Summering on the Continent

tomorrow I leave for a 3 week holiday to London, Dublin, and Portugal. w00t!

while in London, I look forward to partaking in some of the England's finest ales, however this may present a challenge. the friend that I am staying with refuses to drink English beer; he sticks solely to Belgian, Czech, German, and Polish imports. on my last visit, there was no way that we could stop at any of the hundreds of amazing pubs lining the streets of London, we had to go where the Belgian triples were poured. I do love his beer tenacity, but sometimes a brother just needs a drink. luckily, London's selection of pubs that serve Belgian beer is still pretty impressive.

then, I'm off to another mecca of beer, Dublin. last time I was there I did a tour of the Guinness factory, which was equal parts awesome and weird. the end of the tour was were I had wished the tour started, at the pub on the roof of the Guinness storehouse overlooking Dublin with a complementary pint in my hand. the tour is a huge tourist attraction and it was presented much like an exhibit at a kid's museum. there were a bunch interactive buttons to press and wheels to turn, and there were lots of little tykes saying stuff like, "MOMMY! look at me - I'm a drunk!" while holding giant plush novelty Guinness pints. I'll be sure to get a few pulls of the black stuff while in Ireland.

I'm not sure what to expect beer-wise in Portugal. I'm going to keep it simple and focus on some crisp lagers for the beach and attempt to find the best Port imaginable. I'll try to post something while away, but no guarantees. Big Love will be holding down the fort a few weeks.

Pranqster

North Coast Brewing Co.

To be perfectly honest, I picked up this Belgian-style ale based entirely on the revelatory goodness of the brewery’s amazing Ruedrich’s Red Seal Ale.

This beer is to orange what RRSA is to red—it is a gorgeous amber-orange colour, foggy for having not been filtered. I leave about a ¼ inch of sediment on the bottom of the bottle when I pour. It was a rough pour, but even this couldn’t manage to create a proper head. Nevertheless, what little head there is leaves thin laces on the sides of my glass as I drink.

Maybe I have orange on the brain or something, but Pranqster even smells vaguely of oranges, together with a spicy, Belgian-style yeast aroma.

The taste is subtle. Where other Belgian-style beers can be very strong (I’m thinking Unibroue here), Pranqster is relatively soft and light. Sweet malt turns gently to citrus and spices which fade slowly as the alcohol taste rises.

Because of its gentleness, I think Pranqster would be a good transition into Belgian-style ales for someone looking to explore that wonderful world for the first time. I served it a little too cold, and, as it warmed up a little, it got even more enjoyable.

While I generally prefer the stronger Belgian-style ales, Pranqster is really very good at what it does. Really, what more can we ask of a beer?

A-

Moylan's India Pale Ale

Moylan's Brewery

after my fill of wine during this weekend's camping excursion, it's time to go back to the golden goddess. this Moylan's IPA was one of two bottles that were initially picked up when Big Love and I decided to get extra nerdy with our drinking and write reviews.

Moylan's is a brewpub just north of San Francisco in the town of Novato. like a lot of west coast micro-breweries, Moylan's selection of beer looks like they are trying to recruit a hop army to take over the beer world. along with this 6.5% IPA, they have a double IPA which boasts an 8.5% abv and a triple Imperial IPA, Hopsickle, which comes in at a liver stopping 9.2%.

poured into a glass, this IPA comes through with a nice thick haze that is the colour of apple cider. the head is extra generous and was maintain throughout the glass. the aroma is mainly light floral, but I smelled some citrus in the mix. now, let's get to why people love their IPA's - taste. to start, it's hops, hops, hops, but the floral aroma comes through even stronger in the middle. a few more sips and your tongue will be ready for the hop assault. the more you drink, the more this hoppiness mellows. the finish has a savoured bitterness that lasts a full minute - it may linger a bit long, but doesn't overstay it's welcome. the complexity of the hops is achieved in the latter part of brewing, when this IPA is finished by being twice dry-hopped (get your mind out of the gutter). the second glass of the IPA was to go with my dinner - a smokie and french onion soup (no, i was not planning on going out afterward) and was perfect with my hearty meal. this is when i started tasting the hops as a complement to the citrus and floral notes instead of being a solitary entity. me likey.

B+ by itself
A with food

Contest Time! Any Suggestions?

Big Love and I are trying to figure out a new, exciting name for The Beer Fancier. when we decided on the name, we forgot to do a simple Google search on it. well, there happens to be another Beer Fancier blog on blogger.com. and he happens to do similar beer reviews. and he happens to be in Vancouver too.

so, now I ask you, readership of 3, to please make some suggestions. most of the brilliant names that we've come up with have already been taken.

if we choose your suggested name, you will win one full bottle of St. Ambroise Apricot Wheat Beer.
just in time for summer!

