What the hell happened?

I dropped off the face of the planet, I realize. After returning from Vancouver Craft Beer Week in May I sat down and wrote a huge post, filled with pictures and stories of a wonderful experience...I was in the zone! Hands down the best post I had written so far. The day after posting I went back to read it again and correct any spelling/grammar errors I had missed only to discover...the entire god damn post was GONE! Everything. Blogger dumped my favourite post in what I can only assume was a horrible glitch in the matrix. A small portion of it was saved in a draft, but literally only half of the first paragraph. I was pissed, and no matter how many times I tried to rewrite it, I couldn't for the life of me muster up the inspiration I had going the first time. Everything I wrote came out flat and lifeless. So I stopped...



...I didn't stop drinking beer though, and I have the squishy belly to prove it. I enjoyed my summer, some might say a little too much. Who the hell are they I say.

Towards the end of the summer a wave of new beers from all over started to show up. The summer of aggressive IPA's was over, and my taste buds had opened up to an array of new flavours. Dark malty beer was starting to taste better, comforting even. ESB's over IPA's. Barrel aged porters and stouts, viscous and rich in dried fruit notes. Even mind blowing sour beers made an appearance once and a while...not often enough in my opinion. But it was the Saison that swept me off my feet. The first being Brooklyn's Sorachi Ace, which I was honestly not prepared for. I savoured my modest sample, having to share the bottle with three other people. I couldn't stop thinking about it. While in Vancouver I had stumbled upon Driftwood Brewery's Farmhand Ale on tap and was in love. Birrifico del Ducato Nuova Mattina all the way from Italy was another winner, along with the rest of their beers. Most recently I picked up a Bottle of Muskoka Brewery's seasonal Harvest Ale, a dangerously drinkable hoppy rendition to the style. I bought two bottles so I could cellar one and see how it ages.

That about sums it up for now. I'll try to be more present from here on.

Now some photos from VCBW until now! Enjoy!

Vancouver Craft Beer Week Approaches...

Three days until I'm drowning in fantastic Craft Beer.

So far I've purchased tickets to two events for the VCBW, unfortunately the opening extravaganza sold out before I even had a chance to throw down! Curses!! But....I secured tickets to the "Brothers of Hop" night at the Alibi Room. Featuring nine hoppy treats brewed by hop giants Red Racer, Portlands Hopworks and Eugene Oregon's Ninkasi Brewery.

Also heading to the Brewery Creek US Beer Festival featuring over 20 mind blowing US Craft Brewers. Uncommon, Stone, Shipyard and Deschutes to name a delicious few. This should be a killer evening!

Not a part of the VCBF per se, I plan to also make a pilgrimage to the Central City Brew Pub to sample every single Red Racer beer available on tap. Red Racer Stout here I come!

There are many many more events available during the festival, and it would be easy to consume my entire trip with kick ass beer events....rough life I know. We'll have to see what else I can fit into the already busy tour schedule I've created during my time in Vancity.

Je Suis Stoked.


TAP INTO IT from Vancouver Craft Beer Week on Vimeo.

New Look

So I'm attempting to redesign the look of this blog, and so far not finding myself happy with any of the results.  Bare with me while I search for a suitable look.

Also, I'm planning on attending the Vancouver Craft Beer Week this year, being held May 6th- 14th! Unfortunately I probably won't be able to attend the entire festival, so I'm asking around:

If you were to going to Vancouver Craft Beer Week but had to choose between attending the opening ceremonies or the closing ceremonies....which would you choose?!?


Thanks for the input.
Cheers!


I am a Canadian Craft Brewer from VancouverCBW on Vimeo.


Here's another inspiring video I found featuring some top notch American Craft Brewers.  I love this stuff.

Tree Brewing Company Hop Head Double IPA

I am extremely eager to crack this bottle tonight. In the past year or so I have developed a love for hops, and extreme beers. I've guess I've noticed the DIPA's around, but for some reason hadn't picked one up. I've tried a couple of extreme hop beers by renowned craft breweries Dogfish Head and Rogue, which are amazing by the way. But I guess you could say I didn't really know what a Double IPA actually was. After browsing on wikipedia, I've learned that a DIPA is brewed the same way as a standard IPA but typically with 50% more malt and 100% more hops. They tend to have an alcohol content higher than 7% and for obvious reasons finish extremely bitter. I was given a good list of DIPA's to look out for but unfortunately my local beer store (who currently carries 681 different brews) didn't have a single one of them. They had a nice little selection of DIPA's and I decided this particular beer would be the one for tonight.

Tree Brewing Company hails from Kelowna BC and has been operating since 1994. The Hop Head DIPA is a limited Edition brew hopped to the max with five different hops all grown in Washington state. The wort is dry hopped and aged for three weeks, allowing the beer to ripen to a bitter perfection. It pours from the glass a foggy amber haze (unpasteurized, unfiltered) and settles with a good fingers worth of frothy white bubbles. As soon as I poured it from the bottle the aromas smacked me right in the face, waking up the senses and set my brain into battle mode. The rich fragrance is loaded with grapefruit and lemon notes, a vaporous fruit salad. It has a wondrous hoppy floral nose. There seems to be a lot going on and I've only just smelled it. I wonder if you can get drunk just from breathing it in?

The bitter hops wash over your tongue quite aggressively but the beer is balanced out well and the sweet malts rush in to save your mouth from puckering right off your face. You can taste the booze, but it's not disagreeable. I'll be feeling this one when we're done. Once the bitterness fades away it leaves a lemony aftertaste and you can still taste sweet roasted malts right up until you take your next drink. I like this Double IPA stuff. I think we'll be talking about them more as we go along.

From what I'm reading, Vancouver Craft Beer Week is a complete success. Almost every single food/beer event is sold out, and fast! It breaks my heart that Alberta doesn't have anything like this. Unfortunately it seems Albertans are quite happy with drinking fermented corn piss, or anything that comes along with an annoying in your face TV commercial. Big trucks and shitty beer. Good times.

Here's another spot CBC did for the Vancouver Craft Beer Week. Enjoy.
CBC News - Vancouver Craft Beer Week