Beers In BC And So Cal

[Trent]

Gday
Just another allotment from me on my (strangely very frequent) trip to Canada and the US. I have had a whirlwind 5 days in Canada, and as such havent been able to get on the net too much. This thread will basically just be beer reviews, and some stories of what has been happening to me so my mates can keep up to date with my travels. That, and to give anyone coming over here soon an idea of beers they may like to try. Currently midnight in an airport hotel in Vancouver, and I am flying out to LA in the morning. I have reviewed 19 beers so far, and had a few others just because I wanted to try em (like saison du pont for $7 a bottle), but mainly I have tried to stick to local beers.
Hope ya's enjoy my reviews and pics (that will come later, forgot my USB cord again), and if ya dont like the thread, ya dont have to read it (I get nototriously boring when talking about beer!)
It may be a slow process, cause this trip is looking like it will continue at a frenetic pace, but I will post stuff whenever I get a chance.
All the best
Trent

 

[Trent]

Well, straight off the plane to YVR, on zero sleep, I requested my brother in law that picked me and the mrs up to take us to a beer store called Brewery Creek (14th and Main in Vancouver). I am starting to hate the canadians after this place, cause they have the most amazing selections of beers, including the champagne beer Dues from Flanders at $24 a bottle. But I digress.
I picked up a fair few beers, and they will be the first few beers off the rank to review.
No sooner had we gotten to his apartment that I cracked the TREE BREWING LIMITED RELEASE HEFEWEIZEN at 5% alc and $5.25 (cheaper at the state liquor stores)
Typical German Hefe, pale in colour, nice dense white head, and fairly fizzy. The clove was more dominant than the banana in the aroma, and that carried on to the flavour, though the banana was a little more stand up in the mouth, madeit almost equal parts clove, banana and bready wheat. Nothing out of place, med-low body, high carbonation, moderate bitterness and slightly sweet. Got a little cloying towards the end, but it was a very enjoyable beer, if ya like weizens.
Gotta go to bed now, I am knackered and have an early flight.
Type at ya again soon
Trebt

 

[Trent]

Another quick one before I jump on the plane...
After heading out to dinner at Shabusen, an all you can eat sushi and bbq place, we headed home and cracked a bottle of PHILLIP'S RASPBERRY WHEAT. (5%, $4.50, 650mL)
I reckon the brewer, Matt Phillips is one of the best brewers in Canada, and I always enjoy anything brewed by him, just to warn you.
Poured pink in colour, slightly hazy, the colour was a little darker than I was expecting, tending a touch on the copper side of pale. There wasnt too much wheat in the aroma, but loads of raspberry. Not the raspberry cordial type aroma, but fresh raspberry. The body was light, there is a "raspberry explosion" that, unlike other raspberry beers I have tried, doesnt finish tart, it is very well balanced. Bitterness is moderate, and it is very easy to drink, and vert tasty. Probably not the kind of beer you would drink all night, but deifinitely something for a hot summers arvo, and something that would definitely get your girlfriend into beer.
All the best
Trent

 

[Trent]

Gday
Safe and sound in sunny LA, it is nice and warm, and the beer selection is too big (if there is such a thing). Before I go on with any more reviews, I also got a taste of a beer aclled Tall Tale Pale Ale at Sydney airport. I was expecting at least an aussie pale, or hoping for an APA style. The poster for it calls "the best beer in the world.... allegedly". It poured really pale, like a lager, and was quite carbonated, again, like a lager. I only had a small sample, thanks to the nice lady serving, and she assured me it was the TTPA, so I can only go on that. The aroma was of some slight sweet maltiness, and something very similar to DMS (if it wasnt DMS). There was no real hop flavour or aroma, and it had a moderate bitterness, moderate-light body, and for mine tasted very similar to the major lagers our country seems to produce. Maybe I was nervous, maybe it is just a play to get tourists to buy it, but for mine, it was a mega-lager style beer, and I probably wont be going back for a full glass anytime soon...
Back to the reviews.

