beernesday

here are my notes from yesterday's beer column on sessionable beers on cbc radio one's on the coast with stephen quinn: Spring/Summer beers aka what the heck is a session beer anyway?! Coming up on May 10 th is Camra Vancouver's second annual Spring Sessional.   The general definition of a sessionable beer as interpreted by Camra Vancouver is one “brewed to be low in alcohol (4.5% or less) without sacrificing flavour or the malt to hop balance, resulting in an extremely drinkable beer. The purpose of these beers is to allow repeated consumption over a long session without overwhelming the palate or coherence of the imbiber”. In other words, tasty beers low enough in alcohol not to get you intoxicated before you finish the first half of it! Session beers are really a natural progression in craft beer, and a return to old days.  Historically in Europe beer was the beverage of workers – quaffed during the work day - and you can’t have the workers getting all l...

i will be on cbc radio one's on the coast with stephen quinn at 5:50 today talking about session beers tune in to hear me on 88.1 in vancouver and check out my notes right here on the blog tomorrow

petition to get craft beer into local stadiums totally a topic i have been looking into myself double trouble and the royal york fairmont partner on an 85th anniversary brew 1929 cream ale i'm not a big fan of cream ales, but i suppose i'll try this when i'm in toronto at the end of june people seem to think this is a good idea me, i don't wanna see most of you naked, so i'll skip this beer fest thanks! an update to jan zeschky's new bc microbreweries list for 2014 an older article by joe wiebe in bc living mapping vancouver's hoppiest neighbourhoods beer lollipops vancouver's craft beer scene explodes a loveletter from a washington state writer don't want the tv on while you drink beer?  these vancouver craft beer spots have no tv i have also mentioned several non-tv bars in my column in the bc craft beer news ooooh, pretty!  a ceramic beer sleeve that is every bit as slick and stylin' as my new stainless steel innate sa...

happy weekend! i'm in vegas, looking forward to the beer festival tomorrow i love beercations!

con't from yesterday's post: After an afternoon of visiting three lovely establishments it was time to ditch the vehicle and continue on foot.  The final four places I stopped were within very easy walking distance of each other. Downtown Corvallis is not very large and boasts a number of craft beer destinations.   Fourth stop, Flat Tail Brewing, Corvallis, OR This is one of the breweries mentioned in Lisa Morrison's book.  I decided to keep going with the taster paddles and chose 8 beers. We arrived a minute before 6:00 and our server graciously told us if we ordered quickly he could get us in under the“happy hour” wire. Realizing we hadn't eaten at all yet, I ordered the “frickles” - fried pickles with pepper ranch dip - and pretzel sticks with beer & cheddar and honey mustard dips. The pretzels were awesome, the frickles had a bit too much breading on them, but they kept me able to drink my paddle of Kolsch, Amber 8 Man, Bitter Ry...

You hear a lot about the breweries in Portland, but there are many other Oregon towns that offer an impressive number of breweries per capita. I had the opportunity to spend a weekend in Corvallis, about an hour and a half South of Portland. I thought there would be one or two good places for beer in a town of 50,000. Was I ever surprised when I started my research and came out with a long list of breweries and bottle shops. Not so surprising, I guess, when you take into account that Corvallis is home to Oregon State University, an international leader in the breeding and researching of hops. I couldn't make it to all the good beer on offer, but I gave it my best shot to hit as many as I could in a day and a night.   Any time I am travelling, I do beer research first, and usually take along a beer book or two (as well as my beer notebook).  For this trip I took Lisa Morrison's "Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest" as she had several entries for Albany and C...

i'm still on vacation!  love easter long weekend! but in case you're not... i offer you this small token of link love port alberni homebrewer trying to crowdsource himself into craft brewing with all the hype about session beers lately let's go back a couple of years to when it was still just an idea and get craftbeer.com's definition of sessionability five american hotels that are conveniently nestled among great craft beer venues aka rooms with a brew if you'll be in vancouver on may 10th (i won't be, i'll be in portland attending the cider riot kick-off party - yay me!) you may just wanna hit the cbc for the microdistillery festival vancouver island brewing celebrates 30 years of brewing with an anniversary imperial red ale Okanagan Spirits BC Hopped Whisky is going to be released this Spring and the image is a little sneak peak of the label. The idea behind the 'Final Proof Master Distiller Series' was to allow the crea...

