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.

red truck blueberry

the drinking forces came together at st. augustine’s last evening with a primary and a secondary goal, both of which were achieved.

first on the agenda was to sample red truck’s limited purple haze blueberry blonde ale.  this was extremely easy to accomplish, but we managed to do it with great aplomb, style and delight.

st. augustine’s describes it as:  “6.0%  Deep purple in colour with a pinkish head, light blueberry aroma and tartness plus a dry finish.”

they didn’t lie.  it was all that, and all four of us enjoyed it.  at least initially.  bridget only got half way down her sampler glass before she tapped out.  alison and i got all the way through our samples but felt that perhaps that was quite enough blueberry goodness for us.  not truly surprising as not a one of us actually likes wheat beers/blondes.  amanda, wonderful counterpoint to our wheat hating ways, loved it of course.  it was right up her alley.  but she too declined to have a whole pint of it.

second on the agenda was to share and catch up and enjoy the conviviality of good friends having a few drinks.  also achieved with great ease, aplomb and delight.  damn, we’re good!

amanda rounded out her sampler with the lost coast tangerine wheat ale, pyramid audacious apricot (of course) and central city’s raspberry wheat ale.  she may have found a new favourite to challenge her usual audacious apricot love – the tangerine.  she says:  “a delish’ taste, the aroma of the tangerine – prior to a sip – sucks you in.  brings to memory a cold one, back in south africa and grabbing a fresh tangerine off the tree – a delightful surprise, a competitor to audacious apricot.”

amanda also tried the merridale estate cidery house cider.  st. augustine’s says “6.9%  Light, dry and effervescent and made with locally grown apples.”  amanda says:  “a real organic taste – home grown!  the essence of crab apples and cinammon touch the nose… aftertaste is very natural apple taste… the fresh off the tree, crunch taste.  a tad bit sweet, not as dry as they profess it to be, but delightful.  only a 1 pint for this fruit cake.”

i sipped amanda’s cider, and quite enjoyed it, but did not venture to try it in a snake bite.  i am falling down in my challenge to myself to find the ultimate snake bite.  fortunately i plan to live for at least another 50 years, so i have plenty of time to meet the challenge.

more on everyone else’s samplers and pint choices later!

red truck blueberry

newsflash from red truck brewery:

“The Blueberry is here!!! Check for it at the Alibi Room, The Village Taphouse, The Sunset Grill, The Flying Tiger and St.Augustines, Central Bistro and Mis Trucos this week…!!!!!!”

wondering where in my week i can fit in a quick trip to any of the above…  justin, amanda, bridget – any of you free on wednesday evening???

st. augustine’s

had many a beer with the regular suspects at st. augustine’s the other night.

still love how many taps they have, and all the delightful craft beers to choose from
but… and you knew there had to be a but!  the service there is not up to snuff.  yes, we were a larger group, and there were several other large groups there, but i still feel that if you have the capacity to seat all of us, you should have the staff available to serve all of us in a timely fashion.  jackie’s food came before her beer for crying out loud!

there was a run on sampler glasses later in the night and this adversely affected how quickly the beers were coming.  but even before the glass shortage there was slow service on the beer front.  shame, really.

will i go back?  of course i will!  i love the choice, the sampler option and the food.
i just want faster service, that’s all!

i went with two samplers to try all the beers i hadn’t yet tasted, and then switched to pints of the fabulously amazing and always satisfying Central City Red Racer ESB.  ambrosia, i tell you, ambrosia.

my first sampler:

Storm Brewing Precipitation Pilsner:  5%, north german style with light body, saaz hops, dry, refreshing, not overwhelming, a good hot day session beer.

Big Rock Brewing Rock Creek Cider:  5.5%, apples and pears plus vanilla and cinnamon. too sweet and fruity for me to be drinking with beer.  shoulda had it on its own…

Lost Coast Brewery Indica IPA:  6.5% out of eureka CA, hoppy with columbus, willamette and centennial hops.  reminds me of the Red Racer IPA, which is a mighty fine beer.  so gosh darn it, i liked it, i really liked it and told everyone else to drink it!

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA:  6% out of delaware. sixty hop additions over sixty minutes sounds like it would be far too hoppy, but its not totally overwhelming.  i could easily make it a session beer.  yummy.

since they were low on glasses, i ordered a pint and my second sampler together expecting that i’d be done the pint before the sampler came.  curses, foiled again!  they came together.  and because there was a mix up in my sampler, i ended up with two extra samples as well.  holy stash of beer batman.  bridget was jealous!

