Beer of the Week #10 – Russell Root Beer Milk Stout

With my trusty BC Liquor Stores gift card in hand (thanks again Ma and Pa Sip) I recently grabbed this Russell Brewing new release. Always a root beer fan, since I was a wee little sipper, how could I pass the opportunity up?

The Root Beer Milk Stout instantly caught my eye as a unique and must-try beverage. I was not to be disappointed, as the drink has just the right level of root beer (sassafras) flavour, mixed with the chocolate taste you’d expect from a milk stout.

Russell Root Beer Milk Stout

With the recent explosion of hard root beer drinks, why shouldn’t the brewing game get in on the action? The 6.5% ABV, 30 IBUs beverage is available in bomber-sized bottles at the aforementioned BC Liquor Stores, for a decent price.

Russell believes this product is perfect to “Celebrate the winter months… with the best, feet-up-by-the-fire-job-well-done feeling a brewer could dream up.” I tested that theory while we were recently away and they nailed it!

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Sip Trips #92: On the Prowl

With Mrs. Sip out and having a girl’s sleepover, I took full advantage of the situation and put together a guy’s night out of my own:

The evening started with dinner at Chronic Tacos. I love this place, but don’t often get to eat there, as the location that was walking distance to me shutdown a couple years back. I paired my Al Pastor Burrito with a serving of Parallel 49 Jerkface 9000 IPA and it was a good base to start the evening’s festivities.

chronic-tacos-burritos

Moving on from our meal, we made our way to 33 Acres Brewing, where their 33 Acres of Resin Double Red Ale caught my attention, as I always lean towards trying whatever new release the brewery has available. 33 Acres is the only place I know of that offers 24 oz servings, which is quite the amount of beer to down when you’re drinking a 7% ABV, 70 IBUs concoction.

After encountering long lines to get into Faculty Brewing and the R&B Ale & Pizza House (not to mention the usual horde of folks trying to get into Brassneck Brewing), our next stop was Main Street Brewing, which has always been a reliable watering hole for the Sip Advisor. Here, we quickly got seats and I started the visit with their Harlot Red Rye Tart Saison, which was a little more sour than I prefer, but it did grow on me with each sip.

Electing to have one more brew before the place closed for the night, I went with an item that had caught my eye as we chatted. As a fan of the brewery’s Naked Fox IPA, I just had to try the Hyper Fox Double IPA, which was also available in cask form and was suggested by the server that I go that route.

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As we lost one of our group to the rigors of a night out following a work day, the remnants of our party stopped into Craft Beer Market for a nightcap. As soon as I saw the Boneyard RPM IPA on their menu, I promptly ordered a pint. Boneyard has quickly become one of my favourite breweries and I’m saddened it’s located in Oregon and not in my own backyard. Their Bone-A-Fide West Coast Pale Ale may be my favourite beer of 2017, thus far.

Deciding that the previously mentioned nightcap was going to turn into yet another drink, the bartender suggested pints of Vancouver Island’s Hermannator Ice Bock. My drinking partner wasn’t a fan of the beer, which meant I ended up with a pair of the 9.5% ABV beverages… because that’s what friends do for each other!

Our little bar crawl ended with a hazy cab ride home and the devouring of a Double Decker chocolate bar. The next day, I jokingly accused Mrs. Sip of finally eating the treat without sharing, only for her to point out that I was in fact the guilty party. Ah, good times!

Beer of the Week #9 – Barkerville Demi-Mondaine Dunkelweizen

For Christmas, Mrs. Sip picked up this Barkerville Brewing beer for me, as a stocking stuffer. We only recently got around to drinking it, though, and I wish I had cracked it open and enjoyed it long ago.

The Demi-Mondaine Dunkelweizen features flavours of banana, clove, vanilla and biscuit. A slightly tart finish gives the 5.2% ABV, 12 IBUs beverage a bit of complexity, while still remaining very refreshing.

barkerville-demi-mondaine-dunkelweizen

Demi-mondaine refers to a woman supported by a wealthy lover or a woman of the demi-monde, which translates to a group of people who live obviously indulgent lifestyles. Sounds like Mrs. Sip to me!

This dark, yet mild beer is available in bomber-sized bottles at private liquor stores. The Dunkelweizen earned Barkerville a gold medal at the 2016 BC Beer Awards, in the German Wheat Beer category.