 

[Trent]

R + B BREWING'S RAVEN CREAM ALE - 4.8%, $5.25, brewed in Vancouver
For some reason I was thinking of cream ale as being pale, but apparently they can be dark too. This puppy poured crystal clear, and dark amber to brown. There was a light roast to the malty aroma, medium-low hop aroma, the label says they are NW hops, but I cannot pick which ones. Slightly sweet malt at the start, ofset by med-high bitterness, and dries out really quickly at the end from a small amount of roast barley? Moderate hop flavour, it is actually kinda like a more bitter, hoppier version of a scottish 80/-. Emminently drinkable, plenty of flavour, but dry enough to drink all night. Its a very good beer, and it is apparently also available on tap in alot of Vancouver bars. Highly recommended.
Trent

 

[Trent]

R+B BREWING'S RED DEVIL PALE ALE 5.2%, $5,25, 650mL
Deep burnished copper in colour, slightly hazy. Sweet caramelly malt aroma, moderate earthy hop aroma, maybe fuggles? Firm bitterness, balancing out the sweet caraml/toffee malt presence. Medium earthy hop flavour, medium body, slightly dry in the finish, with lowish carbonation. I am probably drinking it a little too cold (straight out of the fridge), but it is still quite nice. It would be a great winter beer, English style bitter, I would serve it about 10C.
Trent

 

[Trent]

GRANVILLE ISLAND'S RASPBERRY WHEAT BEER 5%, $6.20, 650mL
Deep red/pink, fluffy white head. Intense raspberry aroma, though it is more like Cottee's Raspberry Cordial. Slightly thin in the mouth, med/high carbonation. Flavour is intense raspberry, but really sweetish, as if they had poured raspberry concentrate in secondary, or maybe raspberry juice to flavour it, which would also explain the deep red colour. Med/low bitterness, clean, but maybe too "artificial" a flavour for the raspberry. Still an enjoyable beer, but could definitely do with a more subtle fruit influence.
Trent

 

[Trent]

PHILLIP'S BREWING'S SURLY BLONDE - TRIPEL 9.1%, $4.60, 650mL
A little darker than I was expecting, about the colour of Saison Dupont, an orange/amber. There is some spiciness, and malty sweetness on the nose, with some moderate phenolics. Its almost a funny flavour, not as dry and easy drinking as a Belgian Tripel, medium body and a residual sweetness that seems to become cloying as you go along. Moderate carbonation, but definitely Belgian influenced with the yeast character. Very smooth, and a nice beer, but not as good (IMHO) as his other offerings. This bloke is a very talented brewer, so this beer disappoints me a little, though it is far from bad.
T.

EDIT - I am editing all my posts up till today so they now will have photos on them. The pic here of me is me posing (at my wife's request) to imitate the way I always hold the bloody beer up to the light! The beer in my hand is Phillips Surly Blonde, and you can see it is closer to orange than a tripel colour usually would be.

 

[Trent]

PHILLIPS BREWING'S BLUE TRUCK ALE - 5%, $10.90 for a 6 pack of 340mL bottles.
This beer is brweed in honour of the blue truck that they used to deliver their beers in the first few years. Dont run no more, so they brewed it to give the thing immortality.
Drank it out of the bottle, so I have no idea of the colour and stuff, but I guess it would be a nice amber colour. There is a medium-med/high bitterness, and a nice whack of citrusy hops, most likely cascade. It is there in the nose, and in the flavour, but the malt supports it well. This is a very well balanced APA, not over the top, but full of flavour, and drinkable all night long. This is the kind of beer I expect from Matt Phillips - well balanced. If you are ever in Canada, and are after a good beer to drink at a bbq, this is a great one.
T.

