weather

i love talking about the weather, i mean, who doesn’t?
what a fabulous weekend we just had here in vancouver
gorgeously sunny,
hot, hot, hot

in fact, it was so darned nice i think i gave myself heat stroke playing in a softball tournament
stupid, stupid
but we won!
even in full costume on saturday, my team managed to pull of a win in the C division!
yay us!

what does this have to do with beer?
well, it does you know
bridget and i filled the cooler with central city pale ale and ipa
to try to bring a little craft beer to the people
and hopefully make back enough money “lending” beers to others to cover some of our drinking over the weekend
but…
between the heat stroke and making it to the finals my drinking was severely limited
and it appeared many other folks fell prey to the same issue
i truly think going from winter straight into summer is not conducive to people’s well-being
we need a spring in the middle to acclimate!

on the upside
bridget and i now have a cooler full of beers to drink during games 3 and 4 of the stanley cup finals!

bitter brews

america’s bitterest brews
aka ipas
for the huffington post article, click here

seems a rather appropriate article for me to post on this the first day of lent
aka day one of my 40 day odyssey without chocolate!
(or ice cream or potato chips either)
bring on the bitter beers to get me through!

ipa championship

there’s a u.s. national ipa championship?
i never knew!
read all about it here

only one of my favourites is still in it
(hopefully in it to win it!)
green flash west coast ipa

some of my favourites (unbelieveably to me) went out in the first or second round
ballast point big eye ipa
deschutes inversion ipa
stone brewing ipa
southern tier ipa

unfortunately central city’s red racer went down in the first round to fat head’s headhunter
must try some of these ipas
i mean, if people say they’re better than my known faves, then maybe they’re pretty good!

flying dog snake dog ipa

flying dog!
snake dog india pale ale
pours up with a great head, hazy and very carbonated
very bitter on the first sip
nose is more malty than hoppy
there’s something in there that i can’t put my tastebuds on
i prefer the classic pale ale
somehow it is truer to a northwest ipa to me

the bottle says:  “tired of those annoying 3am hang-ups from your crazy, stalking ex?  turns out the same qualities that make your ex so damned annoying make our snake dog ipa so attractive.  chock full of bitterness, bite and attitude, it slaps you in the face with flavor.  just like your psycho ex did at the bar last weekend.”

nice to know that my ex isn’t the only annoying one
least mine’s not actually psycho…

i like it
i’m just not willing to have its babies
which is probably fortunate since i think they’d be quite odd looking…
i mean, have you seen the snake dog?

i bought a six pack
so it will be interesting to see what i think of it next time i crack a bottle
i may change my mind about not loving it
you just never know

the website says:  “More cunning than a snake in the bush… Snake Dog India Pale Ale is a Colorado-style IPA, power hopped with specialty hops from the Pacific Northwest. This is the brewery’s hop monster, and the citrus fruit aroma will hypnotize the senses of the most hardcore craft beer drinkers.”

ABV:	7.1%
Plato:	15
IBU’s:	60
Specialty Malts:	50-60L Crystal
Hops:	Warrior, Columbus
Process:	Dry hopped with Columbus hops Snake Dog Goes Well With Red or white meats Burgers Sausages Sharp dressing

cannery brewing

ron dyck, the marketer for cannery brewing was at firefly on friday evening to do a tasting.
he brought the cannery line featured in the mixed six pack with him, as well as the limited release wildfire ipa and seasonal maple stout.
i of course had several tipples of each, because you want to make sure that the quality remains the same from can to can and bottle to bottle
just trying to be the best beer taster i can be
you know, taking one for the team and all that….

i am really very in love with the wildfire dark ipa
and everyone i’ve shared some with is loving it too
and its working for me as a session beer
gotta love it when someone does the black ipa right!
(even if i’m supposed to call it a cascadian brown ale now)
cannery only makes one batch of it a year, so when it’s gone, there won’t be more until next year
good thing i bought another six bottles…

i quite enjoyed the maple stout as well
for a sweetened beer, i didn’t find it overly sweet or cloying
even after tasting it after the ipa and the black ipa
not a beer i’d make into a session beer, but quite enjoyable
this is their winter seasonal and will be available until april
“stout, dark and handsome!”

ron tells me the maple stout will be on tap at the alibi shortly
and the blackberry porter will be on tap at st. augustine’s this week i believe he said

i think i’m going to go and open one of my wildfire bottles now

cannery six pack

i have found my new favourite six pack of cans to travel with!
its the cannery brewing six pack featuring the anarchist amber, the ipa and the naramata nut brown
2 cans of each, 6 cans of amazing beer!
and without breaking the bank, or the back
happiness!

At our microbrewery, the only way that we want to grow is better!!  Therefore, we are constantly striving to increase the quality of our beers and the level of our service.  We pay unrelenting attention to every detail of the brewing process…..and it shows. 

We are indeed the Small Brewery with Big Flavour.

