beernesday

my notes from yesterday's beer column on cbc radio one's on the coast with stephen quinn: If you can’t make it to Munich for the famous Oktoberfest, being held right now, never fear – there are several smaller versions taking place right here at home!  Harvest Haus  begins on Thursday.  Ooom-pah, sausages and pretzels, and of course, lots of beer await you at the Queen Elizabeth plaza.  Running Thursday, Friday and Saturday this weekend, and Friday, Saturday and Sunday of next, you can enjoy sword-play and dancing, and cheersing with ceramic steins. Darby’s Gastown is celebrating Oktoberfest on October 2 nd from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.  They’re pairing four beer styles, dunkel, marzen, alt and hefeweizen with German fare of pretzels and sausages.  No tickets required, just show up and enjoy. Port Moody’s Oktoberfest runs from September 29 th to October 2 nd and the 6 th to the 9 th at 100 Newport Way.  There will be beer, pretzels, saus...

here are my notes from yesterday's beer column on cbc radio's on the coast with stephen quinn: Get out your calendars and mark down these beer festival dates! There are beer festivals all year round, but right now is a particularly rife season, just thick with festivals here in BC, and it is not entirely due to Oktoberfests!   There’s the Great Canadian Beer festival in Victoria, the BC Beer Awards, Whistler Beer Festival, Yaletown Brewpub's Caskival, Harrison Beer Festival, Powell River Oktoberfest and Bomber Brewing’s Oktoberfest just to name a few. There are definitely elements that are common to all beer festivals – drinking beer for starters – but there are differences, which is why you can’t just say you’ve been to a beer festival and now you’re done.   Some beer festivals have a theme – like Oktoberfest or casks – some are big, some are small, some are about beer and food pairings – like Vancouver’s Brewery and the Beast meat and beer feast – some are hel...

yesterday's beer fest was fun it's not the biggest beer festival around and there were not many beers being offered that i hadn't had before but it's a well-run festival and a great introduction to beer festivals for a newbie or a relaxing beer festival for an old hand caveat:  tourism harrison paid for me to stay two nights at the lovely harrison beach hotel, and entry for me and my guest to all three beer fest events.  i'm not going to lie to you about my impressions of the festival, but i may have had rose-coloured glasses on due to the sheer joy of a mostly-free weekend away at a beer festival in adorable harrison. i brought a newbie with me to the festival so while i spent my time pouring over the list for beers that i needed to cross off my "drank it" list i was also looking for beers i thought she would want to try for those who follow me, you'll know that i have one hold-out on full conversion to craft beer well, no longer! bri...

let me just begin by saying that harrison beer fest is adorable! harrison is a lovely little place and its beer festival is an equally lovely little thing caveat:  tourism harrison paid for my hotel for two nights and entry for me and my guest to all three harrison beer fest events.  i'm not gonna lie to you about my impressions of the fest, but i may be mildly swayed by the sheer joy of getting away for a mostly-free beer weekend! traffic was fairly kind to us, but we still didn't hit town until around 7 p.m. so we were at st. alice hall about an hour after the casks had been tapped and the night was in full swing the event was sold out because they wisely kept the numbers low to ensure that attendees got their beer's worth; the hall was full but by no means packed my first impression was that this is a very different festival than i'm used to people were sitting down, the noise level was fairly low and no one was drunk and that impression lasted for abo...

and i am now mere hours away from cask night at the harrison beer fest i hope traffic is kind to me!

i am two days away from a beer weekend in sunny harrison hot springs ! my oktoberfest outfit is packed already... the lovely folks at tourism harrison are putting me up in a hotel for the weekend so that i can enjoy all the fun (and craft beer!) that the harrison beer fest has to offer this will be my first time at the harrison beer fest and i'm very much looking forward to it! my fingers are crossed that the weather forecast of sunny and 17 C comes to pass (wish i was there today enjoying the sunny and 20C afternoon) for a couple of reviews of last year's inaugural fest, clicky on the linkys below for what i think of this year's sophomore fest, check back here saturday and sunday! - tourism harrison blog - the agassiz observer

HARRISON BEER FESTIVAL RETURNS ON OCTOBER 25 - 26, 2013 HARRISON HOT SPRINGS, September 19, 2013 - Harrison Hot Springs is celebrating Craft Beer Month with three must-attend events over two days: Cask Night, Harrison Beer Festival and Oktoberfest Dance. Beer lovers and weekend adventurers alike are invited to partake in the celebrations and stay for the weekend to enjoy scenic Harrison Hot Springs. The festivities begin on Friday, October 25th with Cask Night, a fun night of song and games with a warm and friendly British pub feel complete with evening piano music. Participating breweries include: Aldergove-based Dead Frog, Chilliwack’s Old Yale Brewery (Gold winner in the Canadian Brewing Awards), Penticton’s Cannery Brewing and local Mission Springs, whose brewery’s quirky memorabilia collection is worth a visit. Admission includes a complimentary sampling glass and three free tasting tokens. Tickets start at $18. On Saturday, October 26th, beer aficionados will compare the fines...

these are my notes from yesterday's beer column on cbc radio's on the coast: Oh, look at that, its October - and that can mean only one thing... it's time to talk about B.C. Craft Beer Month!  Year three brings a few new events and the return of some favourite province-wide events - for the whole list, see the website at www.craftbeermonth.ca . Some of the local highlights are: On Thursday evening there's the Beer Battle Royale at Doolin's pub - this is where four breweries battle it out to have their keg drained first. Winner gets bragging rights and their beer featured on tap for the month of November. Battling this year are Four Winds, Granville Island , R&B and Steamworks; There will be a brewmaster dinner at the Pumphouse in Richmond this Friday, and one at Hop and Vine in Vancouver on Friday, October 25th; There will be a women and beer dinner at Darby's pub on Monday, October 21st; New this year, there will be an already sold-out ...