From Malt & Hops to Bouquet & Tannins

the differences between last weekend's camping excursion and this weekend's were apparent right from the get go. clay pigeons and shotgun shells were replaced with lake views and hot showers; chain-sawing firewood replaced with touring wineries. this weekend, beer was put on the back burner to make room for some of the Okanagan's finest Jesus juice. again, for the third time in as many posts, my attempt to review that bottle of Moylan's IPA, ends epically with a big, fat fail. how can I talk about beer when I just spent a few days in one of the best wine regions in North America? also, we had to take advantage of the fact that there was an automatic designated driver/pregnant woman in our group to haul us lushes around.

in two days of wine touring, we hit almost a dozen wineries and sampled around 60 wines. the first day, Deanne, Bruce, Selma and I, went to the slopes lining the east side of the Okanagan Lake to visit the wineries of the Naramata Bench. first up was Kettle Valley. I've been a fan of this winery since enjoying a bottle of their Pinot Noir at the Truffle Pigs Bistro a few years back. the stand out selection for me, was one their blended reds, the Old Main Red, which was very earthy and full bodied. however, when it came to ponying up for a bottle, I decided on a bottle of their yet to be released reserve EXTRA 4079 which was recommended by Luke, the local wine nerd at the Penticton wine info centre. this was the first, and only, blind purchase of the trip.

just down the road from Kettle Valley is Therapy Vineyards, which was the obvious next stop on the booze cruise. being a sucker for labels and packaging, I was excited to taste their blends (which are all named with Freudian puns, like Freudian Sip) and their single varietals (which are all labeled with Warshak tests). in this case, the book was not as good as it's cover; save the beautiful big flavours of their 2007 Super Ego. mainly a Cab-Sauv blend, it had nice, bold jam and cherry tastes. this will be my cellar pick of the trip, as a couple of years will hopefully make this good wine, great.

I'll skip our next stop at Lang Vineyards, as it wasn't my favourite. I believe the only bottle purchased by the group was a desert wine. we were stretching to find positive comments for the pourer's selections, so we decided that we would comment on bad wine with a, "oh wow - that was unexpected!". on to Lake Breeze Vineyards.

Lake Breeze was the biggest and busiest of the Naramata wineries that we visited, probably due to their huge patio that overlooked the vines covering the slope down to the lake. big standouts here were their Meritage and their Pinot Gris. i bought the Gris, as the ratio of red to white in my limited collection is getting one-sided. the Gris had a nice floral bouquet and had the aroma of pear and apple. I salivated over their menu, before reminding myself that there was a cheese stop ahead. at this point I was pretty thankful of Deanne's distinction of designated driving (... I haven't used alliteration like that since grade 9...), as just the uphill walk from the Lake Breeze tasting room to the car (maybe 30 steps), had me walking like I was trying to dodge Donkey Kong barrels.

on my last trip to the most evil store in the lower mainland, Everything Wine, Arianna recommended something from the next winery. although I didn't purchase any on that trip, after sampling Laughing Stock's repertoire this weekend, I was kicking myself for not listening to her. again, the beautiful views from the tasting room complemented their delicious selections. although producing grapes for only 5 years, Laughing Stock has already been producing their Bordeaux style Portfolio for 2 years, taking home a few medals along the way. I did love their Portfolio, but I've seen that bottle in local wine stores. so, instead, I picked up a bottle of their Blind Trust Red. blended mainly with big-tasting grapes, the specific varietals and percentages are to be left unknown to us punters - we are required to have some blind trust in the winemaker's ability to satisfy our collective palette.

heading further towards Penticton, our next stop was Poplar Grove. known equally for their cheese making as their wine making, it seemed like an ideal place to stop for a snack. the tasting room included cheese tasting as well as wine. most of the wines available for tasting were from their more economical, yet equally tasty, Monster series. one of the whites that I really enjoyed was their Monster Gewurztraminer. it was slightly sweeter than most Gertz that I had sampled. the Gertz grape seems to be the most prevalent in the Naramata/Summerland area with most wineries releasing their version of it. the big stand out here was The Legacy by Poplar Groove. again, a Bordeaux-style blend with a very complex taste of berry and something earthy in the mix. of the sampled cheeses, all of which were double or triple cream soft ripened varieties, the big winner was the Harvest Moon. the nutty tasting rind really mixed well with the double cream centre. Poplar Grove also gets bonus points for having the best dogs of all the wineries.


by the time we arrived at the last stop, La Frenz Winery, I was feeling the effects of the 35+ tastings. it's too bad, because I can't really tell you much about the quality of wines there. I remember liking it overall - but not being blown away by any of the reds or whites offered. we all seemed to like La Frenz's fortified wines as Deanne and Bruce walked away with a bottle of Tawny while Selma and I choose the winery's first attempt at a Port style wine. these Port grapes were picked in the winery's first year (10 years ago).