new beers available at legacy liquor store in vancouver: Back in the 1980’s before the Craft Beer boom, Mark Irvin fell in love with suds that were more than just cold. Falling head over heels for the art and science of brewing beer with character, Mark took the next step in 1993 and the Northern Lights Brewing Company was born. Following eight years of producing draft beer and self-distributing kegs to local eateries, Mark and his brewing venture moved to its current location on the Spokane River and added a pub. Skip ahead to 2012 and Northern Lights Brewing is a man stronger with John Bryant, formerly of Deschutes, Odell and Oskar Blues breweries, working together with Mark Irvin to showcase the best of what the ‘Inland Empire’ has to offer. However, not everything was so rosy. Receiving the cold shoulder and the silent treatment over a name dispute with an eastern brewery, Northern Lights Brewing Co. was reborn as No-Li Brewhouse, and a wryly named Silent Treatment Pale Ale took ...

eat! vancouver is coming up it will be on the same weekend as vancouver craft beer week, but i am sure that i can fit both in i just won't sleep much... 12th annual EAT! Vancouver Food + Cooking Festival Friday May 30 - 2-9pm ; Saturday May 31 - 10am-9pm ; Sunday June 1 - 10am -5pm BC Place Stadium, 777 Pacific Boulevard, Vancouver BC V6B 4Y8 Info and tickets: www.eat-vancouver.com Tickets: Adults $17 ($14 online), Seniors $15 ($14 online), Youth aged 13-16 $9, Free for children 12 & under.   Facebook: Facebook.com/eat. van couver Twitter @EAT_Vancouver Instagram: Instagram.com/ eatva ncouver Pinterest: Pinterest.com/ eatva ncouver Hashtag: #eatbuzz

hoppy easter! i'm off to corvallis for the weekend i hear there's good beer there you know i will report back!

and i made the cbc website again!!! As people around the world embrace craft beer, beer travel is a growing trend. We do it for wine,  why not beer, asks Rebecca Whyman, a member of Campaign for Real Ale. Whyman says she would love to travel more often for beer — but when going to every beer festival worldwide is not in your budget, she say you can still get some decent craft beer on your holidays. Whyman recommends starting with some research on the Internet to find out which breweries are near your destination, and what events are taking place while you're there. She says a recent trip of hers to Mexico produced some delicious results, and on an upcoming trip she will be going to the Las Vegas Beer Fest. Before you arrive, you can plug into the local beer scene, and start following beer makers on social media. Travel the world tasting beer (CBC)   Beer Advocate is a beer magazine and website that can help you find craft beer locales in cities throughout the...

my notes from yesterday's beer column on beer travel on cbc radio one's on the coast with stephen quinn I would love to be able to travel the world for beer! So far, Mexico and Central Ontario are the furthest I have travelled since becoming a beer geek, and those were places I was visiting for other reasons. Those totally count as beer travel though, since I sought out all the beer I could while I was there! There are two basic methods of beer travel. The first is to find a beer event you would like to attend, or choose a beer-centric place to visit, and then plan a vacation around the beer. The second is to research the beer options available in a place you already have plans to visit. So far my beer travel generally falls into the second category. I find all the beer I can at places I already have plans to visit. Quite often serendipity graces me with a beer festival during the very period I need to be somewhere. For instance the Washington State Cask Festival that ...

i will be on cbc radio one's on the coast with stephen quinn at 5:50 talking about beer travel 88.1 fm in vancouver

another biercraft set to open in vancouver sfu's first brewing class is over what did the students learn ? what's a link love post without a top ten list?? this week i give you the top ten tasting rooms in vancouver and the huff post's top ten beers you've never head of part 6 of ben coli's blog on scout about belgian yeast great canadian homebrew contest is back this year's conference is in toronto on june 21st the newest break-out hop gets its name at the craft brewers conference welcome equinox!

