this one is a fundraiser too!
|
|||||
|
Category: bc craft beer month
harrison beer fest
i am two days away from a beer weekend in sunny harrison hot springs!
my oktoberfest outfit is packed already…
the lovely folks at tourism harrison are putting me up in a hotel for the weekend
so that i can enjoy all the fun (and craft beer!) that the harrison beer fest has to offer
this will be my first time at the harrison beer fest
and i’m very much looking forward to it!
my fingers are crossed that the weather forecast of sunny and 17 C comes to pass
(wish i was there today enjoying the sunny and 20C afternoon)
for a couple of reviews of last year’s inaugural fest, clicky on the linkys below
for what i think of this year’s sophomore fest, check back here saturday and sunday!
– tourism harrison blog
– the agassiz observer
on the coast
if you missed me talking bc craft beer month with mathew lazin-ryder on last week’s beer column on cbc radio one’s on the coast, fear not, i got you covered!
clicky the linky and you’ll find me at 2:19:20 mark.
it can be hard to fast forward, but it is possible – or listen to the whole show, its always informative good times
beer column
these are my notes from yesterday’s beer column on cbc radio’s on the coast:
Oh, look at that, its October – and that can mean only one thing… it’s time to talk about B.C. Craft Beer Month!
Oh, look at that, its October – and that can mean only one thing… it’s time to talk about B.C. Craft Beer Month!
Year three brings a few new events and the return of some favourite province-wide events – for the whole list, see the website at www.craftbeermonth.ca. Some of the local highlights are:
On Thursday evening there’s the Beer Battle Royale at Doolin’s pub – this is where four breweries battle it out to have their keg drained first. Winner gets bragging rights and their beer featured on tap for the month of November. Battling this year are Four Winds, Granville Island, R&B and Steamworks;
There will be a brewmaster dinner at the Pumphouse in Richmond this Friday, and one at Hop and Vine in Vancouver on Friday, October 25th;
There will be a women and beer dinner at Darby’s pub on Monday, October 21st;
New this year, there will be an already sold-out beer festival in Steveston this Saturday night;
And if you feel like travelling outside of the city, there’s the Harrison Beer Festival on October 25 and 26. I will be attending this weekend of events, starting with a cask night on the Friday night, followed by a beer festival on Saturday afternoon and ending with an Oktoberfest celebration on Saturday night. I’m very much looking forward to attending, and I plan to dress up for Oktoberfest!
There are also Oktoberfests in PowellRiver (sold out), Fernie and Penticton;
And last, but not least on this don’t-miss list, there’s the BC Beer Awards and Festival on October 19th, hosted by none other than On the Coast’s Stephen Quinn!
I volunteer each year at the BC Beer Awards and Festival, pouring some delicious beers to thirsty festival-goers. Tickets are on sale now, and I would jump on them as this event does tend to sell out every year. Tickets are $35 which gets you in the door, plus you get a keepsake taster glass and four drink tokens.
This year is the 4th annual and will be held a larger venue than in years past, the CroatianCultural Centerat 3250 Commercial Drive in Vancouver. The awards ceremony and beer festival is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!
The beer festival begins at 1:00 and continues on until closing at 6:00 p.m. Attendees wander around from station to station trying cask, kegged and bottled beers from participating BC brewers. Later in the afternoon the BC Beer Awards will be given out – that will be Stephen’s part of the festivities! The trophies are awarded by beer style to first, second and third place in each category, and then a ‘best in show’ is awarded at the end.
The beers have already been judged, by accredited judges in a blind taste test to ensure impartiality. There are a couple of things to keep in mind, though about these awards, the first of which is that a beer has to be entered in order to be judged. This is generally true of all beer awards. It costs only $20 to enter a beer into the judging at the BC Beer Awards, but not every brewery in the Province participates, and not all participating breweries enter all of their beers. Why is this? I don’t think there is one hard and fast answer, you’d have to ask each brewery why they do or do not enter, but as there were no fewer than 20 beers entered in the IPA category this year, there is definitely some fierce competition!
The other thing to keep in mind is that the beers are judged by style guidelines as outlined by the Internationally-recognized Beer Judging Certification Program (BJCP). This means that the winning entry for each style category is going to be the beer that most strictly keeps to the guidelines and exemplifies the style. So a beer that strays too far from the style guidelines will not win in its category, even if it is the most delicious beer in the world. Hold on a minute, you might be thinking, then how do we know the winner of best beer in BC is actually the best beer in BC? The short answer is you don’t, but then again, are we really all going to agree on the best beer anyway? Its really far too subjective to take all the beers in BC and compare them to each other. By using the style guidelines, the accredited Judges can compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges and pick the best in each category. Then from those winners they choose the best in show, and that beer gets the bragging rights of being the best beer in BC this year. And that’s how a lowly pilsner won best beer in BC last year (Steamworks Pilsner brewed by Conrad Gmoser, now of Brassneck Brewing) over arguably more popular styles like IPAs or stouts. That beer was the stand-out for being both delicious AND well-brewed according to its style guidelines to exemplify the style.
