Tag Archives: Vancouver

BC Beer Baron #229 – Granville Island Hey Day Hefeweizen

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Each month, as part of this 366-day BC craft beer extravaganza that I will be sharing with you throughout 2016, I will highlight a specific style or theme of beers for a whole week of articles. Mrs. Sip and I are huge fans of hefeweizens and witbiers. I mean, is there a better summer beer style? Let’s take a look at what BC has to offer in the field.

The Sip Advisor has spent many a summer afternoon with this Granville Island Brewing beverage in his hand. As the brewery writes, the beer is “Great with brunch, patios, and bright dispositions. Let it shine.”

The Hey Day Hefeweizen – formerly known as the Robson Street Hefeweizen, thanks to Granville Island’s penchant for naming beers after Vancouver landmarks – the product was rebranded and moved from GIB’s core brands lineup to their Under the Bridge Series, which was launched to celebrate the company’s 30th anniversary. At 5% ABV and 15 IBUs, the beer is light, but is packed with flavours of clove and banana.

Granville Island Hey Day Hefeweizen

The brew is available in bottled six-packs, 473ml tall cans, and as part of the company’s bottled Summer Mingler case (also including the English Bay Pale Ale, Two Tides ISA, and False Creek Raspberry Ale). The Hefeweizen, under its former moniker, received a silver medal at the 2012 World Beer Championships.

Some suggested recipes to pair with the beer, include orange and clove génoise, pan-roasted chicken breast with mango chutney, and ricotta and minted pea crostini. This is on top of Granville Island classifying the Hey Day as a perfect breakfast/brunch beer, to be combined with poached eggs or Weisswurst.

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BC Beer Baron #222 – Stanley Park Curiosity Lager

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Full disclosure: The Sip Advisor purchased a can of this Stanley Park Brewing/lululemon athletica collaboration beer last summer and there it sat in my fridge “cellaring” for the past 12 months. My intention was to do a photoshoot with myself in ridiculous yoga poses, while sipping the beverage. That never materialized and I finally cracked the can open just the other day.

I have to say, although the Curiosity Lager was, oh let’s say aged, it still tasted pretty good. Granted, it’s your typical lager and there’s not a whole lot going on, but I enjoyed the experience. The 4.6 ABV, 18 IBUs beer is light and easy drinking with a refreshing finish.

Stanley Park Curiosity Lager

The limited edition release (only brewed once) came in 500ml tall cans and was created to be the beverage of choice for lululemon’s SeaWheeze Half Marathon after party. Suggested food pairings for the lager included barbecue meats, rich seafood dishes, and spicy Vietnamese or Thai meals.

I remember when the beer first debuted, there was a lot of negativity that came along with it. Many questioned why lululemon would bother getting involved in the craft brew game. The companies also received some flak for the label design, which included a cartoon totem pole that some thought was insensitive.

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BC Beer Baron #218 – Big Rock White Rocket White IPA

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On a recent trip to Big Rock’s Urban Eatery – while guiding out-of-town visitors around the Vancouver craft scene – my drink selection was a pint of this Big Rock Brewing release.

The White Rocket White IPA is unfiltered with a wit beer base. This provides a spiciness to the beverage, before IPA flavours (hops and citrus fruits) finish the tasting experience. At 7% ABV and 70 IBUs, the brew is strong, but doesn’t overwhelm. Big Rock’s BC brewmaster, Jody Hammell, says the White Rocket was the result of leftover Belgian wit yeast and an empty tank for experimentation.

Big Rock White Rocket White IPA

The Sip Advisor was served this beer from one of the Urban Eatery’s nano-taps, but it is also available in bomber-sized bottles. While many of Big Rock’s products can be found in other provinces, this brew is a British Columbia exclusive.

Suggested food pairings include spicy curries; Mexican dishes, such as cheese enchiladas; grilled chicken or fish; and sweet desserts, including crème brulée. I paired the drink with a feature dish, the Papas Bravas Poutine (fried potatoes covered in tomato sauce, truffle aioli, and cheese curds), and that seemed to work well, too.

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BC Beer Baron #212 – Main Street Old Knights Pale Ale

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While leading visiting friends on a mini tour (yes, the Sip Advisor considers three stops to be mini) of Vancouver’s craft beer scene, I made sure to cap the night with a layover at Main Street Brewing.

There, I ordered the Old Knights Pale Ale, which is a Pacific Northwest adaptation of classic English Pale Ales. Released in March 2016, the 5.5% ABV, 50 IBUs beverage is a solid, with a good hop dosage – from Columbus and Cascade varieties – that hits on the front and finish of the drink.

