beernesday

apparently beer should not just be enjoyed on this planet click here for the story!

on an anonymous tip, i tried the coopers brewery original pale ale the suggestion came as an answer to finding a beer that has a high hops content, but doesn't taste hops bitter you know, a well balanced beer! i gotta tell you, i'm not a fan i tried it once with dinner and then again the next day, and it did nothing for me (or for alison) so much so that i poured some strongbow in there and made me a snakebite and that worked out just fine for me from the website:  "Guaranteed to turn heads, this is the beer that inspired a new generation of ale drinkers. With its fruity and floral characters, balanced with a crisp bitterness, Coopers Pale Ale has a compelling flavour which is perfect for every occasion.  Naturally fermented in the “Burton-upon-Trent” style, a secondary fermentation creates the trademark sediment that gives ‘Pale’ its fine cloudy appearance. 4.5% Alc/Vol" not malty at all very very pale in the glass very sedimenty as should be expect

from green flash in san diego: Green Flash Silva Stout Release! Friday, October 1st, 4pm - 8pm Please join us on Friday, October 1st in the tasting room from 4pm - 8pm to celebrate the release of the Silva Stout! A bit about Silva Stout: Green Flash Brewing Co. is proud to announce the release of Silva Stout. “Silva Stout is named for our brewmaster, Chuck Silva, and is a tribute to Chuck and our entire brewing team. It is their hard work and dedication to our craft that has made Green Flash one of the premier specialty ale breweries in the country,” according to Mike Hinkley, Green Flash founder. Chuck Silva, on making the beer: "Silva Stout took a lot of patience. We aged our Double Stout in oak bourbon barrels for seventeen months. Flavors are very complex. It starts off with dark chocolate truffles rolled in cocoa powder. Next is the vanilla and wood notes, with rich cherry-like fruitiness. After racking and filtering the ale, we blended in just the right amount of

after having attended a couple of previous tastings at firefly, i knew that there are some sour beers that i enjoy, and some that i just can't stand.  but which are which? thank dog firefly chose to host a sour tasting night! now i know what i like, and what i'd rather not ever be offered again! we sampled the following: dogfish head's festina peche (4.5%) upright brewing's late harvest barrel aged brown ale (7%) orval trappist ale belgium pale ale (6.9%) lindemans' cuvee rene gueuze (5%) cantillon's gueuze 100% lambic (5%) cantillon's kriek 100% lambic (5%) brouwerij de ranke's cuvee (7%) storm brewing's blackcurrent lambic i found the dogfish head to be more tart than sour using an old style from berlin, they added some peach flavour and peachy colour looks more like a very fruity wine in the glass than a beer it tastes almost champagney probably not something i'd buy but enjoyable nonetheless the brown ale was aged in

alison found this for me in the huffington post 10 great canned beers "craft brewers with a can-do attitude are shrugging off the notion that canned beers are thin and uninspired by offering many of their best brews in eco-friendly and portable aluminum packaging. These modern cans are lined with a thin wall of plastic that wards off any tinny flavors, while complete opacity keeps light at bay. Plus, their size and packaging makes them perfect for camping or a trip to the beach. Here are 10 of Imbibe Magazine 's top picks. " including: 21st amendment live free or die ipa (one of my new faves) fat tire maui brewing oskar blues ten fidy surly brewing

got to try half pint 's little scrapper ipa at st. augustine's the other week its very sedimenty - guess that's what happens with a dry-hopped unfiltered beer! it looks quite pretty though, the sediment hanging throughout the glass like constellations in the night sky light caramel colour, almost yellow 50 ibus 6% amarillo and cascade hops tastes delightful nice hop bitterness balanced with a malty finish i could make this a session beer very easily! "citrus hop aromas with a toasted malt finish" also currently available by the bottle at st. augustine's: north coast brewing's acme pale ale anderson valley's poleeko gold pale ale north coast brewing's acme ipa green flash west coast ipa anderson valley hop ottin' ipa north coast brewing's old rasputin imperial stout yukon brewing's midnight sun espresso stout cannery brewing's wildfire ipa

ever wondered which are the world's best beers? well never fear, the four seasons hotel chain has decided which beers are the best - save you from having to sample them all yourself! click here for the article

new tees and glassware over at brewdog !

and central city made the national post! to read the article, click here!

to read the province's article about camra's oktoberfest, click here!

oktoberfest on friday night was so much fun! great job by camra to pull it together great craft brewed beers beer brats and pretzels and delicious salads (even veggie sausages for me!) a polka band and delightful people couldn't have had a better night!! such cute little pretzels! hmmm, this is a big pretzel bun, what should i do with it? problem solved! so many drink tickets, so little time! love the one who pours your beer favourite beers of the night? i liked the ipa, storm's pilsner and red truck's steam best but really, there wasn't a dud in the whole lot!

