Just got back from a three day business trip to Vancouver. Whilst in the BC Liquor Store I noticed several interesting new beers.
Three were from a Vancouver Island brewery called Phillips. I've never heard of them before and have no idea of their history but their Expresso Stout, IPA, and Rasberry Wheat were all available in 650ml bottles. I tried the stout, moderately good, and the IPA, which was underwhelming when compared to the other new beers I found...
Sailor Hagar's is well known to all beer lovers who've done the rounds in Vancouver. Until recently their beers were only available commercially in their own retail store and brew pub in North Van. Finally the BC Liquor Board is selling Hagar's Bengal IPA along with their Belgian Wit Ale and Grizzly Nut Brown Ale. All three are truly outstanding beers but to my tastes the Bengal stands out. I'd go so far as saying it's the best bottled Canadian IPA I've tried. Too bad we're unlikely to EVER see them available out here.
So that's the Wet Coast beer update.
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New BC beers
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Jon Walker
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Josh Oakes
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Thanks for the tip. I'll be sending my brother to Cambie soon to pick up my birthday beers, so I'll hopefully get the Philips stuff. He knows better than to send anything to me without a bottle or two from Hagar's so I'll see about the Wit (although I really want some Thor's Hammer as I haven't had any in a couple of years).
Cass... While in BC, I strongly recommend you check out a place called Fogg n' Suds. They have several locations in BC.
Anyway, think of Smokeless Joe's but ten times bigger. They have about 50 different brews on tap, and have several hundred beers in bottles to chose from. Same principle as Joe's where you get a menu listing all beers available by country, percentage and so on. And, the bar itself is usually very big.
I found a website listing their various locations:
http://www.hopeline.org/clientsites/foggnsuds.htm
Enjoy!
Anyway, think of Smokeless Joe's but ten times bigger. They have about 50 different brews on tap, and have several hundred beers in bottles to chose from. Same principle as Joe's where you get a menu listing all beers available by country, percentage and so on. And, the bar itself is usually very big.
I found a website listing their various locations:
http://www.hopeline.org/clientsites/foggnsuds.htm
Enjoy!
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Josh Oakes
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Personally, though, I stopped visiting Fogg a long time ago. Smokeless is a hundred times better - better food ,better beer selection, better atmosphere. Most Fogg locations have less than 100 beers, and very little outside of standard macro lagers from strange places. The staff know nothing about beer at all (whereas at least Joe does) - refusing to even let me sample a strong bottle conditioned ale because "it's been sitting there for almost a year now".
Any place where the staff thinks they know more about beer than I do, and then proceeds to explain that Keith's is a "traditional example of an IPA" gets a thumbs down in my book. I had some great beers there back in the day, but it's not what it used to be.
There aren't any great beer bars in Vancouver, but a good selection of micros (25 or so - the good ones, too, like Crannog and Tree) can be found on the west side at Culpepper's (near Broadway & MacDonald in my old neighbourhood), and I am also partial to the Storm houses (The Whip and the Sugar Refinery) - the only places in this country where you can find draught, Canadian-made lambic.
But's that's just my two cents. What does Mr. Walker think?
Any place where the staff thinks they know more about beer than I do, and then proceeds to explain that Keith's is a "traditional example of an IPA" gets a thumbs down in my book. I had some great beers there back in the day, but it's not what it used to be.
There aren't any great beer bars in Vancouver, but a good selection of micros (25 or so - the good ones, too, like Crannog and Tree) can be found on the west side at Culpepper's (near Broadway & MacDonald in my old neighbourhood), and I am also partial to the Storm houses (The Whip and the Sugar Refinery) - the only places in this country where you can find draught, Canadian-made lambic.
But's that's just my two cents. What does Mr. Walker think?
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Josh Oakes
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Dan,
It pains me to think about the great beers I was introduced to at Fogg N Suds in the early to mid-90's - everything from my first Guinness to Sam Smith's Nut Brown to Skullsplitter, Old Munich (remember that one?), Sierra Nevada Pale and so many others. Back when BC was the best beer province in the country, Fogg was definitely the king of beer bars in this land. Last time I was there was in '99 and that was when they wouldn't let me try my strong ale, served me a steak sandwich with a day-old bun, and had maybe sixty beers in stock (and only a dozen worth drinking). The taps were all macros or wanna-be macros (Big Rock, Granville Island, Okanagan Spring).