7 wineries, 35 wines, 2 cases of wines to add to our racks, 3 cute dogs petted, and 1 skittish marmot, all before 5pm - not bad for a day of camping.

next up - day 2: Summerland, a cock-blockin' stagette, dirty laundry and wine rage.

90 minute IPA

Dogfish Head

Drinking this beer is kind of like being roughed up in a pillow fight by a couple of cartoon hooligans. The first hooligan (let’s call him Malty) is strong but really very sweet; he doesn’t want to hurt you but…well…he’s just doing his job, you know? The second bruiser (Hopper is his name we’ll suppose) is a hard man. He’s a little bitter, sure, but you notice, as he pummels you mercilessly, that he smells vaguely of flowers. You appreciate this attention to detail.

The thugs have their brutal routine down to an art. They don’t take turns; they pound you with merciless synchronism. They are the yin and yang of mock violence. When they do finally let up, you can feel the affects of their down-filled pugilism in equal measure, and for a long time afterward.

Despite the violation, you feel terribly let down when it is over. You want nothing except more, and damned if you are going to be embarrassed to ask for another beating. You’re not a sick-o. Nuh-uh.

A

Blanche de Chambly

Unibroue

Unibroue really makes world-class beers. If I had such a thing as national pride, I would surely be thankful for Unibroue’s contribution to Canada’s beer making reputation, even if the brewery is situated in pretty solid Bloc Quebecois territory in the Quebec town of Chambly.

It is a beautiful beer to look at—it pours a golden apricot colour. Blanche de Chambly is a Belgian-style witbier, which is unfiltered; this means that the beer is cloudy with tiny bits of wheat. The head is small and white and quickly dissipates into a thin ring around the fringes of the beer’s surface. There is a lively carbonation.

It has an intoxicating spicy, yeasty smell. In fact, this beer is more satisfying to smell than many beers are to taste. If it wasn’t so good, I might be happy just sniffing it.

Although that’s a bit weird, yes?

As I take my first sip, I feel the tingle of carbonation immediately. I prefer to drink this beer quite cold because I find it a very pleasant and refreshing beer. The feel of it is dry and light on my tongue.

The taste is complex—spicy, yeasty, with wheat and citrus. It is a complexity which belies the light feel of this beer. The citrusy overtones linger late into the tasting, and make for a very pleasant aftertaste. This makes Blanche de Chambly a great sipping beer, if you are so inclined.

Wow. I am so into this beer right now.

A-

Griffon Red Ale

McAuslan Brewing Inc.

i was going to review the classic west coast beer that aids the process of giviner (Pil), but my memory from last week's camping adventure is hazy. i do remember jumping over the campfire a few times, shotgunning a bounty of beer, and there being an incident involving a fellow camper hatcheting his thumb and fixing the leak with a diaper and electrical tape. if the night's photos jog my memory, then there will be more to follow.

one of the outcomes of such a debaucherous evening was a cold that has destroyed my smell, taste, and ability to get out of bed. i was able to get out of bed long enough yesterday to open a Griffon (Rousse) Red Ale and watch the finale of america's next top model (i know, i know).

appearance: the rousse poured a nice dark red with long lingering head. it seems to have more carbonation than other ambers that i have tried before.
aroma: .....um, well the cold prevented me from getting any real sense of the aroma, but i did smell some roasted maltiness.
taste: starts with a roasted quality that reminded me of coffee. overall, it had a subtle malt flavor that went down exceptionally smooth much like McAuslan's pale ale. the finish was a little too clean for me - i wanted that roasted taste to stay a little longer.

overall, it wasn't the most inspiring selection from McAuslan, who have some very nice ales and a great oatmeal stout. i'll definitely be re-visiting this rousse when i get back on my sea-legs. i'll be camping again this week, but this time with a little more organization. while i'm sure there will be more drinking of dubious beer, i will be bringing that Moylan's IPA that i promised to review last week.

