Magazine of the Campaign for Real Ale British Columbia
Volume 19 No 5
Sept - Oct 2009
Drinking Less, Drinking Better By Jim Anderson As sound an argument now as it was when first published, Jim Anderson’s advice is reproduced with permission from Restaurant Report - an industry standard publication for savvy owners. A generation ago, who would have thought that we’d have a TV screen on our desks that would allow us to talk to people on the other side of the planet? Or that we’d have a box in our kitchen that we could put frozen food into, press a button, and be eating moments later? Or be talking about gourmet beer? That’s right, lots of things have changed in the past several years, and now that we’re in the cost, calorie, alcohol, freshness, quality, health and flavour-conscious 2000s, better beer comes up as a winner all around. How so, you say? Let me count the ways. COST - Ounce for ounce, even the most expensive beer is the alcohol world’s best value, which means it’s also good for profits. For the price of the worst wine on your list, you can sell the finest beer in the world in the same size bottle - for at least 15% more profit. And at that price, Inside: maybe your customers will stay for more than one. And among highNotes From NHC 3 end beers in individual Time to Campaign 8 servings, there’s typically for $3.00 profit per Out & About 6 bottle - twice that of a bottle of common, indusUllage & Spillage 10 trially-brewed beer. CALORIE - DeCalendar 12 spite its bad reputation in the calorie department, What’s Brewing
beer is typically in the 130-170 range per 12oz. serving, the same as 6oz. of wine. Owing to a low alcohol content, most of the calories in beer are from carbohydrates, which are more easily burned off (within a certain time of consumption) than calories from alcohol. ALCOHOL - Beer is definitely today’s drink of moderation, as most beers weigh in at between 4.5 and 6% alcohol by volume. An with liquor legal liablility as preposterous as it is some jurisdictions, you should much rather see your customers with an empty beer bottle in front of them than an empty Goldschlager glass. FRESHNESS - Beer, like most foods, is perishable. And since, like most foods, fresher is better, the numerous craft breweries and brewpubs around now give you the opportunity to provide your customers with the equilvalent of locallygrown produce - it’s a great selling point, and reminds everyone that you support local business. QUALITY - And speaking of craft breweries and brewpubs, the only reason they exist in the first cont. page 11 ...
Fall Back ... ... Summer is slipping away, the kids are due back in school within days of this issue coming to your e-box (you’re not still getting What’s Brewing on paper are you?) and the clocks go back the first Sunday in November ... but that’s a way off just yet. Between then and now I know you’ll all be making jam and fruit pies, drying the hops and having one more go at brewing the perfect barley wine for the dim days imminent. And of course, you’ll have to think up innovative ways to use those zuchinni squash that are abandoned on your doorstep when you’re not home--where do they come from? Now, although you’re also busy prepping
for college, attending a certain magnificent beer festival and thinking up ways of matching beers with pork because the apples are falling off the tree and, well, apples and pork are buddies ... please add one more thing to your agenda: get a friend to join CAMRA BC. Or, for a gift idea, you could do worse than buy a membership for someone. It’s the perfect time to recruit. Over the coming weeks, the Great Canadian Beer Festival will have craft beer on many lips (literally and figuratively) so strike while the iron is hot.
