yaletown brewpub

yaletown brewpub will be adding 4 extra casks as part of their vancouver craft beer week celebration! and there will be a feature menu of craft beer inspired items as well.

Thursday May 29th: 4pm: Pale ale krausened with hefeweizen infused with Citrus

Friday May 30th: 4pm: Oud Bruin
Saturday May 31st: 11:30am: Belgian Dubbel infused with Port and aged on oak chips

Thursday June 5th: 4pm: IPA dry hopped with Galaxy
Friday June 6th: 4pm: Cherry Wheat
Saturday June 7th: 11:30am IPA dry hopped with Summer

recipe

from the lovely folks at deschutes:

MIRROR POND PALE ALE CITRUS-CURED PRAWNS

Ingredients:

1-12 oz bottle of Mirror Pond

6 oz fresh orange juice

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 Tbs soy sauce

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

3 sprigs fresh cilantro

24 large prawns (deveined, peeled and clean)

1 Tbs olive oil

2 Tbs butter

1 tsp parsley, chopped

Pinch of salt

Pinch of black pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients for the marinade. Pour over prawns and refrigerate for 8 hours. Remove prawns from marinade and season lightly with salt and pepper. Preheat large saute pan on medium high. Add 1 Tbs olive oil to pan. Saute prawns until just done. Remove prawns from pan and toss with butter, parsley, and cilantro. Can be eaten alone or over pasta. Garnish with parsley and serve with a pint of Mirror Pond Pale Ale!

(Serves 2-3)

legacy liquor store

new and exciting beers at legacy liquor store in vancouver:

Gigantic Brewing – The End of Reason – $9.95

Portland is known as a Mecca of great craft breweries and this Belgian Strong Ale, albeit closer to a petite quad, definitely reaffirms the fact. Rich Caramel and Malt with a heavy body make for a unique and tasty beer.

Parallel 49 – Lord of the Hops – $6.70

The fine proprietors of Parallel 49 have been hitting home runs since day one and Lord of the Hops is batting a thousand. The foundation of this hop party is an amazing nose, backed up by a beautiful combination of citrus and west coast pine.

8 Wired Brewing – Super Conductor – $10.55

New Zealand has been rolling out some stellar craft beer and Super Conductor is certainly no slouch. Bitter, tropical and so much more, this Double IPA wears its tropical fruits with pride. Let’s hope the Kiwis can keep their superb brews rolling.

 

they also have a bin end sale on right now, which includes beer

what’s better than beer on sale?

(free beer of course, but this is close, no?)

friday frivolity

hops, glorious hops!

yaletown

the cask tonight at the yaletown brewpub is their downtown brown ale, unadulterated
see you there???

the last couple of weeks have showcased casks by cory curtis, former assistant brewer at the yaletown
who left to pursue his music career
but came back to cover for the current assistant brewer, nick
two weeks ago it was a ginger ale – with fresh ginger in the cask
last week it was a citrus ipa – with lemon, grapefruit and orange zest in the cask
i really, really, really, liked them both
i think nick is awesome
but i sure do miss cory…

cask night

last night’s central city white tea and orange peel ale cask at the railway club was fabulous!
i wasn’t getting the usual bitterness of orange peel, but it was definitely citrusy
and the white tea gave it a fuller flavour spectrum than just malts and hops
there was a whole lot going on in that beer
yup, it was a winner!

last thursday’s cask at the yaletown was their nagila pale ale dry-hopped with spalt
it was very drinkable
i couldn’t get over the colour of it though – so yellow!
i was assured by both iain and nick that it was the same colour as the regular nagila pale ale, but i remain sceptical (of course i could have ordered a pale ale and done colour comparison, but i had other beers to try, you know!)

see what i mean??? that ain’t a pale ale – that’s yellow!

the seasonal at the yaletown is currently the raspberry wheat
i am not the biggest wheat ale fan… but i love this one
so fruity and pink and deliciously refreshing!

and last, but certainly not least, iain got all citra hoppy in the brick and beam ipa!
its amazing right now!
definitely a westcoast ipa – so hoppy and citrusy
there better be some left for me to have tomorrow…
oh, note to self, bring the growler for that one!

green flash

new green flash and founders collaboration brew!

Green Flash has done it again! We have teamed up with another World Class Brewery, Founders Brewing Co. to produce a new collaboration, Linchpin IPA! Join the Green Flash team in the Tasting Room on Tuesday, May 1st for a special Release Party!

