i’m ba-ack!

i’m back from my amazing week in tofino

quickly:
i spent an awful lot of time at tofino brewing filling my growlers with hoppin’ cretin ipa and reign in blonde and tuff session
(and then drinking them)
on the way home we stopped overnight in victoria
we stayed at swans, drank at garrick’s head pub (10 new taps!!)
where i had lighthouse 15th anniversary amber ale, elysian men’s room red and driftwood fat tug

next morning we got growler fills at lighthouse (switchback) and driftwood (fat tug)
(such incredibly friendly staff at both places),
stopped in at spinnakers for a pint,
and came home in time for me to not be on cbc radio on tuesday
due to a mix-up it just didn’t happen
i apologize if you tuned in and were disappointed
i was most disappointed not to talk extreme beers
silver-lining, i have my topic all ready for september 3rd

tuesday evening i attended camra vancouver’s hops 101 class at steamworks
and got to try the brand spanking new parallel 49 crane kick pilsner (a refreshingly hoppy pilsner) and snap, crackle, hop imperial ipa (those new zealand hops sure pack a fruity punch) and loved them both
(note to self:  buy several bottles of each asap)
after which i went to the alibi room
where i was too late for the driftwood bird of prey
and did not get my name picked for one of the 40 zwanze day tickets
harumph!

last night i finally made it over to 33 acres to check out their tasting room
its a really beautiful space
and the beers are great too!
33 acres of ocean – hoppy pale ale
33 acres of life – california common
33 acres of sunshine – a french saison – this seasonal won’t last much longer, so if you haven’t had it yet, you’d better get on it
then to the cascade room for some gigantic high fidelity, a hoppy golden ale that packs quite a whallop of abv
i’m actually looking forward to a night off from beer tonight
my poor body needs a little rest and regeneration

legacy liquor store

new and exciting beers at legacy liquor store in vancouver:

Double Trouble Brewing Hops & Robbers IPA – $5.60

Two Ontarians had a dream and this is the result: a clear straw-coloured IPA with notes of pine, herbs and tropical fruits on the nose with more of the same on the palate. Ringing in at 50 IBU’s, this is a true east coast treasure.

HaandBryggeriet ‘Norwegian Wood’ – $8.95

This little treat comes to you all the way from Norway. Brewed in traditional Norwegian style, this brew boasts smokiness all the way through with a touch of juniper for a little pep.

Swans Legacy Ale – $7.25

Brewed to commemorate the legacy of Michael Williams and his ongoing support of the arts and Marine Sciences at UVic, this smooth, complex barley wine-style ale has aromas of orange peel, biscuits and molasses with lots of malt to back it up.

 

 

i love the hops and robbers – best part of my trip to onterrible was getting to drink it!  and its only 50 ibus… crazy!

looking very much forward to the arrival of their new prison break pilsner in vancouver as well

legacy liquor store

new and exciting beers at legacy liquor store
(aka your last minute shopping destination!!)

St. Ambroise Stout Extra Forte

More of what you love, but in a Extra Strong Stout and aged in Bourbon Wood…Mmmm

Swans Black Swan Imperial Stout

Yes you guessed it, another Imperial Stout aged in oak. This local brewery is putting out some great bottlings, come try this special one off today.

Swans Seven Swans A Swimming

“Tis the Saison” – Unfiltered, with the addition of raisins and spice, you know this seasonal is gonna be a beauty!

legacy liquor store

new and exciting beers at legacy liquor store in vancouver:

Russel Brewing Nectar of the Gods – $11.55

Matured in Tennessee Whiskey barrels for over four months this Wheat Wine Ale delivers multiple layers of flavour complexity. Comprised of 50% What Malt plus a combination of Pilsner and Munich Malts.
Limited Edition, do not miss out!
Swan’s Pumpkin Ale – $6.95

A fantastic brewery from Victoria, BC, Swans has produced a Pumpkin Ale to stand up to the other top-hitters around town. A simple recipe for a clean, flavourful beer: Water, Malted Barley, Hops, Yeast, Pumpkin and Spices.