What’s Brewing deadline November - December issue: October 23, 2009 What’s Brewing 2817 Colquitz Ave. Victoria BC V9A 2L9 Phone 250 388-9769 E-mail camrabc@shaw.ca Web site http://members.shaw.ca/camrabc
CAMRA BC: to join discussion group send request to: CAMRA_BC_Discussion-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to post a message to the list, send to: CAMRA_BC_Discussion@yahoogroups.com CAMRA Victoria: http://www.camra.ca CAMRA Vancouver: http://www.camravancouver.ca
We sincerely thank our valued Corporate Members. To join these professional beer lovers, (and enjoy the benefits of free advertising!) Contact CAMRA BC today: 250 388 9769 or camrabc@shaw.ca
Askims Beer & Wine Emporium Ltd Bartholemew’s Bar and Rockefeller Grill Bedford Brewing Company Beer Thirst Brew Brothers Brewery Ltd. Brewery Creek Cold Beer & Wine Canada Malting Company Canoe Brewpub, Marina & Restaurant Central City Brewpub Christie’s Carriage House Pub Cox Land Surveying Inc. Crannog Ales Dan’s Homebrew Supplies Dead Frog Brewery Dipsophilia Dix BBQ Driftwood Brewery Eagle Draft Services Ecolab Firefly Fine Wines and Ales Fort Cafe Four Mile House Granville Island Brewing Co Haebler Hobby Beers & Wines HopUnion L.L.C. Howe Sound Brewing Co. Island Brew Byou Jake’s Steakhouse Libations Wine & Beer
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Lighthouse Brewing Co. Longwood Brewpub Maple Leaf Adventures Merecroft Village Pub Merridale Ciderworks Corp. Mt. Begbie Brewing Company Mission Springs Moonrakers Pub Mousetrap Web Development Phillips Brewing Co. Ltd. R & B Brewing Sea Cider Farm and Ciderhouse Sherbrooke Liquor Store Silver Chalice Pub Six Mile Pub Spinnakers Brew Pub Steamworks Storm Brewing Ltd. Swans Hotel & Brew Pub The Alibi Room The Irish Heather The Whip Restaurant The Wolf and Hound Two Rivers Specialty Meats Uli’s Restaurant Vancouver Island Brewing Co Vancouver Morrismen Viti Wine and Lagers West Coast Brew Shop (2009) Ltd.
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Notes from the 2009 National Homebrewers Conference by David Shaykewich Some people golf. Some pray. Me? I brew in my home. So what is my St. Andrew’s ... my Mecca? It’s the American Homebrewers Association’s (AHA) National Homebrewers Conference. When I heard that this year’s conference was going to be in the Bay Area of California – the Holy Land of craft brewing – I knew it was time to make my pilgrimage.For those of you who haven’t had a chance to participate in an event like this, consider the following highlights. Charlie Papazian is arguably the father of modern homebrewing. When he started using yeast to convert malt sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxide at home, it was more felony than hobby. Charlie wrote The Complete Joy of Homebrewing – the original homebrewer’s bible. Charlie formed the AHA in 1978 and has been organizing (to a greater or lesser degree) the National Homebrewers Conference ever since. 2009 was the 31st conference and just as he’s done every year, Charlie was there to kick it off with an opening toast. Raising a glass of the commemorative beer brewed for conference participants (an IPA named “Sippin’ on the Dock of the Bay,”) he opened the conference and reminded attendees to “Relax. Don’t worry. Have a homebrew.” It should go without saying that the NHC is unlike most conferences. Frankly, most conferences could learn a lot from the NHC. First, let’s start with registration. Besides the customary name badge and vendor promo materials, the registration package included a glass (made of glass) and two bottles (one of each of the commemorative brews: a bomber of the afore-mentioned IPA and a saison in a corked and caged Belgian bottle). This package alone reassured me that coming to the conference was the right decision. Like other conferences, the NHC had a hospitality suite that was open throughout the conference proceedings and was used by vendors to showcase their wares. Northern Brewer, MoreBeer and What’s Brewing
Blichmann all had booths full of alluring gadgets and shiny stainless steel. The Brewing Network (an online radio ‘station’ dedicated to homebrewing - http://thebrewingnetwork.com/) also had a booth from where they broadcasted throughout the week. What really made this hospitality suite stand out from other conferences was that every hour, a different homebrew club served samples of their beer. For breakfast, between sessions, or before bed, participants could hit the hospitality suite for a glass of homebrew.
This slot machine pays off in beer. Get three kegs when you pull the arm and it fills your glass. In background, water filters full of hops prepare beer for pouring.
