beernesday

been wondering what the beers on offer at harvest haus will be? need to plan what to pair with your pretzel before you arrive and get overwhelmed with the choices? never fear! i have the low-down on what's on offer at harvest haus, starting tonight: "Some of these are quite new to the Vancouver market, especially the Icelandic Brio pilsner and German Crew Republic IPA." HARVEST HAUS BEER SELECTION Erdinger Weissbier - Germany Erdinger Dunkel Weissbier - Germany Krombacher Pils - Germany Krombacher Radler - Germany Krombacher Weizen - Germany Russell Märzen - Vancouver Russell White Rabbit Hoppy Hefeweizen - Vancouver Birra Moretti - Italy Murphy's Irish Stout - Ireland Strongbow Gold - UK Strongbow British Dry - UK Strongbow Elderflower - UK Newcastle Brown Ale - UK Steam Whistle - Toronto Samuel Adams Boston Lager - USA Samuel Adams Octoberfest - USA Leffe - Belgium Hoegaarden - Belgium Löwenbräu - Germany Goose Island - USA P...

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...

while not officially a snake bite, i had the guinness and strongbow combination the other day wonderful hangover cure and so delightfully refreshing on a sunny afternoon no wonder its such a staple!

the only beer on offer the other night was corona now, on a hot sunny day i don't mind the light mexican beers but since the evil empire took over corona, i've been avoiding it (and the modelo and the bud and the other poor unfortunate beers, victoria being the true tragedy to me, but that's a whole other rant!) short story turning awfully long, there was also strongbow in the room so i did what anyone else in my shoes would have done and combined the two for yet another taste on my way to finding the ultimate snake bite! nothing wrong with the corona/strongbow combination nothing noteworthy either definitely enjoyed it more than i would have either beverage on its own and the second one went down even faster than the first!

went to stella's on cambie street the other night and because i'm not the biggest fan of the belgian beers, i had another snakebite concoction i teamed the phillips ipa with strongbow i was a little worried that the hops and cider would fight each other rather than compliment each other, but i needn't have worried - it was delicious! the hops and the citrus were made for each other it was refreshing and bracing and i wish i'd thought of it years ago! so far, this is the leader in my ultimate snake bite search

on my quest for the ultimate snake bite, i tried a strongbow and stanley park amber mixture the other night. i'm quite delighted by the ale's ability to jump into the lager's place and make a fabulous drink! less sweet than the usual snake bite, this one had plenty of cidery and beery goodness.  i had a second!

yay!  beeradvocate issue #41 arrived in my mailbox the other day! i love mail. i love beer. mail about beer is really a fabulous thing! and there's an article by BrewDog about their philosophy.  i love BrewDog! check it out my friends, check it out! And from the beer advocate website, this age-old question rears its enquiring head: "A proper snakebite? A friend of mine turned me onto snakebites a few months ago, and I've been looking for a good combination of beer and cider to mix together. Last weekend I gave Narragansett and Strongbow a try, which was pretty tasty, but I think I can do better. The liquor store I work at only has Woodchuck, Strongbow and Magners, but we've quite a good selection of imported and domestic beers, so I figured I'd ask BA what a good combo would be." wow, i never thought of experimenting with the snakebite.  i just happily lap up whatever the pub gives me.  no more!  i shall experiment everywhere strongbow ...

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 ...