Tag Archives: bowen island brewing

Reef Break Hemp Blonde – Bowen Island Brewing

by Mike

From Bowen Island Brewing now brewed in Kamloops by Kamloops Brewing Company comes their “Reef Break Hemp Blonde”.  The beer pours an amber colour with an off white head.  The aroma consisist of caramel and floral hops aromas but not much else.  The flavour is of caramel, sugary, fruit, herbal hops but very little hops bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 5% with an IBU of 14.  I find this blonde a bit on the sweet side but that is just a personal preference.

Commercial Description:  Light, refreshing and full of flavor. This hemp infused blonde ale is medium-bodied with a creamy mouthfeel, light floral aromas and caramel notes with a subtle hemp finish.

 

West Coast Lager – Bowen Island Brewing

by Mike

From Bowen Island Brewing now brewed in Kamloops by Kamloops Brewing Company comes their “West Coast Lager”.  The beer pours a golden straw colour.  The aroma consists of caramel, biscuit and maybe a hint of some grassy hops.  The flavour is of biscuit, caramel, citrus and a sweet finish with little to no bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 5% with an IBU of 17.  If you enjoy a lager that comes in on the sweeter side then pick up some of this one as it will be in your wheelhouse.

Commercial Description: Slowly aged over an extended period of time to enhance it’s taste profile. Creamy at the beginning followed by a slightly malt sweetness on the back of your tongue. This easily drinkable lager has a clean and crisp finish.

Photo from Bowen Island Brewing.

Artisan IPA – Bowen Island Brewing

by Mike

From Bowen Island Brewing now brewed in Kamloops by Kamloops Brewing Company comes their”Artisan IPA”.  The beer pours a copper colour with a beige head.  The aroma consists of floral and herbal hops with a hint of caramel.  The flavour is of herbal hops, caramel, brown sugar sweetness, some mild citrus and mild bitterness.  The alchol content comes in at 5.5% with an IBU of 45.  This IPA could use some work as its quite low on the flavour compared to most IPA’s but its a good choice on a budget for sure.

Commercial Description:  This light golden IPA starts with a hoppy bitterness, followed by a medium level of maltiness and body, finishing with a refreshingly fruity grapefruit flavour.

Main Sail ISA – Bowen Island Brewing

by Mike

From Bowen Island Brewing now brewed in Kamloops by Kamloops Brewing Company comes their “Main Sail ISA”.  The beer pours a copper colour with an off white head.  The aroma consists of herbal and grassy hops with some malt backbone.  The flavour is of toffee, citrusy lemon, herbal as well as mild bitterness, pine and resin.  The alcohol content comes in at 4.3% with an IBU of 40.  This is a mild flavour ale as is expected in an India Session Ale but it is pretty tasty none the less.

Commercial Description:  This light bodied session ale is easy drinking and lower in alcohol. With refreshing citrus and floral notes, this well balanced session ale has a light malt body and a medium level of bitterness.

BC Beer Awards 2015 / Beer Festival – October 24th 2015

by Mike

Once again it is time for the BC Beer Awards.  A time to celebrate the best beer being made in the province of British Columbia.  The awards were held on October 24th, 2015 at the Croation Cultural Centre.

bcbeerawards2015logo

bc-craft-beer-week

I have been going to the BC Beer Awards since 2012 and this years awards were much like every year.  The event started at 4pm and ended at 9pm with a beer festival happening during the event.  This year the festival expanded to two rooms to accommodate all of the breweries that came out to celebrate the best BC has to offer.  This year 56 Breweries and Cideries came out to celebrate.  The breweries pouring were as follows:  Bad Tattoo Brewing, BC Tree Fruits, Big Ridge Brewing, Big Rock Urban Brewery, Bomber Brewing, Bowen Island Brewing, Brassneck Brewery, Bridge Brewing, Callister Brewing, Category 12 Brewing, Central City Brewers & Distillers, Coal Harbour Brewing, Dead Frog Brewery, Doan’s Craft Brewing, Dogwood Brewing, Driftwood Brewery, Fernie Brewing, Four Winds Brewing, Fuggles & Warlock Craftworks, Granville Island Brewing, Hearthstone Brewery, Howe Sound Brewing, Kwantlen Polytechnic Uni Brewery, Left Field Cider, Lighthouse Brewing, Lonetree Cider, Main Street Brewing, Merridale Cider, Moody Ales, Moon Under Water Brewery, Off The Rail Brewing, Old Yale Brewing, Pacific Western Brewing, Parallel 49 Brewing, Persephone Brewing, Phillips Brewing, Powell Street Craft Brewery, R&B Brewing, Ravens Brewing, Real Cask Brewing, Red Arrow Brewing, Red Truck Beer, Ridge Brewing, Russell Brewing, Spinnakers Brewpub, Stanley Park Brewing, Steamworks Brewing, Steel & Oak Brewing, Strange Fellows Brewing, Tofino Brewing, Townsite Brewing, Tree Brewing, Twin Sails Brewing, Whistler Brewing, Yaletown Brewing, Yellow Dog Brewing.