Ken Grossman, founder and owner of Sierra Nevada Brewing, one of North America’s first commercial craft brewers, gave this year’s keynote talk and he took the audience through his own history of homebrewing: from making beer with ‘Blue Ribbon malt syrup’ on his parents’ stove, to owning his own homebrew shop, to his decision to start a commercial brewery, and to that brewery’s evolution into the single largest consumer of cone (i.e. non-pelletized) hops in the world. These days, Sierra Nevada even grows some of their own barley and hops. One of their latest creations is Torpedo Extra IPA – a beer that’s circulated through hop-filled ‘torpedoes’ (similar to hop-backs) during fermentation. Yum! Thursday evening was ‘Pro Brewers Night.’ A collection of more than 50 craft brewers from across the US served up some of the most celPage 3
ebrated beers in the world. Among others, I sampled Vinnie Cilurzo’s Pliney the Elder, Tomme Arthur’s gueuze, and Matt Brynildson’s DoubleDouble Barrel ale. The setup was not unlike that of the GCBF with one notable exception: not a greenback, blue token, or red cent was required to get a glass filled. Friday was ‘Club Night.’ With more fanfare and pageantry than the pros, homebrew clubs from Washington to Florida, Massachusetts to California filled attendees’ glasses with their creations from their themed and decorated booths. The wrap-up for the conference was the banquet on Saturday night. A three-course dinner made and served with beer contributed by Rogue (can you imagine a C120-topped, double-chocolate espresso stout chocolate mouse?). The banquet also included awards for the National Homebrew Competition. More than 5,500 beers were entered by more than 1,300 homebrewers (including me) in the largest competition in the world. While no awards came back to Victoria, one notable award did make it across the border. Mark Heise, a member of the Ale and Lager Enthusiasts of Saskatchewan (ALES) won the gold medal in the IPA category. Well done! Having read the synopsis of highlights so far, you may be wondering just what kind of learning occurs at the NHC. You’re probably thinking, “This clown went down to California to get drunk for a week and now he’s written an article about it?” Well, I can tell you this is a ‘proper’ conference. The days consisted of three sets of concurrent sessions, with topics ranging from how to get started with all-grain brewing to brewing-water chemistry to providing yeast with proper nutrition. The presenters ranged from award-winning home and professional brewers to professors from the brewing school at UC Davis to the owners of companies like Wyeast, White Labs and Hop Union. Thinking back, I attended more sessions given by PhDs in the field than not. So, what brings some of the most celebrated professional brewers, renowned professors, brewing scientists, and heads of multi-national corporations from around the world to a conference with a bunch of round-bellied, back-yard brewers? Page 4
The simple answer is that the homebrewers at this conference are beer lovers and beer lovers are good for beer business. Homebrewers don’t steal profits – they drive profits for professional craft brewers. Homebrewers can create and innovate as much (or more) than the pros. Beer made in a driveway for a few bucks can be better than beer made in a multi-million dollar, copper-clad brewery. Besides, most of the pros started out brewing in their backyards too. Absent from this ‘free beer’ conference was the usual testosterone and ethanol-fueled behaviors that we’re used to seeing at some beer-worshipping events. Attendees weren’t there to get loaded – they were there to load up on information about their hobby (and try some great beer in the process).
Array of self-serve homebrew taps
For you brewers out there, here’s a quick list of some of the gems of information I picked up at the conference: 1. Brewers make wort – yeast makes beer. Give your yeast the nutrients it needs: oxygenate your wort at pitching (four out of four PhDs agree: it really matters); make sure they’re getting the non-malt derived micronutrients they need (such as zinc) especially if you’re re-pitching. 2. Water chemistry isn’t really that hard. Here in Victoria we have about as close to a clean slate as there is. With half a campden tablet to drop the chloramines, some chalk, gypsum, Epsom salts What’s Brewing
and calcium chloride to adjust your water’s hardness and alkalinity, you can turn your brewing water into Pilzen’s or Burton’s.
