I'm better than Kathie Lee Gifford

well.... for at least one evening I was. after seeing Kathie Lee drink Dogfish Head on the Today Show, I had to treat myself by drinking some high end beer. did I accomplish this task? you're damn right I did - one evening and three beers all rated in the 97th percentile or higher on RateBeer.com. first up was Alesmith's legendary Speedway Stout. only a myth until now, this 12% chocolaty stout lived up to the hype with a well balanced, yet uber-flavourful beer. the more it warmed up the bigger the taste was. I tasted chocolate, coffee, toffee and some vanilla. it was delicious from start to finish, but unfortunately this bad boy hasn't been brought into any of the Vancouver specialty stores, so you'll never be able to contradict me.

Tippler Ben was riding the stout train, so I hopped on board with him and tried some Mikkeller's Beer Geek Breakfast. all I can say is, "choo, choo!". I've had this one once before, but I forgot how great it was. while Alesmith makes a stout with loads of flavours, Mikkeller makes theirs focused on one - coffee. and they do it very well. if I had more money, I would dedicate a fridge shelf to it. but, at $10 a bottle, I'll have to settle with having it on special occasions.

last up was Brooklyn's Sorachi Ace. this is a saison that uses just one hop varietal; Japanese sarachi hops. all the saison characteristics were there, pale yellow and a thin head, wrapped up in cloudy unfiltered goodness. there was some lemon and a bit of banana in the taste, but what I remember most about it was this beer's incredibly dry finish. Tippler Ben may be able elaborate a little more on this one as, for some reason, my memory of this one is hazy. I do recall stating that Big Love would love this beer.

there we go. three awesome beers in one night... I'm waaaay better than Kathie Lee.

Alesmith Speedway Stout - 750ml, 12% alc
Mikkeler Beer Geek Breakfast - 500ml, 7.5% alc
Brooklyn's Sorachi Ace - 750ml, 7.6% alc
(I think I'm going to to abandon the A to F school grading system for these ones as they're all exceptionally good beers.)

PS. I just remembered that we had some Stone IPAs afterward. that's another one hundred percenter on RateBeer. Kathie Lee and her Dogfish Head look pretty damn lame now.

Hop Circle IPA: One Man's Hopinion

Dear Phillips Brewing,

With the introduction of your Hop Circle IPA, you have, in my humble opinion, really established yourself amongst British Columbia's finest breweries. This is a stand-out West Coast IPA--from its wonderful floral aroma, to its muscular hoppiness, to the delicate balancing effect of its malt and the pleasant, not too bitter finish. In fact, it is so immediately endearing one might argue that it sells itself.

Why, then, did you give it such a stupid name? And such a ghastly label? Were you trying to prove this theory?

I know that many fine and well-regarded microbrews have elements of Sci-fi kitsch and puns on the word "hop", but this does not make it right. You had a chance, here, to set a higher standard. To take the high road. I, for one, wish you had taken it. Because this is a classy ale. It doesn't need to be dressed in flourescent clothing and adorned with bad puns.

I suggest you rebrand it, quickly and quietly, so that it doesn't embarrass you in a few years.

I'll likely be drinking it either way, because its good. And I like good beer, even more than I dislike ugly, corny marketing.

Sincerely,

Big Love

B+

Mardi Gras & Micro Brews - Tipplin' in Vermont!

when planning my trip to visit Tippler Ellie in Ottawa, we decided on doing an American beer tour as Ottawa is a relatively short drive to both New York and Vermont. a quick Google search led us to the obvious conclusion of going to either Burlington, Vermont or Lake Placid, NY. seemingly, these towns are both hotbeds of craft beer in that neck of the woods. since my trip was spawned from a need to get out of Vancouver during the Olympics, I didn't want to go to another Olympic town - so, Burlington it was. initially, we were going to try to tour some of Burlington's breweries and then do some sampling, but soon after arriving, a couple of Burlingtonians informed us that we had arrived during Mardi Gras weekend and that we should get ready to give'r.

although we didn't end up doing any tours of breweries, we tried to sample a lot of different beer - mainly ones from Vermont. it seemed as if every restaurant/pub that we went to had a minimum of a dozen beer on tap and many had cask conditioned offerings. our first stop was for burgers and beer at the Scuffer Steak and Ale House which boasts 15 taps and 50 different bottles. we tried a few Vermont brews including the citrus hopped Wolavers IPA and the floral hopped and sweetly malted Long Trail Pale Ale, but the standout here was from neighbouring NY - Brooklyn Brewing's Cookie Jar Porter. with an initial sweet, vanilla aroma, this porter had lots of deep dark chocolate tastes and a creamy body. I guess with all that sweetness, it shouldn't have been a surprise to find out that it was rocking a 8% ABV punch, but I would have never known if I hadn't read the menu. before heading to one of our preplanned beer destinations, we went to some townie bars and loaded up on $2 Rolling Rocks. this light 'extra' pale ale is one of my guilty drinking pleasures when I travel stateside. they're very easy drinking and sometimes that's the name of the game. after being refused a round of Jagerbombs at the townie bar (due to the bar's potential legal ramifications from people chipping their teeth), we headed towards the Vermont Pub & Brewery.