Once again Stephen Quinn of CBC Radio was the presenter for the awards.  Once again the beer entered in this years BC Beer Awards has jumped in a big way.  Last year there were 500 beers entered in 18 Categories .  This year 70 breweries entered almost 800 beer in 20 Categories.  To say this was a large increase is would be an understatement!  Lets get to the winning beers of the year!

North American Light Beer

1. Tofino Brewing Company: Tofino Blonde Ale
2. High Mountain Brewing: Lifty Lager
3. Granville Island Brewing: Island Lager

Light European Bier

1. Parallel 49 Brewing Company: Craft Lager
2. Central City Brewers and Distillers: Mayor Kolsch
3. Russell Brewing Company: Eastern Promises

UK Pale Ale

1. Big Ridge Brewing: Big Ridge Clover Ale
2. Forbidden Brewing Co.: Forbidden Pale Ale
3. Bomber Brewing: Bomber ESB

Amber/Dark Lagers

1. Steel & Oak Brewing Co.: Dark Lager
2. Persephone Brewing Company: Oktoberfest
3. Tree Brewing Co. Captivator: Doppelbock

UK Red/Brown Ale

1. Whistler Brewing Company: Black Tusk
2. LIghthouse Brewing Company: Race Rocks
3. Parallel 49 Brewing Company: Old Boy

North American Pale Ale

1. Howe Sound Brewing Co. Sky Pilot Northwest Pale Ale
2. Persephone Brewing Company Pale Ale
3. Russell Brewing Company Hop Therapy ISA

North American Amber/Brown Ale

1. Big Rock Urban Brewery: Hollow Tree
2. Russell Brewing Company: Cream Ale
3. Brassneck Brewery: Brassneck Ale

German/Belgian Wheat

1. Barkerville Brewing Co.: White Gold
2. Big Rock Urban Brewery: Dunkelwiezen
3. Granville Island Brewing: Hey Day Hefeweizen

Fruit

1. Stanley Park Brewing: SunSetter
2. Tree Brewing Co.: Mellow Moon Pineapple Hefeweizen
3. Strange Fellows Brewing: Framboise Noir

Spice/Herb/Veg

1. Tofino Brewing Company: Spruce Tree Ale
2. Stanley Park Brewing: Icebreaker
3. Tofino Brewing Company: Kelp Stout

Specialty

1. Brassneck Brewery: No Brainer Pre Prohibition Lager
2. Bridge Brewing Company: Wee Tipsy Peated Scotch Ale
3. Steamworks Brewing Co.: Steamworks Gose

Stout/Porter

1. Doan’s Craft Brewing Company: American Rye Stout
2. Barkerville Brewing Co.: 52 Foot Stout
3. Mission Springs Brewing Co.: Fat Guy Oatmeal Stout
Wood/Barrel Aged

1. Bridge Brewing Company: Imperial White IPA
2. Four Winds Brewing Co.: Pequeno Cabo Tequila Barrel Aged Berliner Weisse
3. Parallel 49 Brewing Company: Barrel Aged Vow Of SIlence

North American IPA

1. Central City Brewers and Distillers: Red Racer IPA
2. Red Truck Beer: Red Truck IPA
3. Hearthstone Brewing: Hearthstone IPA

Specialty IPA

1. Bridge Brewing Company: Black Rye IPA
2. Moon Under Water Brewery: Hip As Funk
3. Bomber Brewing: Blood From A Stone Red Rye IPA

Belgian/French Farmhouse

1. Persephone Brewing Company: Multigrain Saison
2. Dageraad Brewing: Randonneur Saison
3. Ravens Brewing Company: Farmers Ale

Strong Ale

1. Swans Brewpub: Legacy Ale
2. R&B Brewing Co.: Auld Nick Winter Ale
3. Swans Brewpub: Swans Scotch Ale

Belgian Abbey Ale

1. Dageraad Brewing: Blonde
2. Tree Brewing Co.: Trappist Artist Belgian Dubbel
3. Old Abbey Ales: Belgian Quad

Imperial IPA

1. Brassneck Brewery: One Trick Pony
2. Parallel 49 Brewing Company: 187 On An Undercover Hop
3. Parallel 49 Brewing Company: Hopnotist

Sours/Wild Ale

1. Four Winds Brewing Co.: Juxtapose Wild IPA
2. Strange Fellows Brewing: Roxanne
3. Dageraad Brewing: De Witte

BEST IN SHOW: Brassneck Brewery One Trick Pony

Richards Buell Sutton Rookie of the Year Award went to Doan’s Craft Brewing Company.

After the awards finished everyone got back to enjoying all of the great beer being poured especially the winners and the sours that were being poured as part of a competition on this night.  This was once again an amazing event with amazing beer being poured as well as great people be it craft beer fans or brewery staff.  Every year this event gets bigger and better!  With more than 100 breweries expected to be open by next year in the province I expect this event to only grow!  Here is to another year of sticking it to the flavourless garbage that macro breweries make.

Once again like last year I helped set the festival up between 10am and 3pm.  It makes the festival even more fun when you are able to get involved in any part of the event.

Full sized photos can be found here.