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...

look what i found when i was searching the cbc website for something else: my beer column on gluten-free beers from august 2013

because i wasn't sure about it i had more of the central city oaked esb cask last night this time i did my sampling at the cascade room i like it, i really do it's hoppy and complex i still have no idea what that flavour is though, but my guess is it is from the oak hell, maybe it's oak like i've never oaked before and while i was there, i couldn't resist the welsh rarebit gawd, i love welsh rarebit!!

managed to make it out to the railway club for the cask again last night central city's oaked esb which for the most part i really enjoyed but there was an odd flavour that came out as it warmed up not unpleasant per se, but definitely odd anyway, the camra cask meet ups seem to be going well some of the usual suspects were there and a couple of unusual suspects joined in too i hope it continues, it is nice to socialize with other beer geeks at a relaxed drop in event and the railway club has a new menu not a whole lot of veggie options (and a couple of spelling errors/typos - yes, i am THAT guy) but people were saying they liked what they tried last night (which were the thai coconut rice bowl and the flank "stake" tacos)  

stupid fda rule may screw farmers how to carry a case of beer on your bike   trappist breweries - ancient traditions and modern realities   liquor control licensing amendment act   best news ever for all you carnivorous lovers of beer and if it is from foxnews, you know it must be 100% true ten best american cities for craft beer no surprises on this list! vcbw 2014 collaboration brew new stout specific beer glass    

i managed to hit two cask nights this past week the first was the railway cask night on tuesday where camra vancouver launched its new #yvrcaskmeetup i was an ambassador and got to great the folks who came out in support (apparently i was the only one expecting the flash!) and drink the wonderfully hoppy cask of central city ipa - so good i had to have two!   (shown here with beer brittle made by the talented ryan wong) on thursday night i went to the yaletown brewpub for their cask of ginger marmalade wit and some of the seasonal india red ale all were delicious! although i never expected otherwise

further to my radio column about gmos in beer here is a list of 8 beers that contain them govern yourself accordingly update:  and here is a rebuttal to that article not really touching on the gmo aspect, but totally slamming the rest of the scary beer ingredients aspect (and fabulous use of my new favourite word: dumbassery - mostly due to it that great silent b in the middle)

freshly arrived at legacy liquor store in vancouver: Mikkeller Citra Single Hop IPA - $5.65 Often pushing the boundaries of beer with unique brews, Mikkeller has decided to show off the characteristics of a single hop. Beautiful amber orange in colour with a pithy and fruity aroma, on the palate grapefruit, citrus and malt all play their role and showcase what Citra is all about. An excellent choice for any hop enthusiast. Joel Wilson | Beer Team | Legacy Liquor Store Dead Frog Brewery The Obsidian Dagger - $6.95 Reinvention isn’t easy, but Dead Frog Brewery makes it look like it is with another addition to their stellar line-up of 650ml bottles. Dark roasted malts and tropical hops work in harmony in this black IPA—with hops like centennial and galaxy, and malts including biscuit and chocolate, this is a true powerhouse. Enjoy before this limited batch beer is all gone. Chris Bonnallie | Beer Supervisor | Legacy Liquor Store Straffe Hendrik Brugs Quadrupel Bier - $10.95...

my notes from yesterday evening's beer column on weird beers on cbc radio one's on the coast during which the poor sick stephen quinn suffered a coughing attack and could barely participate oh the joys of live radio! Did you see the new helium beers debuting from SamAdams and Stone Brewing ?   Who would have thought you could put helium in beer, let alone that two breweries would race each other to the post to be the first to produce it. Oh right, it’s April Fools' Day.   There is no helium beer. But there are crazy and creative beers out there that are no joke!   Let’s take a quick tour of the zanier side of craft beer. The craft beer community has embraced all sorts of brewing innovations, like brewing ales with lager yeast, adding different ingredients such as botanicals in the place of hops to experiment with different flavours, the hop wars and the highest alcohol content contest. There are also interesting flavours brewers around the Lower Mainlan...