If you tweet it…

They will brew it.

Last fall  CBC Music host Grant Lawrence came up with the idea of pairing Canadian Bands with beer names. He  invited his listeners to take their best shots at mashing up beer styles with band names. Original label artwork would be created to showcase the winners.

Just like that the hashtag #CDNbandbeer had its’ brief 15min of proverbial fame.

However, no good idea ever goes unpunished, and here we are several months later and four of our intrepid BC brewers have offered up their skills to make this beer band concept a reality. Check out Canadian Beer News and CBC Music for a more in-depth look at the origin and development of this idea.

 

 

This leads me to a recent trip to my local BC liqour store where I found three of the four of these inspired brews; You Say Barley! We Say Rye! from R&B Brewing, D.O.Ale from Old Yale Brewing and Pink Mountainhops from Cannery Brewing (sadly Townsite Brewing’s  Said the Ale was ere to be found).

 

You Say Barley! We Say Rye!

A dark rye IPA with an ABV of 5.5% and 55 IBU from R&B Brewing. You Say Barley pours a clear amber with off-white head. The nose has citrus and floral hop notes and a touch of sweetness. First couple of sips, this is an interesting IPA, light-bodied with a bitter finish, somewhat dry and that distinct flavour imparted by rye. As you drink this one does not really evolve part the initial tastes though I think it tastes best on the cold side. Rye tends to be one of those polarizing grains in so much as some people really love that anise-like tang and others not so much. Personally, I became a rye convert as an adult and I think brewing with rye imparts a really unique taste profile, not being a big IPA fan I think the rye really complements the hop bitterness producing a well-rounded beer. Of the three beers sampled this one was my hubby’s favourite and we both liked this #CDNbandbeer name the best.

 

 

D.O.Ale

D.O.Ale from Old Yale Brewing Co. is a classic brown ale weighing in at 5%ABV and 28 IBU. This brew pours a dark reddish-brown colour and a nice amount of cream coloured head. On the nose I got a bit of a liquid smoke or hickory-like smell and lots of malt. First few sips, D.O.Ale has a bit of depth body-wise, smooth with roasted malt flavour and that smoky characteristic carries through the the finish. As you drink I find the smokiness I initially noticed changes into more of a roasted or burnt malt flavour. Overall, I quite like this one (though I am partial to browns) and of the three beers D.O.Ale was my favourite.

 

 

Pink Mountainhops

Pink Mountainhops is a maibock from Cannery Brewing. Maibocks are helles lagers brewed to bock strength to produce a beer that is lighter in colour and hoppier than its’ bock parentage. The stats are 6.5%ABV and 140IBU. This beer pours a very clear gold with some effervescence and a stiff white head. On the nose I get some yeastiness and banana reminding me a bit of a hefeweizen. First sips and this beer tastes like it smells, slight fruitiness, a bit of a nutty element almost like a commercial lager and a mildly bittered finish. As you drink the hops come through more prominently mostly at the finish imparting a bitter aftertaste. Like the Rye IPA, Pink Mountainhops tasted best at its’ coldest. I am not a fan of this style but for bock fans I say give it a try.

 

Cali or Bust Part 5

After our visit to Firestone Walker Brewing Company, I felt like my beer karma had taken a turn for the better though we had nothing else planned, in terms of beer-cationing, shy of our mandatory Portland stop-over on the way home fate was going to step in and throw us another proverbial bone.

 

 

We drove west to the scenic coastal highway passing signs to Anderson Valley Road and a turn to Boonsville and to any true beer geek this would have immediately sunk in that  Anderson Valley Brewing Company was in the vicinity but alas my poor sunshine addled brain did not register this fact until we stopped into a market quite some time later and realized, ‘wow, they sure have a lot of Anderson Valley beer, glasses, t-shirts etc. here. I wonder if the brewery is close by?’.

Well, it was and we missed it and since we had a lot of coast to cover before our next stopover we had to make do with a sampler pack of some of the more unfamiliar beer offerings from Anderson Valley.

However, as I mentioned in my intro my beer karma was on the upswing and when we drove through Fort Bragg we found North Coast Brewing Company (no, it wasn’t lost) AND their tap room had just opened for the day!

 

 

North Coast Brewing Company is housed in three separate buildings  -brewery, gift shop and tap room- all located on the same block of Fort Bragg’s main street. We visited their gift store and their taproom. The taproom is fairly typical with a dining area, patio and bar area decorated with lots of wood and beer signs. There is a small gift section inside the taproom in case you are too tipsy to wander across the street. The majority of their line-up was available on tap and we decided to try anything in their line-up that was new to us. This included La Merle Belgian Farmhouse Ale, Scrimshaw Pilsner, Old No. 38 Stout, Old Stock Ale and Blue Star Wheat.