CAMRA VICTORIA 2009 SUMMER BARBECUE by Roy & Karen Leeson
“Have brew setup, will travel”. This 20-gallon system is mounted to a trailer and brings homebrew to the people
3. Wood fermentation makes beer taste good. Get your hands on a bottle of anything that Firestone Walker makes to see what I mean. Try it with your next English pale ale or barleywine. 4. You can make great beer with simple equipment. While I spent a lot of time drooling over the sparkling brewing ‘sculptures’ in the hospitality suite, they’re not the ticket to exceptional beer. Attention to the basics like sanitation, temperature control, and recipe is all you need. Stainless steel sure is pretty though … 5. And, directly from the horse’s mouth, Ralph Olsen, owner of HopUnion, “there are LOTS of hops this year.” They should be working their way into our local shops soon. I had a great time at the National Homebrewers Conference. If my summary has intrigued you to make a pilgrimage of your own, the conference next year will be in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota. I’ll be doing my best to get there. Rumour has it that the NHC will be in the Pacific Northwest in the coming few years. § What’s Brewing
Once again, the annual CAMRA Victoria summer BBQ (20th?) was generously hosted by Brian and Becky Wigen at their rural property on Oldfield Road on August 15. This is a great venue for our get-together with lots of room for summer activities. Despite cloudy weather, it was warm and dry for the 45 attendees. Brian is making steady progress on the house addition, and the large, bright kitchen was used to store our food and refreshments. Aside from just relaxing and chatting with CAMRA friends, there was the annual beer bottle hunt, a new game from the Stuseks called “hillbilly golf,” and the great beer marinade and beer dessert challenges. Some of us inspected Brian’s collection of railway speeder cars. Brian provided Silver Rill corn and Mike Jones cooked up a mess of his delicious prawns.
Thanks to Brian and Becky; Mike Jones for arranging barbecues, judges for the food, and of course, the great prawns; Jeff Kendrew and Lighthouse Brewery for prizes; John and Carol Rowling for thank you gifts for the Wigens; and all others who had a hand in making the barbecue a success. Also, thanks to Gary Peterman for the photo.§ Page 5
Out & About with Scottie at the Canada Cup of Beer It was another wonderful sunny day July 4, 2009. Thunderbird Stadium at UBC is an engaging place to host an outdoor beer festival. I always look forward to going to Vancouver to pick up on the vibe and energy of this amazing and dynamic city. I left in 1978 for Victoria but always, always go back on my old stomping ground route of the 60s. At some events and festivals a theme appears; this one is great for consumer variety. Lots of give-a-ways as well. Punters love stuff, especially beer punters. Each beer being brought into the festival wants us to see it, taste it and remember the image, packadge, label, and case for that trip to the store. It was truly a beautiful day, and the patrons were having fun. People were asking informed beer questions and very keen. At the stadium field the tents were evenly spaced so the patrons could line up comfortably, walk about, laze and chat. The steel band played the stadium well. Just right. Tropitonics Steel Band. Good job. Some events I attend have no clue about the sound system and how it integrates with the patrons. It can make or break an event, in its own way. It’s a science. I caught up with lots of people I know in the industry and was glad to see so many imports being offered. It’s a good segment of the market, being in the same group as crafts, regional micros and some huge beer concerns. All vying for the same beer dollar from the consumer. Rick Mohabir and Colin Jack do a great annual job here bringing beer to Vancouver. It is a strong attempt to reach out and spread the beer word. They do have a good showcase at this event. They do a VIP booth and feed the exhibitors in a roped off area, flame grilled chicken, pulled pork Page 6
sandwich, salad, and a selection of beer from, in my case, the relatively new Hell’s Gate Brewing. Great hospitality and much appreciated. People were mostly young 20s with some older beer afficianados thrown in for good keeping. Lots of tasting going on for me, I love the new selections of imports. It’s a wide wide beer planet out there. The young, eager, and keen female rep from Peroni (not the brewery the agency) told me how great it was. Driving down Davie toward English Bay the next morning at a bus stop was a huge sign, image of Birra Peroni; its definitely wanting to be seen ; its image is sharp. I was drinking Birra Peroni in Lugano when …
