patios

due to a lack of space in the july/august edition of the bc craft beer news
my lengthy article on the best craft beer patios in vancouver got truncated
the whole article is available online
but i’m also copying it here

Summer time and the living is easy… not to mention best enjoyed on a patio!

In a departure from my usual format and just in time for summer 2014, I bring you the very best patios in Vancouver for enjoying craft beer. The list starts with larger patios and beer menus and goes on down to smaller (but no less enjoyable) venues, with smaller beer menus. Only the heat and the hours available to you will limit your time on these patios, so there is no rating system in this round of reviews. Enjoy!

Patio drinking tips: Look for session ales—those tasty lower alcohol beers that enable you to spend a long ‘session’ on a patio. Drink water! Go for a rinse cycle after every beer; your body will love you for it. Keep your drink out of the sunlight—no one likes a beer that goes skunky. Bring sunscreen to reapply as your patio time wears on and the sun moves. Wear sunglasses with UVA and UVB protection—both for your eyes and to hide the fact that you are totally people-watching!

Tap & Barrel (Olympic Village)
1 Athletes Way, Vancouver
604.551.0463
Web tapandbarrel.com
Facebook tapandbarrel
Twitter @tapandbarrel
Monday–Sunday 11 am – midnight
Weekend and holiday brunch 10 am – 3 pm
Taps 23 regular beer taps plus one rotating tap, and there’s also a cider on tap—all from British Columbia.
Size of pour 20 oz for $7/7.50.
Bottles 10 imports, including two gluten-free options.
Session beers available Yes. The current menu includes three beers under 5%.
Patio The patio is enormous! Or should I say patioS? There is a wraparound patio upstairs and a two-level wraparound patio downstairs. With excellent views of False Creek and all the happenings along the Seawall, not to mention a whole menu of BC beers and wines, this is one great place to lose an afternoon. And a great place for sun worshippers, as they don’t really have many umbrellas.

Tap & Barrel (Convention Centre)
1055 Canada Place, Vancouver
604.235.9TAP
Web, Facebook, Twitter As above.
Monday–Sunday 11 am – midnight
Weekend and holiday brunch 10am – 2pm
Taps 29 regular beer taps plus two rotating taps, and there’s both a cider tap and a nitro tap—all from British Columbia.
Size of pour 20 oz for $7/7.50.
Bottles Nine imports, including two gluten-free options.
Session beers available Yes. The current menu includes two beers under 5%.
Patio The patio is large, with lots of shade cover and views of the Burrard Inlet, the Northshore Mountains, and Stanley Park. Watch the float planes take off and land while you pat yourself on the back for drinking locally produced craft beers.

Yaletown Brew Pub
1111 Mainland Street, Vancouver
604.681.BREW (2739)
Web markjamesgroup.com
Facebook YBC Yaletown Brewing Company – Official Page
Twitter @YBC_brewing
Sunday–Wednesday 11:30 am – midnight
Thursday 11:30 am – 1 am
Friday–Saturday 11:30 am – 3 am
Taps They have seven regular beers and two seasonals on tap in both the restaurant and the pub. You can only get YBC beer on-site, and they do growler fills.
Size of pour 16 oz.
Bottles Yes several, but they’re not craft beer.
Session beers available Not generally, but the seasonal may be.
Patio Not just one, but three patios. A small one with communal tables outside the pub, and two large patios that wrap around the restaurant, all perfect for watching the pretty people wander around Yaletown.

Steamworks Brew Pub
375 Water Street, Vancouver
604.689.2739
Web steamworks.com
Facebook Steamworks
Twitter @SteamworksPub
Monday–Sunday From 11:30 am on…
Taps Eight taps of beer brewed in-house, using steam.
Size of pour 16 oz, 20 oz, 24 oz
Bottles No
Session beers available Yes. The Cascadia Golden Ale is 4%.
Patio Right in the hustle and bustle of Gastown. If you are sitting street-side on the patio, you have a great view of all the goings-on. If you are water-side, you can enjoy the sights and sounds of a working harbour. It’s a win-win. Plenty of umbrellas for the shade lovers, and decent sun most of the day for the sun worshippers.