 

 

 

Perhaps North Coast Brewing Co. is best known (and deservedly so) for it’s Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout but they have a lot else going on at this brewery. For instance, the Old Stock Ales come in vertical tasting box sets so you can sample and compare vintages, they have a great aesthetic when it comes to their labels and beer swag, North Coast has a great gift store full of glass ware and neat packaging ideas for gifting their beer, and most importantly we found out they brew a really clean drinkable pilsner, the Scrimshaw and an impressive Dublin Dry Stout, the Old No. 38 (both beers came home with us in a four pack). These beers are well-suited to the warm Cali climate both being easy-drinking, best served quite cold and fairly light-bodied.

So if you find yourself Northern California bound I highly recommend scheduling stops at Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Anderson Valley Brewing Co. (so you can tell me how it was) and North Coast Brewing Co.

Cali or Bust Part 4

Feeling a little disillusioned with my beer experiences thus far I assumed that I had wrapped up my brewery visits for this vacation. As such, we decided to take the scenic coast drive through Northern California on the way back home.

 

As we turned onto the highway at Paso Robles I spotted a large building adorned with the logo of Firestone Walker Brewing Company. One quick u-turn and we found ourselves on an unscheduled visit to the taproom of a rather impressive brewery – in size, in scale and in beer selection.

 

 

Now Firestone Walker is no micro-brewery as such, when you visit be prepared for the full-treatment; huge taproom and restaurant, brewery on premise, complimentary brewery tours, visitor centre, bottles circling on a conveyor belt in the taproom and lots of swag.

 

 

We decided to focus on the taproom exclusives so we could sample from a diverse swath of their line-up – for those on an extended visit and with some cash to burn they also have a nice selection of vintage bottles for order.

 

 

Some of our favourites were the unfiltered DBA Double Barrel Ale (I liked this so much I brought some bottles of the regular DBA home), the Walker’s Reserve Porter, which was great for those who like their porters on the cold coffee side, the Double DBA, which was a big boozy barrel-aged version of the DBA and the Velvet Merlin, a nice clean oatmeal stout that is light bodied enough to be enjoyed in the California sunshine.

 

 

An unplanned stop but a redemptive one that had me in much better beer spirits AND I brought home two really nice pils glasses to enjoy for the rest of summer!

Cali or Bust – Part 3

The next leg of my Californian odyssey found me in San Francisco home of beautiful houses, old hippies, tourists, an abundance of hills and one very big, very red bridge (oh, and there is beer here too).

 

 

While in San Francisco proper I took the opportunity to visit one of the oldest microbreweries in the US, Anchor Brewing Company. The tour of the brewing facility was widely touted as a tourist must-see unfortunately they also recommended booking months in advance. Due to my reluctance to schedule stops into my vacation (feels too much like work) I thought I would take my chances and drive down to the brewery to see what I could see.

 

Well, what I could see was nothing, well not nothing exactly, I saw the outside of the building and a guy sitting behind a desk. This guy informed me that I was not to proceed and not to pass go i.e. non-tour booking beer geeks such as myself shall not enter the premises so what remained behind the closed doors -rivers of beer navigated by giant steam-powered paddle boats steered by oompah-loompahs balancing hops in woven baskets atop their heads- remained a mystery. Though said desk bound guy did offer to fit me into the tour in a week …maybe next time.

 

 

So if you find yourselves in San Francisco sans your Golden Ticket to enter Anchor Brewing have no fear there are other sources of beer.

 

In particular you can visit breweries like 21st Amendment, Thirsty Bear Brewing and  Southern Pacific Brewing Company and whet your palate at tap rooms like Toronado or Magnolia Brew Pub. Additionally, there are lots of little markets and beer stores tucked into San Fran’s neighbourhoods that boast pretty amazing selections, such as Ales Unlimited and City Beer Store.

 

Next up, I head north along the coast where I stumble into a couple of unplanned brewery visits…

Cali or Bust – Part 2

Continuing on with my Cali beer adventures, I headed south from Santa Rosa to the little town of Petulma home of the Lagunitas Brewing Company. After Russian River I was looking even more forward to my visit to Lagunitas not to mention that the taproom came highly recommended as a ‘must visit’ by fellow beer enthusiasts.

