Category: victoria

new releases

from r&b brewing:

 
 

 

R &B Brewing NEW RELEASES Updates

                                        
R&B & the BC-SPCA = SPCale
R&B Brewing and the BC-SPCA have joined forces this winter in a fun way to raise funds in protecting domestic, farm and wild animals in need.

SPCALE is a limited edition brew that will be released in mid December. This rauchweissen ale is an unfiltered,delicately smoked wheat beer with a 4.2% abv and 12 IBU’s.

A portion of the proceeds of this 650 ml bottled beer will be donated to the BC-SPCA. Many thanks to Hops Connect, Richards Packaging and United Labels for their contribution to this great cause.

The SPCALE will be arriving on the shelves of your favourite private retail liquor stores  throughout the Vancouver area just in time for the holiday season. It will also be available for a limited time in the new year  at our upgraded R&B growler station.

from stanley park brewing:
 
Introducing This Winter’s Conversation Starter
Stanley Park Brewing launches their flavourful new ICE BREAKER Winter Ale
 
Vancouver, BC – Winter is a time for friends, family and the many occasions that bring us all together. So get comfortable, share a beer and get the conversation started with a new ICE BREAKER; the flavourful new Winter Ale from Stanley Park Brewing. This porter style specialty ale is the perfect partner to cozy up with throughout the season.
“Ice Breaker is a smooth and flavourful seasonal ale with tasteful notes of cherry and dark chocolate,” shares Brewmaster Todd Fowler. “We focused on using the right ingredients to not only craft a porter with rich colour and texture, but also having the right balance of specialty malts and alcohol that would best allow those unmistakable ‘black forest’ flavour characteristics to break through.”
 
This seasonal brew pairs well with many holiday foods including appetizers such as chartreuse plates with gouda, mascarpone and gruyere cheeses, a roasted pork tenderloin entree or pair it with dark cocoa chocolate or a New York cheesecake for dessert. You can also enjoy one (or a couple) on its own, as this porter is uniquely sessionable, with a medium body and easy to enjoy mouthfeel with low bitterness.
Wind down and warm up this winter and grab some bottles to share, available in 6-packs and on tap across British Columbia and Alberta. Check out the Stanley Park Interactive Map to find Stanley Park Brewing beers close to you. 
For more information, visit www.stanleyparkbrewery.ca or follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/stanleyparkbrew, Twitter @stanleyparkbrew, and Instagram @stanleyparkbrew.

and a new brewery in victoria:

Victoria’s Newest Craft Brewery Opening December 19th

Victoria, British Columbia December

11th, 2014

Just in time for Christmas, Category 12 Brewing will open its doors and its taps for all Victoria craft beer fans to revel in.

Category 12 Brewing is located on Keating Cross Rd. in Central Saanich and will be the only brewery on the Saanich Peninsula. The brewery will have a tasting room where people can come in to buy growlers (refillable glass jugs of fresh draught beer), 650 mL bottles or have a taste of the brewery’s offerings.

Michael and Karen Kuzyk are the founders and operators of Category 12 Brewing. Michael has a PhD in Microbiology and Biochemistry from UVic, practising as a scientist for his whole professional career up until this point. “I started homebrewing during grad studies first as a necessity, but it quickly became a passion of mine. I wanted to turn my passion into my full time occupation so I could really explore the creativity of industrial fermentation and, most importantly, share it with others!”

Michael plans to be creating mostly Belgian influenced and PacificNorthwest style beers. The brewery is launching with a Saison and a Black IPA. The Saison and a Pale Ale (coming by mid January) will become the year round beers for Category 12 and they plan to have two other seasonal styles available at all times. “We wanted to make it clear that we are here to make creative styles and experiment. We have to stand out in a competitive market. I think craft beer fans will immediately understand what we are trying to accomplish when they taste our first two beers.”

The logo and branding of Category 12 is derived from Michael’s science background, playing on the dark and taboo side of brewing and microbiology. The tagline says it all: “Welcome to the Lab”.
 
For more information about Category 12 Brewing, please visit;

 

 

new releases

from deschutes brewery:

 
Red Chair NWPA | Somewhere in between a big IPA and a well balanced Pale Ale, this seasonal, hop-forward Northwest Pale Ale packs a citrus punch. Don’t wait around or you’ll miss the most thrilling ride of the winter. Ride the red chair.


 
Hop Henge Experimental IPA | Our annual experiment in IBU escalation. New hop processes, experimental hops and boat loads of Millennium, Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook hops result in massive aromas and flavors.      

 

The Dissident | Pucker up! This Flanders-style sour brown ale is hardly ordinary. With tart pie cherries and Brettanomyces, this barrel-aged beer is extraordinary. December 12th release.