Rogue Kitchen and Wetbar (Gastown)
601 W Cordova Street, Vancouver
(inside Waterfront Station)
604.678.8000
Web roguewetbar.com
Facebook RogueWetbar
Twitter @roguewetbar
Sunday–Thursday 11:30 am – midnight
Friday and Saturday 11:30 am – 1 am
Taps Rotating taps of 14 craft beers and one cider, in a mixture of local and imported brews.
Size of pour Five 4 oz tasters for $7.99; 16 oz sleeves and 20 oz pints, as well as pitchers, for varying prices.
Bottles Three import bottles, including one gluten-free offering, plus four macro-brewed bottles.
Session beers available Currently there are four beers below 5% on the rotating menu.
Patio Located right at Waterfront Station, the patio boasts a great view of all the Cordova Street action, so it’s a great people watching spot. The downside of this is that you will be approached by panhandlers if you are sitting on the outside of the patio. The crazy craned umbrellas move at any angle imaginable, so if you crave shade, you’ll be happy all afternoon and evening long.

Local Public Eatery
2210 Cornwall Avenue, Vancouver
604.734.3589
Web localkits.com
Facebook Local Public Eatery Kitsilano
Twitter @LOCALKits
Monday–Thursday 11 am – 1 am
Friday 11 am – 2 am
Saturday 10 am – 2 am
Sunday 10 am – 1 am
Taps Rotating taps of craft beers, four permanently serving craft beer and one serving cider (six permanently serving non-craft beers).
Size of pour Sleeves and pitchers.
Bottles Yes, but only one (of eight) is a craft beer.
Session beers available Depending on the rotational tap, there could be
Patio Right out on Cornwall Avenue, this is a great people watching spot. You have to be early to snag a seat on this very popular patio, though!

Chill Winston
3 Alexander Street, Vancouver
604.288.9575
Web chillwinston.com
Facebook Chill Winston
Twitter @chillwinston
Monday–Sunday 11 am – 1 am
Taps Six craft beers, two ciders
Bottles 18 bottles of local and imported beers, mostly craft, including two gluten-free choices.
Session beers available Currently a couple on the menu.
Patio A good-sized patio, right in Gastown where three roads meet (sounds very Oedipal). It is a really great peoplewatching spot, and very popular—so best to call ahead for a reservation.

St. Augustine’s
2360 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
604.569.1911
Web staugustinesvancouver.com
Facebook St. Augustine’s
Twitter @StAugustinesVan
Sunday–Thursday 11 am – 1 am
Friday and Saturday 11 am – 3 am
Brunch Weekends and holidays 11 am – 3 pm
Taps 60+ rotating taps of local and imported craft beers and ciders. See their live tap list for a current listing (and how much is left in the keg).
Size of pour 14 oz for $5.75-$8, taster paddles of four 5 oz glasses.
Bottles No.
Session beers available Currently 10 beers below 5% on the rotating menu.
Patio It’s not a large patio. In fact you’d be hard pressed to fit more than two people at all but one of the tables. But what it lacks in size it makes up for in sheer choice of beers on tap. And if you are a fan of the Skytrain, you can watch one go by approximately every two minutes.

BierCraft Tap and Tapas (Commercial Drive)
1191 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
604.254.2437
Web biercraft.com
Facebook BierCraft
Twitter @biercraft
Monday–Tuesday 11 am – 11:30 pm
Wednesday–Thursday 11 am – 12 am
Friday 11 am – 1 am
Saturday 10 am – 1 am
Sunday 10 am – 11:30 pm
Taps Over 20 taps of local and imported craft beers.
Size of pour Up to 20 oz, depending on the beer.
Bottles Over 100 bottles of mostly imported Belgian beers.
Session beers available Currently two taps and several bottles are under 5%.
Patio A long, narrow patio down the south side of the restaurant, so only the first few tables offer an interactive view of Commercial Drive. But then, not everyone wants to be watched while they slurp up beer after beer!

BierCraft Bistro (Cambie Street)
3305 Cambie Street, Vancouver
604.874.6900
Web, Facebook, Twitter As above.
Monday–Thursday 11:30 am – 12 am
Friday 11:30 am – 1 pm
Saturday 10 am – 1 pm
Sunday 10 am – 12 am
Taps 22 taps of local and imported craft beer.
Bottles Over 100 bottles of mostly imported Belgian beers.
Session beers available Currently three taps and several bottles under 5%.
Patio Just a few tables big, this is a really cute patio. Right on Cambie Street, it offers people watching opportunities without being too overwhelmingly traffic-noisy.

