For the second year in a row Central City Brewers & Distillers have collaborated with the Vancouver radio station 99.3 CFOX to bring us the ultimate breakfast beer the “Maple Bacon Ale”. The launch party was on April 28th, 2015 and was held at The Pint in Downtown Vancouver.
The Pint is lucky that it has a large downstairs portion of the venue so they can hold large private parties like this one. The launch party was reserved for people that won the chance to attend on 99.3 CFOX’s Jeff O’Neil Show and for local beer media.
Everyone that attended the event was given two drink tickets that were to go towards sampling the Maple Bacon Ale. Just to sweeten the deal Central City Brewers & Distillers had arranged a breakfast buffet with the Pint that included both bacon and pancakes to put maple syrup. Why not drink a beer called a Maple Bacon Ale with both maple syrup and bacon?
The beer seemed to be quite the hit as they ended up running out of the beer and had to start serving the Red Racer IPA instead (For those that didn’t realize that is a Central City Brewers & Distillers brand).
But the real question is what did the beer taste like?
The Maple Bacon Ale is an Amber Ale and poured an amber colour with a tan head. The aroma consisted of caramel malts and a mild maple finish. The flavour was of caramel, mild maple with some very mild smoke and a hint of citrus. Last years batch was to smoky and maple filled for many CFOX fans so this edition was toned down quite a bit. I found that it still was an enjoyable beer although it really has nothing that resembles bacon and has almost no maple flavour. Just a side note this beer is vegan friendly as their is no actual meat in it! The alcohol content comes in at 5%. I seriously preferred last years edition but this is still well worth the purchase.
The latest beer to come out of Deep Cove Brewers and Distillers in North Vancouver is called the “Shredder Golden Ale”. This golden ale has been created to raise money for the Tim Jones Legacy Fund a fund that helps North Shore Search and Rescue operate. If you or someone you know loves to spend time in the North Vancouver backcountry this may just be a great cause to support.
The beer pours a copper colour with a slightly off white head. The aroma is not to strong but consists of biscuit malts, mild fruit and floral hops. The flavour is of biscuit malts, lemon, honeysuckle, hops bitterness with some resin and pine in small amounts to finish it off. The alcohol content comes in at 5%. This is a great golden ale and a great beer to partner up with the cause.
Commercial Description: Tim Jones’ love of exploring the backcountry and shredding the North Shore Mountains led him to dedicate his life to saving many others, and ultimately to spark a lasting legacy. He was given the nickname Shredder due not only to his love of backcountry skiing but for the infamous “shredding” motivational tactics that he used on his North Shore Rescue team to inspire the highest level of performance and success. Tim was a huge supporter of the local community and dreamt of a day when the NSR could have sustainable funding, allowing the team to focus more on training. With that coal in mind the proceeds from each bottle of Deep Cove’s Shredder Golden Ale will go to the Tim Jones Legacy Fund.
The SHREDDER Golden Ale was designed to be a beer Tim would have enjoyed with his family, friends and husky after a call well done. A nice, rounded malt body featuring biscuit and honeysuckle notes leads into a pleasing herbal hoppiness. Refreshing and sessionable, this honey coloured ale is best enjoyed while appreciating all that the North Shore has to offer. 5% ABV.
To Commemorate the launch of this beer Deep Cove Brewers and Distillers held a fund raiser party on Saturday November 15th 2014. 350 tickets were sold at $45 a piece. The event was held at the brewery and went from 5pm to 9pm. There were silent auction items up for grabs, Shredder Golden Ale for sample and even a food truck for eats. I had commitments the night of the event but I purchased two tickets and attended for the first hour. I spend countless hours hiking and snowshoeing not only in the North Shore Mountains but all over Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. It was an honer to be able to meet some of these Search and Rescue volunteers and honor Tim Jones. I hope to never have to meet any of these hero’s while enjoying the beautiful province we live in but I am glad that there are people out there willing to be that hero! It is so important to make sure that Groups like North Shore Search and Rescue are well funded so that they can save lives. So get out there and purchase some of this beer and help make a difference because who knows they may just be saving your life or a loved ones in the future.
If you would like to further help this cause you can donate money by clicking the following link. Tim Jones Legacy Fund.
In Memory of Tim Jones (may 30th, 1956 – January 19th, 2014)
Exactly 1 year ago on Novermber 5th Craft Beer Market opened its doors in Vancouver. Craft Beer Market opened with a ton of fan fare as it was boasting around 140 taps of beer. To say the first year was a success would be the understatement of the year. It is always hard to get a reservation here and it always seems to be very busy!
