brewery creek b.c. tasting day

i had a plan of attack
i would arrive right at noon
i would hit the casks first
then i would find the beers i hadn't yet tried
and then i would end with old favourites

i like arriving with a plan
and i like being okay with changing it all up mid-stride!

can you spot waldo?  i mean me?

i managed to show up shortly after 12
so far so good!
and i managed to try all the casks
even better!
then... as i am wont to do
i got very very chatty and was not sampling as many beers as i could have been
however, i love beer talk
and i made some very positive connections
so i just can't regret using my mouth more for talking than for tasting!
i do wish i had taken my mouth around to all the breweries though...

the casks:
russell nectar of the gods:  i was so excited to be at the festival drinking beer i forgot to actually take the time to enjoy my first beer... i recall liking it...
howe sound hip hop ipa:  grapefruit ipa on limited release - a bit too flat out of the cask, but a delight in the bottle, get ye some before its gone!
driftwood spring rite abbey ale:  abbey ale with brett yeast, so i only had a wee pour of this one - for a brett beer, it was quite lovely
saltspring island ales golden ale with ginger and nettles:  amazing, wonderful, creative!  the ginger adds a little bit of bite to the golden ale, but not as much as a ginger ale, just a reminder that its there and the nettles give it great texture and subtlety - so nice i had to have it twice!
spinnakers northwest ale:  they didn't just bring one cask, they brought two!  the first was hopped with citra hops and the second with centennial and i couldn't tell you which one i liked more, but i can say that i wanted more of both!

moving on to beers i hadn't had before...
i had to try lighthouse's overboard imperial pilsner
and i looooooved it!
they really hit the nail on the pilsner head with this one
and you can't get any better bottle art either

also necessary to try was whistler brewing's paradise valley grapefruit ale, which was a nicely balanced ale with plenty of grapefruit, but not so much that i felt it was a fruit beer
and fernie brewing's the griz pale ale, which i think i had too late in my day as i really wasn't into it
steamworks' samba amba, which was too boozey for me

ooh, and speaking of boozey, rodney suggested i go try the award winning central city thor's hammer barleywine mixed with the also award winning ipa:  i gotta tell you, it was a great combination
so i told two friends and they told two friends...

by this time i was running out of both time and tokens
so i ended my b.c. foray by revisiting the saltspring cask
i can't believe there was any left by the end of the afternoon, but there was
so i happily relieved them of a little bit more
and even after all the barleywines and ipas
the subtleties of the ginger and nettles stood up and made themselves dance on my tongue
delicious!

conrad of steamworks was nice enough to lend me his viking horns for a little fun photo shoot!

conrad the steamworks viking

oh yeah, and he won best in show for his pilsner
which yes, is a thing of beauty and a joy to imbibe
i'm also a very big fan of his ginger
(no, not his beard silly, his ginger beer!)

list of all the breweries in attendance:
red truck brewing
howe sound brewing
phillips brewing
fernie brewing
saltspring island ales
cannery brewing
pacific western brewing
tree brewing
r & b brewing
spinnakers brew pub
lighthouse brewing
granville island brewing
storm brewing
russell brewing
vancouver island brewery
dead frog brewery
vcbw
mt begbie brewing
driftwood brewing
tin whistle brewing
steamworks brewing
okanagan spring brewery
whistler brewing
central city red racer