Main Street Old Knights Pale Ale

The beer is named for Main Street’s neighbours, the Western Front Society art gallery, which formerly housed a chapter of the Knights of Pythias, a secret society and fraternal organization. Notable alumni from the group, include former U.S. presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Warren G. Harding and William McKinley.

I’ve always been a fan of Main Street’s tasting room, finding the place to be quite inviting and comfortable. Plus, the beers on tap (and really, that’s why we’re there) are varied and of great quality. It’s a win-win, really!

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BC Beer Baron #208 – 33 Acres of Alpha

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With out-of-town guests visiting recently, Mrs. Sip and I did what we do best – show off this beautiful little city of ours. Amongst our stops was a couple beverages at 33 Acres Brewing.

There, I enjoyed a glass of their 33 Acres of Alpha. This single malt (ESB), single hop (Mosaic) IPA is rife with citrus flavour, including tangerine, grapefruit, papaya and caramel notes on the finish. The 6.4% ABV beer comes in 6oz, 12.5oz and 20oz servings and is also available for growler fills.

33 Acres of Alpha

I have to give the brewery credit for their creative beer descriptions, which paint a very interesting picture: “Gliding through a bladed meadow, a solitary figure advances. Approaching an inland stream, imprinting paws deepen into the basin. A rugged frame lowers its bristly head, with a few fetching sniffs, lapping eagerly from the crystal vein. Refracted across the scrolling water, a similar creature greets the primal liquid. Standing poised, while grinning tenderly, two proven individuals converge, salivating in unison.”

Every time we pop into 33 Acres, the Sip Advisor is always able to find some new and unique. Mrs. Sip sticks to her favourite, the 33 Acres of Euphoria Belgian Tripel, but I, ever the adventurer, have yet to be disappointed and forced to return to something I’ve already tried.

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BC Beer Baron #206 – Brassneck Ambiguation

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While Mrs. Sip and I are very happy to take visiting friends around Vancouver’s beer scene, when we’re rewarded for our efforts, it makes the ventures that much more memorable. Recently, we were gifted a pair of Brassneck Brewing’s refillable 473ml growlers, containing this beer.

Ambiguation is a Belgian Wheat Ale that has been ‘Brassneck’d up’ with the addition of wild Saccharomyces during fermentation and the brewery’s own house lacto culture, providing a level of acidity.

Brassneck Ambiguation

First brewed in 2014, this 5% ABV beverage seems to always be available at Brassneck’s popular tasting room, despite how regularly their menu changes. The Sip Advisor found the drink to pair well with a Mexican burrito meal.

The brewery suggests that Ambiguation might be perfectly paired with “a summer evening….on Third Beach….at sunset…. skinny dippin’,” before insisting they “would NEVER endorse public nudity whilst drunk on delicious beer!” They even provide what I assume is a fake email address to send pictures to, for those daring enough to complete the feat.

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Sip Trips #70: Brewers Row

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With Mrs. Sip away in Las Vegas, the Sip Advisor did not shy away from play and had a very busy weekend that went by way too quickly.

On Saturday, members of the Sip Syndicate attended the annual Deighton Cup at Hastings Racecourse. This is the city’s swankiest event of the year, with folks decked out in their finest threads, hats, fastenators and other duds.

Horse Racing

The day of races started off with a wonderful lunch, where options included a Smoked Bo Ssam Beef Brisket Sandwich or Korean BBQ Shrimp on Grits. I went with the beef brisket sandwich and absolutely loved it.

After a few good drinks and some betting wins and near misses, all seemed well, but the end of the event took a bit of a scary twist. On the home stretch of the final race, the horse I bet on crashed to the ground, injuring its jockey. I haven’t been able to find any info on the jockey, so I can only assume their injuries weren’t too severe. No news, might be good news, in this instance.

Early bird tickets to the Deighton Cup were $65, plus fees. I think the price was worth it just for the spectacle of the event, but a couple weeks prior to the big day, a Social Shopper deal came out that would have been nice to take advantage of. It offered the lunch, two drinks and gifts totalling $25, all for the same price of early bird tickets. It’s hard not to jump on tickets when they first come out, but you always have to worry about these great coupon deals becoming available later.

Early Bird Grumpy Cat

Following the races, we went for dinner at the Big Rock Urban Eatery. This was my second time visiting the restaurant in recent weeks and I have been impressed with their expanded food menu, compared to when the place originally opened. I tried their BRUeben sandwich, complete with scrumptious skinny fries and also shared some chipotle-buffalo wings with the group.

On Sunday, Cousin Sip and I travelled to Port Moody to experience their ‘Brewers Row’. The Row consists of Twin Sails Brewing, Yellow Dog Brewing, Parkside Brewing and Moody Ales, all within a five-minute walk. While I will leave beverage reviews to the BC Beer Baron project, here are some general impressions I had from our day out:

Twin Sails: Offering up Germanic brews (Kolsch, Gose, etc.), this is where Cousin Sip and I started our day. I liked their open garage door setting, with plenty of seats.