The Whip Gallery Cafe
209 East 6th Avenue,Vancouver
604.874.4687
Web thewhiprestaurant.com
Facebook The Whip Gallery Restaurant
Twitter @WhipRestaurant
Monday–Thursday 10 am – 1 am
Friday 10 am – 2 am
Saturday 9 am – 2 am
Sunday 9 am – 1 am
Taps Six regular taps of local craft beers, one rotating tap, and one rotating cask.
Size of pour 16 oz for $5.50, 20 oz for $6.50, and pitchers for $19.50.
Bottles Regularly on the menu are 10 canned beers, 19 bottles, and 9 share bottles of local and imported beers.
Session beers available Two beers under 5% on the regular menu.
Patio It ain’t large, but it’s pretty. Just off Main Street, the people watching is still enjoyable without the traffic noise. And there are hops growing on the patio—I love that!

Tangent Cafe
2095 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
604.558.4641
Web tangentcafe.ca
Facebook facebook.com/pages/Tangent-Cafe/420386921358640
Twitter @TangentCafe
Monday and Tuesday 8 am – 3 pm
Wednesday and Thursday 8 am – 12 am
Friday and Saturday 8 am – 1 am
Sunday 8 am – 10 pm
Taps 10 rotating craft beer taps.
Size of pour 16 oz (smaller for high-alcohol beers).
Bottles Quite a decent list of local and Belgian beers (including a cider and a gluten-free beer).
Session beers available It is a rotating menu and not available on-line, so you will just have to try your luck! They do love their Belgian beers though, so expect to find one or two.
Patio Quite a small patio, but it’s south facing, so it gets plenty of sun. An excellent place for brunch—you might just want to have brunch run into lupper and spend the whole day quaffing Belgian beers in the sunshine.

Falconetti’s East Side Grill
1812 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
604.251.7287
Web falconettis.com
Facebook Falconettis
Twitter @Falconettis
Monday–Thursday 11:30 am – 1 am
Friday and Saturday 11:30 am – 2 am
Sunday 11:30 am – 1 am
Taps 10 taps of local craft beer.
Size of pour Sleeves and pitchers.
Bottles 18 bottles of craft and macro beers, plus Strongbow cider.
Session beers available Not currently, but there are several choices sitting right at 5%.
Patio It’s a second storey patio overlooking Commercial Drive—so it’s more of a ‘see’ than a ‘be seen’ kind of place. The heightened elevation means that you get the late afternoon and evening sun a little longer. Alas, from May through September they do not accept reservations for the patio.

Alibi Room
157 Alexander Street Vancouver
604.623.3383
Web alibi.ca
Twitter @alibiroom
Monday–Thursday 5 pm – 11:30 pm
Friday 5 pm – 12:30 am
Saturday 10 am – 12:30 am (brunch 10 am – 2:45 pm)
Sunday 10 am – 11:30 pm (brunch 10 am – 2:45 pm)
Taps 50, and if you’re lucky one of them is a ‘one-off’ keg Nigel managed to score, sourced from across BC and the US.
Size of pour 6 oz, 10 oz, 16-20 oz depending on ABV. Flight of four 6 oz tasters.
Bottles No.
Session beers available The menu is constantly rotating, so there just may be.
Patio Very small, but joined with garage doors that open up into the main area so it feels like you’re outside even if you aren’t quite. The Alibi is not in a bustling part of town, so the people watching is better inside the bar than on the street. But really, with a beer list as long and delicious as the Alibi’s, your attention will be riveted by what you are drinking.

16 places to drink craft beer in vancouver

chuck hallett (aka barley mowat) compiled a list of 16 places to drink craft beer in vancouver for vancouvereater.com in advance of vancouver craft beer week
i have shamelessy borrowed his list
and provide you with links to my reviews of most of these places
(which were published in the bc craft beer news over the past year)
you know, just in case you haven’t actually been to all of these places
(which i would only find credible if you don’t actually live in vancouver)
and wanted to know allllll about them

33 Acres Brewing Company

Imagine a sleek Scandinavian Coffee House selling solidly produced sessional ales and lagers and you might have pictured 33 Acres. A sleek white-and-concrete interior kept immaculately clean makes you wonder whether or not you’ve slipped into an art gallery by mistake, then you realize that you have… The beer is the art. Highlights include Merckx (Saison) and Sunshine (French Blanche).

