beernesday

Everyone knows that I'm a big fan of craft beer.  I extol the virtues of the local craft beer community and of drinking locally brewed beers at every opportunity, including on CBC Radio's On the Coast every second week.   But what about the other part of the beer industry, big beer, and how they’re using some questionable tactics to entice unwitting consumers? I have nothing against beer makers making and selling beer, be they large or small.  And I have no issues with people drinking beer they enjoy, whether its craft or macro. As a big fan of craft beer, though, I do like to make sure macro beer drinkers have been introduced to craft beer so they can make an educated decision when choosing the beers they drink! And I think that beer makers should be honest about the beers they’re making.  Unless you pay a lot of attention to the fine print and do your research, it is very easy to be taken in by  shadow brands  and crafty beers. Shadow...

Pink Boots Beer launch is this coming Sunday- April 30th from 1-4 at Red Truck Brewing!  Be the first to try it!  $1 from every pint will go back to the Pink Boots Society. Spread the word! What will you be tasting?  NAME OF BEER:    Pink Boots Unite Golden Honey Ale Sessionable springtime ale dry-hopped with Cashmere, Triple Pearl & Challenger providing floral & earthy notes which play well with the subtle honey & light biscuit backbone. Hops are donated from Topp’s Hops in Abbotsford & Organic Honey is from GoldStrike in Lillooet, BC. International Women’s Day collaboration brew between: Big Ridge Brewing, KPU Brewing Program, Red Truck, Bomber Brewing, R&B, Dogwood Brewing, Foamer’s Folly, Callister & Steamworks. STYLE OF BEER : Golden Honey Ale ABV:  5.4% IBU:  30 INGREDIENTS USED:  Mostly BC malt, local hops (Challenger, Triple Pearl & Cashmere), 40 kg Organic Honey, ale yeast from Fo...

here are my notes from yesterday's beer column on cbc radio one's on the coast with stephen quinn: The Beer News: I hope everyone got to celebrate Vancouver’s “Patio Day” yesterday.  The Mayor and council made it possible for restaurants to place temporary patios on the sidewalk or business parking stalls.  19 businesses took advantage, including 12 Kings Pub. Tap & Barrel has a new location in North Vancouver.  Called Tap & Barrel Shipyards, it is Western Canada’s largest restaurant at 14,000 square feet.  It is located in a 100 year old building, using reclaimed and regional materials in keeping with Tap & Barrel’s commitment to sustainability and keeping it local.  It also has a lending library, so feel free to drop of a book or two, and to borrow one while you’re there.  Good news for patio lovers, the custom designed aluminum trays that hold tasting glasses are chilled so that you beer will stay cold longer in the hot weather....

my notes from yesterday's beer column on cbc radio one's on the coast with stephen quinn: Beer News: CallisterBrewing is now open.  This is a new brewery concept for Vancouver, taking collaboration to a new place.  Independent brewers lease Callister’s equipment to produce their own lines of beers, which are brewed under Callister’s licence and are available on tap at the tasting room.  These include cask ales available on a beer engine from Adam Chatburn’s Real Cask, IPAs from Machine Brewing’s Adam Henderson and Belgian table beers from Brewery Creek Brewing’s Chester Carey – all familiar names to craft beer nerds.  Callister itself will be offering an altbier, an apricot ale and a rye pale ale to begin with.  Callister is located at 1338 Franklin Street. Check Facebook for their daily opening hours. Central City’s new Red Racer pub is opening on Friday in the old Dix Brewing location at 871 Beatty Street.  They’ll have 40 taps - 14 of them c...

I'm back! And only slightly jet-lagged. What's with all the smoke? Can't I leave you alone for 10 days? Anyway, here are my notes from last evening's beer column on CBC's On the Coast with the wonderful and beer-loving Stephen Quinn: There's always something new in the world of craft beer - that's one of the great parts of the boom! A couple of breweries have new head brewers: Kevin Emms has moved from Deep Cove brewing to take over the small batch program at Granville Island Brewing. His first new brew for them is the 2 Tides India Session Ale. Steamworks Brewing's new head brewer is Julia Hanlon. Julia comes to Steamworks after a 10 year stint at the Molson brewery. As for new locations, Chambar Restaurant relocated a few doors up Beatty Street last year. The new location gives the restaurant a larger space, and it has a patio - a really nice patio. While you won't get much of a view from it, unlike some of the other craft beer patios in town...