#yvrbeertweetup

instead of going home after my cbc gig last night
like i should have done and been a responsible human
i went to smiley’s pub and had me some wonderful cask ale
like an interesting and beer-engaged human

#yvrbeertweetup was having a hopscotch festival precursor
there were five casks on offer, all with whisk(e)y in them
that is a recipe for an intoxicating evening!

two casks were pumpkin ales, two were stouts
the fifth was an ipa
i know we’re all very shocked here, but i went with the ipa!
lighthouse provided a marmalade imperial whiskey ipa
using quince and citrus and i can’t remember what all else fruits
and a whole 26er of whiskey,
that 9% fruity ipa went down far too easily
delicious!
i coulda drunk that all night
but fortunately for my head this morning, it ran out pretty quickly!

they’re doing the whole thing over again tonight
with different casks
at the bimini in kits
i have my regular beernesday group tonight so i won’t be making it out
but it is definitely worth considering if you’re not joining me at st. augustine’s!

i even won a prize!
which if you know me in person is probably shocking the hell out of you right now
yup, me the luddite and worst tweeter on earth actually managed to tweet the answer to a question first and win two tickets to a hopscotch event
pigs did not fly, but i definitely looked around to make sure they weren’t!

free tastings at legacy

too late for yesterday’s free beer tasting
(which was krombaucher pils and dark)
here’s the word from legacy liquor store in vancouver listing their upcoming free tastings:

KUCHH NAI WHISKY TASTING

Friday 4 to 8 pm Dec 16, 2011
Kuchh Nai’s full bodied aroma, blended with sweet Highland heather influences, lingers long on the palate, instantly displaying the whisky’s fine heritage to the most discerning Scotch enthusiast In its purest form its nose is rich and rounded with good whisky identity and well-integrated aromatics.

CHOCOVINE TASTING
Saturday, 2 to 6 pm Dec 17, 2011
ChocoVine Original, the best seller. Also! Legacy now has the Raspberry and Espresso flavour – exclusive to us!

JUAN SANTO CAFE LIQUEUR
Sunday, 2 to 6 pm Dec 18, 2011
All-natural Colombian Coffee Rum is imported from a family business that has been making rum for over 25 years.
STONEBOAT AND CALLIOPE WINE TASTING
Monday, 4 to 7 pm Dec 19, 2011
We will be sampling the Stoneboat Pinotage, Stoneboat Chorus, Calliope Sauv Blanc and Calliope Fig 8.

PROSECCO TASTING
Wednesday, 4 to 7 pm Dec 21, 2011
Sample the yummy Prosecco`s from Adami – the Bosco di Gica, Dei Casel, Vigneto Giardino & Cartizze. Each Prosecco is DOCG and makes for excellent toasting sparkling.

gift ideas

and the next instalment of legacy liquor store’s 12 gift ideas:

Time for Merrymaking! In no particular order, we present our favourite gifts for the twelve days of Christmas:
6. Glenfarclas Family Casks, Vintages 1952 to 1994 ($339.95 to $2195.95): How about a scotch from their birth year? The Glenfarclas Family Casks, a unique collection of the best single casks from the distillery’s warehouse, is available exclusively at Legacy. We have a cask from every vintage dating back to 1952, all the way up to1994.

5. Riedel Gift Pack ($148.50): Beautiful crystal glassware from leading glassware producer, the Riedel Gift Pack includes: the XL Vinum Mixer, which includes a Chablis, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc glass. An outstanding value for crystal glassware.