 
AltBitter Collaboration with Widmer Brother’s Brewing |  To celebrate Widmer’s 30th Anniversary, they created a beer inspired by two classic favorites: our Bachelor Bitter and their Altbier. Try the 2 barrel-aged component beers and the final AltBitter on December 15th. 

 

from phillips brewing:
December 1st, 2014: Coffee stouts have always held a  special place in our hearts as one of the three original Phillips brews, and this year’s Imperial version–brewed in collaboration with our  friends at 2% Jazz Coffee Co.–is an 8% 650mL double shot!

Pouring a deep black earth colour with a medium tan head, this beer is brewed with freshly roasted coffee beans and then finished with a second coffee addition just prior to packaging.  The flavour is a java-laden journey featuring bright coffee aromas and dry roasted flavours accented with hints of dark chocolate.  Methodically crafted with only the best local coffee, this one-eyed Jackal is no wildcard.

Available at finer craft-friendly private liquor stores as well as BC Liquor Stores for a limited time only.

If you’d like to taste the magic that can happen when you combine roasted coffee beans with malted barley, we’d like to to invite you to pop by the brewery on December 4th from 4-6 for a special draft tasting.
   
 

from mt. begbie brewing:
 
Mt. Begbie Brewing Company Seasonal Release
 
 
Mt. Begbie Brewery is located in beautiful Revelstoke, a small town with a rich history, in the heart of British Columbia’s spectacular Columbia mountain range.

The company is named after Mt. Begbie, a majestic glacial mountain that dominates the Revelstoke skyline.

In turn, the mountain is named after Matthew “Hanging Judge” Begbie, a colourful character from Revelstoke’s early history, who probably would have benefitted from a sip of Mt. Begbie’s soothing ales before rendering his judgements. Read more about the brewery. 

 
BOB’S YOUR DUNKEL
 
          Bob's Your Dunkel      

 
Limited quantities, only available for Private Stores.
 
Brewed in the Dunkelweizen tradition, this is a rich, unfiltered wheat beer (Weissbier) loaded with chocolate and Munich malts, that displays the true banana and clove characteristics of a well done dunkel. Sure to warm your winter nights! 
 
 
 
Style: Dunkelweizen
Alc./Vol: 8.0%
12 x 650ml
Price: $5.10 /bottle
SKU# 518753

  
 
 

new beers from phillips

geesh, those guys over at phillips brewing just never stop!

 

Cherry Hieter Smoked Cherry Ale

 
October 6th, 2014: Fresh cherries and generous amounts of smoked malt highlight this fruit fortified seasonal. Crafted from pale malt that was smoked in-house using cherry wood boughs, Cherry Hieter is finished with buckets of fresh cherries.  Pouring a rich ruby-copper colour, flavours of sweet cherries are balanced by a strong malt backbone and bold smoke base. This brew is ripe for the sipping.

Cherry Hieter is available for a limited time only from private craft-focused liquor stores.  It’s available exclusively in 650mL bottles but join us down here at the brewery this Wednesday from 4-6 to try it on draft.

Straight From the Pumpkin Patch

TWO seasonal pumpkin releases!


September  23rd, 2014 – It’s the first day of Autumn and to celebrate the coming harvest season we’re releasing two seasonal pumpkin beers!  Both are available for a limited time only.

Here’s a little breakdown of each brew:

 

 

Electric Unicorn White IPA

CROOKED TOOTH PUMPKIN ALE
5% – 650mL

Plucked from the patch, this Phillips seasonal classic combines fresh pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg with a full-bodied ale.  It’s a witches brew packed full of fall harvest flavour that, like many ghostly spirits of the season, has a tendency to disappear quickly.

Crooked Tooth Pumpkin Ale is available for a very limited time at private cold beer & wine stores as well as BC Liquor Store locations.

 

 

Raspberry Wheat Ale

CROOKEDER TOOTH BARREL-AGED PUMPKIN ALE
7.3% – 650mL

Our crooked smiles are extra wide as this special Pumpkin seasonal uses a barrel-aging trick to put the finishing touches on a pumpkin treat! Crookeder Tooth is brewed full-bodied with loads of fresh pumpkin and then carefully aged in selected freshly-emptied whiskey barrels.  The result is a slightly sweet, gently spiced brew that blends fresh pumpkin flavours with soft velvet vanilla.

Crookeder Tooth Barrel-Aged Pumpkin Ale is exclusively available at craft-focused private liquor stores for a limited time only.

new from phillips brewing

A New IPA Straight from our Hop Devolpment Lab

 
September 15th 2014: Tucked away in a quiet corner of Phillips Brewing Co is a development lab dedicated to exploring the delicious world of hops. It’s a place where different hop combinations yield all sorts of unique IPA hybrid brews which are released in the Hop Box under the Area 52 series.