Most presenters were a little beer knowledgable for the most part, history and facts not being a strong suit, claims about the beer, brewery and so on, were big in many booths; lets leave it at that. Enthusiasm for beer was REAL. My sampling was rambling including: Menebrea (Italian, since 1846) an award winning brewery (World Beer Championship Chicago) from a charming spot called Menebrea Spa Italy. It was great to see he was so proud and strong on the promotion of his beer. What’s Brewing
I wanted a go at sampling Russell Brewing beer. Many in the beer industry have stuff to say about Russell. Their brewer was informative. We tasted and talked about them being all natural beers, with all natural essence of lemon for lemon ale, lime for lime lager. Over the decades I have had my share of lemon beers. It was very, very light. The lime lager was again, light and very tasty for the weather, straight brewery smarts. Of course one of the world’s biggest breweries has a lime beer. My take on this lime pilsner push we’re seeing flooding the marketplace and airwaves? Well in a way big breweries can thank Mexicans at Corona who bring us that lime Corona beach palm tree refresh image; the BIG GUYS want that share back. I enjoyed Hell’s Gate beers , very good, clean fresh and tasty, reminding me of beers of Europe. I had quite a few tastes over the event. The rep was informative and enthusiastic for the agency. I thoroughly enjoy Cooper’s Australian sparkling ales and tried a few varieties not sampled before. Absolutely different taste than we’re normally exposed to in North America - they gently roll the bottle to mix in the sediment then gently
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pour. Good job, all about the right way. Never waste the spent yeast in beer is the general rule; invigoration in it. Thanks Grant. From Dockside Brewing I tasted hibiscus and Dunkell and received a real opinion on what’s going on in the craft breweries nowadays with yeasts, fermentations and so on, from the brewer Peter. Don’t hold back. Good to see him. I tasted Chang from Thailand, again some enthusiastic talk about its standing and such. Crisp and snappy, tasty on the hot July day. The hamburger guy traded burgers and dogs with all the breweries and they were very good. Probably one of the best burgers I’ve had in a decade. For some reason some agencies left early; either to avoid the end, or save on products or something. It was quite a few to be sure. Only one brewery was reported to be washing glasses; and that tells a story to the purists in itself. It takes more time but it shows beer character. Patrons all commented on it. Anchor Steam agency gave me a bunch of San Francisco posters they were just leavin’ behind. I told him they’d be recycled to beer people. Overheard in the VIP tent was a group of people saying they were just hired by one of the biggest conglomerate breweries to simply pour; more accurately to ‘pour the stuff. Knowledge of beer not necessary,’ and these people were spouting off quite a bit. I was with a CAMRA Vancouver member who was volunteering and we were surprised. It’s the CAMRA difference between the image you mass project on the beer consumer and the truth of the matter in reality. At CAMRA we do prefer the truth. We are all about consumer advocacy; for non-profit. The real beer consumer is not fooled easily. We do notice mass imagery of breweries feeding us the micro brewery, fresh and local line; all the time being a conglomerate-owned mass operation ... miles from fresh and local. Fresh and local provides support for local economies; not sending profits away to another country. Realistically it’s a free country; beer will always find its natural standing in the marketplace and there are many fantastic beers from everywhere. Choice is important, a great thing in the market; so are ethics. Page 7