Word was at the time that they had run into financial troubles trying to expand too quickly, and couldn't keep good management. That the people in charge did not believe that focusing on beer was a good way to make money, so they lost interest in the one thing that made them distinctive in the first place. Just word on the street, though, and who knows, maybe they've cleaned up their act a bit.
It pains me to think about the great beers I was introduced to at Fogg N Suds in the early to mid-90's - everything from my first Guinness to Sam Smith's Nut Brown to Skullsplitter, Old Munich (remember that one?), Sierra Nevada Pale and so many others. Back when BC was the best beer province in the country, Fogg was definitely the king of beer bars in this land. Last time I was there was in '99 and that was when they wouldn't let me try my strong ale, served me a steak sandwich with a day-old bun, and had maybe sixty beers in stock (and only a dozen worth drinking). The taps were all macros or wanna-be macros (Big Rock, Granville Island, Okanagan Spring).
Word was at the time that they had run into financial troubles trying to expand too quickly, and couldn't keep good management. That the people in charge did not believe that focusing on beer was a good way to make money, so they lost interest in the one thing that made them distinctive in the first place. Just word on the street, though, and who knows, maybe they've cleaned up their act a bit.
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Jon Walker
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Unfortunately Josh the fabulous Culpeppers on West Broadway is no more. The old Irish pub was a favorite of mine up until I left in the summer of 2000. I went down for a pint of Storm Scottish during my trip only to find that the premises is now called "The Copper Tank Grill". It's one of those open concept, charmless renovations by a a new owner who clearly didn't know a good thing when he bought it. The place seemed quiet, by Culpeppers standards, for a saturday night...probably due in no small part to the very ordinary selection of beer now offered on the taps, none of which were micro brewed (unless you count Shaftsbury which I no longer do). Sad, that place held a lot of happy memories...
Sausi's still serve Storm beer and they are only a few doors down the block east from the old Culpeppers. The have done a recent reno that includes a seperate, ventilated cigar room. For those that still enjoy a ciggy with their beer this is one of the only places left on West Broadway where you can do both comfortably.
As for brew pubs in downtown Vancouver there are the three obvious ones; Steamworks, Yaletown Brewing and DIX. Steamworks is the better of the three IMHO...their beers aren't anything revolutionary but not bad by any measure. Yaletown also play it fairly safe...in the six years they've been around I've yet to see them make a stout, west coast IPA or a seasonal lambic or Christmas ale. DIX prides itself on making Belgian style ales and lager...as such I honestly have only been in once and was underwhelmed.
I agree with Josh that Fogg and Suds is not the beer mecca that Joe's is. The atmosphere is totally lacking as it is with most franchise restaurants (think TGI-Fridays) and the beer selection while broad features few surprises. They also stock a sadly small selection of regional micros. Still, if you find yourself stuck they are an easy option.
I'm really hard pressed to suggest a place like Joe's to visit in Vancouver. Culpeppers would have been the pick, they always had at least six true micros on tap and rotated in a new one each month. Nowhere else I know of does that. I'd suggest contacting the boys at Storm. They're an approachable bunch, would probably give Cass a tour of their little premises down on North Commercial Drive and a sample of their beers as well as a suggestion or two as to where the best pubs are now located.
My one sure fire suggestion however is a restaurant called "Vij's" on West 11th at Granville. You won't find a better Indian restaurant in all of Vancouver and they have Storm IPA and a couple of other good micros on tap as well. The owner closes the place for two months each summer while he returns to India to gather new recipies...every dish served there is totally unique. Nothing like a good Indian meal accompanied by a decent pint!
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jon Walker on 2001-11-18 09:26 ]</font>
Sausi's still serve Storm beer and they are only a few doors down the block east from the old Culpeppers. The have done a recent reno that includes a seperate, ventilated cigar room. For those that still enjoy a ciggy with their beer this is one of the only places left on West Broadway where you can do both comfortably.
As for brew pubs in downtown Vancouver there are the three obvious ones; Steamworks, Yaletown Brewing and DIX. Steamworks is the better of the three IMHO...their beers aren't anything revolutionary but not bad by any measure. Yaletown also play it fairly safe...in the six years they've been around I've yet to see them make a stout, west coast IPA or a seasonal lambic or Christmas ale. DIX prides itself on making Belgian style ales and lager...as such I honestly have only been in once and was underwhelmed.