we had tried to get into the VPB earlier in the evening, but there was a 45 minutes line up and our beer thirst couldn't handle that length of time being unsatisfied. we got there later in the evening to have a couple before last call. VPB makes all there own draughts, which at the time, had an arsenal of 10 with 3 more being cask conditioned and ready to be pulled. they did 3oz sampler bats here, so I went with their Dogbit Bitter, Citra Pale Ale, Bombay Grab IPA, and the Vermont Smoked Porter. although they were all great, 2 of the samples really stood out. I could tell you that VPB smoke their own malts over apple, maple and hickory wood chips to recreate this 7th century style robust porter, which is how the menu describes this superb porter, but it was late and I was drunk so my tasting notes just read, "this Porter tastes of campfire and beef jerky!" sadly, that's really my best description of it's taste. the other standout beer was the Citra Pale Ale. golden in colour, very citrusy in aroma, this pale ale had a beautiful citrus bitterness that overwhelmed and then faded quickly. the short lasting bitterness, made this 60 IBU beer a lot more drinkable than a lot of it's highly hopped counterparts. so much so, I ordered another pint. I didn't realize this until now, but the Citra PA is very similar to a Yaletown IPA that is being poured at the Alibi room right now (more on that one in a few posts time).

the next day we sampled a couple of different beer at Magic Hat's tasting room, but soon realized that everyone was getting ready to head into town to take part in the Mardi Gras parade. after filling up on brekkie, we decided to follow suit. a few walkie poppies later and we were on Church Street ready to see some floats and catch some beads. it was loads of fun, but my beer critiquing cap had gone back to the haberdashery from where it came from. in fact, I think (and by 'I think', I mean 'I know') that I ended up at an afternoon dance club, listening to Lady Gaga with a bear couple that Ellie met and drinking (not enjoying) a Bud Lite with lime. hey - don't judge me! they were $2 and I'm half Scottish. to salvage some respect, that I have obviously lost in your eyes, I can tell you that the day ended with a pint of Farmhouse Ale at the American Flatbread Tap Room. this 10% ABV Belgian-style ale wasn't the wisest choice to end a long day drinking session with. I literally went with the first choice on their extensive list of 11 house brewed zero gravity beer, 8 'guest' taps (3 of which were cask pulls), and 80+ bottles. rereading the menu now, I'm really kicking myself for not having the stamina at the time to pay more attention to it. the menu easily has 20 beer that are on my bucket list. I guess that was my punishment for drinking a Bud Lite with Lime.

A Tippler's Roadtrip Part 1: Desert Draughts

I'm back from the pilgrimage with happy tales of tippling. the road trip with my Dad has come to a close after meandering through Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Washington.

the first stop on the 3273km beer run was Glendale, AZ, to go see the Phoenix Coyotes play. I now understand why this team is bankrupt and averaging a meager 8,000 fans a game. although the stadium is new and in a huge entertainment complex full of bars, restaurants, theaters, and stores, it's in the middle of nowhere. it's a one hour drive from most parts of Phoenix, which is like going to Abbotsford to watch the Canucks play. anyway, unlike most sporting events, the beer at the game was shockingly cheap. $4 got you a 22oz can of Bud, or if you're willing to plunk down another buck, you can get an equally huge bottle of Red Stripe. after the game, we headed to the Yard House to have a look at their legendary beer selection. my little Tippler heart sank as I gazed at their 130 taps of draught beer! overwhelmed by the selection and faced with the time limit of about 2 pints, I had to get my shit together and make some decisions. first up: Dogfish Head's 60 Minutes IPA. we've loved and reviewed this one before, so I won't go into how much I liked it, but this was the first opportunity to try it on tap. it did not disappoint, as the floral hoppiness really seem to mellow out in the keg. I went with Lost Coast's Downtown Brown as my next selection which proved to be a great smooth drinking nut brown ale. I can't remember much more than that as at this point I had been traveling all day and up for more than 20 hours.

I have always loved the craft brew selection in the Western States, but sometimes you're in a small town with less choice or need to get beer quickly at a 7-11 or a gas station. if you find yourself in this sort of situation, there's always trusty ol' Sierra Nevada to bail you out. you can find this stuff pretty much anywhere in the Western US and it's GOOD. it's usually the pale ale that is widely available, but this time I picked up 6 of their Torpedo Extra IPA and I was very pleased. it pours a beautiful amber/cooper colour with a just a little bit of a thin head. in the aroma I smelled grapefruit and of course some strong, pungent hops. I was expecting these hops to dominant the taste but I was gladly wrong. the hops managed to balance the full flavoured malt and was highly drinkable even for a beer showing up to party at 7.2% ABV.

after Phoenix, my Dad and I set out to drive back to the 49th parallel. after leaving a bit late, we were extremely lucky to be able to get to the Grand Canyon for sunset and then drive on towards Vegas. the Tipplerness of Vegas is dubious as the search of cheap or free drinks often outweighs the search for quality ones. a couple of 'go to' Vegas beer staples in the casinos are Heineken and Blue Moon (Coor's 'craft brew'-style wit). both are adequate and easy drinking and perfect for a night out in Sin City, although no amount of alcohol or drugs can prepare you for the psychedelic mindcuss that is known as Cirque du Soliel.

blerg ... time has crept up on me. the 2nd post of the trip, through California, will have to come tomorrow. 'ta 'til then.