On the drive home to Plaza 500 I crossed over UBC Mall down to Locarno and Spanish Banks and viewed this fabulous city from the beach. I had repacked and replenished the traveling cooler I always carry with me, you never know what beers will cross your path on the road. I ate fresh rolled noodles done before my eyes on Broadway in a Northern Chinese noodle house. Taste explosition. Even here we talked some beer, with the waitress. It never ends. The festival continues two days starting next July. Thanks for bringing beer further into the spotlight in the Vancouver area. Additives On a July trip to Chemanus, Crofton, and Cowichan Valley I stopped for a visit at Craig Street Brewery in Duncan to sample their current beer on tap. I was hosted at the main bar by Dara who knows her stuff. Of all the brewpub people and servers I’ve asked over the decades to tell me something about their beer, she ranks right at the top. Pride in her beer, her brewery. I sampled Cowichan Bay lager, Arbutus ale, Shawnigan Irish ale, Mt. Provost porter. All true to their styles malty, hoppy all in balance. Duncan has a knowledgeable and friendly gathering place for real beer lovers. I did notice a BUD in front of one guy. There’s always at least one shows up somewhere in every brew pub I’ve seen. Last week I took a Vancouver colleague to Canoe in Victoria where brewer Sean Hoyne took us through the entire house line up including Red Canoe lager, River Rock bitter, Beaver brown ale and Siren Song pale ale, as well as seasonal honey wheat. Sean took time from his busy day to describe taste and profile of all. We carried on to Spinnakers to taste Mt. Tolmie, Mitchell’s ESB and Ogden porter; all long time brands. We stopped to say hello to Rob who was busy in brew house. I recently stopped in Nanaimo at Longwood for a taste of their fantastic Hefe, lunch and a visit with Barry, Harley and all. Nanaimo’s choice for real ale. Solomon’s hosted a beer dinner with Garrett Oliver, (Google his resume) Brooklyn Brewing’s brewer, followed the same week with a cask of Driftwood ale on Friday. Check it out. You want good beer from the down the street and around the world see Solomon. § Page 8
Implications of HST, the Great Pint Rip-off and LDB Discounts By Eric Throatwarbler Ever think about the CAM bit in CAMRA? I do. Sometimes I view it as an obligation, sometimes an impediment. I grew up in England and was early on part of CAMRA. Those of you familiar with the UK organization will be aware they pull few punches; brewers, publicans, tax collectors and excise men are all the enemy and the ding-dong often gets vitriolic, in a gentlemanly sort of way. Mostly. It’s amazing how quickly folks cheer up after a few pints. In British Columbia we decided very early on that our aims differed from those of our cousins across the pond; they had and have a tradition to protect and we had and to a certain extent still have a fledgling industry to support. Brewers and publicans—heaven forbid—make up some of our number. We actually like them, and some of them like us. That means we often need to be more diplomatic in our approach and more sympathetic to the business side of the industry. And sometimes, we have to sit on our hands when—as a consumer advocate—we probably should speak out. Until recently I thought our political goose was mute, but there appeared in the Vancouver Sun one day an article suggesting B.C. beer consumers were getting ripped off by some leger de main involving the size of beer glasses and the liquid
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therein. Email arrived at CAMRA BC hyperlinking to said article ... eyebrows were raised and at one point I even saw one rabid member carrying around a copy of the newspaper openly displaying the full-colour supplement for all to see. Talk about your radical element. Suddenly it was de rigeur to bitch a little around the question of glass size, official quantities, bloody metric, sleeves, glasses, pints and ‘proper’ pints. And CAMRA members seemed as happy to have something to get stuck into as I was to get to use pretentious French expressions twice in the same Come check out our selection of: paragraph. Over 340 Different Beers (Including 90 Plus Local and Imported Now, as it happens, we’ve been Craft) here before. A certain Mr. Rowling and Over 300 Local and International Wines and Wide Variety of Spirits accomplices once took on the governand Ciders ment liquor regulators and asked why Located near Kits Beach at 4th & Macdonald in the heart of there was no standard for serving sizes. Kitsilano The answer was at best uncertain, to do 2001 MacDonald Street, Vancouver with the financial unfairness of making www.darbyspub.ca pubs restock with standard-size glassware. Countered with the fact that pubs endure an annual breakage rate of 30 per cent, the official straw-grasping touched on inserted a proviso to raise their portion of the take the metric system and Imperial vs US measures so there will be no fall in price. If you eat at the before hiding finally behind the provincial law