 

Rogue Kitchen & Wetbar

Some bars have great beers, some have a great view, but few are worth visiting simply for the room. Rogue is the exception to that rule. Lofty 30 foot ceilings and an ornate interior hark back to the days when the room was part of a train station. The excellent beer and well-executed American menu only add to the charm.

 

my review in the may/june 2014 bc craft beer news

Brassneck Brewery

The cosy, wood-lined tasting lounge is owner Nigel Springthorpe’s way of encouraging you to say “Well, okay, just one more” a few more times than you might otherwise. Since he also owns the Alibi Room, you could say that Nigel knows a thing or two about running a bar. Luckily, Brewmaster Conrad Gmoser also knows a thing or two about brewing beer. A constantly changing array of quality taps is backed by one or two regulars offering something for everyone. Definitely try Passive Aggressive (NW Pale Ale)

 

Tap & Barrel

Boasting not one, but two locations on Vancouver’s iconic seawall, Tap & Barrel might very well lay claim to the best patios in town on which to consume craft beer. The broad-not-deep selection of all-BC beer (and wine) on 20+ taps should have something for everyone. Expect a long wait on sunny weekends but there are worse places to hang out than the Sea Wall.

my review in the march/april 2014 bc craft beer news

Parallel 49 Brewing Co.

Such is the expansion in the local beer scene that P49 is both one of the older breweries on this list and only just recently celebrated its second birthday. A large welcoming tasting lounge lets you sample their regular lineup and several of the never-ending stream of oddities that burst forth from brewmaster Graham With’s imagination on a regular basis. There’s no kitchen, but food carts have a habit of showing up when you get hungry.

Portland Craft

You don’t have to travel all the way to Portland, Oregon to see what makes it the craft beer mecca of the world; Main Street’s Portland Craft brings the best of the US to Canada. 16 taps of American craft beer (and one or two locals for good balance) play off a menu that takes food cues from Portlandia (e.g. “Put A Bird On It (Fried chicken and waffles)). Portland Craft can get quite busy in the late evening on Fridays and Saturdays, so go early or call ahead.

 

Tangent Cafe

A recent addition to the BC craft beer scene, Tangent Cafe demonstrates that raw number of taps isn’t all you need to contend. Ten carefully curated taps offer up a mix of rare beers alongside their more mundane brethren. Pair with an East meets West Malaysian/Canadian menu.

my review in the november/december 2013 bc craft beer news

 
St. Augustine’s Craft Brew House & Kitchen

Perennial winner of the silver medal for Best Beer Bar in Vancouver, St Augustine’s actually boasts more taps than The Alibi Room and a similar lineup of rare ales. Its convenient location just off the Expo Skytrain makes this an ideal stop for an afternoon pint while out exploring Vancouver’s eastern fringes.

 

my review in the september/october 2013 bc craft beer news

Alibi Room

This is where craft beer in BC started. Back in 2006, owner Nigel Springthorpe converted a down-market after-work hangout for the city’s film industry set into a temple to All Things Beer. Boasting over 50 taps plus 3 permanent casks, if you’re looking for a rare beer in BC, this is where you’ll find it. Go early, as it can become crowded within an hour of the 5pm opening.

Steamworks Brewing Company

One of Vancouver’s original brewpubs, Steamworks has been serving up good beer at the corner of Cordova and Water since pawn shops were more common in the area than high-end boutiques. While most of the beer is no longer produced on site (Steamworks recently opened a massive brewery in neighbouring Burnaby), the recipes haven’t changed.

 

my review in the july/august 2013 bc craft beer news

 

also included in chuck’s list, but not yet reviewed by yours truly are:

both biercraft locations

bomber brewing

tap & barrel convention centre

and wildebeest

and storm brewing, which i won’t be reviewing until there’s a tasting room!

 

watch for my next list of reviews in the july/august 2014 bc craft beer news

where i list for you allll the best patios to sip great suds upon this summer

on the coast

my notes from last night’s on the coast beer column:

the perfect pour:

there really is a right way to pour beer!