So Lagunitas Brewing Company is pretty easy to locate; it is just east of highway 101 in an industrial-heavy area outside the downtown core. After pulling into a fairly generic row of buildings I spotted the tell-tale signs of a brewery i.e. a bunch of kegs in a fenced off area and a big bottle cap emblazoned with the Lagunitas logo. There were several buildings comprising the brewery including the brewing facility, offices and the taproom, which I learned the hard way is CLOSED on Mondays

 

 

Needless to say this put a bit of a hitch in my plans so I took a few requisite pictures of what indeed looked like a fun taproom and did a little window shopping. As it was destination San Francisco for me and hubby-to-be I opted not to camp out in the parking lot and wait for the taproom to open its’ doors. For those, like me, who have not had the pleasure of visiting Lagunitas in person this virtual tasting is for you:

 

 

Well onward and upward my beer drinking friends, my Cali beer search continues…

Cali or Bust – Part 1

I recently returned from my road trip to San Francisco and while the primary purpose of my vacation was to (finally) marry my handsome and charming boyfriend, as any self-respecting beer geek would do I also planned to fit in lots of brewery visits and craft beer sampling along the way.

California is one of those states blessed with a disproportionate number of amazing breweries and, more importantly, it is the home of my all-time favourite brewery Russian River Brewing Company located in the historic town of Santa Rosa (also the birthplace of Charles Schultz). To me, getting the chance to visit Russian River was akin to some sort of pilgrimage and needless to say my expectations were sky-high. I even wrote an open love letter to the brewery but alas they never responded.

For anyone who may have been living under a rock, in a cave, on a deserted island, Russian River Brewing Company creates some of the most memorable belgian beers (read barrel-aged sours) and IPA’s in the world. Beer for beer, Pliny the Elder, Supplication and Temptation may just form the triumvirate of just how good beer can get. The time and craft that goes into creating these beers painted a picture (in my mind) of the type of tap room and brewery that produces such wondrous libations.

So did the real live Russian River retain its’ cherished place on the pedestal when I visited? Well, no.

Granted I did visit the pub on Cinqo de Mayo, but it felt kind of like visiting Boston Pizza loud, busy, full of pretty drunk patrons, lots of crazy crap on the walls, given a blinking coaster to signal an available table. Now to be clear I am not a complete fossil who wants to sip and spit from champagne flutes whilst I sit in a cellar full of oak barrels BUT I did kind of expect an environment where people paid more attention to the beer that was served up in their pints. The wait staff did not seem keen to chat beer and while they served up flights with great presentation you were kind of left to do your own thing. At the very least I expected our server to follow-up on this massive flight to see what we liked or did not like.

Concerned that the boisterous college crowd may have coloured my first perception we returned the next day in the morning to pick up some bottles. Oddly enough it was already full of early morning drinkers and once again getting beer from the bartender was more of a chore than any sort of interaction i.e. most staff just walk by you while you try to get someone’s attention.

I am not really sure what I expected but somehow I expected more.

Baby, why are you so Sour?

Somewhat contrary to my fellow beer geeks, when I first started exploring craft beer one of the more challenging styles quickly emerged as my favourite and that style is soured beer. I  know this category of beer is not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’ and in fact many people are initially turned off by the often over-powering tartness of  a gueze or an oud bruin but if you think you are not a fan of wild ales you really do not know what you are missing.

 

Sour Beer from Cascade Barrel House

 

Sour beer is technically not a style in and of itself, rather it is a process of using bacterial infection to impart tartness while fermenting and/or beer, as such under this broad category there is a range of flavours and, well, sourness from sweet and fruity lambics, to the deep and rich sour brown ales, to the accessible Flanders red ales, to the straight lambics, which offer no apologies for their tart kick.

Historically, lambic beers (a style of beer brewed with aged hops and a high proportion of unmalted wheat) were spontaneously fermented. That is to say you basically do the opposite of everything you learned in homebrew school and intentionally infect your wort with some of the many microscopic critter floating around in the air. The different resultant bacterial infections all work to ferment the beer while it ages in wooden barrels (the wooden barrel being a natural haven for microbes). Ensuring consistency is near impossible for the sour beer brewer so the resultant batches are blended to achieve the desired tartness levels.

According to Mosher in Tasting Beer, when Lindemans expanded their brewery they took a portion of their old wall and bolted it in their new building in order to preserve their signature mix of beneficial bugs.

 

 

In modern times, the souring of beer is less by chance i.e. opening a window and hoping for the best but really not by much.

Bacterial agents like lactobacillus, brettanomyces and pediococcus are systematically introduced to the fermentation process; however, the outcome remains somewhat unpredictable and the time commitment to brew a sour beer is significant compared pretty much any other beer style think years versus months. Blending remains the most viable means to ensure the sourness of your beer is at a level that is drinkable.