 

[Trent]

HOWE SOUND BREWING'S GARIBALDI HONEY PALE ALE 4.8%, $6.95, 1L growler. Brewed in Squamish.
Honey/amber colour, with a dense white head. Equal parts honey, malt and hops, with maybe a touch of DMS in the aroma. The honey is definitely noticeable on the aftertaste, moderate bitterness, some DMS presence, moderate hop flavour, and a moderate malt presence. fairly thin in body, and not as hoppy as I would like, but it is quite an easy drinking beer, helped along by the slightly drying finish. It is labelled as a Pale Ale, but in the blurb on the back, they state it to be a golden ale. Judging by the lower hop flavour and bitterness, they should have used that term in big letters on the front, rather than on the back.
Trent

 

[Trent]

HOWE SOUND BREWING'S RAIL ALE NUT BROWN 5%, $6.50, 1L growler, Brewed in Squamish
Very deep crimson brown, reminiscent of a well aged old ale. Toasty nutty carmel/toffee aroma, no real hop presence. Deeply toasty toffee flavour, with hints of nuttiness on the palate. Medium bitterness, medium-full body, low carbonation and very well balanced - I would probably have to say this is one of the best brown ales I have ever had. Was sad to see the end of the bottle.
Trent

 

[Trent]

PHILLIP'S AMNESIAC DOUBLE IPA 8.5%, $4.60, 650mL
Didnt write any notes on this one, but seeings as it is one of my favourite beers in the world, I can give it a memory shot. Deep amber in colour, strong malt and hop aroma, smells very much like cascade. Med/full body on the palate, very firmly bitter, but kept in check by the solid malt backbone, they are very well balanced against each other. The hop flavour is very assertive, and lingers long into the aftertaste, but there is nothing that stands out more that any other element in this beer, if that makes sense. Alot of double IPA's tend to be too unbalanced one way or the other, but this one isnt. If I could ever get this much hop flavour and aroma into a beer, and still have it taste as smooth and balanced as this one, I would be a very happy little brewer.
All the best
Trent

 

[Trent]

PHILLIP'S LONGBOAT DOUBLE CHOCOLATE PORTER 5.2%, $4.30, 650mL
This beer pours jet black, with an off white head that stays remarkably well for a beer that uses chocolate. The aroma has a low roastiness, with chocolate, and some low fruity esters. The flavour is pretty much similar to the aroma, but the chocolate is definietly the backbone of this beer. It has a medium hop bitterness, low hop flavour, moderate carbonation and is every bit as chocolatey as Young's Double Chocolate Stout, but with alot less roastiness. Absolutely delicious.
T.

 

[Trent]

Couple of pics from when we were on our 3 day boat trip in and around the gulf islands (the islands between Vancouver Island and the mainland)

First one is of the mrs Lara looking very happy, with some decidedly unhappy live dungeness. The people in the next boat to us caught too many to eat in one night, so they gave us 3 between the 6 of us, so we got one half each. And they were yummo.

Next is Lara's old man Don cleaning the little blighters before we threw em in the pot. Basically, you just knock em on an edge to kil em, then twist on half of their body off (it comes pretty easily), then the other half, they just come right out of the top part of the shell. Then ya clean em in the water, and chuck em in the pot. Easy.

Third pic is of some of the crazy tree's and driftwood they get roaming around the waterways up there (but these are actually corralled into a little pen in a harbour.) The beaches are littered with big tree trunks. Its not just the bears and sharks ya have to worry about if you are a surfer in Canada!

T.

 

[Trent]

When we spent our time on the boat, we moored in this nice little inlet that had one of them "floating wharfs", that has the poles driven into the ground, but the actual wharf floats around them with the tide. I was told that they have about 18 feet tides, but paid no real attention, and was sitting my beer on top of one of the poles when we arrived there late arvo. The next morning I got a hell of a shock to see how much higher the poles got at low tide! Anyway, I took a couple of pics, but couldnt get one at dead low tide, cause we had to make our way to Dodd Narrows to make it through at slack tide , otherwise we wouldnt be getting through (the water really funnels through at a rate of knots).

