Love Good Beer

Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries, Homebrew | 5 Comments

Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies located in Vancouver’s threatened Heatley Block is the soul of Vancouver’s growing craft beer movement.   Yes that is correct, the very soul of craft beer in Vancouver is a homebrew shop.    If craft beer was a body, the many fine brewers in BC would be the heart, retail shops, restaurants and pubs such as Brewery Creek, the Alibi Room and The Whip would act as the arms and  legs, and the dedicated consumers represented by groups such as CAMRA Vancouver would be the mind.  All parts play an integral role in a successful beer revival, and although all parts are equally important, Dan’s will always hold a special place in my heart.

My love for beer came from an interest in homebrewing – without Dan’s I may never have been exposed to the diverse selection of beer that the world has to offer.  The entire Vancouver area is littered with many small u-brew and u-vint businesses that carry a limited selection of homebrew ingredients and supplies, but none of these compare to Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies.  Dan’s is the only retail store in the entire Vancouver area where whole-leaf  hops, hop pellets, a full selection of barley, wheat and rye malts, brewing supplies and brewers yeast can be found.  This list does not include the friendly advice and recipes that Dan and his staff are more than happy to provide to their customers.  Here is a video put together about Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies.

The most creative and experimental beer will always be homebrew.  I have to admit that some of the cask beers that brewmasters graciously provide are delicious and very creative, but craft brewing is still a business and the beer they produce must be commercial enough to sell.  Whereas homebrewers do not sell their beer and only have to please themselves and their usually appreciative friends – the only limitation homebrewers face is their own imagination.  For a mere sixty dollars on supplies and twenty to thirty dollars for ingredients, and add in a small amount of patience and there it is,  an incredibly unique and flavorful beer.

The  North American craft beer renaissance that was started in Northern California over thirty years ago was largely influenced by hombrewers.  Homebrew shops have always and will continue to play a vital role in the growth of craft beer.  For anyone interested in homebrewing, I highly encourage a  visit to Dan’s Homebrewing Supplies – I am sure Dan and his staff would be more than happy to help.

Cheers,

Erik

Tags: alibi room, camra vancouver, Dan's Homebrewing Supplies, Homebrew, the whip

Cask Ale Sundays at The Whip

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 | Beer | 2 Comments

Two incidents made Sunday a strange day for me.  The first happened that afternoon during my soccer game.  I was subbing into the game when a spectator’s dog bit me on the thigh.  I’m not sure what I did to provoke it, but the dog lunged at me as I was running past it onto the field.  I’m still sporting fang punctures and a nasty bruise. How often does that happen? Had you asked me right then, I would have assumed that would be the strangest thing to happen to me all day.  I was wrong.

It was Erik’s birthday this week and the Wolfe family tradition entails going out for a meal together.  Tempted by the CAMRA newsletter, we chose The Whip to enjoy the cask ale they feature every Sunday.  Sadly, CAMRA members had already consumed the cask of R&B Red Devil Pale Ale by the time we arrived.  No bother, The Whip has an excellent beer menu and we were able to drink some tasty local craft beer.  I enjoyed pints of Storm‘s Hurricane IPA and Black Plague Stout, both of which were highly enjoyable.  Some undercooked yam fries aside, the food was also excellent.  I really enjoyed my Mexican chicken burger.

It was as we were eating that Sunday’s second strange incident occured.  We were enjoying our meals when a group of extremely intoxicated people arrived, taking a table near us.  They were no trouble, but I can’t say I enjoyed their company.  The serving staff quickly took note of their level of innebriation and cut them off.  I heard one remark “this is the third bar we’ve been kicked out of” only for the waitress to reply “this is isn’t a bar, it’s a restaurant!”  The group was allowed to finish their beers, giving one fellow the chance to expose himself in the middle of the dining room, perform the “windmill”, and place his genitals in his friend’s glass.  How often does that happen?

I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like it, I mean the incident, not the…  I don’t blame The Whip in the least.  Upon hearing of the infraction, the offending group was quickly removed.  The Whip’s staff even gave us coupons for a free pint and 15% off during our next visit.  We’ll definitely go back because the food, beer, and atmosphere were great.  Happy birthday Erik, you’ll definitely remember this one.