article in monday magazine about casks click here

the american federal government loves hops! and want to support their growth! no really, its true! read all about it here

over my last two visits to st. augustine's i tried seven beers in my samplers i've already blogged about the total eclipse of the hops and pumpkineater by howe sound the other beers i tried in my samplers are: - red truck's limited steam beer:  a hybrid beer style brewing using ale yeast fermented at lager temperatures. the result is a full flavoured, yet surprisingly crisp beer.  5% - driftwood brewery farmhand ale:  southern-belgian farmhouse ale uses a partial sour-mash and the addition of freshly ground black.  a unique strain of yeast from belgium adds further layers of complexity to this rare style. 5% - rogue ales john john hazelnut: a nutty twist to a traditional european brown ale.  dark brown in color with a hazelnut aroma, a rich nutty flavor and a malty finish. 5.6% - russell brewing's wee angry scotch:  a malty scotch ale with canadian two-row, crystal, chocolate and a touch of peated malt, and lightly hopped with willamette. 6.5% - crannog ales gae

some of the photos taken at this season's first beernesday, held at st. augustine's on commercial drive (every wednesday from 7:00...) aren't we lovely and delightful?

Central City Brewing Company   We (we being our canned product   Red Racer Beer   and ourselves) just won beer of the year and brewery of the year at the Canadian Brewing Awards!

omg, this dinner at green flash tomorrow night sounds ah-mazing! wish i could be in san diego to join in Green Flash Beer Dinner @ West Coast Tavern Sunday, September 26th - $40 per person Call 619-295-1688 for Reservations Course 1 Summer Saison: Lemongrass infused rock shrimp and dungeness crab Ceviche with avocado, Acai berries and white peach nectar. Course 2 West Coast IPA: Smoked blue point oysters fried in IPA beer batter with crispy onion strings and a cajon spiced remoulade. Course 3 Belgian-style Tripel: Butter poached Patagonian toothfish with braised leeks, butternut squash ravioli and Meyer lemon confit. Course 4 Double Stout: Double stout served as a beer-a-misu.

Vancouver Island Brewery:  These are our upcoming casks designed exclusively in extremely small batches by our Caskmaster Chris Graham! October 5 - Bard and Banker Pub - "Cremation Scottish Ale" October 12 - Irish Times Pub - "Confessional Festbock" October 19 - Bard and Banker Pub - "Doppelbock" October 26 - Irish Times Pub - "Hangman IPA" October 30 - Irish Times Pub - "Puca Pumpkin Ale" (who is Puca?) November 2 - The Strathcona Hotel - "Hermannator" More to come at the Beagle Pub in December!

brewdog's 5 a.m. saint cleaned up at the hong kong international beer awards! read their blog post here .

i got the opportunity to try two of howe sound 's limited edition fall beers at st. augustine's the other day and had to have them again at beernesday! just to make sure i know what i'm talking about... total eclipse of the hops:  "A strong india pale ale brewed with 100% barley, six varieties of hops, water and yeast. Extra barley balances the large volume of hops in this brew. This is definitely for the hop lover. This beer is brewed in limited quantities as part of the John Mitchell series. As a highly hopped specialty this ale goes well with spicy cuisine such as curry and Mexican favorites. Also good with fried foods such as halibut and chip and hot wings." 8% 90 ibus 17 degrees plato comes in the 1L pot-stopper (and on tap at various fabulous establishments) totally worth waiting for - i'm in love with this beer! not totally clear definitely bitter, but not overly hoppy nose why oh why is this only a limited release? i want to drink it

i am ridiculously excited about camra's oktoberfest tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whats Happening Around San Diego this Week! 9/22 – Ritual Tavern 3rd Anniversary Celebration Wednesday September 22, Ritual Tavern will tap a rare collaboration ale, Biere De L'Amitie. They will also feature Cask Conditioned Green Flash Double Stout and grilled oysters sourced from the Carlsbad Aquafarm. 9/23 – Eleven Stop by Eleven on Thursday, September 23rd for Real Ale Happy Hour! No cover. Eleven will be tapping a cask of Green Flash Citra Session Ale at 4pm... Make sure to get a taste of this hoppy, sessionable firkin! 9/24 – Padres Oktoberfest Admission is free with a Padres game ticket to the September 24th game against the Cincinnati Reds. Oktoberfest is from 5pm – 7pm; West Coast IPA and Hop Head Red will be on tap!

