beernesday

for all the bc craft beer month (october) events, clickety click, beerish trick

thank goodness rodney is all dialled in with prompt technology! i have photos and video of the bc craft beer month proclamation, but won't have a chance to do anything with them today thank you rodney for providing me with these lovely photos: photo credit:  rodney gitzel bob mcrae, minister of agriculture proclaims october bc craft beer month (terry lake, minister of the environment also attends and invites me out drinking at the noble pig!) beer bloggers and writers take photos and video lundy dale of camra bc beams with approval as her hard work comes to fruition brewers from steamworks, driftwood, lighthouse, r and b, et al receive kudos john mitchell is lauded for kick-starting the craft beer movement in british columbia steamworks (via eli and marnie) ply us with tasters of conrad's brews and lovely nibblies  bob mcrae, lundy dale and john mitchell with the proclamation sated, we basked in the gorgeous view, secure in the knowledge that cr...

ooooh, this sounds good! beer crispies who wants to make me some???

and the final instalment of "what i drank on my lost saturday of beer tasting" brings us to stone brewing's 15th anniversary escondidian imperial black ipa and tenaya creek's tandem double ipa stone: "In the 15 years since we entered the craft brewing world, change has come not in a straight line, but as an exponential curve. The craft brewing movement has long been called a "revolution." But today the air is so thick with revolution, it's palpable. No longer is it only an awareness among the faithful; the unconverted are beginning to feel it as well. Denial and ignorance are disappearing in favor of opened eyes, curiosity and the sense that there's something larger out there. For far too long we have been lied to. For far too long we have been oppressed by the notion that dumbed-down-lowest-common-denominator-mediocrity was all that we could, and should, expect. You might think we're talking only about the world of brewing, but we...

oh ehm gee:

back to some heavy hitting beers for the next instalment of "what i drank on my lost saturday" the fabulous ryan brought back some fine beers from his recent sojourn in las vegas stone brewing's belgo anise imperial russian stout certainly did not disappoint a licorice stout - how delightful! such a strong malt base totally hid the belgian yeast from my leery mouth and what a head! hoppy, stouty, licoricey, not belgiany, not overwhelmingly boozey - its a winner! i would love to have another bottle of this to age for a year or two... 10.5%, 56 ibus, warrior hops "This 2011 Odd Year release pours pitch black with a deep tan head, with aromatic notes of anise, coffee, and cocoa jumping from the glass. Coffee and dark roasted malt flavors dominate, with a robust complement of anise and oak, which leave a lingering blend of vanilla, licorice, and dark malt on the palate. This one will age nicely for several years." doing my best vanna white impression brew...

apparently it is america's national beer drinking day today happy beer drinking america!!

next up on our lost saturday of beer tasting was the dead frog fusion hopped pilsner weighing in at 5% it was by far the lowest abv we drank that whole day "Fusion Hopped Pilsner is a fresh, zesty, immaculate German Pilsner that uses a Top Secret brewing technique to fuse European hops with premium malt to give you massive, distinct hop flavours and a smooth finish!" i think this lovely photo of me taking a sip says exactly how i felt about this brew: no idea how this got past a brewmaster and out to the unsuspecting public smells like every generic pilsner on the market but has the temerity to taste even worse loved the citra ipa haven't liked a single other "brewmaster series" production dead frog, you disappoint me insert unhappy face emoticon here

because the phillips 10th anniversary imperial ipa was 3l and 10% big we decided that we needed a group to drink it and what better excuse to get together with a couple of buddies than watching a bc lions game on tv? stacey, bridget, ryan and i spent saturday afternoon polishing off the 10th anniversary beer and several other potent brews is that what they mean by a lost afternoon??? look how proud we are of our magnum of beer! we had some trouble getting the darned cork out but once we macguyver'd through that little issue, we motored right on through that beer first sip made me feel warm inside - thank you 10% abv! i don't understand why the reviews are so mixed - i found nothing there to hate on it's not in my top ten ipas of all time, but i very much enjoyed it nice hop to malt ratio, while the alcohol warmed me inside (and got me giggly), it was not overwhelming, a perfectly delightful imperial ipa and the time-line on the bottle of phillips brewing ov...

