Tag Archives: BC Craft Beer

BC Beer Baron #124 – R&B Dark Star Oatmeal Stout

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On two separate visits to R&B Brewing’s Brewery Creek location, I’ve enjoyed samples of this beer and feel the need to share it with all you little sippers.

The Dark Star Oatmeal Stout has flavours or rich chocolate and roasted coffee. I don’t often find stouts with a reasonable amount of carbonation, so this was a nice surprise from the brew. The 4.6% ABV, 25 IBUs beverage is available in bomber bottles.

R&B Dark Star Oatmeal Stout

Brewed in memory of R&B employee Jamie Kelly, this fall/winter seasonal release won a gold medal at the 2010 Canadian Brewing Awards in the Stout category. That sounds like a great homage to the brewery’s fallen friend.

R&B was set to open their tasting room on or near St. Patrick’s Day, but BC Liquor Board snags held that up. The site finally launched in April and one thing is for sure: the wait for R&B beers is more rewarding than R&B music!

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BC Beer Baron #123 – Steel Toad Saison Sauvignon

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From my earliest visits to the Steel Toad Brew Pub (Mrs. Sip and I were there on their opening weekend), this beer has been part of the company’s flagship lineup.

The Saison Sauvignon is a farmhouse-styled saison that is brewed with New Zealand hops, which result in the taste of white wine (sauvignon blanc) grapes. The beer is boozier than most saisons, coming in at 6.5% ABV. I’m not sure if that’s due to the wine attributes or something else in the beverage’s construction.

Steel Toad Brew Pub

Mrs. Sip and I both remember this beer from our earlier visits to the brew pub and with a change to its recipe (according to our server), it is now much more enjoyable. Mrs. Sip even picked it as her favourite of our most recent jaunt that way.

Located in the very recognizable red building on East 2nd Ave, Steel Toad comprises a network of breweries that are part of The Hoppy Hop (similar to Bellingham’s Tap Trail), allowing enthusiasts to tour the Brewery Creek region and win prizes after collecting answers to trivia questions at each stop.

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BC Beer Baron #122 – Big Rock Rauchbier

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When Big Rock Brewing opened their Vancouver-based Urban Eatery in 2015, Mrs. Sip and I were quick to check out the new addition to BC’s craft beer landscape. On that inaugural visit, the Sip Advisor fell in love with this release and it has since become a highlight of my stopovers, if available.

Rauchbier is German for ‘Smoked Beer’ and anyone that has followed this site or this project knows my affinity for smoky cocktails and brews. This product uses both Beechwood Smoked Malt and Peated Malt to achieve its unique flavour and finish.

Big Rock Rauchbier

The 5.8% ABV, 25 IBUs beverage welcomes you in with the scent of campfire and bacon, which have to be two of the most manly aromas out there. According to the Urban Eatery website, this beer is only available in BC, so we should all take advantage of the west coast treat.

While I haven’t made it to the Urban Eatery since earlier this year, it is a place I try to take friends visiting from out of town. Their unique food dishes and beer lineup provide a bit of everything for everyone and live music is often in the cards, as well.

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BC Beer Baron #120 – Green Leaf Pie Hole Pale Ale

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Our recent jaunt to North Vancouver to tour their burgeoning craft beer region began with a visit to Green Leaf Brewing at the Lonsdale Quay.

There, we sampled the Pie Hole Pale Ale, which at 5.8% ABV and 40 IBUs, has near perfect stats (according to the Sip Advisor) for a concrete, enjoyable beer. The pale ale is one of only two year round products on Green Leaf’s menu and was the brewery’s original release.

Green Leaf Pie Hole Pale Ale

Of the beer, the company writes: “We decided to start things off at Green Leaf Brewing with a beer we’d like to drink every day. Something hoppy, but not overly bitter, refreshing but not too dry, familiar yet unique. A beer that reminds us of good times with friends, or beautiful weather […] what we get to serve to you is our idea of what a glass full of sunshine tastes like.”

Suggested food pairings include burgers, steaks, pizza, fried foods, and a long list of cheeses, from soft to hard. In the end, I think almost anything might work well with this beer, available on tap and in bomber-sized bottles.

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BC Beer Baron #119 – Deep Cove Luminescent Chocolate Coconut Porter

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The final stop of our recent North Vancouver brewery crawl brought us to Deep Cove Brewing, where it was hard to choose favourites, as much of their line-up was quite good.

The Luminescent Chocolate Coconut Porter features complimentary flavours of chocolate and coconut, which as any fan of an Almond Joy, Bounty or Mounds chocolate bar can tell you, come together very well when paired. The brew is well-balanced (5.8% ABV), allowing for the tastes to be showcased and not hidden beneath strong alcohol content or heavy malts.