pub, you won’t like HST either. And when puntforbidding the sale of beer in anything larger than ers get pinched they have a habit of passing along a 500mL vessel. The concession won on behalf their displeasure in the form of thinner tips for of CAMRA by the intrepid Mr. Rowling was that the waiter, who (probably) had nothing to do with licensed establishments must now display a list harmonizing the sales tax. of their drinks along with the price and volume of And if you think it ends there, potential lobbya serving. In both metric and ounces (they didn’t ists, consider this: the tax break formerly allowed specify Imperial or US ounces, but hey, let’s not on samples of beer has been eliminated, wiping be petty). the smiles from beer reps offering a taste of their But, as the saying goes, the price of freedom wares to patrons in the Liquor Store, and causing is eternal vigilance and alas, we took our eye off more than a little discomfort with the GCBF which the ball and bars—with notable exceptions where relies on the discount to function. curmudgeonly patrons hover—reverted to displayLast count, CAMRA UK had over 100,000 ing nothing of the kind. members. We have a couple of hundred, but that Also on the horizon is the question of har- doesn’t mean we can’t make ourselves heard. Now monized sales tax and what implications it will is the hour. Get organized and let your concerns have for beer drinkers. It should, and almost did, be aired. Publicans like knowledgeable and repeat mean that prices would come down ... but once customers. Politicians like to get re-elected. Your our government revenue men realized that, they voice counts, but only if it’s heard. § What’s Brewing
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Ullage and Spillage by J.Random I was reading in the national media that the latest craze in certain bars is the beer cocktail, meaning beer plus spirits and fruit juice. I guess this builds on the classic lager and lime or lager and black, blackcurrent that is, from the UK. Neither appeals to me; certainly not canned beer-pop, but Iain Hill’s upmarket version with cassis, Bir Royale, does sound a bit tempting. Perhaps you might want to make cocktails with the products of the mega-breweries but I don’t think craft beers should be adulterated with blue curacao or crème de menthe. We have experienced some superb Scotch ales and bourbon-amended stouts from our Pacific Coast brewers, but these are either produced through, or designed to simulate, maturation in casks formerly used to mature the grain-based spirits. Through the mysteries of synchronicity, the subject of beer blends came up, independently from two sources, and it occurred to me that is a time-honoured tradition that merits revisiting. Our craft brewers produce a wide range of great beers, but sometimes you just fancy something between styles. The Black and Tan seems to be the most common blend these days, though different producers have different interpretations. In some cases the black is a stout, in others a porter. The tan can be pale ale or bitter. Fat Cat Brewing produces bottled Bunny’s Black and Tan which is a mixture of porter and India pale ale. Pubs where they won’t look at you strangely when you ask for a Black and Tan include Yaletown and Mission Springs. If the relative densities of the two beers is sufficiently different, they can be carefully layered. Otherwise they will mix. By the way, don’t go into a bar in Ireland and state in a loud voice that you like black and tans. In that part of the world they still remember the paramilitary force dressed in police pants and army shirts that got somewhat out of control in the 1920s. In the UK, at least 25 years ago, quite a few people drank Mild and Bitter, tough to do in B.C. unless DIX has their seasonal mild available and you can sneak out of Subeez with a half of Crannog Page 10
bitter. Not many North American brewers use those UK terms. As I remember, there was no distinctive name for that combination. It was typically called, eponymously, “mild and bitter.” Another popular mix in the UK was “old and bitter,” otherwise known as ‘a mother-in-law.’ Porter is said to have been originally invented as a beer brewed to replicate the flavour of a blend called three threads which was supposedly dark ale, pale ale and stale ale. That is why some brewers deliberately try to give their porters a little acetic edge. It seems more likely the combination was mild ale, pale ale and old ale. Pale ale was the colour of a UK bitter, only pale by comparison to mild or old ale.
