Howe Sound Pumpkineater Imperial Pumpkin Ale (Aged 1 Year): Brewed in Squamish, BC at a strength of 8% abv, this is the 2013 release of this beer that I cellared (somewhat accidentally at first). Now these beers come in 1L bottles that have a flip top which are easily reusable albeit quite huge. Putting one of these back…
Uinta Oak Jacked Imperial Pumpkin Barrel Aged Ale: Brewed in Salt Lake City, UT at a strength of 10.3% abv this monster 750mL bottle of beer was aged in oak barrels and is very highly rated online. I think the art on the label is pretty great, and t was nice to see this bottle corked with…
Moon Under Water Pumpkin Pearzen Weizen: brewed in Victoria, BC at a strength of 7% abv, this Weizen style beer is made with fresh local pumpkins and is infused with pears; just the kind of variation I am looking for in pumpkin beers these days. Aroma and Appearance: It pours a cloudy orange and copper colour with one…
Epic Brewing & DC Brau Imperial Pumpkin Porter: aka Fermentation without Representation, this very limited Imperial Pumpkin Porter is brewed in Salt Lake City, UT at a strength of 8% abv and is a collaboration beer that is a part of their Exponential Series,. Interesting enough they use Madagascar Vanilla beans in this one as well…
Oakshire Big Black Jack Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter: Brewed in Eugene, OR at a strength of 7.5% abv, I saw a few good reviews for this single batch release on twitter so I thought it was worth seeking a bottle out on my last trip to Oregon. Chocolate pumpkin porters have become one of my favourite versions…
Elysian Punkuccino Coffee Pumpkin Ale: Brewed in Seattle, WA at a strength of 5% abv and infused with Stumptown Coffee, this new Elysian release has already cracked the Top 10 Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer Category of Ratebeer.com so I was excited to find this and add it to my annual pumpkin beer lineup to see what all the fuss was…
Parallel 49 Lost Souls Chocolate Pumpkin Porter: brewed in Vancouver, BC at a strength of 6.5% abv, this recent gold medal winner in the BC Beer Awards Vegetable / Spice category is one of my favourites and it ages reasonably well for up to a year so I tend to buy a few bottles to let…
Southern Tier Warlock Imperial Pumpkin Stout: Brewed in Lakewood, New York at a strength of 8.6% abv, this imperial stout is brewed with pumpkins and ‘natural flavour’. This is part of their Blackwater Series of beers which includes three other beers worth checking on on their site, including one Creme Brulee beer that keeps eluding me . Aroma…
Red Hook Brewing Out of Your Gourd Pumpkin Porter: Brewed in Woodinville, WA at a strength of 5.8% abv this pumpkin porter features pureed pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon, maple syrup and ginger in its recipe.I enjoy the name, pretty creative with the wording and the label is pretty nice so good on them for decent marketing. Aroma and…
Dogfish Head Punkin Ale: Brewed in Milton, Delaware at a strength of 7% abv, this awesomely labeled pumpkin beer has a pretty good reputation and was on my buy list this year for pumpkin beers. I have to admit, I really like how Dogfish Head has re-branded their beer labels, this is equally creepy and awesome at…
Brooklyn Brewery Post Road Pumpkin Ale: Brewed in Brooklyn, NY at a strength of 5% abv this pumpkin beer, according to their description, is brewed with hundreds of pumpkins and the usual cinnamon & nutmeg that pretty much everyone adds. The hop profile is 24 IBUs worth of American Fuggle and Willamette and it contains some specialty malts…
Southern Tier Imperial Pumking: Brewed in Lakewood, New York at a strength of 8.6% abv, this is one of the top rated pumpkin beers in the world. Interesting enough, they also were one of the first to be released in like August this year which is a pretty serious example of seasonal creep in the beer world…
