stackhouse

vcbw

vcbw, quickly in a few facebook photos:

voodoo donut at portland craft opening

driftwood’s fat tug t-shirts (hehehehehe)

ready to rock out at the hop head banger’s ball in my
fabulous driftwood son of the morning concert shirt

hoppapalooza (before we got too blurry)

at the hop head banger’s ball

at the dix reunion at stackhouse

a couple of my fave beer geeks at the final tasting room

vcbw

and just like that, vancouver craft beer week is over
i think my liver is happy
and possibly my neglected family
but i’m going to miss it

i know i’m lucky that we have such a vibrant craft beer community in vancouver
and there are events every day of the week that i can go to
but there’s just something about a craft beer festival that amps it all up several notches
(perhaps even to 11)

highlights?
must i pick just one?
no, i cannot possibly do that

highlight of ticketed events – has to be hoppapalooza again this year
always a good time, nigel just keeps sourcing more fabulous brews for this event
and capping the number of tickets sold meant many disappointed people, but for those of us lucky enough to get tickets, it was nice to move freely about the space and be served quickly
oh the beers!
i cannot say enough about the casks and kegs of ambrosia that we imbibed!
41 of them i tried, forty-one
fingers crossed that my luck will hold out and i’ll be one of the chosen people again next year

highlight #1 of non-ticketed events – the dix reunion at stackhouse
packedhouse would have been a more apt name! there was barely room for the poor servers to squeeze through with everyone’s cask and food orders
it was like a high school reunion without the awkwardness of forgetting people’s names
the casks were delicious
the mood was jovial
and the smiles were cheek-cracking
brilliant idea whoever came up with that one!

highlight #2 of non-ticketed events – the soft opening of portland craft
not quite finished its renovations, portland craft (the pub) opened its doors with 16 taps of portland (the city) brews, a price-point menu and freshly imported voodoo donuts
it was a packed house with a line up that waxed and waned but did not disappear all night long
again, the mood was jovial
there were a few hiccups, it was an opening night afterall
but no one i talked to had anything but high praise for the endeavour and its execution
huzzah!
(and who doesn’t like a portland brew or six???)

which leads me to query… is portland craft the next dix?

stackhouse burger bar on granville street in vancouver is a beautiful little restaurant and bar!

the service leaves a little to be desired
and i’m not sure about their deep-fried pickles offered with a groupon deal of two taster beers for $6
but what the heck, it was only $6!

the menu looks divine, if a touch pricey – burger heaven!
the beer list is small, but there are a couple of gems on there:

i’m interested to see how this place does
friends want to go back for the kobe burger
i’ll probably tag along to see what kind of a crowd stops by
we were there on a wednesday right after work and had the place to ourselves until about 5:45…