A Taste of Beer 2 Results

Well strangely, not a huge turnout for a Taste of Beer but that's okay as it gave me a better chance to get to know those who were here and prevented me from likely overdrinking. While we didn't follow the rating system I'd set up, here's a synopsis of the three beers we had:

Swan's Riley Scotch Ale

Location: Brewery Creek Liquor Store (Main St)
Serving Type: 650 mL Bottle
Rating: 3/5
Best Suited for: Compliment to a Dinner Meal

This ale was quite nice. The body on it was lighter than the previous Russell Wee Angry Scotch Ale that I'd had before. None the less, this was still quite good and almost like a lighter bodied guinness

Spinnakers Uber Blonde

Location: Brewery Creek Liquor Store (Main St)
Serving Type: 650 mL Bottle
Rating: 4/5
Best Suited for: Cooking on the BBQ

This beer was a nice compromise between a hefeweizen and traditional ale with a hint of sweetness on it. Seemed like it'd be perfect after a tough day as it went down quite smoothly. At 8.2% I'd avoid too many of these though as the smoothness lead to quite a punch after a pint's worth.

Driftwod White Bark Wheat Ale

Location: Lennox Liquor Store
Serving Type: 650 mL Bottle
Rating: 2.5/5
Best Suited for: Sausage Dinner

I think out of the three beers we tried, this was my least favourite. I was initially drawn to it as looks like it was crafted to be like a traditional Bavarian Hefeweizen with included unfiltered hefe left in the bottle. Driftwood also produces their Farmhand ale which is quite nice. While this beer had a good flavour to it, it simply did not follow on the excellence of the previous two and seem to have a little aftertaste. The aftertase might be why they call it white bark. Whichever the case, it did not earn high points on the growing list of craft brews.

A Taste of Beer 2

Last year at this time, Vancouver launched its first ever Vancouver Craft Brewery Week which featured a selection of events highlighting craft beers. From the onset I was on board with the theme and hosted my own event which I aptly titled a Taste of Beer. This year, I've decided to host a second event with the same title. The beers I've bought this year that shall be featured include:

Granville Island Imperial Chocolate Porter (ft. flavours from Rogers Chocolate)
Fernie Buckleberry Wheat Ale
Swan's Riley Scotch Ale
Spinnakers Uber Blonde Ale
White Bark Wheat Ale
VCBW Cascadian Brown Ale (VCBW ft ale!!)
Howe Sound Megadestroyer Stout

Just for fun, I will have people rate their beers based on some simple criteria:

Type of Taste
Strength of Flavour
'Newness' of Flavour
Overall Rating

Screw the cigars! Bring on the crafty goodness!

Cheakamus Chai Maple Ale

Location: Lennox Liquor Store at City Square
Serving Type: 650 mL Bottle
Rating: 4/5
Best Suited for: Casual Conversations with Friends

While perusing one of the local Vancouver publishings whose name currently escapes me, I saw an add for this beer stating that it would be released April 9th. Almost instantaneously I started lashing my lips at the thought of sampling this beer as the professed combination of chai and maple in some type of awesome harmony sounded too good to be true. With high hopes though, I made routine visits for the local beer store to see if it had arrived and while it did not make it there for the April 9th date previously announced, I did find it about three weeks later.

Now, because I'd waited so long to actually get my hands on this beer, I wanted to save its opening and savouring until a special occasion. That day came yesterday after a hellacious Spartan Run, I decided to celebrate my accomplishment with this ale. Initially I was a little hesitant since my precious encounter with Cannery Maple Stout left me with dissatisfaction of maple beers. But, much as I'd hope, this beer was great. The initial taste on the palette was very strong as I'd been having Granville Island Pale Ale until that point and the sharp flavour of chai and maple were less than casual in terms of strength. After letting it sit though and giving it more sips, I must say that this beer lived up to the expectations I'd set out for it. Kudos Whister Brewing Company; You've outdone yourself!

Philips Ginger Beer

Hello? Anyone still using this space?

Mayhaps it's time that I dust this space off and make use of my one useful bit of wisdom to blog about our favourite thing in the world... Beer! As many of you know, I'm a bit of a craft beer fanatic and as long as time allows, I'm going to post reviews in this space of beers that I have come across and how well they went over.

Philips Ginger Beer

Location: Speakeasy on Broadway
Serving Type: Draft
Rating: 3.5/5
Best Suited for: Dad

When I was younger, and every year since, every Christmas season my dad would brew ginger beer. Over the years the formula changed quite a bit with changing flavours over time. Two things always remained constant about it though. One was that you would always taste the ginger on this drink to the point where you'd be nursing a glass for at least an hour. The second was that upon drinking completion you'd be warm on the inside for the rest of the night. Needless to say that through the years, I developed a love/hate relationship with ginger beer.

At a post work social, Philips incarnation of this drink crossed my path and I was keen to try it. The flavour on the palette overall was well bodied. The ginger in the beer could not be tasted but the flavour of a well bodied ale was still there. What I did like, that had me going back for a second, was the pleasant warm feel the lingered while sipping on the beer. No, it wasn't the esophagus piercing sting that my Dad might call for but it definitely highlighted the ginger. Overall quite nice and much better that the Granville Island counterpart that I've had before. Recommended to all.