beer tasting 2009

hahahaha
just found these notes from a beer tasting two years ago
january 29, 2009
with someone i don’t even speak to any more…

Beer tasting

Stella Jan 29
Satan Gold

J liked it. Very crisp. Lots of apple smell
R didn’t like it and found it not good lambic-like. Likes the label
8% alcohol
Ingredients: water barley malt wheat malt hops yeast
Brewed by brewery De Block
http://www.satanbeer.com/
Best served: between 8 and 10 degrees c
Stellas says: pours a blondish yellow. The nose has notes of apples, subtle note of banana and malts. Almost similar to a lambic. Comes across the palete As slighty biter with a mild spice.

Piraat
10.5 %
Contains barley malt
best served between 7 and 11 c
it’s brewed by brewery van steenberge
http://www.vansteenveege.com/

reb likes the ship on the label. Literally translates the label as highly fermented strong beer. Refermented in bottle. She enjoys the hops but doesn’t like whatever they are with. Reb wonders if it’s tropical fruit cause she doesn’t like tropical fruit. She doesn’t hate it but not a fan.
j finds only one burst of flavor and then it’s done. Nice and crisp. I like it.
stellas says: a wickdly rich and rounded brew that packs a mighty punch. The powerful glow builds up from inside. Deep golden with a subtle haze. Lots of hops and malt. Mild sweetness. Reminiscent of bread dough,spices and tropical fruits.

what’s in a name?

a rose by any other name smells as sweet
and attracts just as many aphids
but i’m just not down with stella’s new name
biercraft???
geesh!

its a bummer they had to change their name
copyright and litigiousness and all that rot sucks
but if you gotta change your name the least you could do is pick a good one
biercraft???
really?

beer snobbery

i am turning into quite the beer snob!
drinking craft beer has made me not want to drink anything but the best
which is making it hard to visit many of my old haunts
and me less likely to be enthusiastic about trying some new places
their beer lists just aren’t inspiring

so, my snobbery aside, how hard is it to bring in one or two local craft brews?
it shouldn’t be that hard…
and it would please me to no end!

i’m tired of granville island and okanagan springs being my only two “local” choices
and corona and stella being the “imports”

sadly, this critique extends to several pubs who pride themselves on having several taps as well
but how inspiring is a choice of local taps that only include granville island, big rock, sleeman, okanagan springs and keith’s? 
i.e. the charlatan:  “Located in the heart of Vancouver’s Commercial Drive, The Charlatan, is the areas best Gastro-Pub. Offering 15 fresh tap beers with 12 imported brews, its the best place to enjoy the perfect pint.”
i beg to differ!
okay, okay, they also carry whistler, but only the weissbier, and i don’t love that… cuz i’m a picky-pants as well as a snob!
and for imports they have the lovely, but entirely uninspiring guinness, kilkenny, stella and strongbow
a bit more fun are their belgians (fruili and delerium tremens) but again, my picky-pants don’t love the belgians…
okay, okay and i guess i should try the austrian stiegl before i knock it…

but dammit!  i love the food there
and at brown’s
and several other places
but i want more of a beer menu!
i want to be inspired every time i enter a pub

so yes, i am a beer snob
and i’m okay with that

stella’s snake bite

went to stella’s on cambie street the other night
and because i’m not the biggest fan of the belgian beers, i had another snakebite concoction

i teamed the phillips ipa with strongbow
i was a little worried that the hops and cider would fight each other rather than compliment each other, but i needn’t have worried – it was delicious!
the hops and the citrus were made for each other
it was refreshing and bracing and i wish i’d thought of it years ago!

so far, this is the leader in my ultimate snake bite search