4. Tickets to see Jim Murray ($125/ticket): Internationally recognized as probably the leading commentator on all of the world’s whiskies, Whisky Bible author Jim Murray hosts a Whisky Seminar at Legacy on Monday, January 26. *Four tickets per person, no held tickets. Purchase only online and in store, no phone in purchases* 32 tickets available.
Cheers,
~The Legacy Team

hopscotch #4

that’s right, i’m not done talking about hopscotch yet!

how about we talk about whiskey and food today? and then throw in a little beer chat at the end, because this is afterall a beer blog!

hopscotch is known for being a great festival to try new brands of scotch, whiskey and other spirits
especially the expensive ones that perhaps you can’t afford to try other places
i stayed away from most of the hard liquors because i’d been pounding back the beer and just didn’t want to prove once again that the old adage “beer before liquor, never siquor” is totally true
but….
these guys we met and beer geeked out with totally insisted that we try an ontario whiskey
moderately priced and soooo smooth
so like the good little sheep that we are, we hustled right on over to the forty creek stall and tried us a couple of their copper pot distilled double barrel aged whiskey
the double barrel reserve with deep vanilla notes, toasted aromas of pecan and walnut was the winner for me
very moderately priced at $59 a bottle, it’s one sipping whiskey i’ll happily stock in my liquor cabinet!

now onto the food!
and yes, there was some!
what’s a booze fest without some food?
plates of cheese and crackers, mini burgers, chocolate – there was something for everyone!

chocolate shoes!

cheese and crackers

mini burger!

the chocolates were from xoxolat, and come in many beautiful designs, including shoes, and some of them have booze in them! visit their shop at 2391 burrard street if you need a holiday gift to impress!

we also snagged several fabulous coupons in the food tent:
a free sleeve of whistler lager or pale ale at the charles
buy one scotch, get one at the blarney stone
2 for 1 sandwich at the charles
2 for 1 sandwich at pivo

and last, but certainly not least, i got several business cards while i was beer geeking out
beerthirst
carlsberg canada
deschutes brewery
afic exim (canada) corp

hopscotch #1

oh the fun that i had at hopscotch on saturday night!!
i had originally been a little bit worried that there wouldn’t be much beer on offer at a scotch, whiskey and beer festival, and that going on the last night might mean they’d have run out of the “good stuff”
but it was great!
tons of breweries well represented, but local and from afar
and people were giving us freebies all night long!

we met lots of beer reps and beer lovers,
found a bunch of beers we love,
got beer openers from steamwhistle,
stickers from rogue,
and another coaster from deshutes

brewdog news

We are delighted to announce the release of the third beer in our Abstrakt series: AB:03.

Imperial Ale Aged over 2 years in whisky casks with raspberries and strawberries

10.5%

3192 bottles

This is an imperial ale brewed back in 2007, aged in Invergordon whisky casks from the 1960s with over 25 kilos of strawberries and raspberries per cask.

We have 3192 numbered bottles, 1200 of which are available online for a limited time only.

You can buy from the BrewDog site here:http://www.brewdog.com/product.php?id=66

And from the abstrakt site here: http://www.abstrakt.com/product/ab03

We also have a tiny amount of AB:02 available for those who missed ithttp://www.brewdog.com/product.php?id=66

And our new glassware is here too: http://www.brewdog.com/product.php?id=65

More information on our Abstrakt series at www.abstrakt.com

whiskey biofuel

while not properly beer related, it is still alcohol related and therefore legit to grace this blog!!

stolen from sf gate, the thin green line:

“Scots make biofuel from whiskey
There’s a saying that the cure for everything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the ocean. It’s a nice sentiment, but let’s be honest: There are some things that only whiskey can fix. And one of those is, apparently, the climate crisis.

Scottish researchers have devised a way to make biofuel from whiskey — but fear not, the fuel doesn’t waste the precious liquid, but instead uses byproducts of its manufacture: “draff,” the used grains, and “pot ale,” the liquid from the copper stills. Scotland produces copious amounts of both as part of its $6-billion whiskey industry.

The fuel produced is butanol, which produces 30 percent more energy per gallon than ethanol.

Best of all, the biofuel could go straight into your car’s tank, with no rejiggering required. It could eventually be used as jet fuel as well. The Edinburgh Napier University researchers are creating a company to commercialize their findings and expect enough of it to be available at European pumps by 2020 to contribute to that year’s EU biofuel requirements of 10 percent.

I’ll drink to that!”

Scott Cameron