i am off to onterrible tomorrow
i am excited to go to grey cup
and to see my family
but, what am i going to drink while i’m there?
does anyone make a west coast ipa out there?
will i be in hop withdrawal?
i have already googled which lcbo stores carry the double trouble hops & robbers session ipa
because i know i like that…
and i’m lining up a tour of nickel brook brewing in burlington…
but what else is there to drink?
i had a taster of the dead frog fearless ipa at the craft beer market open house a couple of weeks back
but as i had that sample after i’d had several others, i really can’t say more about it than i liked it
from dead frog:
Hello!
The Dead Frog Fearless IPA is the first collaboration brew from our new brew team Tony Dewald and Timmy Brown! Tony and Timmy are BC Craft Beer pioneers and they’ve finally come together to brew under one roof. For their first brew they wanted to make a hop forward West Coast IPA that didn’t pull any punches. The end result was the Fearless IPA, a 77 IBU brew packed with 4 different hops including Galaxy and Zythos.
· Ingredients: Water, malt, hops, yeast
· Malts: 2 Row, Busquit, Cara 30, Special B
· Hops: Cascades, Columbus, Galaxy, Zythos
· IBUs: 77
because i like the green flash graphics:
last week i had the distinct good fortune to eat at rogue kitchen
for their beer pairing dinner with greenflash brewery
four courses of fabulous food
paired with four different greenflash brews
in a private room
delightful!
the beerthirst guys brought the beers and talked about them
cory the chef made courses that made me want to make happy noises all the way through!
first course:
goat cheese flan with roasted beets, granny smith apple, hazelnuts, microgreens, nut brown vinagrette and puff pastry
paired with green flash nut brown ale
(english-style ale with rich caramel malt flavours and drying nutty characteristics in the finish. british and belgian specialty malts with mild hops – 5.5%)
the goat was mild and fluffy, the hazelnuts magic, puff pastry, beets, reduction – all divine! the nutty beer was a perfect pairing and cleansed the goat right outta my mouth. i could eat this every day and not get bored!
second course:
pan roasted halibut with chantrelle escabeche, roasted cauliflower puree, arugula and crispy potato
paired with green flash west coast ipa
(west coast style ipa is extravagantly hopped, including simcoe, columbus, centennial and cascade, full-flavoured, medium bodied and copper coloured – 7%, 95 ibus)
originally it was to be mackeral, but halibut was substituted instead, and not a one of us minded even a little bit
i don’t eat mushrooms, so i got a special mushroom-free portion – but everyone else said the mushrooms were quite delicious!
i loved the mix of the arugula and hops – makes me think arugula wilted in ipa would be darned tasty…
the halibut was a dream, the cauliflower puree made me love cauliflower… and the potato crisps had me grinning like a fool they made me so happy
course three:
lamb cheek massaman curry with spiced coconut curry, squash, potato, cashews, jasmine rice, house made roti and pickled cucumber
paired with green flash la freak
(belgian style ipa, zesty brew with enticing american hop and belgian yeast aromatics leading to delicious malts and complex layering of hop flavours that quench and refresh – 9.2%, 101 ibus)
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| the lamb curry |
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| the veggie curry |
word at my table was that the curry was “the most amazing thing”
no one really liked the beer on its own (it is a bit of a freak afterall) but paired with the uber-spicy curry, they are loving it – excellent pairing
my veggie curry was quite lovely
however, i was pretty darned full by that point, so i only had a little and got me the rest packed up to enjoy at two subsequent meals… and it aged just fine!!
definitely la freak goes well with spicy curries – strongly suggest that you try that pairing at home
fourth course:
maple toffee banana cake with peanut beer brittle, vanilla gelato and maple toffee sauce
paired with green flash barleywine
(american style barleywine with intense caramel malts and enormous pacific northwest hop charge – rich estery brew with toffee notes and citrus hop flavours. can be aged. 10.9%, 85 ibus)
the banana cake was served warm! yay!
the outside was crispy, the inside moist, moist, moist
the gelato was fab, the maple sauce was great
not sure about parsley with my dessert… and frankly ryan’s beer brittle is way better than this one – guess i’ve been spoiled!
still, it was a lovely dessert and quite nice to go maple instead of chocolate for once
however, we were in no condition to down a barleywine by that point in the evening – it was just tooooo much for us
oh, and check out the difference between the west coast on tap and from a bottle
so much sediment in the bottle!
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| keg vs bottle sediment check |
another win!
the meals just seem to keep getting even better, which i would have thought impossible because how can you top amazing? but they just keep on keeping on getting more fantastic
if you are at a total loss of what to do with yourself between 4 and 7 tonight, and are in vancouver
gee, you could go taste molson canadian at legacy!