 

first of all, the basics.

drink out of a glass, not a bottle or a can

and make sure the glass is clean – hand-washing and air drying are recommended (hand-washing to avoid soap or food residue from the dishwasher – also keeps any branding on the glass fresh longer – and air drying so you don’t get lint or grease from a dishtowel in the glass)

the quick answer to why drinking out of a glass is better than a bottle or a can is that you get to appreciate the appearance of the beer as well as the flavour and aromas.

also handy is the ability to control the amount of settled yeast sediment from a bottle-conditioned beer that ends up in your mouth – some styles of beer are all about including the yeast (like a hefeweisen), if you pour from the bottle into the glass you’ll mix the yeast in nicely. if you don’t like yeast, or are drinking a style that is better off leaving the yeast in the bottle, you can leave the bottom half inch or so of beer in the bottle as that’s where the yeast tends to hang out.

 

there are also a few myths about how to serve beer

pop quiz:

frosty mugs, good or evil?

a pour that causes lots of head, good or evil?

 

answers: frosty mugs are evil, pours that cause a thicker head are good

if you aren’t drinking at a craft beer establishment, those might be the exact opposite of what you’re being served

 

so why are frosty mugs evil? isn’t it nice to have cold beer?

cold being a relative term, yes it is nice to have a beer that is chilled. but not too cold! beer should be served cool, not cold. generally lagers at about 5-7C and ales at 10-12C, stouts and strong ales at 14-16C (see below for ratebeer.com‘s comprehensive list of all styles by suggested serving temperature).

a frosted glass makes the beer too cold to taste. when a beer is too cold all the flavours skip right past your taste buds instead of dancing on them! the aroma is kept down as well, meaning you can’t even rely on your nose to tell your taste buds what they’re missing. if you’re drinking good beer, you don’t want to lose out on any of the flavour and aroma.

also, who wants to have their beer watered down? that can happen with a frosty mug. so just say no to frosty mugs!

 

why would you want head on your beer? why not pour it gently out of the bottle so that there’s no head between you and that tasty beer?

again, its about flavours and aromas. if you pour your beer more vigorously you introduce oxygen into the beer and unleash the aromas. you also get rid of some of the carbon dioxide, which if it doesn’t leave the glass before you drink it, will end up in your belly and have to make its escape from there!

an ideal head is half an inch to an inch high

to get the right amount of head, begin pouring with the glass at a 45 degree angle. when the glass is just over half way full, tilt it to 90 degrees and continue filling. this second half of the pour should produce the head. if the beer you are pouring is a very carbonated one (like a hefeweisen) and you see a head form right away, keep the glass at 45 degrees and pour the rest of the beer gently into the glass. if you are pouring a lambic or other style with very little carbonation you should very quickly pour it into a glass at 90 degrees to get what little head you can out of it. its not rocket science, but it might take a few pours before you get the feel for when to move from the 45 degrees to the 90. so practice, practice, practice! pour lots of beer!

 

the guinness pour:

brewmaster fergal murray says its a ritual, its theatre, and should be done with reverance

there are six steps: one, use a dry, clean 20oz tulip shaped pint glass. two, hold glass at a 45 degree angle under the tap – but not touching the tap. three fill the glass up to the 3/4 mark. four, let it settle, the bubbles will form a creamy head. five fill up the glass and top it off. six, drink with your eyes, then your mouth.

 

alas, there isn’t time to get into which style of glassware fits with which style of beer, but if you’re dying to know, beeradvocate.com has quite a comprehensive list!

and for this week’s picks i give you dine out suggestions:

 

dine out vancouver runs until february 3rd

the donnelly group pubs are all offering an $18 three course dine out menu

(the bimini, the calling, cinema, hooker’s green, the new oxford, the butcher & bullock, the lamplighter and library square)

bitter tasting room also has a $18 three course menu

abigail’s party in kitsilano and tap & barrel at olympic village both have a $28 three course menu

both rogues, waterfront station and broadway, and steamworks have a $28 menu

the yaletown brewpub also weighs in with a $28 menu, and includes a beer pretzel on the appy course

 

on january 30th for $59 you can have dinner at rogue waterfront at 6 and go to the PUSH festival show ‘winners and losers’ at goldcorp centre for the arts at 8

 

tonight in kits and tomorrow night on main street at rocky mountain flatbread company you can attend a beer and pizza making night for $25. stanley park brewing is providing the beers. these events are fundraisers for tennyson elementary school.