Porterhouse Brewing Company Hop Head Beyond the Pale – $3.55

A fulsome, winsome strong ale. A deep copper tinged brew for the true aficionado, longer fermentation and thrice hopping bring about a complex soft bitterness allied to a malt induced sweetness with the characteristic oily Fuggles hop perfume. Not just for students. Once “stuffed” savour the flavour of a glass as a digestif… True “Aroma-therapy”.

bc craft beer month

better late than never, here are some of my photos from the proclamation of bc craft beer month, held september 30th at steamworks:

bob mcrae – minister of agriculture, lundy dale – president of camra bc, and terry lake – minister of the environment, with the proclamation

lundy introducing the minister

bloggers, writers, brewers and john mitchell

eli – owner of steamworks, bob mcrae, lundy dale and john mitchell, with the proclamation

 

fabulous examples of bc’s craft beer



sloppy seconds

sloppy seconds, hoppy seconds, spring hop
whatever the heck it officially ended up being called
the camra members-only hopfest at the alibi room on monday night was lots of fun

the goal of the evening was to give members who missed out on tickets for hoppapalooza to try the hoppy casks and kegs leftover from hoppapalooza
so for $20 members bought themselves entry to the alibi room, a burger dinner and a pint of cask not tapped at hoppapalooza
after that pints and sleeves were on at regular price, less 10%

as i lamented in a previous post, i shoulda had half pours at hoppapalooza so that i could have made it furher through the list since there was no way i was going to finish the list at $5 sleeves

i began with the included pint of swan’s scotch ale
which was uber-sedimenty and too boozey for me
i made a concerted effort, but i just couldn’t finish the whole pint

then my new friend from edmonton bought me a pint of north coast’s acme ipa
which had an amazing nose and quite an edge to it, i’m a fan

then i moved into sleeves and had a bear’s hop rod rye, conrad’s pilsner and the ninkasi believer double red ale (to make sure i still liked it, which i did)
as it was just after 10:00 by this point i passed on finishing the sleeve of fat tug that jason bought for me
jen seemed pretty pleased to take it off my hands
and i made it to bed before 11

the social was a great opportunity to chat up a storm with brewers and appreciators alike
and trade war stories from the first three days of vancouver craft beer week
and i’m impressed that i managed to get out of there reasonably sober!
i felt like a million dollars on tuesday morning!

thanks very much to the alibi for accommodating my stupid dietary restrictions
(there were mushrooms in the veggie burger, so they very kindly grilled me some tomatoes to use on my bun instead)
and providing such great salads and condiments
the coleslaw in particular was divine!

tasting notes

some random tasting notes from the weeks passed

had the swans coconut porter with anna
definitely not a session beer
that first sip is way too sweet
but i like the coconut aftertaste
quite an interesting little brew…
but i feel like now that i’ve tried it, i won’t be going there again

also with anna i tried the noire de chambly by unibroue
i don’t like unibroue as they use belgian yeast, but i thought i’d try the dark since it was on offer
quite carbonated
and yes, it is dark
but its still belgiany and that makes it unenjoyable to me

at the alibi on november 27th i had the opportunity to taste dave varga’s dry-hopped indian arm ipa from the cask
it was full of dry-hop floaties, which look so pretty when the light hits them
quite a pale golden colour
amazing hop aroma and flavour
so good i wanted a second…
but instead moved on to the howe sound gathering storm
which i’ve said before in previous posts that i do love
had i known i’d be drinking so much of it these days though, i probably would have gone for the second glass of the ipa!

ipa off

at beernesday last week i decided to begin my evening with a pint of the howe sound gathering storm
it seemed appropriate since i’d had the keg at the alibi, the cask at the railway…
why not the keg at st. augustine’s?
and i would have had the cask again at winterfest, but it was acting up by the time i got around to it
darned dry hops getting in the spout!
i do like this brew and suggest that if you get a chance to try it before its all gone that you do so!

after that, i was at a loss of what to try next
then i saw that there were 8 ipas on the menu
there are 4 glasses in a taster
by this point i was still able to do good math and figured out that if i had two samplers
i could fit all the ipas into a head to head ipa off!
to be fair, i went with the first four on the menu
then the second four on the menu
saving a sip or two from the winner of round 1 to go against the winner of round 2
however, that’s where the science stopped and the subjectivity fully took over!