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Beer of the Week #8 – Stanley Park Foghorn India Brown Ale

In need of a case of beer for my hosting duties as part of a surprise birthday gathering for Mrs. Sip, I returned to an old favourite. Picking up Stanley Park Brewing’s Lord Stanley’s Pick (Winter Edition) case allowed me another opportunity to enjoy this product.

The Foghorn India Brown Ale was a hit with my guests who tried it, thanks to its roasted nuts and toasted malts. The somewhat rare IBA beverage comes with stats of 6% ABV and 50 IBUs and the beer has a great colour profile that is perfect for the fall/winter season.

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Suggested food pairings include turkey dinner with all the fixings, including gravy, sweet potatoes, pecan pie, or Camembert cheese. As is always the case with Stanley Park beers, the name is incorporated into the logo, with a drift of fog encompassing the famous lion.

I’m really looking forward to the brewery’s prospective restaurant and tasting room to be located in the former Fish House Restaurant in Stanley Park. Plans include producing “park inspired beer that is innovative and unique to the park location only”.

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Sip Trips #91: City of Sin (Part 2)

With so much crammed into our short getaway to Las Vegas, I split the happenings into two articles. Part one included a fair bit of action. Could we top our efforts on days three and four?

We began the second half of our Sin City experience by visiting the Yard House for their afternoon happy hour deals. We gorged ourselves on orders of their Fried Chicken Strips, California Roll, and Queso Dip, while I put back pints of Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA and Ballast Point Watermelon Dorado Double IPA.

Later, en route to the other end of the strip, we popped into the new Shake Shack, where I got a massive “Roadie” serving (32 oz. mug) of Big Dog Dirty Dog IPA. As we chatted with a server and told him we had never tried one of their burgers, he disappeared and returned with coupons to try a couple of their offerings, on the house.

shake-shack

We capped the evening with another favourite, enjoying the dueling pianos from outside the Bar at Times Square inside New York New York. Inside, the venue can usually get pretty packed, so we opt for seats outside, where we can still enjoy the tunes, high energy atmosphere, and best of all, drink our own beverages.

The next day, we journeyed to the Bellagio’s Hyde Lounge, where delicious, yet expensive cocktails can be enjoyed while watching the amazing fountain shows. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t rank this visit very high, as my Burning Mango cocktail completely lacked the advertised jalapeno flavour and the fountains weren’t running as regularly (every 15 minutes) as they should have been at that time of day. The one show we did get is Mrs. Sip’s least favourite, so the timing just wasn’t right.

Not to be deterred, and to celebrate Valentine’s Day, Mrs. Sip and I bought a ticket package that included a buffet dinner at The Wynn, as well as tickets to their Cirque du Soleil-inspired Le Reve show. The meal and entertainment were top notch, with copious crab legs and other dinner and dessert items enjoyed, followed by a spectacular performance of the water-based program.

le-reve

The evening was topped with a visit to another of the strip’s popular dueling pianos hotspots at Harrah’s The Piano Bar. By this point, we were kind of running on fumes, so decided to call the night somewhat short and finish the drinks we had remaining at our resort, enjoying the amazing view we had of the area.

And just to show that we’re well-rounded (not physically… yet) people and are capable of doing more than shuffle through life with a permanent buzz, Mrs. Sip and I also managed to visit both the Neon Museum and Mob Museum attractions. Using a combo ticket, with nice discount, we would highly recommend both to anyone visiting the city.

The Neon Museum’s boneyard is home to 200 signs, each playing their own role in Las Vegas history. The guided one-hour tour takes you through many of these tales, such as that of the Moulin Rouge placard, which belonged to the first non-segregated casino on the strip.

neon-museum

As for the Mob Museum, we visited on an interesting day, as Valentine’s Day not only marked the exhibition’s 5th anniversary (and so it was open to locals for free), but it’s also the anniversary of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, which is a featured attraction of the gallery. Our self-guided tour lasted three hours and we could have stayed even longer.

That wraps up a busy four days spent in Sin City. Did we enjoy ourselves? Well, we’re planning on returning over the Easter long weekend for even more debauchery!