So where do all those crazy beers that don’t follow a style guideline get judged? Besides at the cash register when you buy them, there are categories at the BC Beer Awards for them. Like the “Special Lager” category that was won last year by a black lager from Okanagan Spring, or the “Specialty” category that was won by Kevin Emms, then of Coal Harbour Brewing, with an Imperial Smoked Ale.
I will go out on a limb and say that, provided it was entered, I think that Powell Street’s Old Jalopy Pale Ale will win the pale ale category, and possibly even best in show, cementing its win for best beer in Canada at the Canadian Brewing Awards. Again, provided they entered, I also expect other new kids on the block, Four Winds, to pick up an award or two.
And for as long as they last, at your local liquor store you can find BC Craft beer taster packs. These come in 12-packs of cans and bottles and feature a variety of BC craft beers. Picking up a couple of these would be a great start to a tasting party. And a great way to introduce yourself to a new favourite BC craft beer.
The bottle pack includes 2 bottles each of:
Steamworks Pale Ale
WhistlerChestnut Ale
Vancouver IslandStorm Watcher Winter Lager
Dead FrogBold Belgian Pale Ale
Russell Blood Alley Bitter
LighthouseSwitchback IPA
WhistlerChestnut Ale
Vancouver IslandStorm Watcher Winter Lager
Dead FrogBold Belgian Pale Ale
Russell Blood Alley Bitter
LighthouseSwitchback IPA
The can pack contains 2 cans each of:
Nelson After Dark
Tree Groove Session Ale
Phillips Bottle Rocket ISA
Howe SoundLager
Cannery Naramata Nut Brown
Fernie Griz Pale Ale
Tree Groove Session Ale
Phillips Bottle Rocket ISA
Howe SoundLager
Cannery Naramata Nut Brown
Fernie Griz Pale Ale
Both packs are available now at select BC Liquoroutlets and private liquor stores throughout BC, retailing for $24.95 each.
on the coast
i will be on cbc radio one’s on the coast with mathew lazin-ryder at 5:50 today (eeps, that’s soon!!)
talking about all the haps for bc craft beer month
cuz its october now (eeps, that crept up on me!)
harrison beer festival
no plans for hallowe’en weekend?
why not head to harrison??
October is craft beer month and Harrison Hot Springs is celebrating with its own beer festival. On October 26 and 27, Tourism Harrison will host the Harrison Beer Festival, bringing breweries from around BC to the shores of Harrison Lake. As the first major beer festival in the Fraser Valley region, this event will provide an opportunity for BC’s finest craft breweries to showcase their wares in a region rich in hop growing history. This weekend-long celebration has three not-to-be-missed events:
- Friday October 26: Cask Night – Three of the best local breweries in the region will present a cask of their finest one-of-a-kind brews. A friendly competition will see which brewery’s cask can be finished first. With a warm and friendly British pub feel, complete with Irish stew and bread pudding, this will be a fun night of song and games.
- Saturday October 27: The main event, Harrison Beer Festival – Armed with your complimentary tasting glass, compare the finest crafted beers in BC. Your vote will decide the winner of the first ever Harrison Beer Festival.
- Saturday October 27: Oktoberfest Dance – In true Oktoberfest style, guests will experience classic beer hall music with the Black Forest Boys, great beer and German-inspired food (think bratwurst and pretzels). Come dressed to celebrate; the best male and female costumes will win an Oktoberfest prize!
Tickets for each event are available separately or as a package, and can be purchased online, or by calling 604-796-5581. All events will take place in the St. Alice Centre, at the Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa. For information and to purchase tickets, visit www.harrisonbeerfest.com.
The Harrison Beer Festival is organized by Tourism Harrison, with the support of a number of key partners including the Village of Harrison Hot Springs, the Harrison Agassiz Chamber of Commerce, Agassiz Harrison Museum and the Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa.