“There’s a lot going on in this beer with two yeast strains, copious amounts of wheat malt, and a big focus on ‘C’ hops to deliver a citrus explosion,” explains Green Flash Brewmaster, Chuck Silva. “In fact we lined up more than a dozen hop varieties in the brewery to select three hops with the biggest citrus character to dry hop the beer.

“This golden beer pours with beautiful, frothy white beer foam that lasts due to bottle conditioning. Gently rousing the yeast that settles in the bottle will result in a fuller texture and a more cloudy white appearance. The citrus aromas that jump from the glass are largely tangerine up front with other types of citrus notes that mingle with the Belgian yeast esters. Hop flavors of bitter orange zest dominate the brew and linger to the finish with a nice play of American and Belgian yeast combo.”

A beer with so many components can be held together with a “Linchpin”. The official “Linchpin” of this beer is the skillful collaboration between the two breweries to create a unique hop-forward brew. Linchpins are symbolic: two simple shapes that combine to strengthen a bond amongst many different pieces.

citra ipa

i love the dead frog citra ipa
yes, oh yes i do!
it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside
just like a good hoppy beer should
and for that i am eternally grateful!

i have had this elixir on tap at places like st. augustine’s
and purchased the big ole bottles from specialty beer stores
and i like it all!

the bottle says:
6.5%
dead frog citra ipa is a high hopped, high alcohol, high bitterness true ipa that is like an invigorating open handed slap of citrus awesomeness!!!
you hold in your hands the pinnacle of brewing innovation.  beermaster series is a harmonious combination of premium quality beer and ingenious flavour design.  we bestow upon you the finest beer in the universe!  cheers!

i’m bummed that it is only a limited release
but i guess they sure did leave me wanting more!
and i hear that maybe, just maybe it will be popular enough to make it into regular rotation
is my love strong enough??

for the brewed awakening story on the citra ipa, click here

Craft Beer Locator

Beer Fact of the Day: The Citra hop is a very new American hop w/parentage from Hallertau Mittelfruh, East Kent Goldings, & others. High alpha & strong tropical fruit aromas & flavors (mango, papaya, & pineapple). Typical alpha: 10-12%. Look for it as a dry hop in Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA.

deschutes’ inversion ipa

oh deschutes!
so much great product coming out of another oregon brewery!

the inversion ipa pours with an incredible creamy head (on a vigourous pour – like i know any other kind)
more caramel malty on the nose, until i take a really big sniff
then, then the citrusy hops come out
clear caramel colour
definitely complex, caramel malts and citrusy hops tantalizing my tongue alternately…
6.8%
80 ibus
228 calories for 12 oz

the bottle says:  “like its name suggests, inversion ipa defies the ordinary.  with layers of soft caramel malt notes and generous amounts of our favorite northwest hops.  for a bright, sunny citrus finish.”
“here in oregon’s high desert, seasonal changes often bring about a peculiar weather phenomenon – an inversion. the higher up the mountain you go, the sunnier it gets.  so even when bend is covered in clouds, the faithful know where to find clarity.”

the website says:  “Our year-round beer answer to the siren call of the hop. Inversion’s trio of American hops deliver an over-the-top nose with hints of orange and grapefruit. Then we toss in seven days of dry-hopping for good measure. Because we can.

No mere hop sledgehammer, Inversion is a careful fusion. Crystal and Carastan malts woven throughout provide for a surprisingly soft, caramel complexity for an 80-IBU IPA.

Named for a local weather phenomenon where clouds hug the base of the mountain only to reveal clear skies
further up, it can turn a beer drinker’s IPA preconceptions upside down as well.”

Ratings, Awards & Notables
Gold Medal, India Pale Ale
2009 Australian International Beer Awards

Gold Medal (90 Points – India Pale Ale)
2008 World Beer Championships

Silver Medal, India Pale Ale Category
2007 Australian International Beer Awards

Bronze Medal, India Pale Ale Category
2007 West Coast Brew Fest 

me, i say delicious!  yummy!  please sir, can i have another?

(since i split a 6 pack with bridget, there are two more in the beer fridge… but do i try a new beer, of which i have many just begging to be opened… or do i stay with this ambrosia a while longer – decisions, decisions!)

the aftertaste has decided it for me

the hoppy goodness remains on my palate and is simply demanding that i have another

and who am i to argue with my palate?