Firestone Walker DBA (Double Barrel Ale): Is brewed in Paso Robles, CA at a strength of 5% abv and is a blend of both oak and steel fermented ale. This is a tribute to British cask fermented beers. featuring my favourite base malt (Maris Otter) and apparently was their original beer . Aroma and Appearance: It pours a clear…
Dead Frog Weeping Reaper Helles Bock: Is a single batch limited release Helles Bock with blood oranges that is brewed at a strength of 7% abv and 26 IBUs featuring Northern Brewer and Hallertau hops. This beer has by far, what I consider to be, the best label of all the local beers. I actually drank this on…
Four Winds Saison Brett: Is an unfiltered bottle fermented Saison that is brewed at a strength of 7% abv with 28 IBUs featuring Tettnanger and Cascade hops. This delightful beer sat patiently in red wine oak barrels for about 10 months with brettanomyces and lacto-pediococcus to give it a true farm house funk that us beer geeks love so much.…
Double Mountain Killer Red Fresh Hop IPA: Brewed in Hood River, OR at a strength of 7.2% abv and 88 IBU’s of fresh Perle and Sterling hops this beer was a product of a good hop season for their grower so they expanded their Killer line to include an India Red Ale which I was excited…
Sierra Nevada Estate Homegrown Wet Hop Ale: Brewed in Chico, CA at a strength of 6.7% abv with 67 IBUs this wet hopped ale is made completely from organically grown hops featuring Chinook, Cascade and Citra hops and malts at the brewery farm which is pretty impressive. I managed to snap this up during a recent visit to…
BC Beer Awards: So I am super late to the game in writing up my review of this event, I mean everyone has probably seen multiple copies of the list of 2014 Award Winners posted on many great sites. In fact I even shared my favourite of the reviews by Mike’s Craft Beer on twitter already (it’s good,…
Barkerville Brewing 52 Foot Stout: I have often complained that BC does not make very many good quality basic Stouts compared to other places, a category somewhat lacking for some reason locally, however in recent years the tide has turned and finally we have some decent one’s in our province. This beer is brewed in Quesnel,…
Persephone Brewing – Double IPA: Brewed in Gibsons, this Double IPA is brewed at a strength of 9% abv featuring Amarillo, Cascade and Columbus hops. Interestingly enough, this is one of the more expensive DIPA’s on the market, often going for $12-$13 a bottle at private stores (this is where a 10% CAMRA discount is handy). I…
Dageraad – Wet Hopped Blonde Ale: Is a Fresh Hopped Belgian Blonde Ale that is brewed in Burnaby, BC at a strength of 7.5% abv and some local Centennial hops. I had been eagerly awaiting this re-fermented bottle and it was something I was super glad to find at a private store recently. Word is the brewer…
Silver City Brewery Citra Wet Hop Pale Ale: Brewed in Bremerton, WA at a strength of 6.1% with 21 IBUs this fresh hop craft beer features Citra hops in their un-kilned cone form. This was it’s first release by this brewery, it only has one rating on ratebeer.com so I was excited to try something completely…
Deschutes Chasin’ Freshies: Brewed in Bend, OR at a strength of 7.4% with 65 IBUs featuring fresh Mosaic Hops (yeah that’s right, fresh Mosaic people!), I was super excited to see this beer make it’s way into my fridge and oh my it delivered! Aroma and Appearance: It pours with a clear golden yellow, some minor carbonation and…
Deschutes Hop Trip Fresh Hop Pale Ale: Brewed in Bend, Oregon this fresh hop pale ale comes in at a strength of 6.1% abv with 38 IBUs featuring Bravo, Centennial and fresh Crystal hops. As labelled, these hops are picked fresh and rushed to the brewery and used within 4 hours of harvesting. I’ve updated the picture…
Sierra Nevada Celebration Fresh Hop IPA: Brewed in Chico, CA at a strength of 6.8% abv with 65 IBUs, I enjoyed this fresh hop IPA approximately three weeks after it’s September 30th bottling date featuring fresh Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops. They have apparently been brewing this beer since the year I was born so they’ve…
