which was devastating. Some other beers, which I’ll mention because they were interesting, included Crannog Mead, Central City Chilli Stout, and Storm Raspberry ESB.  All in all, it was a good time and I’m looking forward to the winter festival that promises to provide stronger and more adventurous beers.

Cheers,

Chris

Elysian Splitshot Coffee Milk Stout

The cask of Elysian Splitshot Coffee Milk Stout

Central City cask festival

Busy, but not oversubscribed

us dudes at cask festival

A few of us dudes enjoying the festival

Central City Summer Cask Festival

Central City Summer Cask Festival

Yeah, I stole your picture right off your site

In the beginning there were Dix Caskivals, a summer and a winter one.  They were the best beer festivals I’d ever been to in Canada.  Then Dix closed down, which was very sad.  Luckily, Central City started their own cask festivals to fill the void.  They started last summer, had a winter one, and now they are having another summer one (I expect, nay demand, this trend continue).  By all accounts, the previous two Central City cask festivals were very well done.  Sadly, I could not attend because I was living on another continent.

Central City just announced their third cask festival (second summer one) and you’d better believe I’m going to be there.  It’s this June 30th from 11AM (so early) to 6PM at Central City in Surrey (right beside the skytrain for those Vancouverites who fear the savagery of the Fraser Valley).  Your $30 admission gets you in, gets you a sweet tasting glass, and gets you three tastes.  Additional tastes cost $1, impeccably reasonable compared to the larcenous $2.50 they were charging at VCBW.  There should be 30+ casks full of interesting, mainly one off, beers created be our local brewers.  That’s what makes these cask festivals so great, the beer is almost exclusively very interesting and of very high quality.  I can’t wait for this; I’m going to drink one of each. Maybe I’ll even remember to take pictures this time.

Tickets sell out fast, so best be quick about calling Central City.

Cheers,

Chris