THE CANNERY COLLECTION

Talk about a six pack with flavour!  With 2 of each beer, the Cannery Collection offers up a great diversity of flavours.  Start with the full bodied harmony of our Anarchist Amber Ale then move to the smooth velvety taste of Naramata Nut Brown Ale and finish with the intense malt and hop character of the India Pale Ale.  This box has it all in one convenient package!

i gotta say though, that it kinda weirds me out that the ipa is in an orange can – most everyone else uses green for india pale ales (my guess is because they’re hoppy and hops are green…) so orange just seems wrong to reach for in my beer fridge!!

lagunitas ipa

lagunitas (say ‘lah-goo-KNEE-tuss’) india pale ale
in cute little 12 oz bottles
out of petaluma, california
pours up a lovely caramel colour
with quite a good head on the vigourous pour
hoppy nose
45.6 ibus

quite a hoppy little brew
nicely balanced but definitely for the hop lover
i’m a fan!
can’t wait to try the maximus and hop stoopid i have chilling in the beer fridge!
if they’re even half as good as the regular ipa then i will have found another brewery to add to my favourites list – an ever-growing list of course
crisp and clean and no caffeine
just tons of hoppy goodness

from the bottle:  “thanks for choosing to spend the next few minutes with this special homicidally hoppy ale.  savor the moment as the raging hop character engages the imperial qualities of the malt foundation in mortal combat on the battlefield of your palate!  life is uncertain.  don’t sip!”

the website says:  Unlimited Release 

This is our unique version of an ancient style. A style as old as the ocean trade routes of the last centuries Great Ships. Not as old as the equator they had to cross twice enroute, nor as old as the 10,000 or so miles of Di-Hydrogen Oxide and Sodium upon which they sailed, but older than the Circulithium-4 Lentloid that binds the Lupulin Quartnate onto your taste buds. Weird. Think about it. Now stop. OK, go again, now stop. Think again, and stop. But we digress. Made with 43 different hops and 65 various malts, this redolent ale will likely float your boat, whatever planet you’re on.
Thanks for your trust, and as always:Think Globally, Drink Locally!! 

west coast ipa

last night’s tipple is one i’ve been tilting back fairly often these days
and its my new favourite ipa
yes, i have declared a current favourite!

green flash brewing co.’s west coast india pale ale

7.3%, 95 ibus, “extravagantly hopped”
boy, they’re not lying!

the bottle says “A menagerie of hops are layered throughout the brewing process.  Simcoe for unique fruitiness and grapefruit zest, Columbus for strong hop pungency, Centennial for pine and citrus notes, Cascade for floral aroma.  A multi-dimensional hop experience.”

lord, i love this beer
thank dog that they carry it by the six pack at firefly
its $18 mind you
but sometimes you just gotta pay more for what you love!

the website says:  “Great beer is a rare thing—a coming together of perfect ingredients and perfect brewing conditions. At Green Flash Brewing Company, we only use the best, all natural ingredients, and we brew our beers in small batches so that it tastes fresh and pure.”


website is a little thin on details, and the blog is new…
i have high hopes though…
maybe a road trip down to san diego in november for their anniversary party is in order!!

BrewDog’s Hardcore IPA

i’m currently swilling BrewDog’s Hardcore IPA. at 9% i think i might have a lot of fun at the grocery store in half an hour. better write a list…  oops too late, better to have written that list earlier.

label didn’t grab me quite as much as the punk ipa, not enough contrast is hard for these old eyes to read – love the general brewdog label theme though, and not ashamed to admit label grab is a large part of my beer purchasing checklist

called an explicit imperial ale, i’d argue its an imperious ale. definite toffee notes after the first sip, lovely aroma, still hazy after half an hour (again, what do you expect from a beer with no preservatives and no additives – a little haze ain’t such a bad thing!), has me licking my chops and slavering for more.

what the label says: “This imperial Indian Pale Ale Rocks… Hardcore! But don’t feel obliged to take our word for it, this little bottle has a grandiloquent story to tell. 2,204 malted Maris Otter grains gave all they had to offer the world to provide the robustly delicate toffee malt canvas for the ensuing epic. 4 Hop Cones willingly sacrificed themselves in fiery cauldron that is our brew kettle to ensure your mouth is left feeling punished and puckering for more. 9,900,000,000 yeast cells frantically fermented their little hearts out as the sugars were magically turned into alcohol in the dark depths of our fermentation tanks. 2 humans and 1 canine companion are relatively happy with the results.” Overall winners at the Grampian Food Forum Innovation Awards 2007
BrewDog: Beer with Bite… grrr!

specs:

ABV: 9%
OG: 1085
IBU’s: 150
Malts: Marris Otter Extra Pale Malt
Hops: Simcoe, Chinook, Amarillo, Warrior
This explicit ale has more hops and bitterness than any other beer brewed in the UK.  This is an extreme beer rollercoaster for freaks, gypsies and international chess superstars.

hops

it may be easter, but the hops i’m most interested in are not those being performed by bunnies. i am currently obsessed by the myriad of hops options in beer. beer, nectar of the gods. proof that god loves us. improver of all social situations.

now, don’t get me wrong, i love beer, pretty much all beers. but currently i have an overwhelming desire to consume hops by the kettle-full. i just can’t get enough of the bitter little buggers.

more detail to follow, but my current favourite examples of hoppy goodness are the following:

Phillips Brewing Company’s Amnesiac Double IPA
Southern Tier Brewing Company’s Unearthly Imperial IPA
Granville Island Brewery’s Brockton Oval IPA
Howe Sound Brewery’s Bailout Bitter