Craft Beer Locator Beer fact of the Day: In ancient Near Eastern cultures, beer was in many ways a super-food. By producing & drinking beer, one could dramatically multiply the calories in harvested grains while consuming needed vitamins; the alcohol was also effective at killing bacteria found in tainted water supplies. Given the difficulty of producing food in the ancient world, beer gave you a lot of nutritional bang for your buck.

and yet another great bad beer shirt this one is alison's and oh so appropriate! i remember when we used to marathon train together, alison and i would go for our long runs on friday nights after work we'd run for however many hours we had to (yes, i said hours, i never said we were smart) then have a quick shower and hit the pub we'd down our first pint and order nachos with our second pint by the time the nachos came we were already pretty darned loaded! good times!

is it true that granville island brewing was canada's first microbrewery when it opened in 1984? jan zeschky said so in the province, so it must be true but can you blame me for being incredulous? incredulous that gib was the first and incredulous that it happened when i was 15 and it took me so long to discover microbrews! but wait!  howe sound says on their website that john mitchell and frank appleton started the first craft brewery in north america in 1980, in horseshoe bay... so you tell me which was first?  how many more years have i lived without knowing the joys of craft brewed beers?

perhaps you are wondering "just what is beernesday?" quite simple really beernesday is the brain child of bridget and i it is the reason we give our friends for getting off the couch in the horrible winter months and coming out to hang with their buddies every wednesday from late september until softball season, we gather at a local watering hole and drink beer together beer on wednesdays why that makes them beernesdays and there you have it the last two years we've been hosting our beernesday gatherings at avanti's pub this year we are moving the party to st. augustine's still on commercial drive, but i'm hoping to improve on everyone's gastronomical delight by offering them 40 beers to choose from, and a great food menu this also works very well for me as i will be at st. augustine's on a weekly basis and should be able to more easily keep up with all their rotating tap goodness! i want to sample everything! tonight's the first

i didn't know! how could i be so out of the loop? camra's oktoberfest is this friday! fortunately i can buy my ticket at firefly tonight!

oatmeal stout beer brats? check them out !

want to try some brewdog brews? gonna be in england? check out this brewdog blog post alas, i will not see you there... brewdog and three floyds get together and create something new and call it "bitch please" its made from scottish toffee and shortbread....

i love blogging i love blogging about beer i love when people read my blog about beer! rogue 's director of communications read my blog - woot!! and took the time to comment this makes me very happy!! ***** i love beer tastings i love learning about beer i'm learning to love the sour beers very much looking forward to the sour beers tasting tonight at firefly with a cicerone sanctioned instructor no less i expect to come away with a better understanding of which sours i like and a name for that darned flavour that puts me off! (and maybe even a guest post about it from amanda??) ***** i love when people comment on the blog even when they're anonymous! i must remember to check at firefly if they have, or can get in, the cooper's pale ale recommended in a comment i would very much like to follow up on that tip! i see they carry cooper's here's hoping the pale ale is in!

this bag is made entirely out of beer can tabs a bag! fabulous!

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 it http://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

more for the 'beers to drink' list: crooked line - tilted smile imperial pilsner pyramid - juggernaut fall seasonal red ale long trail brewing - imperial porter amnesia brewing - copacetic ipa amnesia brewing - desolation ipa amnesia brewing - dusty trail pale ale shmaltz brewing - rye double ipa 21st amendment - back in black full sail - spotless ipa lagunitas brewing - lucky 13 red ale rj rockers brewing - rockhopper ipa sweetwater brewing - dank tank magnum ip

“If you don’t try, if you’re just going to rest on your laurels, you won’t get anywhere.   There are just so many great brewers.   You want to keep up with people.   These guys are phenomenal.   I feel lucky to be mentioned in the same sentence, or the same paragraph, or maybe even at the end of the book.” Dave Fleming, head brewer at New Old Lampoc in Portland As quoted by Paul McMorrow in BeerAdvocate #43

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?

beer advocate #44 is out but this comes from issue #43 for the entire article, click here to visit their website 5 Tips to Review Beer Respectfully 1.  Don't be afraid to tell the truth, but be constructive by adding suggestions, so that readers will take your opinions seriously and hopefully find some value in them too. 2.  Subjectivity will always come into play, but try to be as objective as possible.  If you know you don't like a beer or a style, don't review it - your bias will likely be apparent and will undermine your review.  Keep the style and brewer's intentions in mind, and never review a beer known to be past its prime. 3.  Don't like a beer or brewery?  No need to get all agitated about it.  It's just beer. 4.  Never drunk post - this applies to more than just beer reviewing. 5.  Have fun.  It's beer. Use what you know, learn as you explore beer and think before you post. oooops, except for #5, i've been breaking all thos

pivo turned 1 yesterday and i was there to help celebrate! there was driftwood ale on tap and appetizers and attentive service good friends good food good times here's hoping they do it again next year! and special thanks to our most excellent server (the babe in the dress) for making our night even better!