 

Beet Sour Beer from Epic Ales

 

Once the sole domain of dedicated Belgian brewers devoted to the art of brewing sour beers, wild ales are carving out an impressive niche in Europe and North America. Russian River, Cascade Brewing, Jolly Pumpkin and Epic Ales are all making a name for themselves in pursuit of excellent sourness.

A little more north Oud Bruin from Yaletown Brewing Company and Driftwood’s Bird of Prey Flanders Red are showing Canadian brewers are also getting on the sour bandwagon.

 

 

Is sour beer the next big thing in the craft beer world? Well, not to self-promote (too much) I have to say I saw this one coming for quite sometime now. I even wrote a post called ‘Love is a Sour Delight’ back in February of 2011 espousing the wonder that is sour beer. If you require further confirmation, you just need walk into any decent beer store and observe the number of barrel-aged, wild and wine-blended beers now on the market.

As we move into warmer weather I urge my fellow beer geeks to crack open a bottle of sour beer on a warm summer night and tell me this isn’t one of the best affirmations they have ever had that craft beer will one day rule the world.

 

The Future of Craft Beer

As I was contemplating this post I ran through many different titles; Can there be too much Diversity? Are we fickle? Whither the craft in craft beer? Do we have too many choices? Always chasing the next big thing? The underlying theme being my general misgivings about the direction craft brewers have been taking in relation to the sheer size and diversity of their beer line-ups.

 

 

So I thought a little more about this.

 

Basically I feel like every new and established craft brewer, as of late, seems intent on creating and selling as many different beer styles as possible. Take a random sample of breweries from the Pacific Northwest and you will find many of them producing IPA’s, Pilsners, Pale Ales, Hefeweizens, Belgians, Porters, Stouts, Fruit Beers, Flavoured Ales, Reds Ales, Brown Ales, Dunkels, Sours and those are just off the top of my head AND that is not even counting variations on major styles or seasonals.

 

To be clear, I do not mean a single brewery is specializing on one or two of those styles but rather individual breweries are trying their hand at all of the styles.

 

Don’t get me wrong I am not against experimentation, I believing brewing is as much and art as it is a science and we need to push our boundaries from time to time in order to test our skills and move the craft beer culture forward.

 

But can we really move forward if everyone is trying to master everything? True quality may take lifetimes to master. Have you ever drank a trappist beer? Any idea how long they have been brewing that particular beer? Do you come across many blackberry chai Belgian Triples?

 

1201 choices

 

When I walk into a beer store and I see a thousand different craft beers to choose from I feel like the floodgates have opened and it concerns me to think that breweries, in their rush to put out a wild ale for the summer, are moving from style to style so quickly that we never really get to see them develop a signature beer or signature style that could become their hallmark.

 

Personally, I would welcome more breweries that dedicate themselves to perfecting a few styles of beer. Breweries who could rise above the masses due to the quality not volume, of beer they are producing.

Firestone Walker, My First Time

For the longest time I would pass by Firestone Walker beers without giving them serious consideration. Much like my previous misconceptions about New Belgium Brewing, I pegged Firestone Walker in that faux-craft beer category unworthy of true beer geek appreciation, it looked a little too slick and seemed a little too available to really be craft, and therefore I remained blissfully unaware of just what I was missing out on.

 

To be fair Firestone Walker is not exactly a ‘mom and pop’ micro-brewery churning out two or three beer styles in the back room of some garage (though the brewery’s early days had some semblance to this picture).

Classed as a mid-size brewery, Firestone Walker Brewing Company heralds an impressive line-up of award winning pale ales, seasonal releases, barrel aged reserve beer and anniversary releases not to mention on-site exclusives.

In fact, their success with barrel-aging recently culminated in the opening of Barrelworks described on the Firestone website as a “7,000-square-foot facility now houses all of Firestone Walker’s barrel-aged wild beers while also showcasing the brewery’s classic barrel-aged strong ales.”

 

For a barrel-aged beer lover such as myself I am really not sure why I waited so long to start exploring this brewery’s offerings. To remedy the situation I brought home a Walker’s Reserve Porter and a Parabola Imperial Stout.

 

 

Here are my thoughts on Walker’s Reserve Porter:

Walker’s Reserve pours a deep black/brown colour with good clarity and a decent amount of carbonation. There is not much in the way of head on this beer and not much head retention but that is typical for a porter. Lots of cold coffee and roasted grain notes on the nose. First couple of sips, this is a porter with a lot of oakiness, cold coffee, chocolate and a burnt sweet flavour. It is fairly light bodied and not very alcoholy. The finish is very, very dry and the bitter/burnt notes linger long after you swallow. Personally, I find this one a bit too harsh for me as I like my porters fuller bodied with a touch of sweetness; you can chalk this up partially to me being a non-coffee drinker since my better half enjoyed what I term the cold coffee qualities a bit more than I did. Overall an interesting porter that is competitively priced.