Dix BrewPub Cleveland Steamer:  4.8% hybrid brew using lager yeast at the higher temperatures usually reserved for ales, amber, medium, malty, good balance, mildly fruity and hoppy bitter – definitely drinkable, but perhaps too carbonated and too much going on, i couldn’t make up my mind if i liked it or not

St. Augustine’s Pilsner:  5%, malt and lemon zest, spicy hops with crisp finish.  not loved by anyone who tried it, but that might be because we were trying so many other extreme tastes… bridget thought it tasted like cracked canoe…

Granville Island Brewing Limited Release Ginger:  5%.  i tried it because i’d loved the steamworks one so much.  definitely gingery, but more on the fake flavour side… wouldn’t drink a whole pint of it.

Ginger Stout:  wasn’t on the menu, but when it was offered i jumped at the chance to try it.  loved the first few sips, so gingery and yummy.  but after the first two sips it started to be too much.  just toooooo gingery and rather than settling the stomach it started to upset it.  too much.

so much fun trying all sorts of new beers… finding new faves, comparing and contrasting and debating with my buddies… good times!!

other beers enjoyed by my buddies:  everyone loves the Pyramid Audacious Apricot, Crannog’s Backhand of God thrills bridget, Russell’s Lemon Wheat is a pleaser and i can’t remember whose raspberry it is they have on tap right now, but it was popular as well.

vancouver craft beer week

here we are, several days into the inaugural Vancouver Craft Beer Week and i have yet to attend an official event.

why, you might ask, why?

tight pursestrings would be the easy answer.  there are so many fabulous sounding events, but each one comes with a price tag that until i win the lottery, i just can’t justify paying.

i would have been willing to part with cashola (or more realistically, creditcardola) for more events, but for my great fear of showing up at a beer and food pairing event that tries to feed me only meat.  you see, i’m a lacto-ovo-pescatarian (and no, i don’t need medication for that) which as far as vegetarianism goes leaves me on the more flexible side of food restrictions (eggs, dairy, fish and seafood are all on my “eat it” list), which is good…. but not good enough to take the risk that some of the food on offer will fall into the above categories.

so what? you may be asking, so what?  well, the menus for the craft beer and food pairing events aren’t listed on the website (except for the Homegrown Heroes Cask Dinner at The Corner Suite Bistro De Luxe).  being the proactive sort, i phoned two of the restaurants of events not yet sold out to ask if they could tell me what the menus would be.  granted i called them both during evening hours when they likely had more pressing things to do than answer their phones, but both had answering machines which invited me to leave a message that they would promptly respond to.  i left detailed messages of what i wanted to know, and why, and my contact information.

that was last week.  never did hear back from either of them and both events are now sold out.  shall i name names?  yes, i think i shall.  it was the alibi room and hapa izakaya.  i’m very disappointed that they didn’t take the time to return my calls – even if it was just to tell me that they didn’t yet have menu details.  boo, i say, boo!

so, it looks like my first vancouver craft beer week event will be the four beers and a funeral on saturday, bravely followed by the craft beer tasting at the edgewater casino later that evening (note to self: pace yourself).  six whole days after the festivities began.  i am bereft.  i wanted to be a part of the hoopla of a whole week devoted to craft beer.  surrounded by others who love beer like i love beer, or possibly even more.

sure, i could be attending non-ticketed events, of which there are several.  but i’m feeling petulant.  and, frankly the emphasis on beerbrats at the main and broadway hot spots is kind of a turn-off.  i’d rather whine.

i do plan to stop in at st. augustine’s tonight for a pick me up after i view the girl with the dragon tattoo at the van east cinema, in an effort to feel craft beery.  i might even hit waazubee tomorrow night for good and evil if there are still tickets, cuz they are offering beer and appys for $30.  appys tend to be a safely mixed lot including things i can eat… and if not, its only $30 as opposed to the $70 some dinners were listed at.  i believe sunday brunch at the whip is the way i am going to bid adieu to this week.  so i’m not totally going to cut off my nose to spite my face.  but i’m still gonna whine and possibly stamp my feet once or twice.

next year i need to be more in the know about this event so i can be a bigger part of it all, perhaps even volunteer myself to be involved and work to get some veggie-friendly options included.  until then i shall down my sorrows in delicious craft beers.  that’ll show them!

St. Augustine’s

patron saint of beer, and venue for my birthday bash just past!

located on commercial drive, this spacious beer and sports bar features more than 40 taps – yes more than 40!  most of those 40 are their staple offerings, but they do have a list of seasonal offerings and bottled beer too.

they were very able to accommodate a large group of us (any night but canucks or fight night) and by all accounts the burgers are to die for (my vegetarianism gets in the way of me personally confirming that fact).  monday nights are cask nights, and every night they offer tasters of four beers for $8.

love the direction they are taking their decor (this is a mash tun isn’t it?)

on the downside, service was not as quick as one might have hoped and the bathrooms are not fabulous.  otherwise, you better believe i’m recommending the place!  and going to make it my regular watering hole.

bring on the casks, bring on the good times!