Sip Trips #90: City of Sin (Part 1)

While Mrs. Sip has made countless girls trips to Las Vegas in recent years, this was a rare occasion (so rare in fact, that this is my first chance to do a Sip Trips article about Las Vegas, despite the posts being a site feature since 2015) where I was allowed to partake in the fun… and there was a lot of it to go around. Here’s what we got up to over our stay in Sin City:

Upon arriving and checking in at The Wynn, we hit the street in search of hookers and cocaine… er, beer and potato chips… yeah, that sounds more like us! Our first stop was at the nearby Walgreens (which would become a base of sorts over our vacation) to grab a couple road beverages.

Moving on, the PBR Rock Bar and Grill has long been a favourite eatery for Mrs. Sip and I, as we adore their Doritos Crusted Mac N Cheese and Bucking Bull Fries. While chowing on those menu items, I ordered the 8 Seconds cocktail, comprised of Bulleit Bourbon, ginger beer, bitters, orange juice, and basil.

doritos-crusted-mac-n-cheese

Following lunch, we made our way to Sin City Brewing, which is part of the Planet Hollywood resort’s Miracle Mile Shops. Here, I ordered a large serving of their seasonal Double IPA, which was enough to get me feeling pretty buzzed.

With a couple of friends also staying in the city, we met up at the Public House in the Venetian. My brew of choice at this stop was the Victory Hop Devil Nitro, which was paired with the bar’s Duck Confit Poutine.

Next up, we were off to XS Nightclub, where we had a spot on the guest list. This was my opportunity to experience some of the nightlife Mrs. Sip gets to revel in while away with the ladies, although we were only allowed to go so far before us guys were asked to cough up cash for further entry. Still, we managed to score a few free drink tickets, so that was a bonus. We largely used them on vodka sodas and procured one of the empty cabana areas to take in the scene.

XS Nightclub.png

The next morning, we were off to Downtown Las Vegas for a bar and craft beer crawl. Our first stop was Hop Nuts Brewing, where I started slowly with pints of their Belgian Wit and Snickerdoodle Brown. As we drank, we grabbed a two-for-one drinks Groupon for the nearby Velveteen Rabbit, a bar with very cool cocktails. I used my selections on the Love Potion No. 9 (lime peel-infused mezcal, house fig and pepper liqueur, grapefruit and mole bitters) and the Velvet Waltz (chai-infused dark rum, sherry, averna, vanilla and burnt sugar).

From there, we popped into Tenaya Creek Brewing, where they had a unique “spin the wheel, drink the beer” option. My spin resulted in a pint of their Pilsner GABF Gold, which I followed with an Imperial Stout. We then ventured to the Fremont Street Experience, beginning with Banger Brewing. While scarfing down some Korean Pork Fries, I tried pints of their Perfect 10 Pale Ale and Jalapeno Heffe with Pineapple.

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Chicago Brewing at the 4 Queens was up next on the crawl, where they had a 8 beers for $8 flight deal. Our last stop of the tour was Triple 7 Brewery, inside the Main Street Station hotel and casino. Their late night happy hour included $2 beers and food deals. Although, by this point, I didn’t need any more to quench my thirst, I ordered their Brewmaster’s IPA and Bad Guys Wear Black Imperial Stout.

We’ll temporarily wrap things up there at the halfway point of our vacation. Come back tomorrow for the rest of our journey, including a few rare non-beverage-related experiences!

Beer of the Week #7 – Dead Frog Reina De Fuego Mexican Chocolate Porter

The Sip Advisor is far from a Twitter junkie, but sometimes I’m checking my feed at just the right time. Such was the case the other evening when this Dead Frog Brewing product hit the market and went viral.

The Reina De Fuego (‘Queen of Fire’) Mexican Chocolate Porter combines Mexican chocolate and chili peppers. The result is flavours of chocolate and toffee, with a little spice and heat on the back end of the 6% ABV, 34 IBUs beverage.

dead-frog-reina-de-fuego-mexican-chocolate-porter

The limited edition small batch is available in bomber-sized bottles at the Dead Frog brewery and tasting room in Aldergrove. It can also be found on tap at some locations around British Columbia, arriving in Alberta in mid-February.

Debuting in December 2016, suggested food pairings for the brew include Mexican chocolate, brie cheese and roast beef. The drink won’t be around for long, so make sure to grab a serving while supplies last.