 

from ratebeer.com:
Very cold (0-4C/32-39F): Any beer you don’t actually want to taste. Pale Lager, Malt Liquor, Canadian-style Golden Ale and Cream Ale, Low Alcohol, Canadian, American or Scandinavian-style Cider.
Cold (4-7C/39-45F): Hefeweizen, Kristalweizen, Kölsch, Premium Lager, Pilsner, Classic German Pilsner, Fruit Beer, brewpub-style Golden Ale, European Strong Lager, Berliner Weisse, Belgian White, American Dark Lager, sweetened Fruit Lambics and Gueuzes, Duvel-types
Cool (8-12C/45-54F): American Pale Ale, Amber Ale, California Common, Dunkelweizen, Sweet Stout, Stout, Dry Stout, Porter, English-style Golden Ale, unsweetened Fruit Lambics and Gueuzes, Faro, Belgian Ale, Bohemian Pilsner, Dunkel, Dortmunder/Helles, Vienna, Schwarzbier, Smoked, Altbier, Tripel, Irish Ale, French or Spanish-style Cider
Cellar (12-14C/54-57F): Bitter, Premium Bitter, Brown Ale, India Pale Ale, English Pale Ale, English Strong Ale, Old Ale, Saison, Unblended Lambic, Flemish Sour Ale, Bière de Garde, Baltic Porter, Abbey Dubbel, Belgian Strong Ale, Weizen Bock, Bock, Foreign Stout, Zwickel/Keller/Landbier, Scottish Ale, Scotch Ale, American Strong Ale, Mild, English-style Cider 
Warm (14-16C/57-61F): Barley Wine, Abt/Quadrupel, Imperial Stout, Imperial/Double IPA, Doppelbock, Eisbock, Mead

on the coast leftovers

my beer selections for this week’s beer column on cbc radio’s on the coast:

american brewing company’s breakaway ipa and caboose oatmeal stout

lazy boy brewing’s oktoberfest and ipa

diamond knot brewing’s brown ale and industrial ipa

all three are available in bottles at hastings, legacy and brewery creek liquor stores
the lazy boy and diamond knot are also available on rotating taps at the usual suspects like st. augustine’s, the alibi room and portland craft.  in fact, i had the industrial ipa at st. augustine’s last night!  they are also being poured at rogue waterfront, queen’s cross pub, fets bar & grill, biercraft and tangent cafe, among other places

like modern malt on facebook and you can keep up to date on where these fine beers are available!

#stoutday

its almost time for international stout day
november 8th

here’s what the beer wench, the founder of #ipaday, has to say about it

last year i asked marnie at rogue to do a beer pairing dinner featuring stouts
and did she ever come through for me!
this year…
well…
i haven’t done a damn thing about stout day
guess i’ll just have to go with raising a glass of stout that day

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

news

from parallel 49:
Our store front is officially open! Come down to grab some cold six packs or to fill your growler with delicious P49 draft beer!
(graham says he’ll be there tonight and growler fills are $10)

and from the soon-to-be-opened second rogue wetbar location:
Because we love craft beer so much we put in 30 taps at the new Rogue Kitchen & Wetbar Broadway!

i’ll be at the railway for cask tonight
no idea what tonight’s is
(the power of facebook and twitter is failing me right now…) UPDATE:  its cental city’s white tea and orange peel pale ale
but last week’s r&b red devil pale ale was delish!

pike brewing rogue dinner

on march 22nd i attended the pike brewing  dinner at rogue kitchen and wetbar.

the menu was fabulous as ever, the company convivial and the beers delicious!

the menu

charlie finkel began the evening with a talk on the history of craft beer

the highlight for me was when he compared the yellow beers of the big boys to spam, velveeta, wonderbread… and twinkies!

from there he moved to a lesson in malts and brewing

at first it was very interesting

but then, as it kept on going through the first couple of courses it became just too much

charles and rose ann finkel, steve case of pike

naughty nellie golden artisan ale

course one:
the naughty nellie is crisp and refreshing with mild fruity esters and soft malt character
it faired really nicely with the fruity and soft crab and apple
the arugula emulsion was almost too overpowering, but the toasted brioche was buttery goodness!

