Beer Club's 1st Brew Masters Tour

10 members of the club toured three Vancouver Downtown Eastside breweries on Nov. 13^th under the guidance of a former brew master and wine connoisseur.  The idea was to try to develop an understanding of the finer points of beer from the perspective of someone who is intimately familiar with wine as well as beer.

We visited Callister Brewing Co, Powell Street Brewery, and finished the night at Andina, a South American-style brew pub, where we sampled various kinds of ceviche and other South American treats.

Fun facts: 

1. Foam is your friend:foam is where flavour is most concentrated, particularly bitterness from the hops.  No foam, little flavour.

2. Fat is the enemy of foam.  Avoid eating fatty substances such as Cheezies or potato chips.  The oil from these things almost instantly “kills” the foam in a glass of beer.

3. Never drink from a bottle if you can pour the beer into a glass.  The glass opens up the beer to smell, which accounts for 75% of the experience of flavour.

4. White foam indicates the beer has been carbonated naturally.  Coloured foam indicates artificial ingredients were used to carbonate the drink.

5. While hops are the  “sexy” component of beer, yeast is the most significant ingredient.  Yeast is “magical” for all the things it can do for a beer.  Brewers are really just bakers without the flour and the oven!

~ David

Soft opening at Red Racer, Yaletown

Red Racer Restaurant:
871 Beatty Street, Vancouver

On Friday July 24^th, Surrey’s Central City Brewers + Distillers opened their 4800 sq ft Red Racer pub in the old Dix’s BBQ location on Beatty St in Vancouver. We checked it out earlier at a V.I.P. preview event.

This is a full service restaurant, not a brewpub, as they’re not brewing beer onsite (yet). The interior has been refreshed but remains mostly the same as it was for Dix. The service was vastly improved.



The sweeping main bar has a custom serving up a varied  40+ craft beers; 14 of their own plus various guest taps from mainly local craft breweries including:  Bomber, Bridge, Dageraad, Persophone, Deschutes, 33 Acres, Driftwood, Steel & Oak, Postmark, 4 Winds, Hoyne, Steamworks, Powell St, Parallel 49, Hearthstone and others. Their big screen TV’s also serve as beer menus showing what beers are being served on tap, how full each keg is and the prices for a glass, pint or pitcher. Our server mentioned that growler refills will be available soon.

Food is key and includes the BBQ that Dix was known for and a Build Your Own Burger Bar. We tried many of the starters they plan to serve and especially enjoyed the Spring Rolls Al Pastor (good crunch), the Scotch Eggs (well-seasoned) and the Squid Diablo (nice heat). The pulled pork sandwiches were tasty as were the pork ribs (a little salty) but the surprise favourite was the  S’more dessert.

Looking forward to a follow-up visit to check out the burger bar and work through more of the brews on tap.

~ Ron          .

@FoodieIam

Vancouver mini pub crawl

There are so many craft breweries showing up in Vancouver as well as other cities in North America, it is hard to keep up with them !  The Western Beer Club, usually set out to a tasting room, and then some brew pub, to make sure we get some food into our bellies ! Today we suck to a good old fashioned pub crawl !

Starting things off at the Powell Street Craft Brewery, they opened December of 2012 before the craft beer craze hit Vancouver. Their location was small but David and his wife had big dreams. In the Fall of 2014 they moved almost directly across the street into larger location. Keeping to their artistic roots, Powell Street still have their incredibly creative beer labels, as well as local artist works hanging in their new tasting room. 

Next stop was a short walk away to Off the Rails. Opening February 2015. Steve, owner of the Railway Club, had always supported the local craft breweries by making the unknown local crafts beers available to the public. But one day he realized he needed to start brewing his own beer and that is where Off the Rails began. Now creating over 15 different Beers from a Kolsch or Pillsner, IPA, Ales, to Oatmeal Stout and Smoked Porters there is something on their beer list that will satisfy everyone.

Last Stop: Strange Fellows Brewing Company.

Their name is very appropriate and you see this before you even walk in, with their crooked sign. Opening December 2014 at an old auto repair shop Iain and Aaron (founders) kept the vintage sign and made it their own.
When you walk in you are steps away from their mass bar with staff eager to help you experience their beers. This being our 3rd brewery of the night, I had some trouble reading the names of their beers, but the staff was happy to help and get me a great selection of beers to taste.

It was a great night visiting with friends and tasting some excellent local craft beers, keep it up Vancouver I look forward to tasting more.

~ Colleen  

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