Tag Archives: BC Craft Beer

BC Beer Baron #22 – Persephone Goddess Golden Ale

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Hanging out with friends last weekend, I was offered a can of this Persephone Brewing release, which I’ve routinely seen stocked in this Sip Syndicate member’s fridge.

The Goddess Golden Ale, in the Sip Advisor’s opinion, can best be described as a good, solid beer. This flagship brew is styled after an English summer bitter beer and I found it to be rather refreshing. Its IBU of 35 is a number I’m finding to be quite fond of and have seen pop up with other beers I’ve enjoyed. Don’t believe me? Well, the brew did win first prize at the 2015 Vancouver International Craft Beer Awards in the ‘Best UK Ale’ category.

Persephone Goddess Golden Ale

Persephone Brewing is located in the Sunshine Coast town of Gibsons. The brewery is named after the daughter of Zeus and Demeter (the harvest goddess) in Greek mythology. Persephone also reigns as queen of the underworld and was a vegetation goddess before that. This all makes sense (well, perhaps not the underworld part) when you look at Persephone’s business and brewing model. Based on an 11-acre farm, growing their own hops, the brewery works hard to release the freshet beer possible, using only ingredients cultivated in B.C.

I haven’t had the chance to try a lot of Persephone’s stuff, but remember liking their Rum Runner Red Ale, when I tried it last spring. The brewery is acting as hosts of the Sunshine Coast Craft Beer Festival over the Family Day long weekend and Mrs. Sip and I have designs on attending. I’ll have to keep my eye out for this budding craft brewery and their burgeoning line of products.

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BC Beer Baron #21 – Bridge Uganda Sipi Coffee Brown Ale

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As we continue to delve into the cask beers available at Big Rock Urban Brewery’s Winter Beer Hall (as part of the Dine Out Vancouver Festival), we come to Bridge Brewing’s contribution to the event.

The Uganda Sipi Coffee Brown Ale incorporates organic Uganda Sipi Falls coffee beans (hence the name) into the recipe. The cask serving was decent with a nice malty taste and bitter finish. Overall, I didn’t get much of a coffee flavour from this beer, but the brew’s description does note that the aroma will be “soft” and perhaps that goes for the palate, as well.

Bridge Brewing Uganda Sipi Coffee Brown Ale

Despite my dislike for coffee, I can find that flavour to work quite well in beers. As a result, I’ve been curious to try the Uganda Sipi Coffee Brown Ale, after coming across bomber bottles of the brew in BC Liquor Stores. I’m curious to see if the bottle experience of the beer differs from the cask.

Mrs. Sip and I have only been to Bridge Brewing once before and not since they moved into a bigger facility. We’ve been meaning to do a self-guided tour of the North Van brewing scene for a while now, but just haven’t had the time. Patience is a virtue here, my little sippers!

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BC Beer Baron #20 – Real Cask Burnley Bastard Mild

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At the Winter Beer Hall that Mrs. Sip and I recently attended at Big Rock Urban Brewery, this was Real Cask Brewing’s contribution to the festivities.

I wasn’t a big fan of the Burnley Bastard Mild. At only 3%, it’s incredibly light and I’ve come to expect stronger flavours and profiles from my craft beers. I believe, though, that others will appreciate the brew for what it is. It just wasn’t in my wheelhouse. I do have to say, it has a hell of a name.

Real Cask Burnley Bastard Mild

Callister Brewing, which houses Real Cask, has a very interesting set-up in that it provides space and equipment for a number of independent brewers (both professional and amateur alike) in a collaborative effort to get their products out to a larger audience. Currently operating out of the space are Callister, Real Cask, Machine Ales, and Brewery Creek.

The one time Mrs. Sip and I have been able to get to Callister Brewing, we put together a sampler of every beer they had available and ended up with 13 different selections to choose from. It was fun going through each one, some of which were quite diverse from anything else on the market.

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BC Beer Baron #19 – Strange Fellows Talisman West Coast Pale Ale

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While I picked a different beer during the Romer’s Burger Bar Craft Bowl competition round last week, both Mrs. Sip and Cousin Sip selected this Strange Fellows Brewing offering and to be honest, it was my runner-up and a strong contender for my choice, as well.

The Talisman West Coast Pale Ale is purported to be the perfect offering to win favour from the Sirens of the Seas, hopefully gaining folks “safe passage and a bountiful catch” rather than “storms and shipwrecks”. I like to play a little risky, though and there’s no way any sea creature is getting my beer!

