beernesday

i am very intrigued by this concept actual pizza infused beer

on friday night at st. augustine's i got to have the very last of james' berliner weiss you know, that one he just found in the back of the cellar because mine was the last of the keg and the bartender wasn't aware of that fact until into the pour mine did have a little more of the house raspberry in it still, i gotta say, this was a damned fine beer! and my hat is off to palle who insisted that i order it as it was running out boy, was it ever! oh, and i brought pretty people with me to have some beers!

happy pride!!!

just in time for ipa day, i drank a hoppy bitch! from trade route brewing  of pacific washington she's only 60 ibus according to the bottle and very nicely balanced but yes, she is a hoppy bitch! website says: This northwest IPA is bold and balanced, with a rich malty flavor and a strong hop presence. We use premium 2-Row, Crystal, Munich and Victory malts to create the perfect base for showcasing Yakima-grown Columbus hops. After one sip you’ll agree, this is one hoppy bitch of a beer. 6.3% ABV 80 IBU amanda and sarah brought this one back for me from washington because they love me and because they rock!!   i liked it its not a hop monster, so you could probably taste another beer after this one! its not going to make my top ten list but i would definitely and quite happily have this one again

and more swag i brought back from 21st amendment in san francisco: brew free or die ipa and back in black glasses brew free or die ipa t-shirt

sadly, i did not get to camra vancouver's too hop to handle last weekend as i had softball finals (we came 2nd! and stuck a five-layer pyramid!) but i did manage to fit in a beer and cheese tasting at legacy oh yeah, and it was free! legacy is a fancy schmancy newish liquor store located in the much maligned olympic village it is big and beautiful and being stocked with many amazing libations to make sure that we all know they exist and because they are swell folks they offer regular tastings and special events one of these was the beer and cheese pairing between north coast brewing and benton brothers fine cheese legacy paired four beers with five cheeses for thirty of us at a big long table north coast are the lovely folks out of fort bragg california who bring us old rasputin and acme but we didn't have either of those at the tasting instead we got their red seal ale , pranqster belgian golden ale , le merle saison and old no. 38 stout fine brews a

vote for you favourite local brewer no really, please go and vote or else granville island is going to win (its under the misc category...)

and yet another post about women in beer , specifically the top five things women need to know about beer this time its a blog post about a blog post by someone else - a "dude" i think its in the right spirit i hope it is... but man, do i ever feel condescended to don't call me a chick and don't assume i'll drink beer to impress a dude geesh! the top things women need to know about beer, imho: 1. it tastes good 2. electrolytes and polyphenols are good for you 3. it tastes good 4. it pairs better with food than wine does 5. it tastes good the top things men need to know about beer, imho: 1. it tastes good 2. electrolytes and polyphenols are good for you 3. it tastes good 4. it pairs better with food than wine does 5. it tastes good

the ipa day pub crawl is totally figured out! yay! 4 - 5:45 at yaletown brewpub (with a cask of iain's ipa) 6 - 6:45 at railway club (with ipa specials) 7 - 7:45 at malones (with ipa specials and an appetizer for the group) 8 - 8:45 at steamworks 9 onwards at rogue wetbar (with ipa specials on crannog insurrection, mooylan’s ipa, central city ipa and driftwood fat tug) no tickets no muss, no fuss just show up at the venue(s) at the appointed time and join in on the ipa adoration hop aboard, they're expecting us!

this is the lovely 21st amendment brewery t-shirt i brought back from san francisco for bridget: hop crisis - front of shirt hop crisis - back of shirt

i was afraid there would be no cask nights for me this week as i am filming for outgames tv every evening i was sad to think i was going to miss out on the offerings but very happy to have a television gig again! luckily though, i got done filming early enough last night to hit the railway club for the lighthouse cream ale those kiwi hops (that's new zealand ones, not the fruit) sure had a unique flavour! an enjoyable ale for sure last week i had no problems in the cask department i hit three cask nights and tried a fourth cask beer the third of those three nights was thursday at the yaletown brewpub where the beer was brown and delicious and the hops were cascades i brought along all my work folks who are becoming quite the fans of craft beer in general and the offerings at yaletown in particular (especially the growler option - which they all fill with the raspberry wheat ale!) my lovely work friends   another growler convert  in fact i brought in so

four venues confirmed!! the fifth is in the works! 4 - 5:45 at yaletown brewpub (with a cask of iain's ipa) 6 - 6:45 at railway club (with ipa specials) 7 - 7:45 at malones 8 - 8:45 steamworks yeeeeeehaw! giddy-up! august 4th can't come fast enough for me!

the pub crawl for #IPADay vancouver is a go!! confirmed: 4 - 5:45 at yaletown brewpub malones (tentatively 7 - 7:45) 8 - 8:45 steamworks still have two stops in the works and will post those once they're confirmed as well i'm excited!!

oh, by the way firefly has a couple of cases of deschutes' hop in the dark in i of course relieved them of a few bottles of it!

more on the shameless self-promotion front: i'm co-hosting outgames tv which, if you are in vancouver, you can see on shaw channel 4 all this week if you are elsewhere in canadia it will air next week on out tv there's a facebook page you can like there are youtube videos you can watch and... there's talk of a legacy show resulting from the community effort to bring gay community television back to vancouver!! how is this beer related? well, currently its not but you know that if a legacy show comes to fruition, i'll be pushing for a "beers and queers" segment!

i'm no scientist, but i can tell you my beverage of choice after a work-out has always been beer well, maybe not always but for sure since my first ever rugby match i was told beer has electrolytes in it so i figured that's why i crave it after a hard game or a long run but maybe, just maybe there's more to it and apparently the more to it also makes it good for me!! yay - i love when i get told by sciencey people that beer is good for me! new research says drink wheat beers after a marathon its all in the polyphenols!

my balcony hop-yard the hops they keep a-growing! bridget's garden

garrison in halifax has jumped on the collaboration beer wagon and their first foray into collaboration is with our own matt phillips they brewed a belgian

and more beery goodness from the huffington post tgi fridays wantonly beerifies their menu ressurecting ancient brews , like midas touch the world's sourest beers

ryan made up a batch of these amazing beer caramels he used r and b brewing's east side bitter esb deeeelicious! i like having friends who cook! especially when they cook with beer and share the bounty with me!

