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lister wrote:Are there any particular alcohol stores there with a solid beer selection? Anywhere in the area bordered by Stanley Park, Granville Island and Main St.
There are several other threads that already answer this...but in short;
Brewery Creek is at Main @ 14th.
Firefly is at Cambie @ 12th.
Viti is at Seymour @ Smythe.
The big BC liquor store with the best beer selection is at Cambie @ 39th.
On one evening of my recent trip to Vancouver, I visited a couple other beer hang-outs in the city. One was Railway Club at Seymour and Dunsmuir. I liked the 1950's-era or older carved wooden decor - quite a big rambling place on the second floor (perched over a 7/11). I enjoyed a pint of ESB which had a big West Coast bitterness and taste. I think the word Kettle was in the name but cannot recall the full brand moniker.
Dix Barbeque, on Beattie Street, is another big bar and restaurant. Its sampler included an IPA, which was my favourite. I liked the dark ale too, which incorporates wheat and is more in the British tradition than anything specifically German. The two lagers offered in contrast a Germanic taste with their marked Hallertau (or similar) character.
I did not have the chance to visit Yaletown Brewing, Dock Street Brewing or Steamworks on this trip.
I did stop by Viti, a superb specialty beer store on Seymour, and picked up a bottled version of Swans Buckerfields Brewery's (of Victoria) barley wine aged on oak and flavoured with Spanish orange peels. As bottled it is called Legacy Ale. Earlier I had the draft version at Alibi and was impressed. Review coming shortly.
On another evening, I had an Okanagan Pale Ale, this with dinner at Malone's, also off Seymour Street, and it was excellent: malty in the amber way with good, English-style hopping. I think I've seen this beer in Toronto and will seek it out.
All in all, an excellent city for craft beer which has made great strides in recent years.
The Railway Club has a great beer list and nice laid back staff. They often have a tap or two with some really small obscure brewer's efforts. It's worth a visit just to try these.
They also tend to have a good selection of Crannog's beers including the excellent Back Hand of God Stout. Crannog has to be the first certified organic brewery who's products I have tasted that all can stand on their own as excellent beer rather than just relying on the organic label.
G.M. Gillman wrote:On another evening, I had an Okanagan Pale Ale, this with dinner at Malone's, also off Seymour Street, and it was excellent: malty in the amber way with good, English-style hopping. I think I've seen this beer in Toronto and will seek it out.
Draught at Castros. Clear coppery pour, head and carb a bit fine .Features mainly friendly soft pale-fruit flavors on a backbone of light acidity and bitterness, completely inoffensive.
Maybe my 2.8/5 rating was ungenerous but I am adapting to simpler British styles as i learn to appreciate them.
Just wanted to say thanks for the info. The girlfriend, who is in Vancouver as I type, will be visiting the Alibi Room tomorrow night and will be hunting down some bottles for me.
lister wrote:Just wanted to say thanks for the info. The girlfriend, who is in Vancouver as I type, will be visiting the Alibi Room tomorrow night and will be hunting down some bottles for me.
I'm headed out to Victoria next week, but not Vancouver, unfortuneately. I'm planning on hitting up Driftwood and Spinnakers for sure. Does anyone have any good nuggets of wisdom regarding other must-visit stops in Victoria?
boney wrote:I'm headed out to Victoria next week, but not Vancouver, unfortuneately. I'm planning on hitting up Driftwood and Spinnakers for sure. Does anyone have any good nuggets of wisdom regarding other must-visit stops in Victoria?
The Vancouver Island Brewery is always worth a visit.
After being gone 7.5 weeks, I'll be "owing" her plenty...
In addition to the Phillips Double Chocolate Porter (which I love) she found a maple stout and a coconut porter. I suspect the latter is largely for her as I don't care for coconut and she's been on a coconut kick for a couple of months now.
That would be the Swans Coconut Porter I suspect...you're not missing much. My strong advice would be the get "the girlfriend" to return with some cans of Central City Red Racer IPA.
I don't always piss in a bottle but when I do...I prefer to call it Dos Equis.
Jon Walker wrote:That would be the Swans Coconut Porter I suspect...you're not missing much. My strong advice would be the get "the girlfriend" to return with some cans of Central City Red Racer IPA.
She picked everything up at Viti. I'll probably have a gulp of the coconut porter, grimace and quickly flush the mouth with a different fine beverage.
Thanks for the advice on the IPA but, I know it's heresy amongst many of you here, I don't really care for IPAs all that much. I'll have the odd Deuchars and ilk like that in a four or five beer session but nothing more than that.
Jon Walker wrote:That would be the Swans Coconut Porter I suspect...you're not missing much. My strong advice would be the get "the girlfriend" to return with some cans of Central City Red Racer IPA.
She picked everything up at Viti. I'll probably have a gulp of the coconut porter, grimace and quickly flush the mouth with a different fine beverage.
Thanks for the advice on the IPA but, I know it's heresy amongst many of you here, I don't really care for IPAs all that much. I'll have the odd Deuchars and ilk like that in a four or five beer session but nothing more than that.
The Swans is not that coconut forward. I really enjoyed it, you might be surprised.
If you ever came over to the IPA side, the Red Racer IPA would be the first place to give in! If you are still not willing to try it, see if she can find you their ESB. It is fantastic on tap, I'm not sure if it is canned/bottled though. If she really loves you she will bring you back a growler!
boney wrote:I'm headed out to Victoria next week, but not Vancouver, unfortuneately. I'm planning on hitting up Driftwood and Spinnakers for sure. Does anyone have any good nuggets of wisdom regarding other must-visit stops in Victoria?
The Vancouver Island Brewery is always worth a visit.
Spinnaker's is definitely the place to go for beer. I would put Swan's a close second. It's a nice laid back place with good food. It is also a boutique hotel so you can stay there and really dig in! The only downside I found with Swan's is that they were often out of many of their standard beers. It could have just been bad timing. Their off site sales (aka attached beer store) had a great selection of their product and some other decent locals too, so that made up for it.
There are a couple of generic non-micro pubs on the main tourist drag in town. I can't remember the names (I think one was the Bard & Banker or something), but they pretty much disappointed. The food and beer were both poor and over priced. Given how easy it is to eat well in Victoria, I would avoid those places.
