beernesday

my softball schedule is wreaking havoc on making it to my usual cask nights but i'm still getting out there when i can! last night's cask at the yaletown brewpub was an unadulterated brick and beam ipa after a hectic day at work lemme tell ya, that stuff went down very easily! beernesday (a special off-season edition) this week offered me these delicious brews: pint of klickitat pale ale pint of el torero organic ipa pint of brooklyn sorachi ace sampler of vancouver island brewing beachcomber summer ale sampler of whistler brewing paradise valley grapefruit ale sampler of paddock wood 606 india pale ale sampler of elysian brewing the wise esb

october 19, 2011 rogue chipotle ale - 5.5% roasted chipotle peppers produce an eye opening chile flavor in this deep golden ale with a malty, smoky aroma and smooth, crisp flavor i love chipotle!  so delish! howe sound devil's elbow ipa - 6% an assertive ale that is heavily bittered and dry-hopped providing an intensive aroma and brewed using selected english and north american barley and hops its a baby next to the imperial ipa, but its a lovely tasty baby! paddock wood loki double ipa - 8.7% double ipa weighing in at 80 ibus.  brewed using cascade, amarillo, willamette and ekg hops, giving the beer a strong hop character i dunno about this one... too boozey for me.  but everyone else likes it and isn't finding the booze in it rogue imperial younger's special bitter - 7.5% it has a triad of caramel maltiness, fruitiness and hop bitterness in aroma and flavor and a dry, hoppy finish too boozey for this little princess.  but again, everyone else loves it and c...

from last week's beernesday at st. augustine's: i began my night with a sampler dead frog's christmas beeracle!  5%  a festive, rich, warm amber ale with a medley of spices including cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. cannery's no jail pale ale:  3.05% a lower-alcohol beer with an authentic ale taste!  a clean, crisp ale with a bright hop finish and about 40% less alcohol than conventional beer salt spring's golden spike ale:  5%  voted "best golden ale" at the canadian brewing awards paddock wood's london porter:  5.3%  a dark ale based on a recipe from 1850 which lets chocolate malt take the lead.  smoother than stout, but still holds a deep roast profile i very much liked the christmas beeracle! gingery goodness (reminiscent of the steamworks ginger from last spring) and no vanilla!! i would definitely have this one again and i don't say that about many christmas or winter ales bridget liked it a lot too! the no jail was a little...

at this past week's beernesday i had an ode to the ipa sort of evening it seemed like it hurt my head too much to come up with beers for a sampler and i knew they had some great ipas on tap... so i just went with four pints of four different ipas (and didn't love myself as much as usual on thursday morning when i woke up...) howe sound's total eclipse of the hops:  8%  a supremely well balanced and drinkable imperial ipa weighing in at 90 ibus and 8% alcohol. you know i love this one! so happy to see it back in the rotation at st. augustine's its a damned fine day when a seasonal that you thought was all sold out comes back to let you savour it again! driftwood's fat tug ipa:  7%  a northwest style india pale ale that is characterized by an intense hop aroma i do love this brew very aromatic hop nose not quite as balanced as the howe sound but oh, so delightful to drink! hopworks ipa:  6.6%  rich and resinous flavours of citrus fruit and pi...

okay, so i'm just gonna admit it right from the top of the post i got pretty darned drunk at beernesday this past week not that i don't usually get somewhat drunk, but this was a bit beyond the norm people were doing beer shots from the divet of my clavicle... it was one of those kinda nights so, my tasting notes are even worse than usual but let me give you what little i can! began and ended with a pint of the rogue dry hopped st. rogue red:  5.2% named the world's best pale ale at the world beer awards.  reddish copper in colour, a roasty malty flavor, with a hoppy-spruce finish. i love this beer! it makes me happy - must be all them hops i can see why its the world's best ale its a maltier darker ipa... divine, simply divine my sampler was supposed to be an ode to hops in various styles but it ended up being rather disappointing... paddock wood 606 pale ale:  5.4%  featuring a blend of cascade, amarillo and willamette hops on top of a solid malt ...