beernesday

if you missed me on cbc radio's on the coast last week never fear!  you can still catch my talk with matthew lazin-ryder about camra's fuss campaign and how much i love radlers follow the link to on the coast past episodes click on july 22 and fast-forward to about 10 minutes before the end and hopefully you'll be able to tune in next tuesday (august 5) at 5:50 p.m. for my next beer column

beer geek life lessons "Beer is an affordable luxury, and the dividends it pays in flavor and camaraderie are worth the (ever-expanding) expenditures. " joe wiebe on canadian food bloggers reviewing fat tug and full nelson ipas camra president reports that the gov't is slowly realizing it needs to rework the new "unhappy hour" minimum pricing - pitchers can now be priced at $0.20 per ounce and paddy treavor's take on the new pitcher pricing "They cannot really believe we are that stupid to believe this small, token change fixes the EPIC FAIL that is our new minimum drink price standards." i don't think he's impressed i have my ticket to the inaugural vancouver craft brew cruise (8:00 p.m. session) do you?  tix still available for te 11:00 a.m. cruise

happy birthday to my mommy! here she is enjoying a pint of mill street organic lager she has to use two hands these days but i love that she can still down a pint with lunch!

i think the elysian brewing tap take over at st. augustine's on monday was the largest i have been to 25 taps of elysian were available (out of the 60 taps at st. a's) so big in fact that st. a's kept running out of taster glasses because everyone was ordering paddles in a vain attempt to try all of the offerings the place was packed and kudos must go to the servers who were run off their feet trying to get us all our beers i made it through eight tasters (and a lobster sandwich) before i tapped out first paddle contained: woo-tang kettle sour mortis persimmon sour ale barrel aged savant ipa zombo experimental ipa second paddle contained: barrel aged loser pale ale cowabunga ipa bombo experimental pale ale huy five pale ale as usual, i didn't take very good notes but here they are regardless and please note that i really quite liked all eight of my beer choices, despite how my notes may sound: woo-tang kettle sour:  yup, that's a sour. ...

here are my notes from yesterday's beer column on cbc radio one's on the coast wherein i explained to matthew lazin-ryder what all the fuss is about: You may have heard about the tempest in a pint glass that has hit Vancouver . Wondering what all the FUSS is about??? Who cares about accurate measuring of beer? Frankly, YOU should.  And here's why: CAMRA Vancouver's President and Treasurer recently (July 5, 2014) went to some licensed establishments in town and measured how much beer was being poured, and found out that very few places were actually serving as much beer as their menus stated. And they reported their findings via social media.  Why did CAMRA do this? CAMRA is a beer advocacy group - the Campaign for Real Ale - part of whose mandate it is to "encourage the responsible enjoyment of beer and actively support laws and regulations that contribute to that objective".     To that end, CAMRA's Vancouver Chapter...

i will be on cbc radio one's on the coast with matthew lazin-ryder at 5:50 this afternoon talking about camra's fuss campaign and why it should matter to all beer consuming folks in british columbia and extolling the virtues of radlers 690 am 88.1 fm in vancouver

for the love of radlers including a make it yourself radler recipe ninkasi brewing has a space program yes, you read that correctly a space program and they recently launched a rocket full of yeast into the outersphere stateside on the drive is fuss approved! but half of the bars surveyed by the vancouver sun are not (you'll note that the craft beer serving establishments were the ones closest to serving a full 20oz pint... quality and quantity - yay!) light beer is on its way out according to washington post yummy dung smoked beer is coming to the u s of a

newly stocked beers at legacy liquor store in vancouver: Founded by Alex Ganum, the owner and head brewer at Upright. Alex grew up drinking his father’s German pilsners and his older brother’s Bells Porter before moving to Portland in 2002 where he decided to give brewing a go. He never looked back, and seven years later opened Upright Brewing, specializing in farmhouse-inspired beers rooted in France and Belgium but made with local ingredients and a Pacific Northwest twist. The name “Upright” is in reference to the primary instrument of Charles Mingus, a musician whose compositions defy categorization. At Upright the recipes and processes are decidedly unbound, making for a true hybrid style that shares Mingus’ spirit of creativity and craft. Each beer combines the best of French style beers with the best the Pacific Northwest has to offer, making for some truly wonderful brews. Upright Brewing Co. Seven - $12.55 French-inspired ales with a West Coast twist to give them an identity...

