legacy liquor store

new and exciting beers at legacy liquor store in vancouver

(i will be tasting the gluten-free harvester pale ale (compliments of beerthirst) with stephen quinn on cbc radio’s on the coast on august 6th.  buy a bottle and taste along with us!)

Longwood Brewery – Berried Alive – $4.15

A tasty craft beer from Vancouver Island but with a twist, coming to us from Nanaimo as opposed to the craft beer kingdom that is Victoria, our province’s great capital. Dark red in colour, this beer boasts a nose of tart raspberry and mild malts, while on the palate that tart raspberry is backed up by more malt to create a refreshing fruit brew.

Chris Bonnallie | Beer Supervisor | Legacy Liquor Store

Lighthouse Brewing – Numbskull Imperial IPA – $7.55

Gems from Vancouver Island just keep on coming! Fresh from the tanks of Lighthouse Brewing comes Numbskull, an Imperial IPA that pours a beautiful amber with a small white head. Tons of pine, citrus and grapefruit are found on the nose, while on the palate more of the above come through in a smooth, big bodied way leading to a bitter west coast finish. Bravo, sirs.

Mike Dolan | Beer Team | Legacy Liquor Store

Harvester Brewing – Pale Ale – $8.75

A gluten free beer that tastes like real beer, brewed in the fabulously green state of Oregon with chestnuts and sorghum and generously hopped to create a delicious pale ale. Golden yellow in colour, with a citrusy nose attributed to its cascade hopping and a warming nuttiness from the chestnuts followed by a palate of citrus and nut, this is a gluten free beer that anyone can look forward to.

Conor Marshall | Beer Team | Legacy Liquor Store

beer geekery

tasting notes

last week at beernesday i began my night with a sampler
i went with darker beers, it being winter and all

rogue’s hazelnut brown nectar:  5.6%  a nutty twist to a traditional european brown ale.  dark brown in color with a hazelnut aroma, a rich nutty flavor and a malty finish.
longwood’s scottish ale:  6.5%  scottish ale, little brother to the “wee heavy”, is a soft, full bodied, malty ale, nicely balanced by subtle hopping.
storm’s scottish highland cream ale:  5%  this creamy, nutty, malty, dark ale is true to its scottish origins and is caramelized as the kettle is being filled.
central city’s red racer oatmeal stout:  6.5%  this irish-style stout is deep, dark, smooth and creamy.  the use of oatmeal adds a silkiness to the texture and body of this ale.

the hazelnut was some nutty goodness
maybe a bit too malty on the finish for me, just a sampler did me fine

the longwood scottish ale was the big hit of the night
bridget loved it so much she convinced several other people to get pints of it
“i had to get a pint of it, its so good” said bridget, follwed by “i’m not a scottish ale fan, but i love this one!”
definitely a gooder.  i could have sessioned it for sure

storm’s scottish ale was definitely creamy, nutty and malty
the carmelizing adds quite a distinct flavour
i preferred the longwood though

the oatmeal stout was so creamy
lovely cascading action on the pour
a fabulous beer for a winter’s day

i followed my sampler with the red racer esb
“tempered with hops from the uk, this english bitter is very smooth”
yes it is
and hoptastically refreshing
makes me happy every time i have it!

then bridget talked me into the southern tier pale
“aggressively hopped with immense overtones of grapefruit and tangerine wrapped in a delicately refined body of pale barley and wheat”
bridget rates it “the ultimate pale”
but that’s because she is an ipa fan
this is not a pale ale
its an ipa if ever i met one
very pale in colour
resinous goodness with an intensely hoppy citrus nose
bridget “can’t believe they call it a pale ale”
me, i think its a thing of beauty and a joy to imbibe!
i’m not gonna lie to you, i like an aggressive hop!

tasting notes

okay, so i’m just gonna admit it right from the top of the post
i got pretty darned drunk at beernesday this past week
not that i don’t usually get somewhat drunk, but this was a bit beyond the norm
people were doing beer shots from the divet of my clavicle… it was one of those kinda nights

so, my tasting notes are even worse than usual
but let me give you what little i can!

