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Showing posts from September, 2013

link love

beerology.ca what an ontario master cicerone has to say did you know that craft beer is catching on in bc? of course you did still, its a nice write up of bridge and deep cove you probably know this too: just one sip of beer can release happy brain chemicals (for me, just a sniff of hoppy aroma is enough to get the rush - which if you read the whole article is slightly worrying from an alcoholism perspective, but whatever) growler bill proposed in california beer vs wine infographic five sins of craft beer service from craftbeer.com if you missed last night's town hall twitter about alcohol laws , check it out here

friday frivolity

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i stole this from beer connoisseur magazine no idea if its theirs or if they too stole it

legacy liquor store

new and exciting beers at legacy liquor store in vancouver: Elysian Brewing Nightowl - $7.85 Straight from Seattle comes one of the finest pumpkin beers available on the market today. Hazy and tawny in colour when poured into a glass, accompanied by a myriad of spices associated with the season (allspice, ginger, clove, etc.), its caramel, starchy malt and of course pumpkin flavours all come together to produce a medium-bodied beer that is not only amazingly approachable, but also extremely quaffable. Don’t miss out on this fantastic beer. Evan Doan | Beer Team | Legacy Liquor Store Moon Under Water Year One - $12.55 Happy Anniversary, Moon Under Water! After one year under new ownership and a revitalization that has been truly remarkable, a single-batch Red Wheat Wine ale has been produced to mark the occasion. Hopped throughout with Citra, and fermented dry with three yeasts on yellow birch to create an outstanding beer to be enjoyed with friends, this one-of-a-kind offering is

sartori harvest 2013

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so, did you get your driftwood brewing sartori harvest ipa yet? if not, you're probably outta luck finding a bottle in vancouver the brewery in victoria is offering growler fills and there will be more casks about town (vancouver, victoria, chilliwack) i got my bottles at viti (vancouver) i tried to be greedy and get some more at liberty on the drive, but they were out of their 15 cases already i have tried two casks so far: monday night at st. augustine's (that was not very good) and tuesday night at the railway club (that was down-right ambrosia) i have only had a wee sample from the bottle - and it was so delicious i am on a quest to find more bottles!

on the coast

if you missed me talking about fresh-hopped beers with stephen quinn last week on cbc radio's on the coast, fear not!  you can still have a listen follow the link, and if you just want to listen to me, fast-forward to the 2:17 mark and if you missed getting your driftwood sartori harvest ipa yesterday, get out there right now, there may still be some left, but it won't last for long!

link love

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get your say in now about bc liquor laws its time to get what you want, and the best way to do that is to speak up about it support your local brewers and breweries jan zeschky's updated new bc breweries of 2013 piece read up - there are so many new breweries opening up around the province! whistler beer festival was a success! 8 simple steps not to be a beer snob douchebag china joins in on the pandering to the idea that the way to woo women to beer is through low alcohol fruity beers with hello kitty beer.  yes, hello kitty beer i would be outraged, but frankly its just par for the course and i have bigger things to get worked up about (like the article equating using hello kitty to woo drinkers with the timbers army having its own beer) auto-brewery syndrome - making your own beer... in your gut sure, i buy this ever felt far too yeasty in your guts after a cask festival?  not a stretch from there! lynne, aka bg canary's latest article for the bc craft be

friday frivolity

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legacy liquor store

new and exciting beers at legacy liquor store in vancouver: Samuel Adams Octoberfest - $16.35 Straight from the east coast, Massachusetts to be exact, comes a distinct and delicious Octoberfest seasonal brew. Rich in colour, with accents of amber and caramel, this beer packs a punch with notes of malt, spice, caramel and maple on the nose. Meanwhile, sugar, spice and everything nice, in addition to excellent malt characteristic, embody autumn on the palate. Simply fantastic. Evan Doan | Beer Team | Legacy Liquor Store Sierra Nevada Narhwhal Imperial Stout- $16.85 Brewed in honour of the majestic Narwhal Whale, this imperial stout pours as black as the depths of the Arctic Ocean accompanied with aromas of dark fruit, prune, baker’s chocolate and espresso. All about chocolate accented with coffee, the palate of this robust and perfectly balanced brew has a mile-long finish. Bravo! Chris Bonnallie | Beer Supervisor | Legacy Liquor Store Phillips Brewing Crookeder Tooth - $7.25 Croo