bc brews blog looks back over the craft beer revolution of the recent past

because it is apparently now autumn:  beer and bratwurst stew

more fabulous beer-related items from etsy.com buy handmade! argyle beer cozy : moustache beer mugs : beer bottle opener ring :

when i went to firefly to pick up my hop in the dark about a month or so ago, lundy (the beer expert) told me i needed to get fish brewery's reel ale swordfish double cascadian dark ale because i am obedient where beer commandments are concerned, i did so however, i didn't get around to drinking it until last weekend what can i say, my beer fridge runneth over! "Swordfish Cascadian Dark Ale (CDA) is dark in color, with a prominent “Northwest” hoppy aroma – citrusy, piney and resinous – with sweet malt, hints of roastiness and toasted malt. The flavors strike a beautiful balance between citrusy Northwest hops and, to a lesser degree, roasted, chocolate malt or caramel notes. Despite it’s rich color, the body is more reminiscent of an India Pale Ale, not heavy like a porter or stout. It takes the very deft hands of our Fish brewers to make these flavors play well together so that they don’t fight one another. But as you’ll see with Swordfish CDA, when that perfect b...

on tuesday night at the railway club's cask night i had the pleasure of drinking r&b's strawberry cream ale and it was fabulous! i don't normally love a cream ale but putting strawberries in it, subtle as they were, just made it fabulous! strong work r&b! and last night at the yaletown brewpub it was a cask of pale ale dry-hopped with millenium i think sometimes dry-hopping a pale ale is a better bet than an ipa you still get the body of a pale ale, plus the bitterness of the hops last night's cask was a definite win!  so nice, i had to have it twice. and get in there soon for the seasonal esb, it won't be around forever! also, cask night at yaletown features a chance to win lions tickets, side-line passes and practice jerseys - one entry per cask beer purchased!

not at all beer-related, but damn, i love sriracha sauce! and you can get it really cheaply at costco, just sayin... the oatmeal - sriracha sauce comic

seattle magazine provides a list of the local brewers you need to know brewery heros from hangar 24 flying dog newsletter esquire rates black ipas - and two of my faves make the top ten (deschutes hop in the dark and 21st amendment back in black) the ultimate beer guide - by oxford of course and the half pints brewer's blog

at last week's beernesday at st. augustine's i was overwhelmed with amazing ipa choices on the menu so i had to have two samplers! (because they're like a beer buffet) the first featured beers i hadn't tried before the second was a bit of an "ipa off" between my faves it was a whole lot of win! sampler one: skookum brewery's olde tom:  6%  an ipa style balanced with a belgian malt lost coast big ass west coast ipa: 7%  full-bodied and fatty with tickling carbonation. the flavor provides heaps of malt and tons of juicy, citric, rindy hops - nods toward the bitter side of balance green flash hop head red ale: 6%  resinous hop character and bitterness balance the rich carmel malt base deschutes hop in the dark: 6.5%  can an ipa be black? semantics aside, this noir version has subtle coffee undertones born of a blend of oats with dark, munich and crystal malts. what emerges is something deeper, less orthodox, and all its own okay, yes, i have had...

probably the only way you could ever get me to try molson m is to give me a free can and that's just what happened! if you're in vancouver and interested in trying molson m, they're giving the stuff away i got four cans at howe and robson at lunch-time now, will i actually try it or just put it in my beer fridge and foist it on unsuspecting non-beer-geeks???

last week i had the distinct good fortune to eat at rogue kitchen for their beer pairing dinner with greenflash brewery four courses of fabulous food paired with four different greenflash brews in a private room delightful! the beerthirst guys brought the beers and talked about them cory the chef made courses that made me want to make happy noises all the way through! first course: goat cheese flan with roasted beets, granny smith apple, hazelnuts, microgreens, nut brown vinagrette and puff pastry paired with green flash nut brown ale (english-style ale with rich caramel malt flavours and drying nutty characteristics in the finish.  british and belgian specialty malts with mild hops - 5.5%) the goat was mild and fluffy, the hazelnuts magic, puff pastry, beets, reduction - all divine!  the nutty beer was a perfect pairing and cleansed the goat right outta my mouth.  i could eat this every day and not get bored! second course: pan roasted halibut with ch...

these two food ideas have absolutely nothing to do with beer except that after you've had a few beers these will seem like the best food ideas ever! weiner noodles , noodle-weinies, just plain brilliant either way! is it a pizza?  is it a casserole?   again, either way its just plan brilliant! these food concepts make me actually want to step foot in my kitchen and "cook"...

