Tag Archives: Deschutes Brewery

Whistler Village Beer Festival (Main Festival) – Whistler BC

by Mike

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On Saturday September 13th, 2014 the Second Annual Whistler Village Beer Festival was held.  The festival was held at the Whistler Olympic Park in the Whistler Village.  The event started for average attendees at 1pm (opened at 12 for gatecrashers) and ran until 5pm (last call at 4:45).  The event cost $35 or $45 for gatecrashers and included a branded 4oz mug, 5 beer tokens and a $5 off-site food voucher.  extra tokens cost $1.5 with a maximum of 10 tokens purchased at a time.

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Breweries involved included the following

British Columbia
Red Racer (Central City Brewers & Distillers), Whistler Brewing Co, Dead Frog Brewery, Lighthouse Brewing, Deep Cove Brewers & Distillers, Parallel 49 Brewing, Driftwood Brewery, Old Yale Brewing, Granville Island Brewing, Canuck Empire, Howe Sound Brewing, Four Winds Brewing, Hoyne Brewing, Postmark Brewing, Mission Springs Brewing, Cariboo, Okanagan Springs, Scandal Brewing, Phillips Brewing, Mt Begbie Brewing, Powell Street Craft Brewery, Fernie Brewing, Vancouver Island Brewery, Prohibition Brewing, Big Surf Beer Co, Red Truck Beer, Bomber Brewing, Russell Brewing, Bowen Island Brewing, Stanley Park, Brewhouse Whislter, Steamworks Brewing

Canada
Unibroue, Glutenberg, LTM, Alexander Keith’s Hop Series, Big Rock Brewery, Creemore Springs Brewery, Mad & Noisy Brewing, Steam Whistle

America
Ninkasi Brewing, Shock Top, Sierra Nevada, Pyramid Breweries, Hub, Lakefront Brewery, Oskar Blues Brewery, Samuel Adams, Double Mountain, Scuttlebutt Brewing, Worthy Brewing, Brooklyn Brewery, Magic Hat, Deschutes Brewery, Gigantic Brewing, Lagunitas Brewing, Lost Coast Brewery

World
Watsteiner, Konig Ludwig Weissbier, Ankerbrau, Grolsch, Peroni, Pilsner Urquell, Brouwerij Vansteenberge

Importers
TruCraft Beverages, Bravo Beer Corp, Copper & Theory, Untapped, Beverage Concepts Int’l Network Agency

The second annual Whistler Village Beer Festival seemed to be a big success with over 3500 attendees.  People from the biggest craft beer aficionados to people that like Macro beer but wanted to try something new were in attendance.  Having this festival in the middle of this mountain paradise made for one of the looking craft beer festivals that I have ever attended.  This festival may be smaller than the Victoria event but I would say that it is giving it a run for its money!

Like all craft beer festivals the people at the festival were very friendly and loved to chat!  I had all kinds of great conversations while walking around and taking photos.  I had even better encounters when I was at breweries tents.  Here are some of my more candid photos taken with my phone.

 

If I could only pick one Beer Festival per year I would have to say that it would be hard not to pick this event!  Between the amazing selection of breweries almost all being craft beer to the great food and the event better location nestled in the mountain resort town of Whistler.  I would not hesitate to recommend this festival to any craft beer fan or anyone that is interested in expanding their palate.  With all of the extra events that happen around this festival I would recommend coming up on the Thursday and staying until Sunday.  It may be a pricy weekend but you will not regret it!

Fool sized photos can be seen here.

Whistler Village Beer Festival

Not the Stoic – Deschutes Brewery

by Mike

Limited Reserve Series

From Bend Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery comes “Not the Stoic” a barrel aged Belgian quad.  The beer pours a ruby red colour with very little head.  The aroma consists of sweet cherries, dark fruits, malts, oak, molasses and pomegranate.  The flavour is of pomegranate, cherries, dark fruits, bourbon, oak, malts, molasses, sweetness and an alcohol finish.  The alcohol content comes in at 12.1% with an IBU of 15.  The bottle recommended holding onto this bottle for around a year before opening.  This beer may have been even better if I waited but I only had one bottle.  I am glad I opened this up when I did as it was amazing!

Commercial Description:  Aged and sequestered in select oak casks. The result – a contemplatively brewed quad created in homage to all those who doubted the original. This unrepentant rendition is definitively Not The Stoic.