Pictures of our visit:

Erik and Holly enjoying their beers

The wife and I

Papa Wolfe

Kelly and Concord, they don't drink beer:(

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: camra vancouver, Cask Ale, Craft Beer, hurricane IPA, R&B brewing, red devil pale ale, storm brewing, the whip

Where did the flavour go – take II

Saturday, March 14th, 2009 | Beer, Breweries, Events, Food and Recipes, Homebrew, Pubs | No Comments

I have been battling a cold all week. For a person who loves food and beer, a cold is far more than a runny nose and a sore throat – a cold renders taste buds useless, clearly it is evil in its purest form. I have not been able to taste anything all week which has made for a somewhat mundane week. I was saddened to arrive at DIX Cask Thursday with a numbed pallet. The company at DIX was quite enjoyable, but both ales, which I am told were delicious, tasted only of bitterness. Now both Cask beers were quite hop heavy and bitterness is to be expected; however, I missed all of the subtleties and nuances that the brewer has intended for. Fortunately I am well on my way to recovery and should be in good drinking condition this Sunday for the cask at The Whip.

Prior to this cold destroying one of life’s greatest pleasures, I found a great ale house/beer bar in Everett, Washington last Sunday. This unintentional last hurrah for my taste buds took place at the poorly named Flying Pig Brewing Company. I have read that the Flying Pig was once a brewpub, but recently stopped brewing and now only serves local Northwest craft beer. Their selection of beer is quite impressive, but I do think a name change would be in good order.

After getting over the fact that no beer was brewed on site I ordered a pint of Hood Canal Oatmeal Stout. This stout has a delicious roasted malt flavour and a thick mouth feel. I had no choice but to order the pulled pork sandwich – my love for pulled pork is bordering on obsession. It wasn’t the greatest pulled pork, but nothing to complain about either. My wife order a pint of Alaskan Pale Ale, and from the sips I manage to steal, it was quite tasty. All in all it was a great place for a Sunday lunch.

I did manage to snap a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The Flying Pig Brewing Company

Hood Canal Oatmeal Stout

Holly with an Alaskan Pale Ale

Beer Selection

Pulled Pork - ignore the finger, I'm not a photographer

Erik

Tags: Alaskan Pale Ale, Cask, dix, Hood Canal Oatmeal Stout, The Flying Pig Brewing Company, the whip

CAMRA Vancouver 2009 Membership

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 | Beer | 6 Comments

This year I became a member of CAMRA Vancouver and I’m pretty excited about it.  For those of you who don’t know, CAMRA stands for Campaign for Real Ale and it is an organization that promotes the creation and consumption of quality beer.  It began in the UK to combat the proliferation of mass produced, generally poor quality lagers that began to dominate the beer market.  CAMRA has really caught on amongst beer enthusiasts worldwide, so much so that we have our own Vancouver chapter.

You might be wondering what the point of joining an organization like CAMRA is.  For me the benefits are quite obvious.  With my 2009 CAMRA Vancouver membership I get:

• 10% off at Brewery Creek, the best beer store in Vancouver
• 10% off at Firefly, the second best beer store in Vancouver
• 10% off food at the Alibi Room, a great place to drink beer in Vancouver
• Special pricing at local beer related events
• A newsletter containing info on all the great local beer related happenings

The membership only costs $25, which I will recoup within a month by saving 10% on my Brewery Creek purchases.  In additon to the financial benefits of joining CAMRA, members also play an important role in encouraging our local brewing community, which will surely lead to increased quantity and variety of quality beer produced in Vancouver.  Sadly, I’ve already missed out on the first CAMRA affiliated event of 2009, the sold out Feast of the Five Firkins at The Whip, next time…

If you are a beer enthusiast, I suggest joining your local CAMRA chapter.  At the very least, sign up for the mailing list.  I think you’ll find it well worth it.

Cheers,

Chris

Tags: alibi room, brewery creek, campaign for real ale, camra, camra vancouver, feast of five firkins, firefly, the whip