the ndp's response to my letter of complaint to the liberals with respect to their happy hour legislation: Hello Rebecca, Thank you for copying me on your email to the Premier et al. Small pubs, bars and restaurants are being hurt by the latest happy hour initiative from Premier Christy Clark and the B.C. Liberals, making many small business owners wonder: is the government completely inept on the liquor file? By adopting the highest minimum liquor prices of any province in Canada, the Liberals have created a situation where many pubs, bars and restaurants are finding it necessary to raise their regular prices to meet the new minimums, let alone think about actually implementing a happy hour. The minimum $5 price point for a 20 ounce pint of beer will work for a downtown Vancouver bar with a regular price in the $8 range. They can lower their prices to create a special. But for many establishments outside of the Lower Mainland, or more moderately priced neighbourhood facilities t...

more on british columbia's unhappy hour: how did the liberals screw up happy hour? are the liberals dumb or devious? more on camra's fuss campaign: more head is a good thing or, who to contact if you actually want action taken on being short-poured who had ever heard of measurement canada before?? what the hop shortage might mean to you: globe and mail seattle times the drinks business indystar.com general good beer fun: beer yoga? could the big breweries be good for something?

here are my notes from yesterday's beer column on cbc radio's on the coast:   There is no absolute definition of craft beer, but most of the industry and consumers agree that craft beer is brewed with quality ingredients, by a brewery owned by people rather than other companies and that produces a smaller amount of beer annually.   The Brewers Association   defines American craft brewers as " small, independentand traditional ": "small" is defined as an "annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less"; "independent" is defined as at least 75% owned or controlled by a craft brewer; and "traditional" is defined as brewing in which at least 50% of the beer's volume consists of "traditional or innovative" ingredients.   Most people agree that craft beer is artisanal vs. mass-produced. Crafty beer is the name beer advocates have been giving to beers that are pretending to be craft beers.   These are beer...

i will be on cbc radio one's on the coast with stephen quinn's replacement, michelle eliot talking about craft vs crafty beer at 5:50 p.m. today 690 am 88.1 fm

more on the unhappy hour in british columbia from paddy treavor commercial real estate's beer factor dogfish head makes it even more worth the drive to the brewery by building an inn not that i am suggesting you try any of these recipes... but... just in case you have some cheap booze you need to disguise as a real drink, i'm here for you camra bc press release: New Happy Hour Laws Not So Pleasant, Local Advocacy Group Finds CAMRA BC Sends Letter to Policy Makers Following Happy Hour Announcement (Vancouver—July 2) In the wake of a policy directive released by the provincial government on June 20 th that revealed happy hour would finally be coming to restaurants and bars across British Columbia, beer lovers are now finding themselves a little more than shortchanged. Despite the growing popularity of craft beer in British Columbia, many consumers were shocked to discover that a pint of beer will now be availa...

beers that i drank when i was in toronto for world pride and in hamilton visiting my famdamily:   rhyme and reason american pale ale collective arts brewing   the rhyme and reason comes with different artwork on each label   10 bitter years imperial ipa black oak brewing company   lone pine ipa sawdust city brewing co.   vulcan irish red ale pluto's moon beer co.   dinner jacket o'red ipa arch brewing company   fire in the rye single hopped roasted rye pale ale double trouble brewing on the whole they were quite enjoyable but they really aren't what a west coast hop head is used to it was definitely a very malty time in jolly old onterrible alas, as i tend to drink a lot with my family i didn't take notes about these beers and my memory is a little foggy on exactly what it was i thought about them individually which i guess means that none of them really stood out for me as for at the bar, i tended to...

due to a lack of space in the july/august edition of the bc craft beer news my lengthy article on the best craft beer patios in vancouver got truncated the whole article is available online but i'm also copying it here Summer time and the living is easy… not to mention best enjoyed on a patio! In a departure from my usual format and just in time for summer 2014, I bring you the very best patios in Vancouver for enjoying craft beer. The list starts with larger patios and beer menus and goes on down to smaller (but no less enjoyable) venues, with smaller beer menus. Only the heat and the hours available to you will limit your time on these patios, so there is no rating system in this round of reviews. Enjoy! Patio drinking tips: Look for session ales—those tasty lower alcohol beers that enable you to spend a long ‘session’ on a patio. Drink water! Go for a rinse cycle after every beer; your body will love you for it. Keep your drink out of the sunlight—no one likes a beer t...

i am back from my very quick trip to onterrible i wish i could tell you i drank a whole lot of great beer and discovered fab new places to drink it but i'd be lying i was not on a beercation and so my time available to devote to the nectar of the gods was precious little i did manage to get to amsterdam brewhouse on toronto's waterfront and pick up a few brews at the lcbo to enjoy during family time  amsterdam brewing is the low brown building at the left of this photo amsterdam brewing: the building is right on the water with a huge patio wrapping around it the service is friendly and the servers wear actual clothes, so that's nice downsides: they were out of half of the beers on the menu apparently they are running at capacity and can't keep up with demand i think maybe they should keep the brewpub stocked though, before the lcbo, since people are coming out to see the brewery and drink the beers - effort that should be rewarded by actually hav...