Malt: Pilsner, Special B, Crystal Rye
Hops: Czech Saaz
Other: Pomegranate Molasses
Barrel-Aging: 11 months in 15% Pinot Noir and 15% Rye Whiskey Barrels
Food pairing as per brewery:  Seared Scallops With Marcona Almond Infused Oil, Braised Pork Belly With Coriander Scented Mustard, Pastry Puffs Filled With Vanilla Bean Ice Cream With Chocolate-Blackberry Ganache
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Black Butte XXIII – Deschutes Brewery (Aged 3+ Years)

by Mike

I was very lucky to find a bottle of Deschutes Brewery’s 23rd Birthday brew “Black Butte XXIII” an Imperial Porter released on June 27th, 2011.  The brewery is located in Bend Oregon.  I consumed this brew on November 4th, 2013.  The porter pours an almost opaque black with a tan head.  The aroma consists of rich roasted malts, orange, chocolate and an overall sweetness.  The flavour was big with roasted malts, smoke, bitterness, chocolate, oranges, caramel, a building chilli burn finished by a mild alcohol burn.  The alcohol content comes in at 10.8% with an IBU of 55.  This beer that was listed as better after June 15th, 2012 was amazing!  What a crazy mix of flavours that worked so well!

Commercial Description:  XXIII. So where to next? What’s 2011’s rich, imperial take on Black Butte Porter? Just for kicks, you dream. Orange zest perhaps? From Spanish Oranges. Seville, to be exact. And Chocolate nibs. Pampered nibs from the artisanal alchemists at Theo. Maybe some chilies? Pasilla Negra only, please. That would be crazy wouldn’t it? Welcome to crazy. Get it while you can.

Food Pairing as per brewery:  Rogue Creamery Blue cheese dip with lardons and toasted hazelnuts, Dry aged ribeye with roasted mushroom and veal jus, fingerling potatoes and sautéed green beans , Espresso rubbed beef brisket with Black Butte Porter BBQ sauce and fresh jicama slaw, Crème brûlée with almond praline and fresh raspberries.

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Fresh Squeezed IPA – Deschutes Brewery

by Mike

Limited Release

From Bend Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery comes the “Fresh Squeezed IPA”.  The beer pours a deep amber colour with an off white head.  The aroma is of citrus and tones of other fruits including grapefruit and floral hops.  The flavour consists of tones of fruit including citrus, orange and grapefruit as well as pine and hops bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 6% with an IBU of 60.  This beer is a amazing!  I tasted these beer in two different glasses one a special IPA glass (left) and a pint glass (right).  The IPA tasted far more fruity in the IPA glass with a more understated hops bitterness.  The beer tasted amazing in both glasses but really tasted that much better in the IPA glass.

Commercial Description:  This mouthwateringly delicious IPA gets its flavor from a heavy helping of citra and mosaic hops. Don’t worry, no fruit was harmed in the making of this beer.

Malt: Pale, Crystal, Munich
Hops: Nugget, Citra, Mosaic

Food Pariing as per the Brewery:  Crab and Roasted Red Pepper Strata, Mozzarella and Prosciutto Sandwiches with Tapenade, Capellini with Shrimp and Creamy Tomato Sauce.

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Chainbreaker White IPA – Deschutes Brewery

by Mike

O’hare’s Beer Club February 2013 Box

From Bend Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery comes the “Chainbreaker White IPA” a White ale and an IPA combined.  The White IPA pours a hazy very light yellow colour with a white head.  The aroma consists of wheat, orange, citrus and floral hops.  The flavour is of wheat, orange, orange peel, citrus, some yeast and a nice fairly mild/medium hops bitterness.  The alcohol content of this brew is 5.6% with and IBU of 55.  I could drink this beer all summer as a staple although it is good any time of the year!

Commercial Description:  Chainbreaker White IPA is what you get when you pair wheat, hops and Belgian yeast.  The distinctive Belgian yeast with real depth, coriander and sweet orange peel and the west coast hop at the end.  Citrus packed and silky smooth going down.

Food Pairing according to O’hare’s Beer Club notes are as follows:  Crispy Fish Tacos with Avocado and Tropical Fruit Salad.

Click here to check out the February Box

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