round one:
lost coast indica ipa
swans extra ipa
hopworks ipa
russell ip’eh

round two:
tree hop head ipa
central city red racer ipa
driftwood fat tug ipa
storm hurricane ipa

the indica is nicely balanced but still hoppy enough for me to love
next to the resinous and hoptasticness of the swans and hopworks though it faded a little away
and the poor russell was nowhere to be found
boy oh boy, i do love me the resinous hops, and lots of them
winner of round one, the hopworks!

the hop head is hoppy and yes, full-bodied
however, not the hop star that the central city is
how can anything go up against the red racer and come out ahead on hoppiness?
the fat tug came out a little sorry next to the red racer
and the further i got into it the more the melon notes came out for me
unfortunately that is not a good thing in my book
the storm is a lovely brew, but again, next to the uber-hoppiness of some of the others it tasted more like a pilsner
don’t get me wrong, i love a pilsner, but this was an ipa off
winner of round two, the red racer!

then i put the red racer and hopworks against each other
and i think my poor taste buds were completely fried by that point
i just couldn’t find a winner out of the two
i declare a tie!

now, nothing said above should in any way be considered as me saying i don’t like any of the ipas tasted
i like them all
and if i’m just drinking one of them in seclusion from the others am always very, very happy with them
i just like to put them head to head sometimes and see where they all land!
subjectivity at its best!

st. augustine’s

tasting notes back from my july 14th visit to st. augustine’s…
odds aren’t good that all of these will still be on the menu…

quote of the evening is that we “came for the basil, stayed for the huckleberry”

in my sampler were:
fernie brewing’s what the huck huckleberry wheat
storm brewing’s basil ipa
old yale brewing co pale ale
swans brew pub arctic ale

the huckleberry wheat was cloudy, but not overly yeasty.
there were but a touch of huckleberries blended with the wheat – smooth, creamy, crisp finish.
most delightful

the basil ipa was phenomenal
not a session beer, but omg it would pair with so many foods!
amazing basil nose, in an ipa
freaking delightful
i want this all year long
i am not happy that it is a limited edition dammit!

the old yale pale ale is very much a pale ale
would be a great session beer
crisp finish
i like it!  i can see why it got voted canada’s best pale ale.

the arctic ale is a “mild-tasting, cold, canadian-style light ale”
very drinkable
seems non-descript next to the flavoury beers i put it next to, but i think there’s substance there

amanda had a fruity sampler (natch)
she went with the huckleberry and the basil
tin whistle peaches n cream okanagan fruit ale
lost coast tangerine wheat ale

she liked the basil ipa and the huckleberry wheat
which is not surprising for the huckleberry, but she liked an ipa!! an ipa!
she found the peaches and cream had a very peach nose, only a little cloudy, a bit cidery, crisp and refreshing
(and found that going from the peaches and cream to the tangerine was like going from fruit to candy… but not in a sweet way necessarily, more like fuzzy peach gummies)
the tangerine was delightful as aways and is her current favourite

shockingly, bridget had a backhand of god
but i also convinced her to try the bear republic hop rod rye
which she enjoyed
it was really quite sedimenty (with hops not yeast), nice dark caramel head
well balanced and delicious
oh, and the label is fabulous!

guest post

and now for the first guest post on my blog!

this one is from the lovely and talented amanda:

Swans Buckerfield’s Brewery Berry Ale:


7%. Not extremely cloudy, unfiltered: contains malted barley, malted wheat, raspberries, hops and yeast. Brewed in Victoria, Vancouver Island. 


A mid amber colour or perhaps the colouring of the raspberries??? When poured, doesn’t have the biggest head, light and bubbly and light in carbonation. At 7% the label doesn’t lie when it says strong beer… But not too strong. Has a very berry hay taste at first…. 

Very light bodied and fresh on the palate. The raspberry flavour really kicks in as an after taste. Delightful and delish…. raspberries being my favourite of the berries, I find it quite the flavoursome treat! 

The hops are ever so slight, a pleasure to drink. One wee glass would be sufficient… Not a sessioner. I think the berry would become too over powering – more citrus notes are needed!