First pic, the poles next to the boat at high tide

Second pic, the pole next to the boat 2/3 of the way to low tide.

Third pic is from our boat coming into dodd narrows. The angle makes it look narrower than it is, but with 15'+ tides, you dont wanna be trying to go through agaisnt the run of water!

Last pic is of a boat heading out into a nice sunset. Just me getting all "artsy fartsy", but I liked the shot.

 

[Trent]

We finished our trip on the boat, and headed to Victoria on Vancouver Island, for a whopping 30 hours to visit all Lara's friends. Needless to say I was actually quite keen to go beer tasting rather than catching up at Dim Sum in Chinatown, after having a bbq with everyone the neght before.
There are heaps of brewpubs, and microbreweries in Victoria, and I went to Phillip's first, but the fridge had blown, so their taps werent cold, hence no tastings. So, I walked down to SPINNAKERS, when I was gonna head after the Phillips visit anyway.
Spinnakers is a real brewpub, making all their own beer on premises, and if you need reminding you are in a brewery, just go and play pool. These photo's should really go under the heading of "you know you're in a brewpub when...." (pics to come soon)


First pic is the view of the actual brewpub itself

Second and third pics are of the 2 pool tables surrounded by bags of malt!

4th pic is of the pool table with a grain mill in the corner. I later discovered that the mill is there because it is directly above the mash tun (its on the floor below.)

 

[Trent]

First cab off the rank was their DOC'S PALE ALE served at 10C, on a beer engine. 3.8%, OG 1041
I had to try all their beers in the 120mL sample glasses, cause it was midday, I hadnt eaten, and we had a family bbq that arvo before we got the ferry back to the mainland and the airport.
Anyway, it was a gold/amber in colour, with light toffee malt and a low earthy hop aroma. On the palate, there was sweet malt up front, a med/high hop bitterness, and moderate hop flavour. Medium body, and a very tasty beer in the ordinary bitter style (though probably a bit pale in colour)

 

[Trent]

Beer number 2, their ESB - 5.2%, OG 1050
A clean malt aroma, with a low hop aroma. A pale brown in colour, clear, with a nice head. Medium-full body, with a clean caramelly maltiness, offset by the med/high bitterness. Moderate earthy hop flavour, with a dry finish. There are actually quite a few fruity esters as you come back to it after trying some other beers, and it warms up a touch to probably 13C or so.
t.

 

[Trent]

JAMESON'S SCOTTISH ALE - 6.4%, OG 1070 Served on beer engine
Very dark brown, with ruby highlights. Deep maltiness in the aroma, with a SLIGHT smokiness and a little roast, exactly how a good wee heavy should smell. There is a deep caramel flavour, and low bitterness, but it finishes sweet, rather than dry, with a tang that tstes artificial, almost as if they used sugar to boost the body after it had been filtered. I have no idea if this is what happened, or even if they filter (it was crystal clear though), but this was the impression I got. The sweetness got a bit cloying for mine towards the end, and I couldnt drink a pint of it. Quite a full body, but needs a dryer finish to work for my palate.
T.

 

[Trent]

TITANIC IMPERIAL STOUT 7.75%, OG 1075. Served on tap, but at 10C I believe.
Coffe, roasty and chocolate aromas, with moderate hops and low esters. It is jet black with ruby highlights when held to light, and has a nice off white head. The body is fairly thin, for an imperial stout, so it is definitely on the low end of the style, but it is still very smooth. Roasty, coffee and chocolate flavour, low hop flavour, med/high bitterness with a low residual sweetness, but still finishes slightly dry. WAY too easy to drink for a beer like this, I really enjoyed it.
Also available in 650mL bottles for $4.89 in BC Liquor stores, or $5 at Spinnakers

EDIT - I forgot to take pics of my first few beers, so I took a pic of another line up that someone had ordered for their table. L to R, they are the hefeweizen, raspberry wheat, ESB, IPA, Dunkleweizen, and the Imperial Stout