Black & Tan (a safe one)
Furthermore, old ale was not beer that had been hanging around a while, but beer brewed in the old style: dark because it was impossible to kiln malt accurately without burning a few grains, strong because all beers were stronger before wartime regulations and sweet because the yeast strains were not highly attenuating. King and Barnes old ale is one of the few that are still made in the UK as far as I am aware. Another common combination was a half of What’s Brewing
draft bitter topped up with bottled pale ale from the same brewery; Ramrod and Special was the version in Young’s pubs. I was never entirely clear on this concept since, in many cases, the beer in the bottle was the same product as the beer on draft. Not strictly a beer blend, lager and cider is appropriately known as ‘snakebite.’ To my mind the drink is about as pleasant as its namesake and about as welcome. There may be other well known mixes I can’t bring to mind, but it is time to turn to some more recent ideas and appropriate names. A blend that I have often enjoyed over the past few years is a mixture of two beers from the mystic East; more precisely from Quebec and Nova Scotia. McAuslan’s St Ambroise oatmeal stout can sometimes be aggressively roasty, if you don’t age it a few months, and Propellor ESB softens it beautifully. I call this blend a Black Adder because it is a lot more fun than a snakebite. I have also had occasion to mix Tree Hophead IPA with their Cutthroat pale ale when whatever I am eating has over-pacified my taste buds. Fortunately this has never resulted in a Head Cut. A combination that comes to mind, and therefore must be attempted soon, is Scottish ale and IPA. That would be a Bogus ESB. Recently, there seems to have been a burgeoning of ideas around beer blending among CAMRA Vancouver members. During our summer heat wave, treasurer Rae Collins came up with the combination of pilsner and IPA, which I immediately dubbed a Bitter-Pil. Credit goes to president Rick Green for suggesting the Imperial Black and Tan which is imperial Russian stout with IPA. I recommend the coast to coast version: North Coast’s Rasputin combined with Lost Coast’s Indica. Make that imperial stout and imperial IPA and you would have to call it A Day. Finally, in honour of our two dearly departed members, departed to Halifax that is, I would like to name their blend of Racer 5 IPA and Red Racer IPA an Adam and Gillian after the two IPA lovers. After all, “why would you dilute IPA?” So why not try a few beer blends, whether at the pub or at home. You may come up with one worth sharing through the pages of this highly esteemed publication. § What’s Brewing
... cont. from front page
place is in reaction to the bland, stale state of most nationally-distributed beers. The whole movement is based on producing a beverage of superior quality, which counts for a lot in an era in which people are looking to drink less, but drink better. HEALTH - Health? Yes! Once upon a time, little Yakima Malting & Brewing in Washington State put a Nutritional Information panel on their six-pack carriers. And why did the big, bad FDA make them take it off? Well, between you, me and the Restaurant Report, it was because the Feds didn’t want us to know just how high in complex B vitamins, folican, protein, and potassium the stuff is. How do you think the Paulist monks of Munich survived their Lenten fasts for all those generations? By living off the beer they brewed, that’s how.
FLAVOUR - It’s no secret that there are more flavor profiles in the family of beer than in that of wine. Sweet, dry, sour, tart, grainy, bitter, fruity - it’s all there, and more. Which makes beer not only attractive on its own, but also as a flexible accompaniment to all sorts of food. And as more styles of beer become available, many bars & restaurants are offering flights of beer on tap (small servings of several varieties at a fixed price), which creates a festive atmosphere as well as a conversation piece for your customers. A concept that would have been as unheard of a generation ago as a writstwatch, with an alarm and a stopwatch on it, that is accurate to within one second every year - for $3.00. § Page 11
What’s Happening in BC and around the World
• Friday, Sept. 11 and Saturday, Sept. 12 - Great Canadian Beer Festival (http://www.gcbf.com) Victoria. • Friday, Sept. 25 - Granville Island Brewing Tap Room, Vancouver, B.C. What happened to an Oktoberfest with good beer, gut Buergerliche Essen, and some real oom pah pah? Places will offer some of the three, but we’ll have the lot! Details TBA. • Thursday Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m.- Tour and tasting at Lighthouse Brewing, 2-836 Devonshire Road, Esquimalt Come and have a look at the new bottling line and everything else that has been happening at Esquimalt’s craft brewery. • Saturday, Nov. 14 - CAMRA On a Mission to Mission - CAMRA Vancouver’s annual, members-only bus trip to Mission Springs to celebrate the launch of Timmy Brown’s winter ale.
JOIN US AND GET IN ON THE FUN!
CAMRA BC Membership Application Form
Name: __________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ Ph. _______________ Email: _________________________
Membership year runs Jan 1 – Dec 31 New members joining at the GCBF (Sept) or in the months remaining in a year receive a membership for the balance of the year plus the following year.
Enclosed is my cheque for: Individual $25 ___
Joint $30 ___
Please send your payment to: CAMRA BC Box 30101 Saanich Centre Postal Outlet Victoria, BC, V8X 5E1
Please check:
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My nearest branch is:
Vancouver
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Corporate $60 ___
General
§ Publications Mail Agreement No. 41515024 Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: CAMRABC Box 30101 Saanich Centre Postal Outlet Victoria, BC, V8X 5E1 Page 12
What’s Brewing