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[Craft Beer] Vancouver Craft Beer Week Wrap Up Part 2

Posted in Beer, Bryan, Craft Beer Series, Culinary Events, Drinks, Product Reviews, Vancouver, Vancouver Craft Beer Week, tagged Bomber Brewing Co., Bridge Brewing, Cannery Brewing, Central City Brewing, Copper Ale, craft beer, Driftwood Brewery, ESB, Four Winds Brewing, Hefeweizen, India Session Ale, IPA, ISA, Kolsch, Mill Street Brewery, Mission Springs, Parallel 49 Brewing Company, Pilsner, Porter, R&B Brewing, Radler, Russel Brewing, Scotch Ale, Stiegl, Vancouver Craft Beer Week, Vancouver Island Brewery on June 16, 2014| 1 Comment »

Continuing from Part 1 of my list, let me finish off telling you about the beers I tried:

The List (Continued)

Four Winds Brewing – Phaedra

So far, I haven’t had a Four Winds beer that I didn’t like, and I’m happy to see that tradition continue. This Rye Wheat IPA didn’t blow my mind like the Juxtapose Brett IPA did, but it certainly didn’t disappoint either. Definitely worth drinking.

Mill Street Brewery – Vanilla Porter

Last time I was in Kitchener, I had a flight of Mill Street beers. I didn’t like a single one. I couldn’t even finish the paddle. So I approached this booth with a bit of trepidation. Fortunately it was totally unfounded because their Vanilla Porter is actually really good! Absolutely worth a try.

Parallel 49 – Tricycle Grapefruit Radler

This is the kind of beer that really benefits from a hot, cloudless day. Here I was, sweating away, skin doing its best “cooked lobster” impression, when bam – a fist called refreshing hit me in the face. It’s hard to say how much, if at all, I would like this on a cool, winter night, but when I drank this with the sun beating down on me, it tasted great.

Steigl – Grapefruit

Compared to the other tasty fruit beers available, this one was decidedly lacking.

Cannery Brewing – Squire Scotch Ale

One of Cannery’s year round releases, the Squire Scotch Ale is one of the better scotch ales I’ve had recently.

Mission Springs – Lemon Ginger Radler

Another fist named refreshing. (more…)

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[Craft Beer] Vancouver Craft Beer Week Wrap Up Part 1

Posted in Beer, Bryan, Craft Beer Series, Culinary Events, Drinks, Product Reviews, Vancouver, Vancouver Craft Beer Week, tagged 33 Acres Brewing Company, Amber Ale, Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel, craft beer, Dead Frog Brewery, ESB, Gluten Free Beer, Harvester Brewing, Hefeweizen, Howe Sound Brewing, Imperial IPA, IPA, Longwood Brewery, Merridale Cider, Pale Ale, Powell Street Craft Brewery, Prohibition Brewing Co., Scotch Ale, Sour Ale, Steel & Oak Brewing Co., Storm Brewing, Vancouver Craft Beer Week, White Ale on June 13, 2014| 3 Comments »

Another year, another great Vancouver Craft Beer Week come and gone. I had the pleasure of partaking in the wrap-up event this past Saturday at the Olympic Village Event Grounds and let me tell you, it was a beauty.

It was a bright, sunny day, and over 70 breweries were on hand to share their hoppy wares with us. If that sounds like a lot…it’s because it is. As much as I would have loved to sample every new and interesting beer I could, it simply wasn’t possible to do so (although I tried).

Events like this can be a double-edged sword for breweries and beer fans alike. On the one hand, it’s a great way to sample all kinds of awesome beer and hang out with like-minded beer enthusiasts. For breweries, the power of exposure cannot be understated. On the other hand, with so many beers to sample, the variety inevitably wrecks your palate, making it difficult to form a realistic opinion on many of the brews, particularly ones sampled later in the day. This becomes a problem for the breweries as well, how to stand out, how do you make your beer/brand stand out when so many people can’t taste the nuance in your brew anymore?

I think the pros far outweigh the cons, however. Otherwise events like this wouldn’t be so successful, and continue to grow and expand. You can count me as one of the people happy about that.

The List

With regards to the actual beers, I kept a sort of diary on my phone of what beers I sampled and what I thought of them. So without further ado, here’s the list (in no particular order):

Steel & Oak Brewing Co. – Beechwood-Smoked Hefeweizen

S&O is opening up this year just a few blocks from my condo, so I was very excited to see what my possible future watering hole had to offer. Jorden, Jamie and Pete didn’t disappoint with their excellent Beechwood-Smoked Hefeweizen. I admit I was dubious at first – I’m not usually a fan of smoked beers – but this is absolutely one of the better Hefes I’ve tasted. Score one for the new guys.

Powell Street Craft Brewery – Old Jalopy

The 2013 Canadian Beer of the Year. This is one of the best pale ales you’ll find. Though the market is becoming more and more crowded with great competition, Old Jalopy still holds up well.

Storm Brewing – Orange Creamsicle, Basil IPA, Imperial Flanders Sour Ale

Brewmaster James Walton is known as a “mad scientist”, and for good reason. (more…)