Yellow Dog: Here, we sat in the brewery’s backyard patio area, which had an abundance of picnic tables, amongst a serene shady setting (at least until a couple trains roared through).

Early Intoxication

Parkside: The newest addition to the Row also had wine and cider available to customers, as well as two guest taps, to supplement their own lineup. The brewery’s beer flights come on little benches, which are incredibly cute.

Moody Ales: Cousin Sip grabbed some delicious spring rolls from the food truck located outside the brewery, while I sampled a few beers, including a cask serving and a guest tap.

The Row, as a whole, appeared to be very family and child friendly (including pets), with a kid’s birthday going on at one location, while a baby shower was setting up at another. The beer at each establishment was very good and it’s hard for me to pick a favourite stop from the day. One thing is for sure, though: we will be back!

BC Beer Baron #192 – Storm Margherita Pizza IPA

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Each month, as part of this 366-day BC craft beer extravaganza that I will be sharing with you throughout 2016, I will highlight a specific style or theme of beers for a whole week of articles. With so many brewery options out there, a game of one-upmanship sometimes occurs and from that, the world is treated to some very unique experimental releases.

It would be criminal to have an entire week devoted to experimental beers and not give one of those feature slots to Storm Brewing. Whenever the Sip Alliance congregates at Storm’s East Vancouver location, we’re always in for treats our minds never imagined would be served to us in beer form.

The Margherita Pizza IPA is one of those brews that only Storm could envision and put together, combining most dudes dream meal – pizza and beer – all in one package. I have to say that the scents and flavours of oregano, tomato sauce and even cheese are evident in the brew and I actually enjoyed the experience. Apparently, I’m not alone, as most reviews on the Untappd beer app are positive.

Storm Brewing Board

The beer was made to help celebrate Vancouver’s Italian Day last month. I’ve joked with friends, who I forced to try the beverage, that it wouldn’t surprise me if the team at Storm simply tossed a couple pizzas in their brewing vats and let nature do the rest. Cousin Sip likened the 7% ABV IPA to a canister of pizza-flavoured Pringles.

Storm regularly cycles through their ‘Brainstorms’ and the board is kept updated at their website and also on their social media feeds. I am a steady follower of what they’re up to and often find myself salivating at something new to come into their tasting room.

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BC Beer Baron #187 – Big Rock Traditional Ale

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While hitting the Friends Pub in Kelowna, BC over the weekend to watch the Germany vs. Italy Euro 2016 quarterfinal match, the Sip Advisor enjoyed this beer (with some chicken strips and fries) from Big Rock Brewing.

The Traditional Ale features great flavours of caramel, roasted malts and nuts, perfect for watching some footy. I would have had a second serving, had I not volunteered to be the designated driver for the day. The 5% ABV beverage is smooth, with mild carbonation and hops. Big Rock calls the drink “comfort food in a glass”.

Picture 5098

The beer was one of the company’s original three offerings and one of the first English-style brown ales brewed in Canada. It remains Big Rock’s most recognizable release to this day and is available throughout Western Canada and as far east as Ontario.

I’ve always loved how the brewery pairs their beverages not just with food, but movies and music as well. The Traditional Ale is thought to work well with Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles, for you viewing and listening pleasures, respectively. As for food, suggested unions include sharp cheeses, red meats, and stews.

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BC Beer Baron #186 – Steamworks Farmhouse Wheat Ale

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The Sip Advisor doesn’t try to be a scavenger, but when friends pass off beers they either don’t like or are looking for help with finishing, I’m always there for them. That was the case recently when the Sip Syndicate was moving on from one stop to another and I was the lucky recipient of this Steamworks Brewing offering.

The recently released Farmhouse Wheat Ale is very good, reminding the Sip Advisor more of a European hefeweizen than a North American wheat ale. The 5% ABV, 15 IBUs drink is cloudy with a fruit and spice taste, similar to a saison.

Steamworks Farmhouse Wheat Ale

The Farmhouse Wheat Ale can be found in the Steamworks Summer Mash-Up 12-pack bottle case, joined by the Jasmine IPA and Kolsch. It is also available in the Steamworks Mash-Up 8-tall can pack, along with the Kolsch, Heroica Red Ale, and fellow new release, the YVR ISA. Those both sound like great options for relaxing poolside at Ma and Pa Sip’s place.

I’ve really enjoyed a lot of the stuff Steamworks has released this year and their mixed packs are solid. I’m also looking forward to getting acquainted with their White Angel IPA, having liked their Black Angel IPA counterpart, previously.

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