Fremont Brewing Cowiche Canyon Fresh Hop Ale: Brewed in Seattle, WA at a strength of 6% abv, this fresh organic hop ale featuring Citra and Simcoe was a nice change of pace from the local BC fresh hopped beers just to try some different fresh hops more than anything since there aren’t a lot of fresh varieties available…
Phillips Green Reaper Fresh Hop IPA: Brewed in Victoria, BC at a strength of 6.5% abv this Fresh Hop IPA was a little late to the scene compared to a lot of the other island fresh hop beers with Willamette hops grown in Nanaimo which perhaps were harvested at a different time than the popular…
Stone Brewing Canadian Launch & Tap Takeover: If you were lucky enough to win tickets to this event like I was, you would have gotten an invite to attend the Stone Launch Party at the Craft Beer Market in Vancouver, BC on October 20th for what I believe was the very first of many multi-city and…
Craft Beer Review – Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen: Brewed in Aying, German this is the quintessential Oktoberfest Marzen style beer for the rest of the world outside of Munich, Germany. This beer is rated #1 on ratebeer.com in the Oktoberfest/Marzen styles of beer category. Oddly, I couldn’t find this locally so I had to get it from the USA…
Lighthouse Road Trip Fresh Hopped Dark Ale: Brewed in Victoria, BC comes another local fresh hop brewed ale which is brewed to a strength of 6.2% and an undisclosed IBU. Admittedly it took me a little longer to find this than I wanted it to as it most non-Vancouver liquor stores didn’t get it until recently, but it’s…
Persephone Brewing – Harvest ‘Fresh Hop’ IPA: Brewed in Gibsons, this fresh hop IPA comes in at a strength of 6.5% with an undisclosed IBU rating from fresh Cascade and Centennial hops that they grew themselves on their own hop farm. I am really enjoying this year’s local fresh hop offerings so I was more…
Southern Tier Iniquity Black Ale: Brewed in Lakewood, New York at a strength of 9% abv with 50 IBU’s this fusion styled beer was for sale at O’Hares in Richmond, BC I believe and looked like an interesting one to try. I personally like these dark roasty ales as long as the hop profile doesn’t clash…
Dageraad De Witte with Passion Fruit (2015): This year’s version is a Sour Fermented Belgian Wheat Ale brewed to a strength of 5.2% but this time with the addition passion fruit and a healthy dose of dry hopped Citra hops. It’s great to see a brewer use some creativity to change things up with their…
Dageraad Randonneur Saison: Is a genuine Belgian Style Saison that is brewed locally in Burnaby, BC by a very stylistically dedicated Belgian brewery which comes in at a strength of 6.4% abv. Saisons were traditionally brewed for farm labourers, often at much lower abv’s so they could drink it through they work day and still function. This…
Tin Whistle Penticton Harvest ‘Fresh Hop’ Honey Pale Ale: A later addition to the fresh hop lineup that is made with night harvested cascade hops from Lilloet, BC and wildflower honey from BC, this craft beer is brewed at a strength of 5% abv. The label claims it is brewed under a full moon every year,…
I like pumpkin, I like it a lot and although I was not a huge fan of the pumpkin beer seasonal creep we have been witnessing in the craft beer world and coffee land I still can appreciate a good pumpkin beer and pumpkin spice latte as long as they aren’t overly sweet. The highlight…
Laurelwood Brewery Free Range Red Ale: Brewed in Portland, Oregon at a strength of 6.1% and 60 IBU’s this was actually the very first beer I had on my first self guided brewery tour a few years back when they had a public house in North West Portland. It is memorable for me as it was one…
Dead Frog Bucking Black Sheep Buckwheat IPA: A new single batch limited release which also comes in White, this Black IPA is brewed at a strength of 6.5% abv with 41 IBUs made up of Galaxie and Centennial hops and was brewed in August 2014. I had already quite enjoyed the regular buckwheat IPA so was interested to…