Strange Fellow Talisman

According to Strange Fellows, this beer pairs well with absolutely anything. They did narrow that down slightly with the suggestions of burgers, cheese, fish and chips, and pizza. I had my sample with garlic fries and those two seemed to go well together.

Mrs. Sip’s Take:

I preferred this beer over my other two Craft Bowl options because it was lightly hopped compared to its IPA competitors.

Mrs. Sip and I have only been to Strange Fellows location once before and should really try to get back there, as our original visit was shortly after the brewery opened. That said, I have tried some of their other brews at bars around Vancouver and have enjoyed them. Of specific note is their Nocturnum Dark India Pale Ale, which will certainly be featured as part of this 366-day BC craft beer project eventually.

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BC Beer Baron #18 – Big Rock Dine Out Van Fest Ale

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Although Big Rock Brewing is based out of Calgary, their Urban Eatery in Vancouver also produces beer, so the Sip Advisor has made the landmark decision (in the matter of Big Rock v. The Sip Advisor) to include this brewery as part of the 366 days of BC craft beer project.

Good thing, too, as Big Rock hosted the Winter Beer Hall on Saturday, a feature attraction of the annual Dine Out Vancouver Festival. The brewery also took on the challenge of providing the two-week (January 15-31) foodie extravaganza with its very own craft beer, a first for the event.

Big Rock Dine Out Van Fest Ale

There is quite a bit going on with the Dine Out Van Fest Ale, with tastes of fruit and spice (and everything nice). Drinkers will notice hints of plum and chocolate, while enjoying the brew. Among the five casks available – there were two more on tap for VIP guests – at the Winter Beer Hall, this was among my and Mrs. Sip’s favourites.

Mrs. Sip’s Take:

I thought the beer had a great smell and lots of flavour. The ale tasted sweeter to me than other casks that were available. It was a good start to my tasting lineup.

Big Rock’s Urban Eatery in Vancouver is a fun spot for drinks. They are very experimental with their food menu, so picky eaters might find it hard to select a dish, while adventurous diners will have a great time trying new and interesting items.

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BC Beer Baron #17 – Postmark Falconer’s Flight IPA

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On Friday night, some members of the Sip Alliance ended up at Romer’s Burger Bar where they have a really neat competition going on. The Craft Bowl sees each Romer’s location have two to three beers going against each other, with customers voting for their favourite in a blind taste test. The winners move on to the next round, leading to a final battle around Super Bowl weekend.

For only $6, you get a sample of each beer and once you choose your favourite, you receive a full serving of that. While I will later cover the two other beers I had to consider, my choice amongst the trio was Postmark Brewing’s Falconer’s Flight IPA.

Postmark IPA

The beer was a combo of fruit notes and hops flavour, which I thought was very refreshing. The other two options were both good, but this brew was first up in my lineup and I couldn’t shake how much I enjoyed it. I wonder if it had been somewhere else on my tasting board, if my decision would have been different. Regardless, I’m happy with the results.

Mrs. Sip and I have enjoyed past visits to Postmark’s facility in Railtown, which also houses Urban Winery. We had a good chat with their new manager in the summer and it inspired to grab and try some of the beers they had for purchase.

As for Romer’s, it had once been a preferred stop for Mrs. Sip and I, especially when they did their weekly trivia nights. This Craft Bowl competition has won me over again and we will try to get back for other rounds of the challenge.

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BC Beer Baron #16 – Okanagan Springs Brewmaster’s Black Lager

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Mrs. Sip and I have returned to our Urban Rec multi-sports (each week is a different gym class classic) careers again and with that comes our regular trips to The Flying Beaver pub and restaurant, near the Richmond Olympic Oval. There, Okanagan Springs Brewing products are often on special.

One of my recent favourites at the bar has been the OK Springs Brewmaster’s Black Lager, which I have only seen at this establishment. As far as I know, it can’t be found in BC liquor stores or at least not the ones I’ve been to and it doesn’t feature into the brewery’s Winter Variety Pack. I’m not sure why that is, as it’s one of the better beers I’ve had from the company. The Black Lager is easy drinking, but the darkness adds a different flavour profile than their 1516 Lager.

Okanagan Springs Black Lager

Speaking of the Winter Variety Pack I like that it includes two bottles of six different beers, which is a change from the typical 3×4 and 4×3 combos (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). That said, I haven’t picked up a case of the beer yet and should remedy that soon, especially with their Chili Porter onboard.