Craft Beer Locator Beer Fact of the Day: For you "collectors" out there, "Tegestology" is the name for collecting beer mats and a "Labeorphilist" is the name for someone who collects beer bottles. (Perhaps not the most interesting "fact" we've ever posted, but a "fact" nonetheless!)

second of my three cask nights this week was tuesday at the railway club r and b brewing's watermelon wheat ale okay, so i don't usually like a wheat ale but i've been having quite a few of them lately and not hating them, so i had to have this one too... but i don't like watermelon... so i was a little leery of having a whole pint they very kindly let me taste it first and you know what!  what?  i liked it! i liked it enough to have two! everyone else was saying how watermelony it was me, i got spiced peaches on the nose and light fruit on the palate but not overwhelming watermelon - go figure regardless, i enjoyed it and so did everyone else if only we had the summer weather to go along with the summer beer

ummm, garlic in beer ? that might just be a little further than i want to go with flavouring my beer...

an indie film i was in, that shot in 2003 and 2005 is finally having its premiere! yay!  mudpies the movie will finally see the light of day!

more on the whole marketing beer to women thing: some in britain stand up for molson coors light women's beer stereotypes get a humourous look through television

three cask nights for me this week! hit st. augustine's on monday for the granville island ginger according to my server the cask blew up real good there was ginger coating the ceiling definitely there was a whole lot of ginger pulp in my pint cloudy with a huge ginger nose much thinner ginger on the palate, but very definitely a ginger beer not bad... and then because it was actually sunny out we stayed for more see - it was sunny! amanda and i both ordered samplers bridget went straight for the backhand of god (followed by inversion ipa and fat tug ipa) we both went for the deschutes twilight summer ale, the john john juniper and red racer raspberry wheat ale i rounded mine out with elysian's perseus porter deschutes twilight summer ale, 5%:  a lighter, et full flavored, aromatic ale for the long days of summer so much body, yet so crisp and light oh deschutes how i love thee and they divine brews! rogue john john juniper, 5.2%:  a hint of cucumb

add these to the beers i would like to try list:

the cask last monday night at st. augustine's was a dry-hopped esb from red racer (the hops were centennial) i think i must have had the bottom of the cask because it was chock-full of hop sediment and just a bitter little fiend i didn't enjoy it at all making my second pint the deschutes hop in the dark so happy the hop in the dark hit a tap near me! tuesday's cask at the railway club was a dry-hopped ipa from central city brewing (the hops were amarillo) it was a hit right outta the park! deliciously bitter! i had to have me a second one and yes, that is sun streaming in the window i like sun - i would like us to be having a whole lot more of it in vancouver you know, like an actual summer...

in case anyone needed a tutorial:  “A woman demonstrates how lager is drunk. Photograph: Imagesource” 

camra (the uk version) and brewdog are squaring off about the great britain beer festival and who should be allowed to attend brewdog accuses camra of dirty dealings in contract reneging camra cancels brewdog's bar at gbbf alleging failure to pay and follow contract who wins?  no one who likes craft beer who loses?  camra loses the younger generation as potential members, brewdog loses a marketing opportunity, gbbf ticket holders lose the chance to enjoy brewdog brews why can't we all just love beer and each other?

last week i had the pleasure of attending a beer pairing dinner at rogue kitchen and wetbar in vancouver the beers were from crannog ales part 2 of 2: rebecca and brian of crannog were on hand to tell us about the beers and other fabulous things about their farm they are members of slow food and hope to attend terre madre in turin in 2012 course three:  insurrection ipa with duo of spring lamb the dynamic lamb duo the amazing tuna they subbed for me served with spring pea puree, ipa fluid gel and spruce tips (me, i got seared tuna with saffron threads and mango salsa) i was too busy being in absolute heaven with my meal to listen to what the meat-eaters had to say about their lamby goodness seriously, the tuna was melt in your mouth perfect, the mango salsa was the perfect juxtaposition of sweet and hot, the pea puree was like tasting spring itself and saffron threads?  i felt like royalty! my slightly inebriated notes read:  "my meal is the bestest: mango, jala

lots of fabulous media coverage for the brewdog second public offering of their shares!

last week i had the pleasure of attending a beer pairing dinner at rogue kitchen and wetbar in vancouver the beers were from crannog ales part 1 of 2: brian and rebecca of crannog were on hand to tell us about the beers they brought with them and their 100% organic, zero waste, salmon-safe farm in sorrento they grow their own hops, and get the rest from local farmers their farm is a mere 10 acres, so they import barley and have it malted locally keeping their operation local provides sustainability, a sense of community and works for the greater good they heat on demand and use their own well water bringing them in well under other brewers for volume of water used (approx 2/3 less) they treat and re-use waste water slurry goes to the compost pile, clear water to irrigation the pigs eat the mash zero waste! course one:  gael's blood potato ale with house cured arctic char the char was served with new potatoes, root vegetables, dill mustard emulsion and cherry ga