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Beer of the Week #6 – Howe Sound Devil’s Elbow IPA

On the way home from the Sip Syndicate’s recent weekend away in Pemberton, BC, we stopped into the Howe Sound Brew Pub in Squamish for a meal. There, I was able to enjoy a pint of this favourite beer, which was the drink feature of the day.

The Devil’s Elbow IPA is an easy to find brew, with strong hop flavours and bitterness. The 6% ABV, 68 IBUs beverage is available in Howe Sound’s patented one-litre re-sealable swing top bottles, as well as on tap at a number of locations around the province.

howe-sound-devils-elbow-ipa

Named for the grade four rapid on the Elaho River, near Squamish, the beer isn’t nearly as treacherous. The moniker has also been used for Howe Sound’s Vancouver tasting room and restaurant, which is a preferred stop for the Sip Advisor.

It was great to finally visit the Squamish brew pub, after a couple years of wanting to check it out. The IPA has earned the brewery silver and bronze medals at the Canadian Brewing Awards, as well as a silver at the North American Brewing Awards.

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Beer of the Week #5 – Four Winds Featherweight IPA

Looking for a beverage to enjoy while watching last weekend’s WWE Royal Rumble show, I grabbed the perfect product from Four Winds Brewing, conjuring images of a sleek high flyer getting tossed around by wrestling giants.

The Featherweight IPA was very refreshing and provided an interesting combination of its whopping 60 IBUs with such a low alcohol content of only 4.5% ABV. The mix was very enjoyable with tastes of tropical fruit and hops dominating the brew’s taste.

Four Winds Featherweight IPA.jpg

The brewery has a few really good IPAs, including the Juxtapose Wild IPA, Phaedra Belgian Rye IPA, and Vexillum Imperial IPA. You can certainly add the Featherweight to that list, as a lighter option should drinkers desire a bold taste with less booze.

The IPA (part of Four Winds’ Notus Series) can periodically be found in bomber-sized bottles at BC Liquor Stores. The drink received a well-deserved silver medal at the 2016 Canadian Brewing Awards in the Session IPA category.

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Sip Trips #89: Birthday Bonanza

Mrs. Sip’s birthday weekend was full of events, including an Irish pub dinner, beer tasting, whiskey tasting and all-you-can-eat sushi lunch. By the end of it all, I was totally ready for a day-long water tasting festival!

On Thursday, Mrs. Sip turned 33. We had the opening game of our Urban Rec season to attend, so we gathered with our team members at the Dublin Crossing Irish Pub for dinner and drinks. There, I enjoyed their Spicy Chicken Burger (available on the eatery’s daily specials menu), along with pints of Bomber Pale Ale, Granville Island Lions Winter Ale, and Hearthstone Hazelnut Porter. The meal was a lot of fun and much better than playing the ridiculous sport of handball… or as I like to call it ‘can’t do anything ball’.

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The next night, I surprised Mrs. Sip with tickets to the Tapped Vancouver event at the Yaletown Roundhouse. The Groupon deal put the price of two tickets at $40 – an improvement on the original cost of $25 per person – making the festival much more palatable. While we definitely enjoyed ourselves, the 15 advertised vendors was far from that, as by my count, there was six breweries, one cidery and one wine vendor, carrying three different wineries products. Even the most generous mathematician could only credit the event with a maximum of 10 vendors attending.

Of those who were there, I was most impressed with Howe Sound and Fuggles & Warlock, who each brought with them a varied collection of beverages. Driftwood also arrived with multiple options, but very quickly were reduced to only having their Fat Tug IPA left to serve. Other breweries in attendance were Goose Island, Whistler, and Steamworks, as well as Lone Tree Cider.

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The next night, I was invited to a private whiskey tasting, with the theme being that the products couldn’t be aged more than 10 years. While accompanied by pints of Granville Island English Bay Pale Ale to cleanse the palate, I really enjoyed the Lagavulin 8 Year, followed by the Ledaig 10 Year. I’ve always been a fan of smoky, peaty whiskeys, and these two hit the mark. The evening also provided my first opportunity to eat haggis and I have to say it wasn’t bad.

The rest of the week has been spent resting up from our warrior weekend, but we’ll be right back at it soon enough!