beernesday

my growler article from last november: FREE THE HOPS! REBECCA WHYMAN •  NOVEMBER 24, 2017 iStock photo Of the four ingredients in beer, hops are the New World’s contribution. It seems rather fitting then, that North America has its economic paws  allll  over hops. Trademarks, patents, royalties – how are these business-y things having their way with our beloved hops? It must be big beer’s fault! I understand why you’d want to make hops proprietary – it takes time, effort and money to painstakingly develop a new hop, test it eight ways to Sunday, and devote acreage to propagating it. It can take 15-20 years before any money starts coming in, and then on only a fraction of your experiments. But do you really need 20 years of royalties to recoup that investment? Off the backs of your growers and the lovely brewers who exalt your wonder-hop? C’mon, only big beer would do such a greedy thing. Experimental breeding has brought us wonder-hops that can do it all: h...

When I first heard about the price hike on 87% of the beers available in this province I, like most people, grumbled about it.  But I said that I didn’t think the price hikes would keep most people from drinking craft beer, and in the short term, I still think that’s the case.  But if the government raises prices, without notice to the brewers or the consumers, what’s to say that they won’t do so again soon?  If prices keep on rising that WILL make a difference in how many people drink craft beer, and how much of it they drink. Craft beer is a booming industry.  It employs people, it brings tourists to our province, and it brings in tax money to the province.  So why does government seem to be trying to destroy the industry?  I’m no financial wizard, but even I can see that making craft beer unaffordable for the masses will keep them from buying it.  If people aren't buying the product, fewer craft breweries will open, which will result in few...

newly available at the legacy liquor store in vancouver: A small craft brewery in Southeast Portland, Oregon inspired by European brewing tradition and Pacific Northwest ingredients, The Commons Brewery, formerly Beetje (Flemish for little) Brewery, started small in the summer of 2010 with nothing more than a single barrel nano system in Mike Wright’s garage. Jump to the summer of 2011 and The Commons Brewery has moved from the garage to a 7BBL commercial space and bottle conditioned beer. Striving to produce brews with moderate alcohol and refreshing, unique character courtesy of yeast strains originating in Europe—truly a beer lover’s paradise—these brews are sessionable and geared towards friends, family and sharing time with one another. So grab a bottle or two and gather ’round! The Commons Brewery Urban Farmhouse - $13.75 A farmhouse ale that fits the bill after a sweltering day working the land. Hazy straw yellow in colour with baking spice, floral hops and a bit of yeast in i...

Triple-Beer-Super-Massive-Seasonal-Release! October 22nd: We're celebrating BC Craft Beer Month the best way we know how: with a triple-beer-super-massive-seasonal-release! Three releases at once can be a lot to keep straight--especially once the craft connoisseur starts sampling. So to help you map your path we'll be highlighting the beers on our website and social media channels over the next 3 days, offering background info and tasting notes for each one. For all you Victoria-folk, we will also be hosting a tasting at the brewery on Tuesday October 23rd from 3pm-6pm where you can come on down to sample all three releases, meet some of the brewers and have an all-around great time. But to get everyone's engines revved up, here are some broad strokes... Puzzler Black Belgian IPA - 9.1% 650mL - Crafted in collaboration with our friends at Great Lakes Brewing from Toronto, buckets of black malt give this beer a deep earthy-brown colour and a huge body. Generous porti...

rogue juniper pale ale what a great bottle and a great looking beer! from the bottle:  "a pale ale, saffron in color with a smooth malt balance, a floral aroma with a dry spice finish from whole juniper berries" food pairing:  turkey 13 degrees plato 34 ibus 77 aa 3.2 degrees lovibond 100% pure rogue yes on the malt balance yes on the floral aroma yes on the dry spice finish quite refreshing enormous head on the vigourous pour, which lasted several minutes (the head, not the pour) from the website:  " HISTORY The Turkey was named the official bird of the Rogue Nation in August 2007. To commemorate the momentous occasion, Rogue Juniper Pale Ale was dedicated to “the turkey in each of us.” An axe and the dedication have been added to the serigraphed 22oz bottle and Juniper Pale Ale tap stickers. The Pilgrims were ale drinkers and most likely enjoyed beer at the first Thanksgiving. Juniper Pale Ale, like all Rogue products preserves water by using more ...

and now for "the antithesis of unearthly " from southern tier , its the imperial iniquity black ale pours up thick and black with a compact creamy head malty, malty, malty definitely some hops definitely different than an ipa a taste bridget is happy to acquire! and i like it too much like (and yet totally not even similar at all to) the snakebite i made with ipa and worried that it would be too clashy, this is a pairing that could be disastrous, but instead ends up complimentary and supportive its like therapy in a glass! hops and de-bittered chocolatey malts are a match made in heaven! 9% 21 degrees plato 2 row pale malt, debittered black malt kettle hops:  chinook, cascade hop back:  willamette dry hops:  cascade, centennial serve chilled in a southern tier tulip glass from the bottle:  "The hexagram talisman has been used around the world for centuries to invoke magic and good luck.  The six-point star is also the customary symbol of b...

pike brewing's pike ipa is next up for a tasting i love a tasting! fairly leapt out of the bottle when i popped the top but the head settled quite quickly into a manageable half inch of creaminess cloudy on the vigourous pour not a lot of nose 60 ibus 6.3% first sip is very malty so is the second and the aftertaste the bottle says nothing... the website says: og 1.062 malt varieties:  pale, crystal, munich, carapils hops varieties:  columbus, willamette, chinook, goldings, amarillo color:  amber yeast:  english ale flavor profile:  powerful malt backbone is balanced with aromatic herbal hop character history:  highly hopped to retain freshness on the voyages from england to india (not so impressed by their website actually...) definitely a more malty brew than i've been craving lately but the further i get into it, the more i'm enjoying the maltiness contrasting with the hoppiness not gonna become my favourite, but i'm not gonn...

while at hidden the other night, my tastebuds were tingled by Rogue Brewery's Brutal Bitter. it pours with an awful lot of head, and stays a bit hazy even after it warms up a little.  offered in 650mL bottles, it didn't say what its alcohol volume was, but judging by our lack of addle-brainedness, we figured it wasn't outrageously high!  15 degrees plato, 59 IBUs, 14.2 degrees Lovibond and just 7 ingredients:  100% floor-malted maris otter, cara vienna, cara wheat malts; crystal and rogue farm willamette hops, free range coastal waters and top fermenting pacman yeast.  no chemicals, preservatives or additives.  suggested food pairings are beef and bbq. they say:  "Dedicated to Justin Fisch, the "Shade Man".  An imperial style bitter using exotic traditional floor malts, a hoppy citrus flavor with a stupendous hop aroma.  Hedonistic!" definitely has a hop aroma, its smooth and very easy-drinking.  not particularly bitter and makes a g...