Old Stock Ale

North Coast Brewing Co.

It is with great shame that I must admit to you that I am very drunk as I write this. Like Hemingway drunk. So much for professionalism, eh? Or is intoxication part of a beer reviewer's professional development? Anyway, I don't think you should hold it against me. The reason I'm so drunk is that I discovered North Coast Brewing Co.'s Old Stock Ale tonight while drinking at the Alibi Room. At 12.5% alcohol, this beer is not for lightweights. It's a tough guy's way to end an evening of drinking. Don't believe me? Then how do you explain why I want to fight you so bad right now?

When it came, I gave it a long whiff. It smelled of caramel. And alcohol. The head disappeared quickly, but the beer had plenty of carbonation.

The taste is big and sweet. Caramel again: heavy, sweet and truly wonderful. The warm alcohol rises up slowly and takes you by the hand. It makes you understand. It wraps you in its dizzy arms. You feel safe there. Like a child. A little drunk child. You sip it slowly because, even in its disorienting grip, you're sure that this is the only sane way to drink it. When you are done, you want more. Your friends talk you out of it. You resent them now, but you will thank them later.

I can't say enough about this beer, or about this brewery. They pretty much own this blog. deebag hasn't had it yet, but he'll agree. Or I don't know deebag. And I know him pretty well, get it?

So you won't be surprised when I give this beer an enthusiastic:

A

Dear Tippler

I received the following email earlier today:

Dear Judicious Tippler,

I need some beer advice. My boyfriend (a regular reader!) is the most employed person in our house, which means that he generally buys the beer. He's really into buying fancy microbrews and the like. Problem is, these beers usually have a fairly high alcohol percentage and I get more drunk after two beers than a person is supposed to (especially if that person who usually has to work with the public the next day). Can you suggest some good beers with lower percentages? Or should I just switch to gin?

Sincerely,
Kat

Response:

Dear Kat,

I'm guessing that your boyfriend buys heavily hopped IPA's and Belgian style double & triple fermented Trappist beer which, when drunk in small quantities, can tempt & tantalize taste buds. When drunk in excess, people get slapped and work is missed. My suggestion is to try any of selections from the McAuslan Brewery (Quebec). The BCLC will have the Pale Ale, which is exceptional, and they should have one of my favourite summer beers - St. Ambroise Apricot Wheat beer (this one is best in small doses, due to the fact that it is a fruit beer). Both of these are 5% alcohol, which is a standard ABV for beer in Canada.
Also recommended:
Nelson Brewing Company's Old Brewery Pale Ale (slightly higher 5.5%)
Nelson's Liplock Wheat Beer (if you like wheat beer) (4%)
Any of the Phillip's beers - both the Slipsteam Cream Ale (a bit darker-maybe an autumn beer) & Blue Buck (both 5%) have been staples in my house at various times.

If your boyfriend truly cared about your predicament, he would drive to the US and fill up the car with Miller High Life and Bud, so you could drink all day and not feel a thing. Or fly to England and up a 4 pack of Tesco Value Lager (2%) for 88 pence.

Yours,
Deebag
The Tippler

Response 2:

Well Kat,

As alcohol levels have such an effect on the taste of beers, brewers have really taken to using high levels of alcohol to enhance the complexities of their fancy beers. IPAs, red ales and Belgian-style ales are all the rage right now, so it is harder to find good beers with less bite. I would suggest trying some witbiers. Unibroue makes a reasonably light one called Blanche de Chambly that is a favourite of mine. Hoegaarden is much better than people give it credit for. Some English-style ales would be good, too. Look into the Duchy Originals--most liquor stores carry it (the Prince of Wales brews it, after all). Porters and stouts are usually lower on alcohol, but kind of dark and heavy for the summer season. Mexican beer is often pretty light, but much of it is gross, too. Ask your boyfriend to pick up some Alhambra (from exotic Spain). It is good and not-too-heavy.

I hope this helps!

Big Love
The Tippler

Portuguese Beer

Super Bock
Sagres

bom dia from Portugal! I lie, actually, I'm 38,000 feet above the Bay of Biscay on my way to London from Faro on Portugal's south coast. 11 days of being a beach bum and a serious lack of internet hasn't afforded me any time to post about the beer situation here. I'll start of by saying that Portuguese beer is sickly cheap. it's one of those countries where beer and wine it actually cheaper than water or soft drinks. if you were to order a lunch that included a drink, the choice would be: coffee, tea, pop, half liter or beer, or a half bottle of wine. generally, at bars the two big local brews, Super Bock from Porto and Sagres from Sagres (...imagine that), are between 75 cent and 2 euro, depending on whether the bar is catering to tourists or not. in the supermarkets, we're looking as low as 25 cent per bottle or 80 cent for a 1 liter bottle.

I think that if I reviewed these beers in Vancouver, I would have some scathing comments about the lack of all of the elements I love about beer – sharp hops? not here. deep, nutty malt? heck no. how about an enticing aroma? maybe if you're cracking open a bottle at an assador (that's a BBQ restaurant, despite the imagery that the spelling conjures). basically, the three Portuguese beers that I tried all tasted very similar – basically, they were Corona's, but in different bottles.

Portuguese beers are definitely situational beers. you drink them in hot weather, at the beach, and on patios. by the way, beer is sold in snack bars on the beaches by the same life guards that will hopefully save your drunken ass from the Atlantic after declaring, “I'ma swim to Morocco!”. overall, the beer is extremely 'easy-drinking' and best served as cold as possible. Super Bock was the favourite between Daniel and I, although I declared early on that I preferred Sagres, earning me the names Sagres, Saggy, and Sags. Daniel of course became Super Bock, SB, and Supe. the adventures of Supe & Sag will be left for a different post. as well as our lengthy discussion about opening a restaurant in Vancouver that would only sell soup and grilled cheese sandwiches named Supe & Sag. the only real distinguishing element of Super Bock over Sagres was that it had slightly deeper malts. Super Bock weighs in at 5.2% ABV, while Sagres comes in at 4.8%. I didn't taste any added heatiness from Super Bock's slightly higher alcohol content. since the beer itself is nothing remarkable, let's look at the the Portuguese beer drinking culture a little bit.

it seems to me that there are little to no liquor laws in Portugal. every grocery store and corner store sell the full booze spectrum from beer to spirits. in fact, every store sells this spectrum. all coffee shops and snack bars (which are EVERYWHERE) sell liquor as well as most beach snack stands. when I was getting my morning coffee, there was always a good deal of Portuguese men getting their bica duplo and a shot of brandy. sometimes it was just the brandy. since it gets so hot in the earlier to mid afternoon, most restaurants and stores close from 1 to 3 pm. during this time, a lot of workers go to the snack bars and have a few bottles of beer before heading back to work. I read in my guide book that excessive drinking and drunkenness is frowned upon by the Portuguese, but daily drinking is the absolute norm. one thing I noticed at the snack bars during this 1-3pm 'siesta' was that the workers would drink mini-bottles. all brands seemed to carry these lil' 200ml mini bottles. my theory is that the minis will stay cold throughout the bottle instead of the bigger 330ml's or pints. i never once saw the Portuguese drink pints. these seemed to be saved for the chaves on the strip at the English bars. basically, you can drink whenever you like wherever you like – something that us Vancouverites are sorely missing.

okay – London is calling. maybe I'll try some good casks ales, but I struck out on my attempt to find good ones here a couple weeks ago.

ratings for Portuguese Beer:

Super Bock C+
Sagres C
FinkBrau C-
ratings for ice cold Portuguese beer while sitting on a 30C beach with friends: A
... I'm pretty sure that this is how the MasterCard marketing started.