MOLSON CANADIAN TASTING
Thursday, Sept 15, 2011 4 to 7 pm
Our 6 packs of Molson Canadian are cold, and cheaper than the Government stores! Pick up one today!
MEXICAN CONSULATE TASTING
Friday, Sept 16, 2011 4 to 7 pm
Join members of the Mexican Consulate as they pour a handful of different beers and tequilas from Mexico.
not gonna lie to you, i think this beer and tequila tasting excites me a whole lot more than the molson canadian one!
tonight, i will happily be sipping away on green flash beers and eating delicious food at the rogue kitchen and wetbar’s beer pairing dinner! yay!! best deal in town – $35 for four course meal and beer pairing
the huffington post on beer:
10 craft beers you should try right now
too many belgians on this list for me to get all the way through it
but i gots to agree with having the stone sublimely self-righteous american black ale!!
top 50 beers in america
are your favourites on the list?
pliny the elder is there! its number one!
(and much further down are ska’s modus hoperandi and green flash’s west coast ipa!!)
from zymurgy magazine – american homebrewer’s association
tasting vancouver wants to know what your favourite local(ish) ipa is!
so far their list is:
Red Racer IPA (getting lots of love)
Driftwood Fat Tug IPA
Russell IP’EH
Dogfish Head IPA 60
Double Daddy Imperial
Driftwood Sartori Harvest IPA
Elysian Jasmine IPA
Tree Brewing Hop Head
Dead Frog Citra IPA
Stone IPA
Ninkansi Total Domination
Howe Sound’s Devil’s Elbow
West Coast Green Flash
Deschutes Inversion DF 90min IPA
Hopsickle
Elysian Immortal
Bridgeport’s Hop Czar
Hale’s Ales Moosehead
and i’m happy to say i’ve had almost all of the above
but there’s the total eclipse of the hops? the hop circle? the hop henge? the unearthly?
there’s a u.s. national ipa championship?
i never knew!
read all about it here
only one of my favourites is still in it
(hopefully in it to win it!)
green flash west coast ipa
some of my favourites (unbelieveably to me) went out in the first or second round
ballast point big eye ipa
deschutes inversion ipa
stone brewing ipa
southern tier ipa
unfortunately central city’s red racer went down in the first round to fat head’s headhunter
must try some of these ipas
i mean, if people say they’re better than my known faves, then maybe they’re pretty good!
by gum, its yellow!
that was my first thought as i vigourously poured green flash‘s imperial ipa into my glass
yellow, like its label
okay, so maybe its a very light caramel colour
definite hoppy nose
good head and lovely cascading action
incredibly bitter hoppy taste that just won’t leave my mouth
not that i’m complaining, i am a fan of the bitter hoppiness
9.4%
101 ibus
i’m pairing it with my latest pizza concoction, broccoli, basil and goat cheese
the bitter cuts right on through the goatiness
bitter goat, a lovely pairing!
i’m definitely enjoying this beer
but i think i might like the west coast ipa better…
the bottle says: “san diego-style ipa, at it has come to be known by many, is super-hoppy, high gravity, yet highly quaffable ale. our imperial ipa is created in this new tradition with intense hop flavors and aromas from a unique blend of summit and nugget hops. it’s all about the hops!”
quaffable yes, session beer? i don’t think so
never thought i’d say it, but this one might just be too bitter for me to have another
(keep in mind though, that another means another great huge bottle, this one is not 541mls!)
hoping that when they release the
last night’s tipple is one i’ve been tilting back fairly often these days
and its my new favourite ipa
yes, i have declared a current favourite!
green flash brewing co.’s west coast india pale ale
7.3%, 95 ibus, “extravagantly hopped”
boy, they’re not lying!
the bottle says “A menagerie of hops are layered throughout the brewing process. Simcoe for unique fruitiness and grapefruit zest, Columbus for strong hop pungency, Centennial for pine and citrus notes, Cascade for floral aroma. A multi-dimensional hop experience.”
lord, i love this beer
thank dog that they carry it by the six pack at firefly
its $18 mind you
but sometimes you just gotta pay more for what you love!
the website says: “Great beer is a rare thing—a coming together of perfect ingredients and perfect brewing conditions. At Green Flash Brewing Company, we only use the best, all natural ingredients, and we brew our beers in small batches so that it tastes fresh and pure.”
website is a little thin on details, and the blog is new…
i have high hopes though…
maybe a road trip down to san diego in november for their anniversary party is in order!!
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