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
A- Draught, 6% alc/vol
Lost Coast Downtown Brown
B+ Draught, 5% alc/vol
Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
A- 355ml bottle, 7.2% alc/vol

60 minute IPA

Dogfish Head

A Haiku Revu:

Sweet caramel malt
Nuts and hops, yes nuts and hops
Over the top? No.

A-

Lost Coast Indica India Pale Ale

Lost Coast Brewery

this will have to be a quick review as my already slow and poor typing skills have been further impaired by a recent kitchen accident. luckily, the flapper is on my non-beer guzzling hand, so last night I skipped on down to the Alibi Room for a few pints. first up was a pint of Lost Coast's hop-heavy Indica IPA. although the lights were down at the bar, you could still tell that the Indica had a mellow, hazy orange hue. it had a piney and floral aroma which was weaker than most West-Coast IPA's tend to be. on to the good stuff; the taste. I tasted some citrus at first, but once the hops kick they linger for a stretch after tasting. there's also a slight herbaceous taste that loiters with those hops (it didn't occur to me until just this second that's probably why this IPA is called Indica). the Indica is not a balanced beer by an means, which seems to be another IPA tendency from the batty-for-hops Californians. I would've liked to have some more malt to back up those cascade hops.

C+

since The Tippler got started, I've come to realize, not surprisingly, that I can only review the first beer of the night. on subsequent pints, subtlety and nuance are lost on my tongue as well as in my demeanor. that being said, I can't really say much about my next pint other than it was ... what's the word... good. my friend, Ellie, attended the Great Alaska Craft Beer Festival in May. I was asking her about some of the festival favs, and she said that there was an overwhelmingly good response to a mixed beer which was one half chocolate stout and one half raspberry ale. I was intruiged, so we decided to do a version of this from the Alibi Room's offering. Ellie wanted to use a $20 bottle of raspberry lambic in the mix, but I wasn't drunk enough or rich enough to use the lambic in this experiment. we went with a chocolate porter (which I believe was from Phillips Brewing) and Granville Island's limit release raspberry wheat ale. the waiter appreciated the experimental drinking and told me of a few beer mixtures that he likes. the raspberry taste was quite faint, so the ratio needs to be adjusted a bit, but otherwise the result was very tasty. I think I've just opened up a new drinking realm.

ACME California IPA

North Coast Brewing Co.

I have a unique job in that it is high stress yet performed in a low stress environment. I work with four friends that I've known for years, which makes the days in which I lose money easier to take. sometimes, I work from home. sometimes, I work from home and lose a bunch of money. this was one of those days. instead of commiserating with my friends over pints of Tennent's Lager & Boddington's at the pub below our office (...that's right, I work above a pub), I decided to do the at-home equivalent and scavenge my fridge for any leftover beer from last night's birthday celebration for Arianna. two beers left. the first, a bottle of North Coast's ACME IPA, was kindly left behind by The Tippler's own Big Love. the second, a can of Bowen Island Lager, left by Miran. it did cross my mind to crack the BI Lager as it seemed an appropriately cheap drink to be married with my losing day. but, that thought lasted a nanosecond and I reached for the ACME (sorry, Miran - and I can't guarantee that it'll still be in the fridge the next time you visit).

this is the fifth North Coast beer to be reviewed on The Tippler, which means that one-third of our reviews have been dedicated to this one Northern Californian brewery. after this IPA, there's only one more North Coast beer sold at my local beer store to be reviewed - their Blue Star wheat beer. North Coast has been the supplier of most of my beverages this summer, but this is my first taste of their California IPA.

as you can see in the photo, it poured with a nice half inch head and had a high level of carbonation right out of the bottle. both the head and carbonation reduced dramatically soon after pouring. this IPA's colour is beautiful - a blend candied oranges and honey is as best as I can describe it. the aroma is less impressive as the colour with spicy hops hitting your nose first and after I smelled something fresh like lakewater. yeah, I said it... lakewater. I'm talking about that nice first smell of a lake at the start of your two week holiday, not the dank, still, mosquito ridden stench you get by the end of it. there are strong caramel malts that hit you at first which are balanced out by some really nice finishing hops. like a good IPA, these hops linger like a bad house guest. I could still taste the hops from my first sip a good two or three minutes afterwards. on subsequent sips I couldn't really pick out any discernible tastes. the strong malts that I tasted at first seemed to be erased by the hops progressively quicker as the glass emptied. a nice heat came at the end from the 6.5% ABV. I'm not sure if I could make a night out of this beer, but the afternoon bottle that I enjoyed sure helped to ease the pain of a bad workday.

B

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

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

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.