Tag Archives: yelp

An Interesting Coincidence

A couple of months ago I went to the launch of the Granville Island Brewing’s then new Brockton IPA. There I met Crystal Henrickson, Yelp‘s only Vancouver based employee. I told her that I liked Yelp for its reviews, but really didn’t contribute any myself. Crystal is Yelp’s community manager in Vancouver, meaning her job is to get Vancouverites using Yelp. To get me to use Yelp, she took the unexpected approach of chastising me for consuming other people’s opinions without contributing any of my own. In case you are getting the wrong idea, she did this in a friendly way that I appreciated. I hadn’t really thought of it that way and, swayed by guilt, I signed up for Yelp to review a few of my favorite places.

Tonight, had I the choice of beer drinking venues to situate myself, I likely would have been at Dix tenth anniversary celebration that featured five casks of IPA from each of the Mark James Group brewpubs. Instead, I went to the Alibi Room for a business meeting, which is never a bad place to find yourself. It turns out that the Alibi Room is one of the first places I reviewed on Yelp. Loving it so, I gave it five stars for their friendly service and commitment to providing excellent local craft beer and delicious food. After I ordered today, I was surprised when Nigel, the owner of the Alibi Room, thanked me for my review on Yelp! First off, I had no idea that he knew who I was. Secondly, I should be thanking him for all the hard work he’s put into providing an excellent establishment for me to enjoy. Later on, I ordered a pint of Spinnakers Oatmeal Stout from Nigel. He kindly let me know that he thought his remaining stock of this beer might not be up to snuff and suggested I order a Pike Extra Stout instead. I took his advice and not only did I greatly enjoy the recommended Pike Extra Stout, but Nigel also brought me a taste of the beer I’d originally ordered. He was right, the Spinnakers Oatmeal Stout had gone off, a problem we’ve noted in Spinnakers packaged products in the past. What service! This is a great example of why the Alibi Room is a stand up joint. Also, don’t get the wrong impression about Spinnakers in general. It is a great pub to go visit, but I’d avoid ordering their products anywhere else.

Thank you Crystal for getting me onto Yelp. I’m glad that one little review that took a few minutes of my time to write could be noticed by, and possibly help, one of my favorite establishments. If anyone out there is interested, this is my Yelp page. I’ve not been keeping up with my reviews and could use some encouragement.

Cheers,

Chris

Kamloops

I am in Kamloops this weekend for a friend’s wedding. Prior to making the trip up, I did a fair amount of research online to find the best places to visit for food and beer in Kamloops. From what I have seen so far, Kamloops is not a great city for beer – nor is information readily available online about restaurants, pubs and breweries in the Kamloops area. Urbanspoon and Yelp were of little help – both have an almost nonexistent online-presence in Kamloops.

Unlike most large cities in British Columbia’s Thompson-Okanagon region, Kamloops is not home to a brewpub, and the only brewery in town, KB/Whistler Brewing/Bowen Island Brewing, is confusing, mediocre and therefore somewhat unsatisfying. This lone craft brewer was once name Kamloops Brewing prior to a series of corporate mergers that eventually ended up with the decline of KB beer – Whistler Brewing is now this brewery’s flagship beer. This misleading beer is brewed using glacial water trucked in over the long mountainous roads from Whistler – ridiculous. I am in Kamloops right now and the water tastes great, but why use local water when “ultra-premium” water can be shipped in – climate change is a myth.

We did manage to find a local pub named Duffy’s Pub within walking distance of our hotel that offers KB Black Bear Ale on draught. Black Bear is still brewed using local Kamloops water and has a delicate roasted malt flavor with a pleasing aroma that is distinct to the Kamloops area and their local water supply. The food was typical Canadian pub fare – pizza, burgers, pasta, steak and other simple dishes; the beer selection was made up of light lager and a few other darker ales. According to the limited number of reviews on urbanspoon, Duffy’s Pub is one of Kamloops’ top 10.

In doing some research I did come across Rethink Beer – a herb infused lager brewed at KB Brewing. I have no idea if this gimmicky product is still in production or if this brand ever achieved success. According to Rethink’s website their beer is not available in Kamloops. But lets be serious for a minute here, no amount of ginseng, ginko or tribulus will make beer any healthier or tastier. Beer is a naturally nutritious beverage that does not need to rely on herbal additions to attain a healthy status – red wine is not the only healthy drink option.

Local breweries play a big role in the development of a city’s beer culture. Vancouver Island for example, is a destination for beer enthusiasts, largely because of the number of small craft breweries that support and encourage a growing regional beer scene. Unfortunately, the only brewery in Kamloops no longer focuses on servicing it’s surrounding area and instead has opted to pursue flashier export markets with the internationally recognized brand Whistler Brewing.

Cheers,

Erik

The Brockton IPA Launch

Erik and I attended the launch of Granville Island’s Brockton IPA at the GI Taproom last night. For us, because we’ve both written about Brockton IPA before (Erik did a group taste test and I posted some general impressions last week), the night was less about the beer itself and more about having a good time. But if you did want to know, we find Brockton IPA to be a decent beer, although somewhat lacking in balance and merely resembling a hoppy version of their pale ale. It isn’t killer IPA, but it will definitely draw more Vancouverites to craft beer, and for that we are thankful.

When we arrived at the busy Taproom, we were asked whether we were with the press or from the liquor board. We were press! I suppose I should be less excited about that, but I had never been referred to as press before. If press are commonly treated as well as we were last night, I wouldn’t mind being with the press more often. We were given three pints of IPA, an excellent spread of food provided by a nearby culinary school, and a complimentary cab ride home. Also, Almira of Jive Communications, who invited us, recognized Erik right away (not hard, he is a behemoth of a man and extremely good looking) and gave us a thorough welcome.

We were also lucky to meet Vern Lambourne, the brewer at Granville Island. Vern perfects Granville Island’s recipes before sending them up North to Kelowna for production. More importantly, Vern brews all of Granville Island’s seasonal beers on Granville Island. I especially enjoyed his Porter and eagerly await next week’s release of GI Bitter. Last month’s Ginger beer, although not to my tastes, was very popular and sold out fast. Vern let us into the brewery for a quick peek and a picture, and also invited us back for a tour another day. It is always awesome to meet brewers, not only because they make the delicious beverage we enjoy, but because they are always such nice, humble guys. Cheers Vern, thanks for showing us around.

We also ran into the honorable Rick Green, who is always a pleasure to chat with. Rick is the king of BC beer and always has the inside scoop. He introduced us to Crystal Henrickson of Yelp, who is their sole Vancouver employee. She is trying to build a Yelp Community in Vancouver and I hope she succeeds. Yelp is a great site when it is well populated with reviews. I’ve found it really helpful when visiting US cities, but Vancouver is still catching up on volume. Crystal convinced me to go beyond consuming other people’s reviews and make some of my own. I’ve now signed up and rated a few of my favorite places.

The launch of Brockton IPA was surely an experience, one which I enjoyed. If any other breweries, or even restaurants, would like to wine and dine us press at future launch parties, we’d be more than happy to oblige.