Four Winds Nectarous Dry Hopped Sour: The fourth unique beer in the Eurus series (aka the one’s in the 750mL bottles), this 5.5% abv dry hopped sour ale has finally been bottled and just hit the shelves yesterday. It’s been in their tap room from time to time, however I haven’t had a chance to try…
Steel & Oak / Four Winds Collaboration Gratzer: This is an old world style of smokey, slightly sour beer brewed to a strength of 4% abv featuring oak smoked wheat malt instead of barley and some lacto-fermentation to give the sour effect. This style almost died out as it was only being brewed in Poland, where it was…
Dageraad Anno 2014: This particular beer is a Belgian Strong Ale seasonal release from Burnaby, BC brewery Dageraad who specializes in brewing authentic Belgian beers. It is brewed to a strength of 8.3% abv and was infused with fully ripened Keremeos, BC pears as well as Indian coriander that all go together in this very interesting…
Steamworks Blitzen Belgian Tripel: This is an Abbey Tripel released during the winter months of Vancouver, BC which is brewed to a strength of 9% abv. This beer actually won a silver medal at the 2014 World Beer Cup in Denver, CO and is one I like to pick up once a year to enjoy over the holidays.…
Townsite Brewing Bière d’Hiver: A winter ale brewed to a strength of 7.5% abv in Powell River on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, this was one of those beers I kept missing because their distribution is limited compared to other local brands (their local market is 80% of their volume, crazy considering its small 17k population).…
Samuel Adams New World Tripel: Day 24 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, featuring a 10% abv Oak Barrel Aged Tripel from the Boston Beer Company itself. This is one of those beers I have seen on the shelves many times and for whatever reason I simply passed it by thinking it was a fancy bottle…
Dick’s Brewing Company Barleywine: Day 23 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, this barleywine from Centralia, WA is brewed to a strength of 9.9% abv and comes in a manageable 12 oz bottle. I love to try new Barleywines, so it was nice to see a new one pop up in my calendar as Christmas neared.…
Longwood Brewery Full Patch Pumpkin Saison: Day 22 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, featuring a Nanaimo beer brewed to a strength of 9.0% abv that I thought I had missed out on this year, however it magically showed up in my advent calendar. Most of the local pumpkin beers are simply pumpkin ales, there are…
Rodenbach Grand Cru: Day 20 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, featuring a Belgian sour red/brown ale brewed to a strength of 6.0% abv. This is a blend of 1/3 young beer and 2/3 beer aged in oak vats for 2 years to make this unique blended sour beer. Aroma and Appearance: It pours a slightly…
Dieu Du Ciel – Rigor Mortis Abt: Day 19 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, featuring This Belgian Quad Abbey Ale from Montreal, Quebec. This ale brewed at a robust strength of 10.5% alcohol and has been aged for 1.75 years (bottled in March 2013). Aroma and Appearance: This a pours hazy brown with a thin…
Unibroue Grand Reserve 17: Day 18 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, featuring a 3 year old bottle of this limited release beer. I have always enjoyed this beer and for the longest time it was one of the few Canadian beers you could actually find and cellar for a period of time until recent…
Goose Island The Muddy Imperial Licorice Stout: Day 21 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, featuring a black licorice infused beer – oh, oh! Black licorice is a flavour I generally don’t appreciate in beer so I was hoping it would only be a subtle note and not an overpowering one like some beers out there. Aroma…
Almanac Dark Pumpkin Sour: Day 16 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, featuring a sour pumpkin beer aged in wine barrels that is brewed to a strength of 7% abv by these gypsy brewers who do a lot of barrel aging. I have seen this brewery’s beers on the shelves in the USA a…
Brower Witnica Black Boss Porter: Day 15 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, featuring a Polish 9.4% abv Baltic Porter (which is typically bottom fermented and lagered). This bottle has been cellared for one year and since I have never had a craft beer from Poland before (and this style is apparently a popular brew…
North Coast Grand Cru: Day 14 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, featuring North Coast’s Grand Cru which is a beer brewed with agave nectar, fermented with a Belgian yeast and is aged in oak Bourbon barrels. This beer comes in a 500 mL caged and corked bottle and has an abv strength of 12.9%, which is…
Fremont Kentucky Dark Star Bourbon Barrel Aged Oatmeal Stout: Day 12 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, featuring a 11% abv Imperial barrel aged beauty of a beer made in Seattle, Earth (just saw this now). This is the 2014 release so it is pretty fresh, however I have another for the cellar that I’ll…