began and ended with a pint of the rogue dry hopped st. rogue red:  5.2% named the world’s best pale ale at the world beer awards.  reddish copper in colour, a roasty malty flavor, with a hoppy-spruce finish.
i love this beer!
it makes me happy – must be all them hops
i can see why its the world’s best ale
its a maltier darker ipa… divine, simply divine

my sampler was supposed to be an ode to hops in various styles
but it ended up being rather disappointing…
paddock wood 606 pale ale:  5.4%  featuring a blend of cascade, amarillo and willamette hops on top of a solid malt base.  the finish is balanced with rich, aromatic hop profile
eel river brewing organic india pale ale:  7%  brewed with the finest organic malts and hops, this ipa features a bright-minted copper color and a crisp, yet smooth hop bitterness
longwood brewpub extra special bitter:  6%  a deep copper coloured, malty ale, moderately hopped
howe sound boomer’s canadian red ale:  5%  a strong, malty red ale with aromatic cascade hop nose

i loved the paddock pale ale – great hop balance and lovely flavour.  my favourite of the sampler.. a pale ale over an esb and an ipa?  who’d a thunk it?  but why not, all my favourite hops were well represented and made themselves known.  i’d drink this beer again, and often!
the eel river?  my notes read “i hope to fuck this beer has gone off cuz its fucking awful”.  so there you have it.
the longwood esb was very malty.  definitely very light on the hops.  “not that bad, but really not the esbs i’ve fallen in love with.  just too malty for me”.  so if you’re buying, i won’t turn it down, but i’m not gonna buy it for myself!
the howe sound promised me aromatic cascade hops.  i didn’t find them.  which i found disappointing. boo hoo hoo.

katy tried the lost coast great white:  “drinkable but not so hoppy.  not my favourite.  on a hot summer day i would love it”
and the vancouver island hermann’s dark lager:  “dark and creamy and warmy”

i tried a sip of the cannery blackberry porter – and found it fruity as hell without being sweet, so i’m a fan!

as for bottles, i sampled the moylans hopsickle triple hoppy imperial ipa: 9.2%  this is a “hop” tribute, worthy of a king’s imperial court!  enjoy the blast of fresh tomahawk, cascade and centennial hops as they stimulate the taste buds in a truly imperial fashion.  pucker up!
fabulous – delicious – wonderfully hoppy!
but i wanna know, is it the tomahawk hops or just that there are three times as much hops in general that is giving it that extra boost of hops flavour over the regular three c’s?

moylans dragoons dry irish stout:  8%  dry, roasty and incredibly rich in flavour.  dragoons dry irish stout is made with a unique blend of imported hops and malted barley from the uk.  this award winning stout is brewed in the irish tradition to commemorate gen. stephen moylan, irish-born commander of the 4th continental dragoons during the american revolutionary war
appropriate drink for the night before remembrance day??
yes very dry and roasty and flavourful
delicious little stout!

ballast point big eye ipa:  7%  one of the very best big, hoppy west coast ipas.
my notes:  “oh yes, now that’s a lovely bunch of hops. xoxoxo”
apparently i liked it, i really liked it!
good thing there’s a bottle in the beer fridge!

and then pints of driftwood’s fat tug ipa and hopworks ipa
my notes simply give them three hearts
i was past note taking by that point
yay me!

tasting notes

my tasting notes, such as they are, from october 27ths beernesday:

in my sampler i had:
longwood brewpub copperbock:  7.2%  in keeping with german tradition, this fest beer is a smooth, creamy seasonal lager well balanced with little hop aroma.
red truck limited steam beer:  5%  a hybrid beer style brewing using lager yeast fermented at ale temperatures.  the result is a full flavoured, yet surprisingly crisp beer.
craig street brewpub arbutus pale ale:  5%  a british style ale with a craft west coast attitude, light in body with a subtle lingering hop character.
storm brewing 12 year black current lambic:  7%  not for the timid!  this beer is INTENSELY sour, dry and complex.

i found the copperbock to be very clear and coppery in my glass, not too carbonated, smooth and malty, nice, but nothing to write home about
i love the steam.  it just keeps surprising me with how much i am in love with it – which is why i keep putting it in my samplers…
the arbutus pale ale was malty, but kinda insipid – where, oh were was that west coast attitude i was promised?  tasha found that it “falls a little flat”.  not a keeper for me.
the black current lambic was on the vinegary side this time.  usually i absolutely adore it, but wednesday it seemed more like a fermented marinade than a lambic…

bottles-wise i imbibed in:
phillips grow-hop:  5%  newly plucked chinook hops are added rather than dry hops, resulting not only in hoppy bitterness, but also strong melon flavours.
phillips hammer imperial stout:  8.3%  imperial stout was originally brewed to satisfy the czarist courts.  because it was transported across the freezing baltic, russian imperial stout was brewed with a high level of alcohol.  rich, flavourful, deep chocolate colour, with a roasted barley nose.
i also sampled the swans buckerfield’s fantastico double shot porter:  6%  swans’ porter laced with 1200 pulls of caffe fantastico espresso.