Some may give Okanagan Springs some flak for growing too big (owned by the Sleeman conglomerate of breweries before that company was acquired by Sapporo), but they are one of the original craft breweries in this province – established in 1985 – and they continue to churn out interesting beers that are worth a taste.

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BC Beer Baron #15 – Nelson Face Plant Winter Ale

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As I began this 366-day BC craft beer project, I couldn’t help but think of the Beatles song ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’. I knew that for me to succeed, I’d have to lean on my network a little and take advantage of any brews offered to me. Cousin Sip came up big again when she offered me a beer with dinner yesterday. I had never tried a Nelson Brewing product before, so this was a nice introduction.

The Face Plant Winter Ale is organically made, as is the entire Nelson Brewing line. According to the brewery, the beer “tastes best with every additional foot of fresh powder that falls in the mountains… and is the perfect treat after a long day on the slopes.” A line like that makes me want to take up skiing again and see how accurate the statement is. That is, until they follow it up with “Careful, the name says it all!”

Nelson Face Plant Winter Ale

While it wasn’t my favourite Winter Ale, I have nothing bad to say about it either. It seemed to lack the chocolate notes I’ve come to expect from Winter Ales, but I don’t think that detracted from the experience. The beer comes in at 6.5%, but doesn’t taste as strong as the number warns, which is always a good thing.

At first, I read this beer’s name as ‘Face Palm’ and have had to look very closely to see it’s actually ‘Face Plant’. I have to say that I’d appreciate the ‘Face Palm’ name too, as an ironic look at life fails. Regardless, I hope the name isn’t a harbinger of things to come if you enjoy a few too many of the brew.

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BC Beer Baron #14 – Tofino Tuff Session Ale

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I could be wrong, but this may be my first experience drinking a Tofino Brewing offering. I feel as if I sampled something from the company at a beer festival before, but can’t confirm that.

If this is, in fact, my first impression, it’s a good one. The Tuff Session Ale is a very drinkable beer that I think would be a good starting point for those new to craft brewing and beer in general. Available year round, this pale ale is unfiltered and all natural. I’d expect nothing less from the small community.

Tofino Tuff Session Ale

The name of the beer comes from Tofino’s nickname as Tuff (or Tough) City. While it’s hard to peg down exactly why Tofino adopted this nickname – stories range from its history as a logging and fishing community to it being a shortened slang term (ie. “I’m going to Tof,” but pronounced Tuf) – it has been adopted by many local businesses, such as Tough City Clothing and Tough City Sushi.

Mrs. Sips Take:

Despite a bitter finish, I enjoyed the sweetness of this beer. My first sip was while the beer was a little warmer, so I wondered if that made my experience different. My second sip was fresh from the fridge and I thought the Sip Advisor had poured a different beer. It was still very easy to drink.

The brewery has some neat things going on, that will hopefully eventually be included in this project, such as the Kelp Stout, Spruce Tree Ale, and Hunt & Gather Kettle Sour. Mrs. Sip and I have both never been to Tofino, a prime spot for surfing and storm watching. I feel as if we’ve failed as British Columbians, although the revelation of this brewery existing is another drawing point.

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BC Beer Baron #13 – Main Street Westminster Brown

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The Sip Advisor has been getting more into darker brews – including browns – in recent times and I welcomed the opportunity to grab a bomber of this beer from Main Street Brewing.

I thought the Westminster Brown was good, but wondered if the ale could have been a little more complex. That said, this is an international incident type of beer, with malts coming from Canada, England and Germany. At only 30 IBU, I didn’t get the hoppy finish the ale is advertised to contain.

Main Street Westminster Brown

Mrs. Sip’s Take:

I’m not a big brown ale fan, but this one was okay. I agree with the Sip Advisor’s assessment that it could have been more complex in taste, but perhaps this is exactly what true brown ale fans want in their beers.

I’d like to return to Main Street Brewing sometime soon. The only time I’ve been able to get to their facility was last June after doing a Beer Trivia event. I remember the setting being quite nice and comfortable, but at that time, I was lucky to remember anything at all. Let’s just say that the Beer Trivia provided ample opportunity for drinks and the Sip Advisor was imbibing.

For those that have never been, you should check out that entire beer district, which also includes Brassneck Brewing and 33 Acres Brewing, among a host of great bars and restaurants all the way up Main Street.

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