Responsible Drinking – This is a licensed event open to those 19 years of age and over. Tourism Harrison encourages all attendees to drink sensibly. To avoid any problems with drinking and driving, we advise participants to:
• Stay overnight, thanks to special festival packages available at local hotels
• Take advantage of the shuttle bus service to Agassiz and Chilliwack
• Pick a designated driver before you arrive to ensure you have a sober driver on the way back.
bc craft beer month
its only the first week of craft beer week
and maybe its because i’m getting over my man-cold
but i feel like its been all beer all the time for me so far!
monday i skipped the craziness of st. augustine’s sartori cask night for the calm of monday night football at a friend’s house, with me supplying the beers
which included an ipa homebrewed by matt, rod and ryan’s that was needing to be drunk before it lost all its hoppy goodness,
a true northwest ipa that went down far too well!
tuesday i went to two cask nights
the railway club had a lovely r&b ipa cask
very satisfyingly delicious
rogue broadway had their very first cask night, also with an r&b cask
blueberry cranberry esb, which their front office person, lundy dale, who is also the president of camra bc, helped to brew and was thrilled to unveil at the start of bc craft beer month
wednesday was my usual beernesday club night at st. augustine’s
omg, the cheese stromboli currently on their fresh sheet is to die for!
get some while you can!
last night the cask at the yaletown brewpub was unadulterated ipa
nick, the new assistant brewer there, has been making some really amazing casks
several of them straight up, no funny business, and the beer geeks are loving it
 |
| yaletown ipa cask |
(last week nick created a dry-hopped brown ale that went down awfully well!
he’s a great addition to the yaletown brew team)
 |
| yaletown dry-hopped brown ale |
after the yaletown we hopped over to the alibi room for the sartori cask
lord, that is one delicious beer!
i also managed to find room for a hopworks ipx as well
what an amazing night of wonderful beers
this weekend i am skipping town and heading to seattle
hoping to hit pyramid brewing as i have not managed to make it there before
perhaps ubertavern, brouwers and seattle beer deli mart, who knows!?
but before i leave, here’s jan zeschky’s article on bc craft beer month
driftwood sartori
bc craft beer month is in full swing!
the belle of the ball so far is driftwood’s sartori harvest ale, a fresh-hopped ipa
sold out of stores the same day it arrived in them
it is the star of several cask nights around vancouver
and one beer-pairing dinner
st. augustine’s had a cask of the elusive sartori that sold out in 24 minutes
that was monday
tuesday there was a cask at the cascade room
thursday there was a cask at the alibi room
neither of those casks beat the 24 minute record, but neither lasted very long either
missed out on the sartori both in the bottle and on cask?
well, you’ve got three more opportunities that i am aware of to get yourself some:
if you’re a camra member and you have a ticket for the now sold out harvest fest / bc beer awards at chapel arts on saturday the 13th, you can have some of the members only cask that will be available there
the whip has a cask of sartori on sunday the 14th
tapping at 4, i expect this one will be gone in very short order
the sartori is also one of the driftwood beers being paired with food at biercraft cambie’s beer-pairing dinner on october 25th
as of tuesday there were still a couple of tickets available for this event
me, i managed to get two bottles of this ambrosia
one of which i enjoyed on the air on cbc on tuesday evening
and i got some of the alibi cask last night
(thank you nigel for dealing with the slam of people last night with such grace and making sure everyone got some of the cask!)
i plan to be at the whip on the 14th for more
because i just can’t get enough of this limited release
it is not a hop monster, even though it weighs in at 75 ibus
the wet-hopping leaves it smooth rather than bitter
and just so very drinkable
when i’m going to crack my second bottle, i’m not sure
its not a beer you want to keep, it needs to be drunk fresh
but i think i’d like to make an occasion out it!
i’m sick
its true, i’m ill
which is slowing me right down
boo
but, i will be on cbc’s on the coast tomorrow at 5:40 p.m. talking about bc craft beer month
which (yay!) started today!
in the meantime
vote for your favourite beneficiary for the phillips benefit brew
Benefit Brew Nominations Open!
|
October 1st, 2012: Nominations are now open for our 4th annual Benefit Brew! We will be partnering with one non-profit organization to produce a special beer with full proceeds going to the cause. Which cause will it be? That’s up to you! Nominate your favourite BC-based non-profit organization at www.phillipsbeer.com/benefitbrew. A public vote will follow and determine the winner.
All BC-based non-profits are encouraged to throw their hat in the ring, but unfortunately due to alcohol-related issues we will be unable to accept nominations for children-related charities. For a more thourough rundown of how the project works, please head HERE, and to nominate click HERE. Key Dates: October 1st-21st: Nominations open Good luck everyone!!
 |
vancouver craft beer week
its only a couple more days until bc craft beer month!
and in that vein i give to you:
Beck's Beer Blog - test 