Octofox was one of the early specimens to come out of the Area 52 program, and it was so good we’ve opted to put it out in its own bomber!  It pours a deep golden colour with a soft marshmallow white head.  Full bodied and bright, flavours of citrus are balanced against a pine-bitter hop profile that finishes dry. Octofox is selectively brewed to be broadly enjoyed.

Octofox is available from your favourite Cold Beer & Wine Stores now, and BC Liquor stores later this week.  

 

13 Years, 13 Knots, 1 Special Gift

 
September 2nd, 2014: Over the past number years we’ve made a habit of celebrating our anniversary the best way we know how: by exploring the full breadth of our hop addiction and creating some of the biggest IPA’s we could.  To celebrate our 13th Anniversary we’ve crafted another monster IPA called 13 Knots in a Hangman’s Noose, and hung a very special gift around its neck…

Hop Drop is an artisanal hop liqueur crafted to celebrate the hop flavours that we covet in our beer.  We distilled real hops into an incredibly potent hop elixir, where explosions of fresh pine and bright bitterness are balanced in a blanket of soft sweetness.  Its depth of flavour is robust enough to enjoy on its own poured gently over ice, or it can be ‘dropped’ into another beer to instantly raise the ABV and infuse bright a hoppy flavour.  If added to 13 Knots, it raises the 11.9% ABV to—you guessed it—13%!
   
To get your hands on this limited Anniversary beer—with the Hop Drop on-pack—be sure to stop by a private craft focused liquor store.  If you miss this special on-pack don’t worry, Hop Drop will be made under the newly minted Phillips Fermentorium so stay tuned to find it year-round in private liquor stores.

 

great canadian beer festival

gcbf approacheth!
september 5 and 6, 2014, victoria, bc

if you haven’t bought your ticket yet, you’re outta luck for saturday, but there are still a few friday tickets left

and the parties are starting to be announced
oooh, parties!

me, i have a pesky day job that i must be at on friday so i will be ferrying over after that and attending the gigantic and cider riot tap takeover at canoe brewpub
and then attending the festival on saturday
hopefully followed by after parties if i can stay hydrated enough to keep going!

sartori harvest 2013

so, did you get your driftwood brewing sartori harvest ipa yet?
if not, you’re probably outta luck finding a bottle in vancouver
the brewery in victoria is offering growler fills
and there will be more casks about town (vancouver, victoria, chilliwack)

i got my bottles at viti (vancouver)
i tried to be greedy and get some more at liberty on the drive, but they were out of their 15 cases already

i have tried two casks so far:
monday night at st. augustine’s
(that was not very good)

and tuesday night at the railway club
(that was down-right ambrosia)

i have only had a wee sample from the bottle – and it was so delicious i am on a quest to find more bottles!

link love

i have mentioned this a few times before
i would love to have the work ability to just drink beer for a whole month
in the meantime, here’s a guy in france who is doing just that
replacing all water with brewdog’s nanny state beer

joe wiebe (thirsty writer) on victoria’s beer mile
how many of these stops have you made it to?
me, i’ve made it to all of them, but not on the same day

speaking of moon under water (which we were if you clicked the link above)
here’s a review of their overhaul from the times colonist
their pots pils continues to make me very happy every time i quaff it!

fourteen best and worst gluten-free beers
greens comes out on top, new grist on the bottom

another view of gcbf
and it makes me feel better that other bloggers have trouble getting out their posts about beer festivals!

great canadian beer festival – part 2

oh gcbf!
oh the good times!
oh the good beers!
oh thank dog there were no cameras at certain after-parties!

first of all, let me extole the virtues of flying from vancouver to victoria
so quick, so easy, so fun!
(caveat:  i would not want to be on that tiny plane if there was ANY turbulence though – that would be very, very, very frightening)
i left from my office at 5:45 on friday evening
and i was in victoria by 7:00 for the start of the copper & theory tap takeover at the guild
so civilized!

watching the pre-flight safety film on an ipad

the guild was a fun venue
although, as nigel from the alibi room ironically pointed out, it was a hard place to socialize properly as you had to be seated to be served – darned restaurant licenses!
i had hoped to have some beer & cheddar soup or welsh rarebit, but alas they don’t do either of them vegetarian
instead i ate other people’s curry & chips
as for beer, i stuck with the gigantic ipa because gosh darnit, that’s what i was in the mood for
i did sample all the uprights that passed by me though
for quality assurance purposes of course

saturday dawned rainy and coolish
after an enormous breakfast at spoons we hit the park
it brightened up as we drank our way through remaining casks and never-tried-befores
for the run-down on those though, you’ll have to wait, cuz i’m outta time right now