The Alchemist – Heady Topper Double IPA: this brewery in Vermont currently only make this beer which happens to be the fourth highest ranked double IPA on ratebeer and number 11 overall beer in the world. Lets face it, this is a bucket list beer and I was privileged enough to try one recently. It is brewed…
Hoyne Brewing Wolf Vine Fresh Hop Pale Ale: This common contender in the Fresh Hop beers in BC category, this Pale Ale is brewed at a strength of 5.3% ABV and an undisclosed IBU of fresh Centennial and Cascade hops from the Sartori Cedar Ranch Farm in Chilliwack, BC. This is probably the easiest fresh hop beer…
Powell Street Brewery 95 Pounds of Wet Hop Goodness: Another local Fresh Hop beer, this one obtained from Bottle Jockey in Burnaby, this is a Pale Ale brewed at a strength of 6% abv and 30 IBUs featuring both Cascade and Centennial Hops. Now if you recall Powell Street won Canadian Beer of the Year with…
Granville Island Brewery Mad Dash Fresh Hop ESB: Obtained from the brewery retail shop a few days ago, this fresh hop ESB was brewed onsite at a strength of 5.6% abv with 45 IBUs of fresh centennial hops from the Sartori Cedar Hop Farm in Chilliwack, harvested fresh and quickly transported into boiling wort on Vancouver’s…
Driftwood Brewery – Sartori Harvest Fresh Hop IPA: This is the hardest beer to find in BC, it often sells out within hours and I only manged to get one as I was away when it was released in stores on September 25th. This craft beer has a lot of hype, they take freshly harvested Centennial…
Stone – 18th Anniversary IPA: Celebrating 18 years of brewing, Stone bottled this Double IPA on August 21st, 2014 so it was still in it’s recommended drinking window which is about 3 months from bottle for an IPA. This year’s release was brewed at a strength of 8.5% abv with 75 IBUs and went through an…
Sierra Nevada/Ninkasi – Beer Camp Across America Double Latte Coffee Milk Stout: A collaboration with Ninkasi Brewing, this beer seemed to be a crowd pleaser so I thought I would save it for the last day. It is brewed with lactose and infused with Stumptown Coldbrew cold press coffee to give it a unique flavour. It is brewed…
Sierra Nevada/Oskar Blues – Beer Camp Across America CANfusion Rye Bock: A collaboration with Oskar Blues, which happens to be one of my favourite breweries, this Rye Bock is brewed at a strength of 7.2 % with 45 IBUs. Oskar Blues was one of the first pioneers of canned craft beer, knowing that moderns cans help preserve…
Sierra Nevada/Cigar City – Beer Camp Across America Yonder Bock: A collaboration with Cigar City Brewing yet another famous brewery I have yet to find on the West Coast, beer is brewed at a strength of 7.7% abv with 45 IBUs and is described as a Heller Bock style beer with a Latin flair. Aroma and Appearance: This pours a…
Sierra Nevada/Victory – Beer Camp Across America Alt Route Altbier: A collaboration with Victory Brewing Company using a hybrid lager/ale yeast that is fermented cooler than normal and is brewed at a strength of 6.6 % with 50 IBUs. I have been impressed with the few Victory beers I have had, so I had high hopes for…
Sierra Nevada/Allagash – Beer Camp Across America Myron’s Walk: A collaboration with Allagash who is located in the “other” Portland (Maine) this the other Belgian Style beer in the beer camp box brewed at a strength of 5.3% with 38 IBUs featuring Citra and Mosaic hops and Allagash’s house Belgian yeast. Aroma and Appearance: This pours a clear golden yellow…
Sierra Nevada/Firestone Walker – Beer Camp Across America Torpedo Pilsner: A collaboration with Firestone Walker this is a hopped up Pilsner via the Sierra Nevada Hop Torpedo brewed at a strength of 5.2% with 45 IBUs. I have had a good share of Firestone Walker beers in the recent future, they are all quite good. Aroma and Appearance: This…
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