Strange Times for Modern Fellows – Strange Fellows Brewing (Modern Times Beer)

Nov20 by Mike

For the Launch of Modern Times Beer into British Columbia Canada they came up to Vancouver for Farmhouse Fest. While here they partnered up with Strange Fellows Brewing in East Vancouver for a collaboration called “Strange Times for Modern Fellows” a saison using a blend of yeasts including Blaugies Saison & multiculture including Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus. The beer pours a straw yellow colour with a white head. The aroma consists of mango, pineapple and citrus with grainy malts and grassy hops. The flavour is of mango, pineapple, citrus, citrus rind, stone fruits, grain, mild sour notes, some hops and a brett finish. The alcohol content comes in at 6.5% with an IBU of 25. This is a wonderful beer made by two very good breweries! I hope this beer pops up again in the future.

Commercial Description: Brewed in June 2016 in collaboration with the folks from Modern Times Beer in San Diego, this is a complex, dry and refreshing beer. Fermented with a Iquique multiculture, flavours of pineapple, Lemon and Lychee dominate this bottle-conditioned beer.

For the Launch of this beer Strange Fellows Brewing held a launch party in collaboration with Beerthirst the distributor for Modern Times Beer in Canada. For the launch the brewery was serving glasses of the collaboration beer with a 4 oz pour of one of two Modern Times beers. I was lucky enough to get a sample of the Looking Backwards from Modern Times usually a tasting room only beer in California. It was a super tart beer and very tasty! There was also a Modern Times Beer on tap also in their Fruitlands (Blood Orange & Hibiscus) a sour Gose.

Lagunitas Re-Launches in Canada – Butcher & Bullock Vancouver

Sep23 by Mike

Lagunitas Brewing had in the past been available in Canada but had left the territory. They are now back though and held a launch event at the Butcher & Bullock in Vancouver. The brewery brought representatives form their California operation including their VP of sales as well as some from their Chicago brewery.

The event brought their flagship IPA to the taps as well as an Imperial Coffee Stout that had been aged for some time. If you know their beer you should know that both of these beers were great and their addition to our stores shelves should be celebrated. I look forward to seeing a little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ in our liquor stores.

Expect to see Lagunitas beers on the shelves in Canada soon! After talking with the Lagunitas staff on hand as well as the representatives from the distributions company I expect good things from this partnership.

Brewski Tour Launch Party 2016 – Granville Island Brewing

Feb27 by Mike

Granville Island Brewing has set out on their inaugural Brew Ski Tour touring BC for great powder and great craft beer.

Their mission is as follows “The BrewSki tour is on a mission. We’re looking for the best powder and pints BC has to offer. From February 23rd to March 3rd the Granville Island Brewing team will be touring some of BC’s best mountains and breweries. And we’d like you to join us. Along the way we’ll be hosting a series of BrewSki après parties; there’ll be live music, games and the chance to hang out and drink some brews with the Granville Island Brewing team.”

The tour is heading out on the road to check out power around BC and will be partnering with local breweries on the way including Bomber Brewing, Mt Begbie Brewing, Bridge Brewing, Red Collar Brewing and Howe Sound. If you would like to join them on their adventure check out their website to see where they are currently.

On February 23, 2016 they held a launch party at Granville Island Brewing to kick off the festivities. Tickets could be reserved online for the party that included two free beer, food, live music and a version of cards against humanity called cards against BrewSki. The brewery dressed their tasting room up a bit like a ski lodge for the event.

Thanks for putting on a great party Granville Island Brewing and I hope you have a great rest of your BrewSki Tour!

For more information on the BrewSki Tour check out this link.

http://brewskitour.ca/

Full sized photos found here.

Break The Ice Party 2015 – Stanley Park Brewery

Nov11 by Mike

On November 5th, 2015 Stanley Park Brewery held a launch party for their Ice Breaker Winter Ale at Robson Square in Downtown Vancouver.

Stanley Park Brewery really knows how to throw a party and this was no different. With an ice rink usually found under street level at Robson Square it only made sense to hold a winter beer launch party here. For the lucky people that either won their way into this party or were invited everyone had fun. There was lots of the Ice Breaker on tap or in bottle and lots of food to pair it with.

Full sized photos.

If you have never tried this winter ale then you should really check it out as it is not a Vanilla bomb but almost like a Black Forest Cake. It is one of my favourite of the style!

SunSetter Summer Ale – Stanley Park Brewery

Jun30 by Mike

From Stanley Park Brewery (Turning Point Brewery) in Delta BC comes their “SunSetter Summer Ale” an unfiltered Peach Wheat Ale. I have had this beer both from a glass and from the bottle and I think I am about to break my own rules. The beer pours a golden colour with a white head. The aroma consists of peach wheat and yeast. Where things get a little funky is the flavour for me (in an interesting way). When you drink the beer from a glass you get wheat, yeast, grain and some very mild peach. Now in comparison when you drink it out of the bottle the peach flavour hits you up right up front with notes of wheat yeast and grain coming in at the end. I am a huge advocate for drinking from a glass but this beer seems to have more peach in the flavour when consumed from the bottle. Also drink it fairly cold (but not ice cold) as it seems to shine through better. The alcohol content comes in at 4.8% with an IBU of 16. This is a tasty beer to be drinking on the patio in the summer!

Commercial Description: Make a ‘magic hour’ moment with our new Summer Ale. Ripe peach flavour and bold Citra hops come together for a refreshing & sessionable wheat ale that’s as much a treat for the senses as a sunset walk on Second Beach. Enjoy the moment!

Food Pairing as per brewery: Peach Caprese salad, SunSetter steamed clams, grilled peach & pork tenderloin
Food Pairing as per me: Fuzzy Peaches candies!

On June 25th, 2015 Stanley Park Brewing held a launch party in English Bay on the Rooftop Lookout beside the Cactus Club. The party was a closed event for media, bloggers and restaurant staff to learn about the beer. The event had some great food to sample while drinking the Sunsetter Summer Ale. They also had a bunch of their other beer for sample on tap as well as some beer cocktails to try out.