the grow-hop i’d had before, and it was every bit as delightful this time.  hoppy goodness that just called for more!

the hammer imperial stout was very coffee roasty, with no alcohol taste.  tasha thought it was like a “big bowl of chocolate mousse”.  all i had to say was “quite.  rather.  indeed.”

the fantastico porter was coffee, not beer.  or as tasha dubbed it, the “perfect breakfast beer”.

and one last quote, this time bridget about her all-time favourite, crannog’s backhand of god “i’ll have another one, why not?”

beernesday

i missed beernesday last week, as i was at the nba game
i drank overpriced rickard’s red at the stadium (what the heck do we call it now that it’s not the garage any more?)
and warmed up at pivo with a pitcher of the delicious driftwood ale, which is till on tap there for a mere $3.50 a pint and $13.50 a pitcher
the game was a stinker, but drinking with my friends is always a great time!!
finished the night back at pivo, this time with a phillips hop circle
(i had a choice of tree’s hophead, acme’s ipa and the hop circle – i just had to go with the hop circle – its hoptastic!)

just cuz i missed the night at st. augustine’s doesn’t mean i don’t have tasting notes though
amanda made me some from the samplers she and bridget had
thanks friends!

central city red racer pumpkin ale:  they were not fans, found it had a soapy aftertaste and was too lightly spiced
red truck limited steam beer:  crisp and citrusy, no distinct ale taste to the hybrid, more lagery they found, but they liked it!
st. augustine’s pilsner:  zesty and citrusy, a good mellow beer
mill street brewery original organic lager:  they hated it, thought it tasted like water with yellow food colouring (wow, way to sock it to the beer… maybe i need to try this one this week just to weigh in on the issue!)
driftwood brewery ale:  a crowd pleaser and our favourite from pivo, lightly hopped, amanda finds it a really great transition beer from her hefeweisen loving ways into the world of hoppy goodness – her palate is definitely changing!
longwood brew pub russian imperial stout:  dark as the night, molasses taste, bridget says its very malty, amanda finds the roasted barley tastes like burnt espresso beans or a dry soy nut flavour, but likes the initial chocolate notes

i hope to remember to bring along their notes tonight and perhaps try some of the beers they tasted last week and see what i think of them
unless of course i find too many more exciting beers to try…
you never know what’s gonna be on tap at st. auggies!

st. augustine’s sampling

i rounded out my sampler at st. augustine’s last night with rogue’s yellow snow ipa, cannery’s squire scotch ale and longwood’s russian imperial stout.

i love the rogue, and the yellow snow is no exception.  i add it to my sampler somewhat regularly out of an abundance of caution.  i had a bottle of it once that must have been quite off because it was one of the worst things i’ve ever tasted.  as that was my first yellow snow experience i thought maybe it was just a bad beer.  luckily i trusted in rogue and tried it again on tap.  and loved it.  so i tried it again on tap.  and loved it.  and now i’m caught in the cycle of having to check back in with it from time to time just to make sure that first bottle was off…

the scotch ale had lovely smoky malty notes in it, balancing nicely with hoppity hops.  i quite enjoyed it.  but like several of the more novelty beers, the smoky flavour didn’t particularly make me want to have more than my sampler size of it.

the stout was lovely and dense, with all the right malty coffee notes.

alison rounded out her sampler with salt spring ales golden spike ale, pike brewing’s xxxxx stout and the yellow snow.  she was quite pleased with them all.  of the yellow snow she says:  love this!  nice hop, kind of almost too fruity, but not really”.

bridget also went with pike’s xxxxx stout, st. augustine’s lager and lost coast’s indica ipa.  she liked them all just fine, but particularly the stout and the ipa (which are her two favourite styles… just sayin’).

i had wanted to try the swans arctic ale, but they were out of it.  i’m not sure i’ve ever had a “canadian-style light ale” and really wanted to know what it was going to be like.  next time perhaps.

more about our pint and bottle choices to come.

click here for st. augustine’s current line up of taps.