beernesday

we had a beernesday this week! and stacy brought me dogfish head 60 minute ipa - yay! and before beernesday, i was at the railway club to watch game 1 of the stanley cup final where i drank the hop circle ipa and everyone else split their time between the ok 1516 special and phillips ginger beer

no sooner do i post about my beer snobbery and lack of enthusiasm for most bars' beer lists than i find an amazing watering hole! praise the lord! apparently its been a little while since i ventured out to the biltmore and stayed out far too late on a school night because since i was last there they have started carrying a plethora of really great craft brews! they had six taps on the go (for $5.50) phillips blue buck lighthouse ipa okanagan springs 1516 okanagan springs black lager okanagan springs something else and something else (might have been cider actually) great memory i have eh? and then the bottles!  i only wish i could remember half of them but alas, i cannot what i do remember is:  anchor steam, phillips hop circle, deschutes mirror pond, heineken, leffe... cans of pabst blue ribbon... what did i have? well, i'm glad you asked! i had a pint of the lighthouse ipa first (and second) followed by a bottle of mirror pond followed...

i am turning into quite the beer snob! drinking craft beer has made me not want to drink anything but the best which is making it hard to visit many of my old haunts and me less likely to be enthusiastic about trying some new places their beer lists just aren't inspiring so, my snobbery aside, how hard is it to bring in one or two local craft brews? it shouldn't be that hard... and it would please me to no end! i'm tired of granville island and okanagan springs being my only two "local" choices and corona and stella being the "imports" sadly, this critique extends to several pubs who pride themselves on having several taps as well but how inspiring is a choice of local taps that only include granville island, big rock, sleeman, okanagan springs and keith's?  i.e. the charlatan:  "Located in the heart of Vancouver's Commercial Drive, The Charlatan, is the areas best Gastro-Pub. Offering 15 fresh tap beers with 12 imported brews...

from today's province newspaper (see the save on foods insert): "Behold the best B.C. brews GRANVILLE ISLAND'S RASPBERRY WHEAT ALE One of the annual summer highlights from the Granville Island Brewery, the Raspberry Wheat Ale is once again available to consumers -- but only for a limited time. (Six weeks!) The GIB Raspberry Wheat Ale is a combination of malt, water, hops, yeast and Fraser Valley raspberries that -- according to brew master Vern Lambourne -- is a "perfect compliment to a fruit-filled dessert, or perhaps a grilled chicken salad." It should be noted that sales of the Raspberry Wheat Ale will aid a great cause -- 50 cents from every bottle sold goes toward the Weekend to End Women's Cancers. Visit gib. ca for more. PHILLIPS BREWERY'S BIG TIME KOLSCH This ale is quickly becoming a favourite among music festival goers in British Columbia. Phillips' Big Time Kolsch was originally brewed for attendees of the Big Day Up festival...

and more tasting from the canada cup of beer! last year the efes guys gave me a t-shirt.  this year they were wearing the same ones, and offering token-free beer if you could toss your token into the cup.  we all came close, but had to part with our tokens in the end. the guys were nice enough to let me have a half pour of each of the pilsner and the dark ale so that i could try them both on one token.  the pilsner is so refreshing and perfect for a hot day.  the dark was nicely malted. i'd like to find these at a local store some time to properly enjoy them. russell brewing has come out with a fabulous summer concept - a citrus twist pack!  half lemon ale and half lime lager, its the perfect summertime mixer pack.  both flavours are well filtered, crisp and refreshing.  the lemon has more citrus flavour, but both are delightful.  we strongly suggest picking some up - everyone liked these babies! then we made it over to the cariboo booth ...

i had cause to be out and about near 10th and alma, and in need of sustenance, so i stopped in at Browns Social House.  i'd never heard of this chain before, and can't imagine why not.  i guess i just don't get out as much as i'd like to pretend i do. their beer selection leaves an awful lot to be desired, but the atmosphere and the food were pretty fabulous.  and the bathroom was pretty darned wonderful, and you know how i like a good bathroom in my drinking establishment. featuring only granville island, okanagan spring 1516, guinness, sleeman's honey brown and grolsch on tap, they also carry the following bottles:  coors light, kokanee, sol, sapporo, guinness and strongbow.  like i said, not much of a selection.  they do offer sleeves of the taps for $3.95 or pitchers for $14 on sundays and mondays.  the "social lager" specially brewed for them by granville island brewery tasted pretty much the same to me as regular gi lager, but at only $4.95 ...