At least, I hope that's why there's been a bit of a dip in readership. It could be that this is a backlash to my Czechvar diss, which seemed to inflame quite a few passions (I know, I know: I'm an idiot), or maybe the novelty of the Post-it Sou'wester has run its course. I hope not.
Brendan: "Well, I think I'll blog about a beer I like."
The Plain People Of The Internet: "Not good enough. Eat an entire baconjam-smeared honey ham now. Make a top hat out of butter and shoe-polish!"
Brendan: "Uh...actually, that doesn't sound like very much fun..."
The Plain People Of The Internet: "Drink five Singularities! Do a Battle Royale of Drano vs. Clorox! Drink toenail-clipping homebrew!"
Brendan: "Well, I'd really rather not, but..."
The Plain People Of The Internet: "WE DEMAND ENTERTAINMENT!! DANCE, MONKEY!!!"
Brendan: *dancing*
The Plain People Of The Internet: "What a crappy dancer. Let's go download pictures of the Molson Girls instead."
However, I'm choosing to believe that you're all just bored of sunny pictures, and would rather I get down to drinking some good local beer. Well, fine.
One of the things I was really excited to get back and try was Driftwood's Cuvee D'Hiver. I admit it, my French is a little rusty, but I've successfully translated this to mean: "Cuvee D'Hiver." It's a tasty little brew, crisp as anything, and I could really see drinking one after hauling a bloody stupid heavy-looking rake around all day in the Belgian sun. Is Belgium sunny? Well, whatever.
Hey Driftwood! Let's get a cask of this over in Victoria. You've shipped about five of them over to the big smoke, and while it's good to see craft beer making the rounds, let's not forget your loyal supporters down at the Beagle. Trust me guys, you don't want the Plain People riled up.
The other beer I was happy to get home to try is this.
It's another outta-the-park for Howe Sound Brewing, a big fat hoppy Imperial Ale. I love the lolburgers name (it even has "Turn around bright eyes!" in the side comments), but I love the chewy, nutty taste too, especially when you let it warm up a little. The little orange guy expresses it best.
I also have a Rockfish Red, but I'll crack that another day with a fishy-themed post.
Just one more thing here. Driftwood and Howe Sound are great breweries, right? Oh, I'm sorry. According to some random idiot, only one of them rates among the top 10 BC Breweries. Phillips? Nope, not on the list. R&B? No chance. CAMRA Gold-medallist Central City Brewing? Duuurrr, I din't know Surrey wuz in B.C.!
I'm not going to make a top-10 list. Quite frankly, I hate them. Part of the great fun of being a beerthusiast is the sheer variety of stuff there is to choose from. And what would you base the top 10 on? Number of different styles? Overall sales?
If pressed, let me just say that you couldn't put together any proper BC Brewery list without both Howe Sound and Driftwood, and putting Fernie Brewing on a list instead of Phillips or Crannog or Fat Cat or Central City or any number of others makes you a micro-brained, non-beer-drinking hack. And that's no slight against Fernie either. "Try 'em all, big and small" is what I'm saying. Worst case scenario: you'll get an Untappd badge out of it.
I've never even heard of 2 of those breweries, and I have yet to have a cannery brew that was unique enough to stand out.
ReplyDeleteGulf island brewery? New to me.
Also top 10 is too short. Maybe start at 15 and include at least 3 honorable mentions.
Welcome back, Freckles. Hey, I was going to recommend a Battle Royale for you but you already drank one half. Rumour has it that Driftwood used the real Dupont Saison yeast in its Cuvée d'Hiver (and, actually, the brewmaster confirmed it was true) so why not compare the two? I have a bottle of each in my fridge so I will play along at home...
ReplyDeleteVirgil: Cannery's maple stout is pretty interesting.
ReplyDeleteJoe: I'll shanghai the belgian-loving types again.