beer column

my notes from last evening's beer column with stephen quinn on the coast: It's the most wonderful time of the year for hop-heads! It's hop harvest time, and to beer geeks that can mean only one thing: fresh-hopped beers.  Fresh-hopping, also referred to as wet-hopping, is the process of using fresh hops to bitter the beer. Hops are ready for harvest at the end of August or the beginning of September in this part of the world. Growers know they are ready when the cone is plump and the lupulin is at a maximum. If you look at a hop flower, the lupulin is the yellow stuff between the green bits. This is where the oils come from that impart the bitterness and flavour to beer. Despite looking hardy, hops are actually quite delicate. They don't survive long after being cut. To preserve the oils and resins they need to be dried right away. . Most of the hops harvested are dried right after picking and then frozen, or ground into pellets. These are then sold to b

on the coast

great news!! stephen quinn will be hosting the bc craft beer awards on october 19th! and i'll be on the radio talking about fresh-hopped beers with him at 5:50 this afternoon 88.1 fm

link love

i have mentioned this a few times before i would love to have the work ability to just drink beer for a whole month in the meantime, here's a guy in france who is doing just that replacing all water with brewdog's nanny state beer joe wiebe (thirsty writer) on victoria's beer mile how many of these stops have you made it to? me, i've made it to all of them, but not on the same day speaking of moon under water (which we were if you clicked the link above) here's a review of their overhaul from the times colonist their pots pils continues to make me very happy every time i quaff it! fourteen best and worst gluten-free beers greens comes out on top, new grist on the bottom another view of gcbf and it makes me feel better that other bloggers have trouble getting out their posts about beer festivals!

great canadian beer festival - part 2

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oh gcbf! oh the good times! oh the good beers! oh thank dog there were no cameras at certain after-parties! first of all, let me extole the virtues of flying from vancouver to victoria so quick, so easy, so fun! (caveat:  i would not want to be on that tiny plane if there was ANY turbulence though - that would be very, very, very frightening) i left from my office at 5:45 on friday evening and i was in victoria by 7:00 for the start of the copper & theory tap takeover at the guild so civilized! watching the pre-flight safety film on an ipad the guild was a fun venue although, as nigel from the alibi room ironically pointed out, it was a hard place to socialize properly as you had to be seated to be served - darned restaurant licenses! i had hoped to have some beer & cheddar soup or welsh rarebit, but alas they don't do either of them vegetarian instead i ate other people's curry & chips as for beer, i stuck with the gigantic ipa because gosh darn

friday frivolity

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whistler beer fest

i am not going to whistler beer fest this weekend but i think it will be good times, so you should go instead i will be basking in the summer weather in deception pass camping for the first time this summer i have been to plenty of beer fests, this weekend i need to go camping! (and bring back more lovely american beers)

great canadian beer festival - part 1

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today, you just get some photos another day you'll get the whole play-by-play some friends find a pineapple man   camra vancouver represents   my arm is long enough to fit five people in a selfie   truer words...

beer column

and finally, my notes from last week's on the coast beer column topic:  extreme beers Why do brewers keep trying to push the international bittering units (ibus) higher and higher? Beer is like any other segment of the world, it experiences its fads and its trends and people pushing envelopes. The hops wars were just another expression of that. Craft beer had taken off and people were falling in love with india pale ales and all the bitter hoppiness that they offer, and brewers wanted to get creative and see how far they could push the bitterness envelope before they brewed a beer that was just undrinkably bitter. Fortunately, unlike other wars there were no casualties and I don't think anyone spent their gross national product on the war, so really, everyone won. Well, except for all of the fried taste buds. And it wasn't a war so much as friendly competition.   Hops are added during the making of beer at several points in the process. Hops added in th

link love

the artwork of the amazing 21st amendment cans (incidently, brew free or die was what i drank on the soccer field all labour day weekend - i love it when i can find it... and consume it!!) go joe wiebe! so much success coming to such a deserving beer writer ! five places to drink in vancouver featuring my home away from home, yaletown brewpub and the prettiest drinking hole in vancouver, 33 acres (incidently, i reviewed yaletown brewpub in the upcoming bc craft beer news, and steamworks in the inaugural summer edition)

excuses

there are not enough hours in the day for me to get to all the things i shoulda/coulda/woulda so, beer column notes will be here eventually but... probably not until after the great canadian beer festival

beer column

notes to come, but for now... here's the link to yesterday's beer chat on the coast with stephen quinn if you just wanna hear me, i'm on at the 2:19 mark

on the coast

i'll be on with stephen quinn at 5:50 today talking extreme beers and sipping on driftwood's gose-uh 690 am 88.1 fm

link love

happy labour day! a nice little primer on hops 17 issues sober people have to deal with (click on it, there are cats!!) beer advocate's history of american beer heineken can't compete with craft beer (which probably comes as no surprise to beer geeks) the top 10 craft beers in mexico warning - this one's in spanish, so depending on your ability to hablar, you may just want to look at the photos in the slideshow!