B

India Pale Ale & Lager (aka Hockey Beer)

Granville Island Brewing

LET'S START A BEER BLOG!!!
'twas the idea that rattled in my head after indulging in an exceptional west coast microbrew some time ago. i told Big Love the idea and he seemed to be on board. then the haziness of tomorrow came and i forgot all about it - the beer giveth and taketh away. at least, this libated idea would result in something creative and not an ironic airbrushed manatee t-shirt (late night drunkenness & eBay do not mix). then Big Love says to me yesterday, "let's start a beer blog!". several months between identical thoughts and we were off to Viti Wine & Lagers to find some suds. i picked up a californian IPA from Moylan's and a Krusovice czech lager - two suitably diverse beers to help get my blog on.

why does this post's title refer to hockey beer? well, instead of enjoying the fine purchased beer, pouring them into appropriate glasses, inspecting the colour & head, and assessing the start & finish, i sat myself in front of a massive & underwhelming burger to watch some playoff hockey at a restaurant on the granville strip. this particular establishment (The Two Parrots), had the classy idea of serving $2 'hockey beers' whenever our beloved canucks scored. that fit right in with the guy at the table beside us who wore his rollershoes to the bar. really?! grown-ass man with rollershoes! before the canucks could go up 1-0, i ordered a pint of GIB's Brockton IPA.
appearence: it poured a nice hazy, amber colour
aroma: lacking that distinct hoppy aroma that usually draws me to an IPA.
taste: citrus flavours are there, if you look hard enough. lacking too is the powerful hoppiness that i'm looking for in a west coast IPA. the description that came to mind while drinking it was - alexander keith's with hop juice added.
to be fair, i should point out that the Two Parrot's is not exactly the type of place that is going to clean their draught lines often, which undoubtedly affected the taste.
B-
next up...... hockey beers! i only got halfway finished the IPA when the canucks scored, which meant that i would be double-fisting for a while.

'hockey beer' was actually a GIB lager.
appearance: a surprisingly nice light caramel colour with absolutely no head
aroma: a little bit bleachy from the quick cleaning of 50 glasses every time a goal is scored
taste: very little carbonation, tastes slightly of honey
C- [B if the canucks are winning while drinking]
basically, this house lager is step above a molson canadian, but at $2 per goal, you train your taste buds to root for the canucks.

i'd like to say that the quality of beer will be raised in my next review, but i'm going camping this weekend with friends that require you to bring a 15 pack in Pil (aka a squamish suitcase), so that probably won't be the case.

Raspberry Brown

Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe

I feel it is only proper to admit my bias from the outset: I am not especially fond of lambics or brews that infuse fruit flavours, nor do I often favour chocolaty beers. So, I was really not sure what I would like about this beer, which promises both raspberry and chocolate flavours on its label.

It poured a dark and pleasing purple-brown, with a very small head that disappeared soon after pouring. The aroma was deep and fruity (raspberries, not surprisingly).
The taste started with the sweet chocolate malt. The raspberries came soon after this, but complemented rather than overpowered the malt. A little after, the hops provided a nice, pleasingly bitter finish. The mouth feel is drying, and there is not much carbonation.

This brew avoids all the things I don’t like about these sorts of beers—it has a real fruit taste that never threatens to overpower the malt and it is chocolaty in moderation, which leaves plenty of room for the taste of the beer itself. It is more complex than I would have anticipated, too.

I think this beer is good, and I am impressed by how well-balanced it is. Perhaps I need to rethink my biases against fruity and chocolaty beers…

B+

Ruedrich's Red Seal Ale

North Coast Brewing Co.

Here is a powerful American-style ale from California. I first tried it on tap at Vancouver’s the Alibi Room some months back, and have been thirsting for it until this tasting. These are the circumstances which often lead to disappointment, it is true, but I am optimistic all the same.
The beer poured a beautiful reddish-amber colour, with about half an inch of head that dissipated quickly to a thin line of foam and left little lacing on the glass. It is not very aromatic, but gives off a mild, flowery scent of hops and something sweet as well.

Tasting begins with this sweet malt taste, and lasts for no more than a half second before the hops kick in. The hop flavour drives strongly through to the end and, while it dominates the malt, it never dismisses it, so there is some sweet malt flavour right through to the finish. This prevents the taste from ever becoming too bitter, and gives this brew a balance that is difficult to achieve in an IPA.

Ruedrich’s Red Seal Ale is as crisp as you would want from a beer of this variety and smoother than you might expect. I was definitely not disappointed with this brew after so long a wait. It is wonderfully well-balanced for such a hoppy beer, making it very drinkable in any situation. I recommend it highly.

A