Category: las vegas

weekend

yikes, i’ve been back from vegas for over a week now
and i haven’t had a minute to sit down to write about the beer festival and all the other amazing beer places i found downtown
(or write the couple of reviews i owe people…)
and now i’m off to portland for the weekend
(poor, poor me!)
there will be beer drinking of course,
and a trip to belmont station to find some fabulous beers to bring home with me,
but beer is not actually the focus of my trip this time
saturday is the launch party for cider riot – a kickstarter funded cidery
and since we’ll be in town anyway, sunday i’ll be at the timbers game, sitting with the army!
i am very much looking forward to taking to the streets,
and pogoing the night away,
not to mention getting my first taste of cider riot’s ciders

link love

a first for craft beer – it outsells the big boys in, of course, portland!

the flickr account for the great vegas beerfest
no pics of me, alas, but great shots of the event
and a review of the festival
(mine is coming… eventually…)

jan zeschky’s rundown of this year’s hip hop themed vcbw
(that’s vancouver craft beer week for those not yet in the know)

joe wiebe gives you the past 30 years in craft beer history in british columbia
and you can listen to him on the radio too!

another new brewery opens in the lower mainland!
white rock beach beer company, as reviewed by mike’s craft beer

dimpled pint glasses are making a comeback according to the bbc
(i didn’t notice they were missing in vancouver – plenty of places still use them… what does that say about vancouver – are we ahead of the curve or so far behind the world caught up to us again?)
my fave quote from the story:  “There are so many beards in Dalston, and they do love a dimple.”

the seven worst types of people… on a beer forum

a canadian takes the record for running a beer mile
my friend is named james neilson, and he runs, and he drinks beer
but he assures me he is not the james nielsen record-holder in question
i kinda hoped it was a type in the name… i’d like to claim a champion as a friend

spring

oh happy sunny day in vancouver!
spring is in the air!
and that makes me think of beer
okay, everything makes me think of beer

new seasonals coming out
wearing beer tshirts without a hoodie over them
trying to lose those 10 lbs of winter beer weight so i can fit back into those beer tshirts
drinking on patios
east side beer fest
washington cask beer festival
vegas craft beer fest
cider riot party in portland
bring it on!

beer tasting

back to some heavy hitting beers for the next instalment of “what i drank on my lost saturday”

the fabulous ryan brought back some fine beers from his recent sojourn in las vegas
stone brewing’s belgo anise imperial russian stout certainly did not disappoint
a licorice stout – how delightful!
such a strong malt base totally hid the belgian yeast from my leery mouth
and what a head!
hoppy, stouty, licoricey, not belgiany, not overwhelmingly boozey – its a winner!
i would love to have another bottle of this to age for a year or two…
10.5%, 56 ibus, warrior hops
“This 2011 Odd Year release pours pitch black with a deep tan head, with aromatic notes of anise, coffee, and cocoa jumping from the glass. Coffee and dark roasted malt flavors dominate, with a robust complement of anise and oak, which leave a lingering blend of vanilla, licorice, and dark malt on the palate. This one will age nicely for several years.”
doing my best vanna white impression

brew dog tokyo
i mean, why not add an 18% beer into our afternoon?
glad it was just a small bottle to split between four people!

“The irony of existentialism, the parody of being and the inherent contradictions of post-modernism, all so delicately conveyed by the blocky, pixelated arcade action have all been painstakingly recreated in this bottles contents.

This imperial stout is brewed with copious amounts of speciality malts, jasmine and cranberries. After fermentation we then dry-hop this killer stout with a bucketload of our favourite hops before carefully ageing the beer on French toasted oak chips.
It is all about moderation. Everything in moderation, including moderation itself. What logically follows is that you must, from time, have excess. This beer is for those times.”

(feel like maybe they should proof-read their copy, particularly if they’ve been imbibing in the tokyo before doing the write up!)

“BrewDog BrewSheet

ABV: 18.2%
OG: 1140
IBU’s: 90
Malts: Marris Otter, Dark Crystal, Caramalt, Chocolate Malt, Roast Barley
Hops: Galena
Twist: Brewed with Jasmine and Cranberries. Dry-Hopped then aged on oak chips.”
what isn’t going on in this beer?
boozey, complex, deep and dark
hoppy, fruity, heavy
not something i want to drink a lot of, or often
but gosh darn it, i really like it
too bad its now being taxed as a spirit and costs more than i am willing to fork out
this one will just have to remain a special imported treat