in honour of international talk like a pirate day (yesterday):

i need a job! current contract ends middle of october and i have no idea what i want to be when i grow up... but i think i would like it to be beer-related

i wasn't much impressed with charlottetown when i breezed through town for a night back in 2007 but here's proof that fun things do in fact happen there sometimes it just takes a hundred years!

the economy is hopping in portland , oregon well, the craft beer economy anyway!

beernesday is ba-ack! st. augustine's, every wednesday at 7:00 photos from the first of the season: katy is a recognized beer judge!! dani, server extraordinaire! good times, good friends, good beers and cheap wings! it just doesn't get better than that!

oh those crazy fellas at st. augustine's! love the sign! photo credit:  erica sullivan

if you'll be in victoria on october first and if you love hops you should be at phillips ' hopoxia ringing in the inaugural bc craft beer month !! "Break in the inaugural BC Craft Beer Month in style. Brewers from all over the Province converge on the Phillips back parking lot armed with their favourite hop-infused beer! Come down and spend an afternoon sampling some of the best brews BC has to offer. Tickets are only $10 and include two 4oz tasters. Additional tasting tickets can be purchased at the event for $1.50. Where to buy: -Cash purchase Phillips Brewery - 2010 Government St., -Online at: http://www.rmts.bc.ca/tickets/production.aspx?performanceNumber=6198 (+$1.50 surcharge)"

stackhouse burger bar on granville street in vancouver is a beautiful little restaurant and bar! the service leaves a little to be desired and i'm not sure about their deep-fried pickles offered with a groupon deal of two taster beers for $6 but what the heck, it was only $6! the menu looks divine, if a touch pricey - burger heaven! the beer list is small, but there are a couple of gems on there: i'm interested to see how this place does friends want to go back for the kobe burger i'll probably tag along to see what kind of a crowd stops by we were there on a wednesday right after work and had the place to ourselves until about 5:45...

beware of the beer - most often sighted in the canadian north:

pretty things has a new website !

i was inspired to check out all the beer-related items on etsy and there are many of them others love pairing craft with craft - yay! here are just a few: upcycled beer label bracelet beer bottle cap foot stool beer tea towel set

feel that nip in the air? means fall is on its way in good-bye summer, hello pumpkin beers ! want to know which ones to try?  huffington post has some suggestions for you

happy birthday to one of my oldest friends (oldest in how long i've known her, not her age!), doctor sharon and to make this post beer related, why not check out craftbeer.com ? they have lots of good articles and other beer related stuff to titillate and educate you like this one about the new concept of putting together a beer trail you know, like a longer version of a pub crawl and this one about a five-way collaboration beer

if you are at a total loss of what to do with yourself between 4 and 7 tonight, and are in vancouver gee, you could go taste molson canadian at legacy! MOLSON CANADIAN TASTING Thursday, Sept 15, 2011 4 to 7 pm Our 6 packs of Molson Canadian are cold, and cheaper than the Government stores! Pick up one today! MEXICAN CONSULATE TASTING Friday, Sept 16, 2011 4 to 7 pm Join members of the Mexican Consulate as they pour a handful of different beers and tequilas from Mexico. not gonna lie to you, i think this beer and tequila tasting excites me a whole lot more than the molson canadian one! tonight, i will happily be sipping away on green flash beers and eating delicious food at the rogue kitchen and wetbar's beer pairing dinner!  yay!!  best deal in town - $35 for four course meal and beer pairing

get the most out of your craft beer and food pairings

last thursday at the yaletown brewpub the cask was stout dry-hopped with sorachi ace i wasn't too sure about dry-hopping a stout, but you know what! what? the sorachi ace worked like a charm in the stout not a citrusy hop, it lent some bitterness and depth of flavour to the stout bravo, i say, bravo! last night at the railway club it was an r&b cask of mint and cucumber ipa let me begin by saying that i hate cucumber not just dislike, its a burning passionate hatred i love pickles, i hate cucumber, i am large, i contain contradictions others may find the cuke innocuous, but i can smell it a mile off and be driven into a homicidal rage however, i did try the cask i love an ipa, i like mint... maybe i could get over the cucumber part? alas, the murky brew smelled too much like cucumber for me to even consider more than a few sips the mint was nice though... everyone else appreciated it... i'm just a cuke hater okay?  geesh!

love mexican food? live near vancouver? you need to hit up mexicofest !! oaxacan cuisine - deeelicious!