Tag Archives: wheat ale

Steve’s Beer Advent Calendar Day 6 – What The Huck Huckleberry Wheat Ale-Fernie Brewing

by steveeh

From Fernie, BC’s Fernie Brewing I received their What The Huck Huckleberry Wheat Ale.

The pour is a dark honey red-brown, crystal clear with no visible carbonation. The head is snowy white with coarse bubbles.

The nose is very light, some berries or fruit and mild spice.

Where this beer shines is on the tongue. The carbonation I could not see is present and pleasant, mild but nice. Several flavours come at once on the first sip, an astringent clove, huckleberry, calcium mineral it’s and a little bit of bubblegum.

Commercial description:

Native to the Rocky Mountain region, the Huckleberry is prized for its sweetness and deep colour. Blended with wheat to create a smooth and creamy beer with a touch of huckleberries.

White IPA – Red Collar Brewing

by Mike

From Red Collar Brewing in Kamloops in the Thompson Okanagan comes their “White IPA”.  The beer pours a cloudy orange colour with a white head.  The aroma consists of citrus rind, grapefruit, wheat, caramel and floral hops.  The flavour is of citrus, citrus rind, grapefruit, yeast, spice, wheat, caramel and hops bitterness.  The alcohol content comes in at 6.5% with an IBU of 52.  I am not always sold on White IPA’s but this one hits the spot.

Commercial Description:  A beer that bridges continents and blends styles. Built upon the foundation of unmalted wheat, this beer was dry hopped three separate times with Ahtanum and Mosaic hops. The result is a refreshingly light beer with an abundance of berry and grapefruit aromas.

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Fest-Of-Ale Beer Judging 2016 – Penticton

by Mike

For the third year in a row I was invited to be a judge for the Okanagan Fest-Of-Ale.  Like the last two years the judging took place on day 2 of the festival.  Last year we had 10 Categories to judge from but this year it was up to 14.  The categories were as follows Pilsner/Golden Lager, Pale Ale, Wheat Ale, Belgian Golden/Saison, Amber/Dark Ale, IPA, Dark IPA, Dark Lager, Belgian Strong, Stout/Porter, Blender, Sour, Ciders, Fruit Beer.  With the increase in number of beers being judged this year the organizers of the Fest-Of-Ale invested a few new judges and broke us into three groups.  Each group of judges tasted a third of the beers put in for judging.  Each group picked their top beers beer of each category.  From those they were asked to pick their top two.  These two from each group were brought together to make 6 top beers to choose Best In Show.  From this we sat and sampled each of the six and discussed what one should be the winner.  The following photos of the Judges come from Kim of DogLeg marketing.

Meet The Judges

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Joe Wiebe – Author, Chelsea – Brewtiful BC, Jeremy – Craft Beer Vancouver

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Jason Van Rassel – Daily Beer, Stephen – The Growler, Jim Martin

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Me, Brady Strachan – CBC Radio, Jan Zeschky – Beer writer with The Province

This was a blind tasting like every beer competition.  We used a very simplified score card to decide which beer we though best fit the style and tasted best.  Once again Warren Everton was the Director of Judging.  Each group of three judges tasted their samples individually then came together to discuss their personal favourites.  When we came to a consensus of our top beer in each category the group decided what their top two beers overall were.  For my group there was not a ton of deliberation as we all were fairly similar in or opinions.  When all three groups came together after a short break to taste the top 6 beers and decide what one would be chosen as the Best In Show it actually went pretty well this year.  This year there was much less animosity about what beer should be the winner.  The only real hard discussion we had was should the winning beer be very approachable or should it be our overall favourite. When it came down to it I think we ended up picking the beer that was both our favourite as well as a very approachable beer.  The juding this year started at 10am like normal but it seemed to go a bit quicker than previous years.

Once we had made all of our decisions about best beer of every category and best of show we were given the names of all of the winners we had chosen.

Best in Class, Judges’ Choice Awards:

Pilsner/Golden Lager – Bohemian Pilsner – Hearthstone Brewery, North Vancouver
Pale Ale – Persephone Pale Ale – Persephone Brewing Company, Gibsons
Wheat Ale – Smoked Hefeweizen – Steel & Oak Brewing Company, New Westminster Belgian Golden/Saison – Old Barn Saison – Fernie Brewing Company, Fernie
Amber/Dark Ale – A Wee Angry Scotch Ale – Russell Brewing, Surrey
IPA – Slingshot Session IPA – Fernie Brewing, Fernie
Dark IPA – Disruption Black IPA – Category 12 Brewing, Victoria
Dark Lager – Black Lager – Tree Brewing, Kelowna
Belgian Strong – Delirium Tremens – McClelland Imports
Stout/Porter – Dry Irish Stout – Ravens Brewing, Abbotsford
Blender – Smoke & Mirrors Imperial Smoked Ale – Coal Harbour Brewing, Vancouver
Sour – Sour Raspberry – Old Abbey Ales, Abbotsford
Ciders – Calville’s Winter – Twisted Hills Craft Cider, Cawston
Fruit Beer – Tropic Vice Tropical Fruit Ale – Dead Frog Brewing, Aldergrove

Best in Show, Judges’ Choice Award: 

Persephone Pale Ale – Persephone Brewing Company, Gibsons

After all the judging was done we had a few group shots taken by Kim of DogLeg Marketing.

After all the judging was finished we were left to our own devices with what was left of the Saturday portion of the Fest-Of-Ale.  The only thing we had to do was be at the main stage for 3pm so that we could be on the stage for the announcement of the winners.  The following photos are taken again by Kim of DogLeg Marketing.

Fest-Of-Ale Beer Judging 2015.

Fest-Of-Ale Beer Judging 2014.

Full sized photos

The Last Strawberry Wit – Fuggles & Warlock Craftworks

by Mike

From the temporary gypsy brewers Fuggles & Warlock Craftworks comes “The Last Strawberry Wit”.  The beer pours a cloudy orange colour with a white head.  The aroma is of strawberries, lactose, sweetness, wheat and some yeast.  The flavour is of strawberries, wheat, yeast, lactose and some mild citrus but is not overly sweet.  The alcohol content comes in at 4.9%.  Fuggles & Warlock know what they are doing when they create a weird beer and this is no different.  It tastes great and smells just as good.

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Rhubarb Wit – Big Rock Urban Brewery

by Mike

From Big Rock Urban Brewery in Vancouver comes their seasonal the “Rhubarb Wit”.  The beer pours a cloudy golden orange colour with a white head.  The aroma consists of wheat, orange, citrus rind, yeast and maybe a hint of rhubarb.  The flavour is of orange, citrus, citrus rind, rhubarb, yeast, wheat, sweetness and a hint of tartness in the finish.  The alcohol content comes in at 5% with an IBU of 12.  If you enjoy a good Wit this beer will be for you.  I wish the Rhubarb shone through more only because I am a huge fan of rhubarb but this is a really tasty wit and a great sip on a hot day!

Commercial Description:  This classic witbier is aged with rhubarb, lending a hint of sour tartness to subtle layers of orange peel and spice, all thrown into relief by the balanced bitter of a low hopping rate. A light bouquet or coriander and citrus crowns the faint undercurrent of rhubarb, unfiltered and echoed through to a delicate finish.

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