They released some stats about how much beer was consumed and I find it pretty amazing.
Like always Craft Beer Market treated its party guests to a fee glass of beer in this case from casks from Bridge Brewing Company and Parallel 49 Brewing. They also supplied lots of small appies and an order of their fish tacos. With the food and beer culture in Vancouver there was a great mix of people in attendance.
Congratulations of One very successful year in operation! Here is to many more years of great beer and food!
On May 15th, 2014 it was the 30th Anniversary Party for Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub. Spinnakers is the oldest still operational Brewpub in Canada so I had to take a few days off work so that I could attend.
The party was set up in the parking lot with an outdoor stage, tents with beer taps and a couple tents selling memorabilia. This is also the first event that I have attended since the BC laws changed for events with alcohol. There are no longer separated beer gardens so people with children could come and enjoy this event and still have beer. There was also a pig roast setup and the pork tasted amazing! I arrived right at 3pm when the event started to really take in the party. Here are some photos of the main event portion.
Spinnakers also wanted to involve all of the other Victoria Breweries in their party. To do this they held a beer Olympics with lots of silly games! Each brewery put together a small team of participants and had a ton of fun!
The following are videos from the event. Some are from the Beer Olympics and some are from the party itself.
Congratulations Spinnakers on your 30 great years in Victoria! Here is to the next 30 years of history for the brewpub. I really enjoyed coming over for the party and I look forward to the next big party you guys throw!
On Day two (April 5th, 2014) of the Fest-Of-Ale in Penticton the party started at Noon. Seeing as I was one of the Judges for the Fest-Of-Ale Awards I was not able to join the party until 3pm. From the Judging room it sounded like there was a tone of fun being had though.
As with Day One the brewery’s involved included the following:
Breweries and Cider Makers Alpine Brewing Company – Oroville Washington
Bad Tatoo Brewing – Penticton (Not Pouring)
Barley Mill Brew Pub – Penticton
Big Rock Brewery – Calgary, Vancouver
Bomber Brewing – Vancouver
Bravo Beer Co – International Imports
Cannery Brewing – Penticton
Central City Brewing – Surrey
Crannog Ales – Sorrento
Creemore Springs – Creemore Ontario
Dead Frog Brewery – Aldergrove
Deep Cove Brewers and Distillers – North Vancouver
Driftwood Brewery – Victoria
Fernie Brewing Co – Fernie
Firehall Brewery – Oliver
Four Winds Brewing Company – Delta
Hoyne Brewing – Victoria
Granville Island Brewing – Vancouver
Hoyne Brewing Co – Victoria
Lighthouse Brewing Company – Victoria
McClelland Premium Imports – International Imports
Mill St. Brewery – Toronto Ontario
Mt Begbie Brewing – Revelstoke
Nelson Brewing Company – Nelson
Orchard Hill Cidery – Penticton
Parallel 49 Brewing Company – Vancouver
Phillips Brewing Co – Victoria
Red Truck Beer Company – Vancouver
Stanley Park Brewery – Vancouver
Steamworks Brewing Co – Burnaby, Vancouver
Summerland Heritage Cider Company – Summerland
Tin Whistle Brewery – Penticton
Tree Brewing Co – Kelowna
Vancouver Island Brewery – Victoria
Wards Cider – Kelowna
Whistler Brewing Company – Whisler
There was also more great music on day two including Flashback, Joe’s Garage, Papa Wheeley, The Dungbeatles and Thursday Night Jazz Band.
Day one of the Festival was a bit more business for me as I knew that I had friends that would be at day 2. While spending time with a few groups of friends I noticed that day two was quite a bit busier that the first day. People seemed to be imbibing in a little more alcohol but everyone was having a great time! I enjoyed a wide selection of beer although I did not need anymore really after all the judging.
It was then time to announce the winners to the entire room. Not only did they announce the beers that won the Judging portion of the competition but they also announced the people’s choice awards. The winners of the Fest-Of-Ale are as follows!
The festival went on until 6pm and was a blast! Once again I did take it easy at the actual event as I had one more event to hit up after this Festival. I have to say that this is a very well run Beer Festival. it is more about learning more about craft beer and different flavours than it is about over indulging. It is great to see that this event has matured in the last 3 or 4 years from what I hear was a bit of a drunk fest. It is amazing what removing a few vendors can do to change the whole feeling of a festival. Congratulations to the organizers of the Fest-Of-Ale for pulling off a wonderful 19th Annual Event.
Mike's Craft Beer 