Vancouver Updates

[Bytowner]

I could have sworn there was a big Vancouver thread somewhere, but my search isn't giving me much.

Anything newish I should know about? Heading up next weekend, Saturday to Tuesday. I'm staying at the Coast Coal Harbour. Plan to swing by Alibi Room if I can figure out a good time, but anything else that should be on my radar? Any seasonals I should keep an eye out for?

Thanks guys

[Stroonze]

Phillips Crookeder Tooth pumpkin ale aged in whiskey barrels just came out.

[Derek]

We're starting to see a bit more diversity... what are you interested in?

Parallel 49 always has some interesting bombers. Definitely grab their Lord of the Hops IPA if you haven't tried it.

I thought the Howesound blueberry wheat was exceptionally good (for what it is). They've got a West coast IPA that's quite good too.

Driftwood has some great stuff right now as well.... the Gose & ESB. If you haven't had a Fat Tug, definitely grab one.

[Bytowner]

We're starting to see a bit more diversity... what are you interested in?

Parallel 49 always has some interesting bombers. Definitely grab their Lord of the Hops IPA if you haven't tried it.

I thought the Howesound blueberry wheat was exceptionally good (for what it is). They've got a West coast IPA that's quite good too.

Driftwood has some great stuff right now as well.... the Gose & ESB. If you haven't had a Fat Tug, definitely grab one.

I've gotten back to basics lately, been on a big golden lager kick this summer... And Saisons, lots of Saisons. I'm a sucker for anything made by Driftwood so I'll definitely be on the lookout for the Gose and ESB.

Thanks for the suggestions Derek!

[Kekumba]

If you're on Air Canada 163 out of Ottawa at 7:30am, see ya there.

I'm headed straight to Seattle once I get there, but I shall seek out those Driftwood beers on the way back.

[Bytowner]

If you're on Air Canada 163 out of Ottawa at 7:30am, see ya there.

I'm headed straight to Seattle once I get there, but I shall seek out those Driftwood beers on the way back.

Ha, indeed I am, I'll buy you a $7 can of doors light!

[Derek]

I really liked the Russell Summer Daze Saison... just a great, straight-up saison like Dupont.

Granville's was more of a flavourful farmhouse ale with rye.

Sadly, there aren't many craft lagers. The Steamworks pilsner is quite good, and their just down the street from Alibi. Actually their saison was really nice too. I usually go for their Nirvana Nut Brown (I think it's one of the best of the style), though they've updated their IPA as well.

[Bytowner]

Had a good time.

Liked 33 Acres. Nice set up and quality session beers.

Actually prefer St. Augustine's to Alibi. Alibi just makes it too difficult to go there, from their annoying hours to their refusal to do food after brunch on weekends. Seems like there are enough great beer places in town now that you don't really have to put up with the inconvenience.

Loved TUC and Espana for food (neither has an impressive tap list, but great places nonetheless).

[nickw]

It's not *actually* visiting Vancouver, but does anyone have any specific local recommendations on what I should ask my Vancouver-based beer trading partner for?

[Derek]

Alibi just makes it too difficult to go there, from their annoying hours to their refusal to do food after brunch on weekends. Seems like there are enough great beer places in town now that you don't really have to put up with the inconvenience.

Yeah, food is a good reason to hit Steamworks down the street (on the way to/from transit). I've even seen the Alibi closed for a wedding... but it probably still has the best tap list in town.

If you want to keep track of the new releases, sign up for the CAMRA newsletter:
http://camravancouver.ca/

And/or follow Brewery Creek on facebook.

But there's also a lot of great brews that are always available.

[phirleh]

Just got back from a few days in Whistler/Vancouver, picked up a Phillips mix pack, mostly lagers - 78, blue buck, elsinore and slipstream. When I was in Vancouver, checked out the Craft Warehouse at 1st and Manitoba in the Olympic Village. Very nice and open, with over 100 beers on tap (they had some trappist, lots of west coast brews). Got one of their "Round the World" flights, 3 Deschutes (Mirror Pond, Inversion, Chainbreaker White IPA), Innis and Gunn Original, Fullers London Pride and Ommegang Game of Thrones - Take the Black Stout. Very cool place.

[Jon Walker]

Hey friends!

Been a long time since I posted but wanted to pass this along from sunny Vancouver.

As you likely know Vancouver has long been a great place to buy bottled beer due to a very liberal import policy and a lot of private store distribution. There's also a healthy beer bar scene here. But what has always been lacking is brewpubs and craft breweries with tasting rooms, bottle and growler fills. But that has changed dramatically in the past 2 years. We now have more than a dozen new craft breweries serving up a wonderful myriad of beers. Recently CraftbeerChris generated this really handy beer map to help folks locate them all. The following map is just the breweries/brew pubs, not the beer bars. So next time your in Vancouver check them out!

Cheers,
Jon
http://thehoppyending.wordpress.com/2013/12/22/vancouver-brewery-map/

[Torontoblue]

Bloody hell, there's a blast from the past....Hello again, Mr Walker.

[Cass]

Nice to hear from you again Jon & thanks for the updates!

[Jon Walker]

Vancouver Craft Beer Week just wrapped up another successful year. Here's a brief article about one of the final events. Note that just about all the breweries mentioned are brand new and have only opened or started brewing in the past 18 months. That's how rapidly the landscape is changing out here.

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2014/06/08/vcbw-2014-the-beer-festival/