Widmer Brothers Barrel Aged Brrrbon 2012: Day 8 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, featuring Widmer Brother’s Barrel Aged Brrrbon (2012 version), which is a barrel aged imperial version of their seasonal all. It is brewed at a strength of 9.4% abv and is part of their Alchemy Project lineup of barrel aged beers.I have…
North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout: Day 7 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, featuring North Coast’s Russian Imperial Stout which is brewed at a strength of 9% abv. This beer pays homage to the 18th century Russian Imperial Stouts brewed for Catherine the Great as a means of trade between Britain and Russia.…
Gilgamesh Brewing Vader CDA with Coffee: Day 6 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, featuring a 6.5% abv coffee infused Cascadian Dark Ale named Vader which combines three of my favourite things: beer, coffee and what could be considered a Star Wars tribute. This beer is so me, it took me all of 2 seconds…
AleSmith Old Numbskull Barleywine: Day 4 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, this barleywine is brewed to a strength of 11% abv and literally had me falling asleep in my chair as I finished it. I love barleywines, they are one of my favourite styles so it was great to get one of these in my…
Uncommon Brewers Bacon Brown Ale: Is a nut brown ale brewed with buckwheat and bacon cured pork coming in at a strength of 6.8% abv and was my day 3 beer in the Advent Calendar exchange I did with my father. I haven’t had this beer for a few years and even then I only had a…
Widmer 30th Anniversary Craftylicious Gigantic Collaboration: Day 2 of my Advent Calendar exchange with my father, featuring a Widmer collaboration with Gigantic to celebrate Widmer’s 30th anniversary. This is the 4th special collaboration release related to their 30th anniversary, it was brewed at a strength of 5.7% abv and is considered a wild ale. Aroma and…
Brooklyn Brewing Black Chocolate Stout (Aged 1 Year): This is one of those beers that I have seen on the shelf year over year and never picked up, yet low and behold I got it on the first day of my Beer Advent Calendar Exchange with my father. You see my dad and I in years…
Do you have a friend or someone special in your life that has an abundance of craft beer, says words like “re-fermented” with glee or quotes vintages when describing beers they enjoy? Odds are they may just be a beer geek like me and you may find it intimidating to buy a beer related gift that will impress…
The Idea: About a month ago a group of us local BC Beer Bloggers (and one from Alberta) decided to get together and collaborate on a list of our favourite local winter craft beer from Western Canada, primarily British Columbia and a few from Alberta. We thought it would be fun to compare what we were looking forward…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Ballast Point Brewing Company – Sculpin IPA: Brewed in San Diego, CA this IPA ranks #5 overall on the ratebeer.com IPA category putting it as one of the best IPA’s in the world according to individual ratings and reviews. It is brewed at a strength of 7.0% abv with 70 IBUs and according to their web description is hopped…
Cantillon Gueuze Lambic: Brewed in Brussels, Belgium at a strength of 5% abv with a new modern flag themed label, this 100% spontaneously fermented Lambic beer is the newest release in BC private liquor stores to which I was excited to try and then subsequently stock up on. Per their website this Gueze is a blend of…
Unibroue La Fin Du Monde Tripel: This particular beer is one of the beers that really opened up my mind to what a beer can taste like, it’s been around for a while and was one of my first true craft beers. Despite being owned by Sleeman’s aka Sapporo, the Unibroue beers still stay true to…
Epic Brewing Elder Brett – Saison Brett Golden Ale: Purchased at Total Wines & More in Lynnwood, WA and brewed in collaboration with Crooked Stave Artisan Brewing, aged in wine barrels this is the batch #4 release at 9.1% abv with an undisclosed but likely low IBU. This particular batch was brewed in Salt Lake City, UT…
Odin Brewing – Odin’s Gift Amber Ale with Juniper Berries: Brewed in Seattle, WA at a strength of 5.4% with 28 IBUs and Juniper Boughs according to their website. This was another BYO 6 pack beer from Trader Joes, allowing me to sample beers before committing to a full 6 pack. Aroma and Appearance: It pours with…
Dicks Brewing 12 Man Pale Ale: Dubbed a beer “for the fan” on their website, this Pale is brewed at a strength of 4.5% abv (so more of a session beer) with an undisclosed IBU rating. This was obtained as a part of a build your own 6 pack from Trader Joe’s in Bellingham, who occasionally…
Caldera Brewing – Hopportunity Knocks IPA: Brewed in Oregon at a strength of 6.8% with 100+ IBUs, this IPA is full of, as described on the bottle, an “@*! pile of Centennial hops, with a big beer to back it up”. Some “googling” identified this as a single hop beer, so this is a good one if…
Howe Sound Brewing Total Eclipse of the Hop Imperial IPA: This is a Imperial IPA brewed in Squamish, BC at a strength of 8% abv with 90 IBUs of 6 undisclosed varieties of hops. It comes in a 1L flip top bottle that Howe Sound Brewery is known for, which is named a pot stopper according to their…
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