On January 25th 2014 Central City Brewing held their annual Winter Cask Festival.

The pamphlet claims 30 casks from breweries in BC and the Northwest but this for the first time I can remember was not true.  This year every single cask was from BC and only BC.  Like always tickets ran you $30 and included 3 samples and a branded 4oz glass.  Extra samples were around a dollar a piece.  For the most part all 33 casks were very big on alcohol content as is expected with a winter cask festival.  It was great to be able to catch up with all of the different brewers that I have been able to get to know over the last year.  I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon with Sara and Chloe two amazing craft beer fans.  This year I did the impossible and tried every single cask.

The Brew List

1 Central City Brewers + Distillers & Camra – Mystery Cask
2 Mission Springs – McLennan’s Scotch Ale
3 Spinnakers – Hopscotch
4 Coal Harbour – IPA
5 Dead Frog – Fearless IPA
6 Old Yale – Sergeant’s Citrus
7 Phillips – Puzzler Imperial Belgian Black IPA
8 Big Ridge – West Coast Pale Ale
9 Deep Cove – Go Fuggle Yourself
10 Red Truck – Ale Dry Hopped
11 Big River – Bourbon Oaked ESB
12 Bridge Brewing – Nettle & Honey Red Ale
13 Persephone – Dry Hopped Red Ale
14 Central City Brewers + Distillers – Chocolate & Orange Porter
15 33 Acres – Melaco
16 4 Winds – Coffee & Cream Oat Porter
17 Russell – Estate Coffee Porter
18 Whistler Brewhouse – Oaked Brown Porter
19 Central City Brewers + Distillers – Vanilla Bean & Espresso Stout
20 Brassneck – Bourbon Barrel Aged Inertia
21 Hoyne – High Voltage Espresso Stout
22 Parallel 49 – Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout
23 Steamworks – Rye Stout with Laphroaig
24 Cannery – Vanilla Nut Express
25 Driftwood – Old Cellar Dweller
26 Granville Island – Burly Goat Weizenbock
27 Green Leaf – Black & Tan Fantasy28 Howe Sound – Winter Ale
29 Lighthouse – The Bad Seed Farmhouse Quince Ale
30 Moon Under Water – Belgian Triple Wedding Ale
31 R&B – Ginger Beer
32 Storm – Orange Creamsicle
33 Yaletown – Jolly Hooligan

Central City Brewers + Distillers & Camra – Mystery Cask

Cumin? Spice not a favourite

Mission Springs – McLennan’s Scotch Ale

Spinnakers – Hopscotch

Dark Amber Colour
Caramel, Scotch Ale, hops bitter, pine

Coal Harbour – IPA

Malty, citrus, sweet, bitter

Dead Frog – Fearless IPA

Amber colour, off white head
citrus, pine, malts, sweet

Old Yale – Sergeant’s Citrus

Orange colour, off white head
pine, citrus, malts, full bodied

Phillips – Puzzler Imperial Belgian Black IPA

roasty malts, bitter smoke, mild hops bitterness

Big Ridge – West Coast Pale Ale

pale malts, citrus, orange, floral hops

Deep Cove – Go Fuggle Yourself

Cloudy amber colour, white head
citrus, floral hops, malty, citrus, tea, saison,

Red Truck – Ale Dry Hopped

copper orange colour, white head
malty, hops, citrus, orange

Big River – Bourbon Oaked ESB

earthy, citrus, rind, sweet, floral hops

Bridge Brewing – Nettle & Honey Red Ale

Deep Copper
malty, honey, nettle, amazingly sessionable

Persephone – Dry Hopped Red Ale

citrus, pine, malts, caramel, sweet

Central City Brewers + Distillers – Chocolate & Orange Porter

big roast, chocolate, orange, mild coffee

33 Acres – Melaco

roasty, sweet, vanilla, molasses, smokey

4 Winds – Coffee & Cream Oat Porter

Black brown colour
coffee, roasty, creamy, oats, semi sweet

Russell – Estate Coffee Porter

huge coffee, mild roasted malts

Whistler Brewhouse – Oaked Brown Porter

big roasted malts, creamy, mild, hops, sweet

Central City Brewers + Distillers – Vanilla Bean & Espresso Stout
my last beer and I missed a photo and only took the note tasty (oops)

Brassneck – Bourbon Barrel Aged Inertia

black opaque, brown head
bourbon, vanilla, roasty, bitter, coffee, cream

Hoyne – High Voltage Espresso Stout
 
Black opaque colour brown head
roasted coffee, peaty, vanilla

Parallel 49 – Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout
 
Bourbon, vanilla, roasted malts, bitterness, boozy

Steamworks – Rye Stout with Laphroaig

smokey

Cannery – Vanilla Nut Express

nut brown, vanilla, sweet

Driftwood – Old Cellar Dweller

Think double IPA, malty, citrus, sweet, boozy

Granville Island – Burly Goat Weizenbock
sweet, brown sugar, dark fruits, malts

Green Leaf – Black & Tan Fantasy

Black, brown head
roasty malt, coffee, chi, tasty

Howe Sound – Winter Ale

sweet malts

Lighthouse – The Bad Seed Farmhouse Quince Ale
 
cloudy yellow, white head
yeasty, wheat, citrus, very mild funk, lemon peel, wants to be sour

Moon Under Water – Belgian Triple Wedding Ale

sweet citrus, orange, candied sugar

R&B – Ginger Beer

sweet ginger, more bite than ginger ale

Storm – Orange Creamsicle

vanilla, orange, sweetness, malts

Yaletown – Jolly Hooligan

sweet candied sugar, dark malts, rum, oak

This was another great event put on by Central City.  Thanks again for holding this event again as it is one of the most celebrated event each year.

Full Sized photos can be found here

My Favourite beer of the night was a tie between two beers.

Bridge Brewing – Nettle & Honey Red Ale

and

Lighthouse – The Bad Seed Farmhouse Quince Ale
 

I look forward to the Summer Cask Festival!  If you have never been to one of these cask festivals before you really need to check this one or one like it out!  They are a ton of fun and a great way to meet like minded craft beer nuts.