I agree with Josh that Fogg and Suds is not the beer mecca that Joe's is. The atmosphere is totally lacking as it is with most franchise restaurants (think TGI-Fridays) and the beer selection while broad features few surprises. They also stock a sadly small selection of regional micros. Still, if you find yourself stuck they are an easy option.
I'm really hard pressed to suggest a place like Joe's to visit in Vancouver. Culpeppers would have been the pick, they always had at least six true micros on tap and rotated in a new one each month. Nowhere else I know of does that. I'd suggest contacting the boys at Storm. They're an approachable bunch, would probably give Cass a tour of their little premises down on North Commercial Drive and a sample of their beers as well as a suggestion or two as to where the best pubs are now located.
My one sure fire suggestion however is a restaurant called "Vij's" on West 11th at Granville. You won't find a better Indian restaurant in all of Vancouver and they have Storm IPA and a couple of other good micros on tap as well. The owner closes the place for two months each summer while he returns to India to gather new recipies...every dish served there is totally unique. Nothing like a good Indian meal accompanied by a decent pint!
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jon Walker on 2001-11-18 09:26 ]</font>
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Josh Oakes
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The two places I mentioned, The Whip and the Sugar Refinery, both carry at least four Storm brews at all times. It's all they serve. The Whip is a pubby cafe off Main just south of Broadway, not exactly a prime location but easy enough to get to. The Sugar Refinery is a gathering place for a lot of underground musicians playing experimental jazz-type stuff. I don't even know if they open daytimes. They're on Granville downtown.
Too bad about Culpepper's. The way the beer scene is going out there, I'm not missing much, am I? No wonder I made as many trips to Bellingham as I could. But even Archer's Ale House is under new ownership now so that's not a safe bet.
My thoughts on the Vancouver brewpubs: DIX has never impressed me with their beers but I'm a big fan of their food; Yaletown is yuppified and you can get the same beers, only hoppier at High Mountain in Whistler; Steamworks is not as adventurous as they used to be, but I like their oatmeal stout; Hagar's has the best beer by far but the lousiest atmosphere (unless suburban pub-cum-sport bars are your thing); The Creek is too pretentious and their beers are not particularly authentic. Farther out Legends in Coquitlam is an oasis of civilization out there, but the beers are nothing special; ditto Mission Springs, although they have an american-style IPA; Big Ridge in South Surrey - who in their right mind would go to South Surrey for anything? Big River in Richmond is also in the middle of nowhere and not doing anything dramatic. Howe Sound in Squamish is pretty cool, as you can enjoy a nice Mild while watching maniacs attempt the Stawamus Chief (if you're lucky).
I think that pretty much covers it. The more I think about it, I moved at the right time. There's more good beer here in Toronto than I like to admit sometimes.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Josh Oakes on 2001-11-18 11:20 ]</font>
Too bad about Culpepper's. The way the beer scene is going out there, I'm not missing much, am I? No wonder I made as many trips to Bellingham as I could. But even Archer's Ale House is under new ownership now so that's not a safe bet.
My thoughts on the Vancouver brewpubs: DIX has never impressed me with their beers but I'm a big fan of their food; Yaletown is yuppified and you can get the same beers, only hoppier at High Mountain in Whistler; Steamworks is not as adventurous as they used to be, but I like their oatmeal stout; Hagar's has the best beer by far but the lousiest atmosphere (unless suburban pub-cum-sport bars are your thing); The Creek is too pretentious and their beers are not particularly authentic. Farther out Legends in Coquitlam is an oasis of civilization out there, but the beers are nothing special; ditto Mission Springs, although they have an american-style IPA; Big Ridge in South Surrey - who in their right mind would go to South Surrey for anything? Big River in Richmond is also in the middle of nowhere and not doing anything dramatic. Howe Sound in Squamish is pretty cool, as you can enjoy a nice Mild while watching maniacs attempt the Stawamus Chief (if you're lucky).
I think that pretty much covers it. The more I think about it, I moved at the right time. There's more good beer here in Toronto than I like to admit sometimes.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Josh Oakes on 2001-11-18 11:20 ]</font>