dungeness crab salad arugula emulsion, toasted brioche, green apple

course two:
tandem double ale which is rich, round and comples with flavors of fruit, freshly baked bread and teacle
it is a very bready beer in the belgian tradition, seasoned with coriander, which made for an excellent pairing with the coriander crusted pork belly

coriander crusted pork belly mango, crisp yam, malt gastrique

i had tuna in lieu of pork belly – the spicy sear on the outsdie paired really well with the beer

pescatarian option: spiced tuna tataki

course three:
kiltlifter scotch ruby ale which has layers of rich malt with subtle smokiness
smoke with smoke made for a great pairing
i skipped the mushrooms and gave away my ricotta gnudi, but hear that they went really well too

cedar smoked salmon ricotta gnudi, roasted mushroom, brown butter sauce

we got a bonus beer to sample!
the double trouble ipa – this nicely balanced beer was a very welcome addition to my meal!
8% and 80 ibus, it is not readily available yet, but will be available in canada eventually

we were supposed to get a sample of the post alley porter as well
but the mini keg the finkels brought was not pouring, alas

stout chocolate cookies make good googly eyes

course four:
xxxxx stout has a full bodied velvety malt texture with hints of chocolate licorice and espresso
we were given vanilla ice cream in a taster glass and encouraged to pour the stout over the ice cream and eat it on the stout chocolate cookies
it was a make your own float affair!
and an excellent pairing on which to end the evening

stout float french vanilla ice cream, stout chocolate cookies

in order to get the last vestiges out of the tall skinny glasses turn upside down and wait for gravity to do its thing!

pike swag for chef cory chapman and rogue staff

me and alison happy campers!

rogue women’s day pairing

usually i take photos of all the pairings at a rogue dinner
but alas, i only had my iphone with me and the lighting was atmospheric… so all you get are these two!

the lobster on cauliflower risotto

the diver scallop that melted in my mouth!

for more, see vancouverfoodster.com’s review

best pairings:

r&b lychee white ale with sea bream crudo – this would be a great summer beer

the lychee was not too sweet and went well with the brine of the fish

cannery scotch ale with smoked lamb loin (or for me, salmon)

the smokiness of the scotch ale went really well with the smoked salmon

townsite powtow porter with chocolate porter cake

i didn’t have the cake, but the malty porter paired very well with the mocha custard and glazed pecans

best beer:

crannog ales something hoppy – cascade hops and cardamom made for an amazing brew

other pairings:

big river rose hibiscus honey ale with contry ham (for me, tuna) and apple kimchi

tuna with rose did not pair so well

but the beer itself was quite nice and the tuna on pancake was to die for

gulf island heatherdale ale with honey glazed diver scallop

i wasn’t wild about the beer

but the scallop, the scallop was incredible!  apple and yam puree was great with it

and didn’t quite get where the heather and scallop would be going together…

crannog something hoppy with mushroom ravioli

as previously mentioned, the beer rocked!  the ravioli in broth, not so much

and not together

howe sound cascadian dark ale with massaman short rib (or for me, lobster)

the lobster was a little chewy, but very nice with the cauliflower risotto

i think the short rib probably paired well with a cda in ways that lobster just didn’t

liked them both separately

nelson oatmeal stout with oatmeal stout cookie

yes, they paired extremely well, but the cookie was huge and quite dense

and frankly after 7 other pairings i was less than attentive to the beer

so i suck, sue me!

the event:

mingler was a misnomer for this event

it was great to see all the brewers in attendance, but see them is all we were able to do

somehow i pictured an 8 plate mingler as being a standing up affair where the brewers introduced their beers, a rep from the kitchen described where they were going with the pairing and after tasting the pairing the rest of us wandered about discussing it with each other

but instead we were seated at several long tables and pretty much stuck in our seats as the pairings were brought to us one after the other

did i enjoy myself?

oh yes!

am i glad i went?

oh yes!

it didn’t turn out like i expected it to, but the food was yummy, the beers were fabulous and the company was lively

it was a great evening!

cask night

last night’s cask at the yaletown brewpub was their pale ale dry-hopped with cascades
and it was a good one!
rumour has it there’s a stout cask coming up…

because it was martini night (and that’s not my scene)
we left yaletown for rogue wetbar and more beer
because we follow rogue on twitter we got to try one of their new beer cocktails for free!
i love free!
and i love a bellini, so i went for the beerlini
pyramid apricot beer with bellini slush
it makes for a murky drink, but damn, its delicious!

then i had to have a pint of the hopworks abominable winter ale because they still had some available at rogue as their rotating tap
guess it isn’t officially spring for a couple more days…