Deep Cove Luminescent Chocolate Coconut Porter

With a logo that features a jellyfish, the company writes of the beer: “The bio-luminescent jellyfish of Deep Cove are well known for unexpectedly lighting up the dark waters with a phosphorescent glow. This porter has the power to do the same for beer drinkers who are looking for a flash of the unexpected that won’t soon be forgotten.”

This seems to be the perfect beer for Mrs. Sip. Like most women, she is also a fan of chocolate and coconut. Where the product takes a huge leap forward is with its association to jellyfish. Anytime we’re in an aquarium – and especially if Mrs. Sip has enjoyed a bevvy or two – she becomes entranced by the hypnotic swimming of jellyfish and has to be pulled away from their tanks with great force… or the promise of another drink!

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BC Beer Baron #118 – Bridge Wunderbar Kolsch

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Our recent exploration of North Vancouver’s craft beer scene was driven by the redemption of a Groupon at Bridge Brewing. This deal allowed the Sip Alliance to try every beer the brewery had available.

Among those brews was the Wunderbar Kolsch, which was light and refreshing, but far from boring, featuring a complexity that took the product to a different level. This is the brewery’s take on a traditional German Kolsch, perfect for the spring and summer seasons, enjoyed outdoors on a patio, or preferably near a cool body of water.

BRB15-019_Generic Awards Label.indd

Sure, the first thing I hoped for was that the beer would taste like a Cadbury Wunderbar (one of the best chocolate bars in existence), but then it probably would have identified as a stout, rather than a kolsch. I was far from dissatisfied with the experience, though.

Apparently, I’m not alone, as the Wunderbar Kolsch picked up a silver medal at the 2015 Vancouver International Craft Beer Awards, in the Hybrid category. It can be found in bomber-sized bottles, as well as in six-packs. Prost, to all my little sippers out there!

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BC Beer Baron #117 – Hearthstone Chocolate Milk Stout

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While they weren’t part of our North Vancouver brewery crawl a couple months back, I was able to recently sample a few Hearthstone Brewing products at Legacy Liquor Store in the Olympic Village.

While sampling, I really enjoyed the brewery’s Chocolate Milk Stout, which has a bold chocolate taste from the cocoa nibs from East Van Roasting Company, used in its recipe. The 5.5% ABV, 19 IBUs is “perfect to cuddle up next to a ­fire with,” according to the beer’s description.

Hearthstone Chocolate Milk Stout

It sounds like the stout is quite versatile and can be combined with two other Hearthstone products for unique beertails. First, it can be mixed with the previously reviewed Graham Cracker Ale to manufacture a s’more flavoured beverage and second it can be paired with the Wyld Raspberry Berliner Weisse for a chocolate-berry treat.

As for an update on Hearthstone’s tasting room, it should be open soon and will feature woodfire pizzas, straight from ovens imported from Italy. Mrs. Sip and I can’t wait for our maiden voyage there!

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BC Beer Baron #116 – Black Kettle Kentucky Common

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When the Sip Alliance visited Black Kettle Brewing in February, we weren’t sure what to expect, but they had a new and unique beer on tap that quickly caught my eye.

The Kentucky Common is a darker, stronger (6.5% ABV) brew, with a slight sweetness. It goes down easy though and is a very enjoyable beverage. As far as I know, the beer is only available on tap at Black Kettle’s home of operations.

Black Kettle Brewing

So, what is a Kentucky Common and how did it end up in BC? Well, it’s an ale (also going by the names Dark Cream Common Beer, Cream Beer, or Common Beer) that was popular pre-prohibition in Louisville, Kentucky. Apparently, it’s rare to find nowadays, so I’m feeling a little lucky that I had the chance to have a serving.

For those that haven’t yet checked out Black Kettle Brewing at their North Vancouver tasting room or elsewhere, I urge you to do so. Through early 2016, they have been my MVP of both a beer festival event and a brewery crawl. Here’s hoping they keep up the great work!

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BC Beer Baron #115 – Dead Frog Cold Brew Red Ale

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Mrs. Sip is a tea drinker by nature, while beer is the beverage of choice for the Sip Advisor. With this Dead Frog Brewing release, we were able to satisfy both of our preferences at the same time.

The Cold Brew Red Ale is infused with cold brewed vanilla bourbon tea, handmade by North Vancouver’s The Tea Guy. When I first saw the term cold brewed, I assumed we’d be getting something with a coffee flavour, but instead was pleasantly surprised by the notes of vanilla that coated my palatte. There was also some chocolate taste, thanks to the malts used in the beer’s creation.

Dead Frog Cold Brew Red Ale

Suggested food pairings with this beer include barbecue ribs and chicken wings, as well as corned beef. The product is available in six-packs and Dead Frog’s Winter Mixer case (if you can still find it at this time of year).

We enjoyed this beer on our recent tour of the breweries that make up the Fraser Valley region of BC. Dead Frog was stop number one of seven different locations we visited that trip, with more beer goodness to come in the following days.

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