 

A Couple of Other Brewery Tidbits

Firestone Walker beers are distributed widely throughout the US but sadly not in Canada (yet), and for inquiring minds, yes, one of the breweries co-founders is indeed part of that Firestone family and no, no tires were harmed in the brewing of their beer.

The Best Beer in the World

For those who somehow missed all the buzz at the end of 2012, Westvleteren 12, a rare and much lauded Trappist beer, was released commercially for the first time in in the history of the brewery and better still, it was available in Vancouver.

 

 

Here is just some of the pre-release hype as reported by 24 hrs the favourite paper of bus riders and sky trainers alike:

 

“We had it in the past for about $25 a bottle,” said Darryl Lamb, manager of Legacy Liquor in Olympic Village. “We got it through a grey market source using gypsies to get cases and then holding auctions for them. This is the first time they’ve ever commercially sold the beer. They’re selling it now because they need money to build a new monastery. So they’re only doing this one time – a six pack with two glasses for $88.”

In order to save their home, the famous monks have been brewing an extra batch every month since 2010.

“Westvleteren is the most difficult to get of the eight Trappist breweries because they’re the smallest and they aren’t really a commercial brewery,” explained Lamb. “You can only get the beer at the monastery and you can only get one case of beer per (visit).”

 

Well that was Christmas and I was busy dutifully drinking 24 beers to create my advent calendar, not to mention it was Christmas so I was reluctant to drop 80 bucks on a six-pack, not to mention it was Christmas and I did not want to be trampled upon just to beat out other beer geeks at Brewery Creek so basically I did not get the chance to try a ‘Westie’.

 

Fortunately fate intervened when I stopped into the Big Ridge liqour store and discovered  a neat little pyramid of Westvleteren 12 stacked behind the counter, two of which still needed good homes. Taking this as a divine sign I ponied up and bought myself the six pack (seriously what self-respecting beer geek could pass up the chance to try the world’s best beer?).

 

 

The Best Beer in the World

100 on Rate Beer, 100 on Beer Advocate, a cult beer, rare, limited supplies, Trappist, international reputation …whew, that is a heck of a lot of hype to live up to. Couple this with the humble prostrations that at Westvlelevern the monks brew beer only to finance their crumbling abbey and you have got one heck of a media darling in Westvleteren 12 or the little beer that could.

 

The problem with being labelled the best is that you find yourself always having  to work that much harder because your audience immediately doubts your credibility.

 

The best? Really? The best beer? In the whole world? Really?

 

It’s kind of no-win since some will be swayed by the hype without truly forming their own opinion whilst others will do their darnedest to find any and all flaws because deep down they know you cannot be the best.

 

I think the best way to approach this beer would be through a blind taste test so unbiased drinkers can indulge minus the weight of all those preconceptions and background noise distorting what you are tasting.

 

 

Nonetheless I tried and it and for what it’s worth this is what I thought…

 

Westvlelevern 12 pours a deep reddish brown with lots of cloud and lots of carbonation. There is some cream coloured head on the initial pour but it dies off leaving some nice lacing on the glass and a light skim across the top. The nose is all-Belgian sweet, somewhat yeasty with malty overtones. First couple of sips I am surprised how effervescent this one remains giving a light bodied quality to a beer that is anything but. Rich, almost cloyingly sweet at times, dark fruity flavours and a strong alcohol taste. Kind of a treacle like quality. It comes off a bit sharp straight from the fridge but really grows on me as I keep drinking. The mouthfeel takes on a really creamy quality as you drink. On the finish you get dried fruit sweetness tempered by the big alcohol content of this beer (over 10% ABV). Overall a really beautiful Belgian Quadrupel.

 

I know, I know, but is it the best beer in the world?

 

Well this beer does really throw down the gauntlet for Belgian beers, as an example of the style it is one of the best I have ever had. Whether it is so fantastic that I would choose this beer over all other styles I have to say no.

 

There have been many times I thought I found the best beer in the world drinking Russian River Supplication for the first time, sampling Pliny the Elder on tap, my very first Lost Abbey experience with Angel’s Share, the sour goodness of Sang Noir from Cascade Brewing Barrel House, savouring The Abyss from Deschutes etc. but all these best beers were contingent on so many other factors that given a choice my ‘best beer in the world’ changes with the day, the season and my mood.

 

What I will say is Westvleteren 12 casts a long shadow…