The Big One IPA – Longwood Brewery


From Nanaimo’s Longwood Brewery comes their”The Big One IPA”.  The beer pours a copper colour with an off white head.  The aroma consists caramel malts, citrus fruit, floral hops and sweetness.  The flavour is of earth, sweet citrus, melon, caramel and hops bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 6.5% with an IBU of 65.  This is not the most complex IPA in the world but it does one thing quite well and that is taste good!

Commercial Description:  Start with a classic British style, brew it in the Pacific Northwest, feature Vancouver Island grown hops and now you have evolution done Island-style. Your taste buds will shudder with the aftershock of intense flavour when you experience this combination of 100% unprocessed whole hop flowers with a medium but balanced malt body.

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Derailed Pale Ale – Three Ranges Brewing


From the Village of Valemount’s Three Ranges Brewing comes their “Derailed Pale Ale”.  The beer pours a copper colour with an off white head.  The aroma is very malty with citrus and floral hops.  The flavour is of biscuit malts, earth, sweet citrus and some hops bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 5% with and IBU of 38.  I am a big fan of Pale Ale’s and this one is no different with all of the characteristics that you would want in a great beer.

Commercial Description:  Just as you’re picking up steam, a piece of paper can fly in the door and knock the track out from under you.  Silly, eh?  Not to be taken off course, we present the Derailed Pale Ale – the same great beer as Mile *50-1 with a new name.  A wonderfully hoppy pale ale with no more bitterness than before and the same beautiful aroma.  (*Do the math, because it’s the number we can’t legally use)

pale ale

Craft Lager – Parallel 49 Brewing (Dec 11, 2014)


Beer Advent Calendar 2014

From Parallel 49 Brewing out of East Vancouver comes the “Craft Lager” a beer that would probably not be reviewed without being in the Mystery Gift Holiday Countdown.  Parallel 49 Brewing always excites with its crazy style bending beers but this is not one of those.  This is a very basic lager which is not to say it is bad as it isn’t but it is just to boring to get excited about unless you are a lager fan.  The Craft Lager pours a straw yellow colour with a white head.  The aroma is of pilsner malts, mild citrus and more mild grassy notes.  The flavour is of pilsner malts, sweet citrus and a grassy hops finish.  There really isn’t much to this beer as it is really light.  The alcohol content comes in at 5% and an IBU of 18.  If you like standard lagers then you will love this beer as it is better than macro beer for sure but I wont be running out to get anymore for sure.

Commercial Description:  Clean, crisp and refreshing. A pale lager brewed with all malted barley and local Sterling hops grown at Satori Cedar Ranch in Chilliwack, BC. Fermented cool using a traditional German lager yeast.

Mystery Gift Holiday Countdown 2014

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Spruce Tree Ale – Tofino Brewing Company


From Vancouver Island’s Tofino Brewing out of Tofino comes their “Spruce Tree Ale”.  This beer is conditioned with sitka spruce tips.  The beer pours a golden colour with an off white head.  The aroma consists of malt, floral hops and some sweet citrus.  The flavour is of sweet citrus, caramel malts, hops bitterness and a light spruce finish.  The flavour is fairly light.  The alcohol content comes in at 6.5%.  The spruce was not as present as I had expected but the finished product is very pleasing and a pleasant sip.

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German-Style Pilsner – Chuckanut Brewery


O’hare’s Beer Club April 2014 Box

From Chuckanut Brewery in Bellingham Washington comes their “German-Style Pilsner”.  This Pilsner pours a golden colour with a white head.  The aroma consists of sweet citrus, pilsner malts and some floral hops.  The flavour is of sweet citrus, pilsner and biscuit malts, grassy hops with some mild bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 5% with an IBU of 38.This is a crisp, clean and refreshing beer and great for a hot summer night!

Commercial Description:  Chuckanut Brewery’s genuine German style Pilsner is truly mouthwatering, deeply satisfying, and incomparably refreshing! Chuckanut German Pilsner won Silver at the national Great American Beer Festival 2009 and Bronze at the GABF 2010, Bronze NABA 2009, NW Readers Choice Gold 2010-2011-1012, The Brewing Network Beer of the Year 2012, Silver WA Beer Awards 2013, Silver NABA 2013.

Food Pairing according to O’hare’s Beer Club notes are as follows: crab, clams, shrimp, oysters and salmon.

Click here to check out the April 2014 Box

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