Vancouver Beer Week
Добавлено: 04 май 2010, 15:58
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/City+b ... story.html
VANCOUVER CRAFT BEER WEEK
Where: Venues across the city
When: May 10 to 16
Event and ticket info:
vancouvercraftbeerweek.com---
B.C. beer drinkers are finally growing up, wanting more and even becoming demanding about it. We can now officially say that we have a beer culture, and Vancouver Craft Beer Week is the evidence.
When I first started going to beer parlours, you could order from across the room by holding up your fingers. A man with a bad comb-over would load up a tray and wend his way through the terry-covered tables and deposit eight or 10 glasses on the table. There was no need to speak -- and usually you didn't -- because there was only one thing on tap.
As much as I miss those nicotine-stained dungeons, I'll have an Extra Special Bitter Ale or a smooth British Mild any day.
These days if you sit down for a beer the taps will run the gamut from sturdy pale ales and ambers to stout and all the way back to hand-crafted lagers, with the vast majority of it made right here in B.C., where formerly Lucky Lager and Old Style ruled the land.
Craft beer is defined by small scale, hand-crafting and distinctive flavour, usually without the use of adjuncts such as corn or rice. (Though some traditional European-style beers do use wheat.)
You'll find them on the specialty beer shelves at the liquor store and at brew pubs and gastro pubs.
Hit one of our ever-more-numerous brew pubs -- the millennial answer to the neighbourhood pub boom of the 1980s -- and you might find yourself in front of a Belgianstyle framboise or a superpotent barley wine. These little breweries are very light on their feet, adjusting to the seasons and experimenting continuously, feeding a growing thirst among the drinking public for new beer experiences.
"A brew pub can get away with putting up a different beer every week if it wants to," said Yaletown Brew Pub brewmaster Ian Hill. Microbreweries serving the bottled beer market, just like their monolithic corporate cousins at Molson and Labatt, have to develop brand consciousness and consistency to move product.
The micros keep things interesting by doing seasonal limited release beers, said Granville Island Brewing brewmaster Vern Lambourne. Granville does about nine limited release beers a year in 750-mL bottles suitable for sharing, not unlike a nice bottle of wine.
And it is exactly that wine-drinking experience and B.C. fine wine ethos that craft brewers are starting to cash in on. Brew pubs and their chefs are matching ales with fine dining in the same way that restaurants pair their wines with particular dishes.
B.C. craft brewers are more than holding their own on the world stage, bringing home a mittful of hardware from the World Beer Cup competing against brewers from 48 countries.
"It's hard to even place in a competition that big," said silver medallist Gary Lohin, brewmaster for Surrey's Central City Brew Pub and the author of many of Sailor Hagar's famous beer recipes.
Add to that a "buy local" consciousness in the marketplace and the stars are aligned for a festival to celebrate B.C.'s maturing beer cultures, said Craft Beer Week co-founder and marketing geek Chris Bjerrisgaard. Bjerrisgaard and eight other beer fans -- including current and former execs with the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) -- have organized a full week of events starting with Hoppapalooza May 10 at the Alibi Room in Gastown, a pub with the most eclectic set of microbrews on tap of any place in the province.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson will tap the first keg to officially declare Craft Beer Week.
Tickets are a slightly steep $49, but for that you will receive a tasting glass and free rein over the taps and the food, within reason of course.
"The beer culture is growing so fast in Vancouver that we really thought it was time to put on a week like they have done down south in Philadelphia and San Francisco, San Diego," said Bjerrisgaard.
Many of the week's events will pair brewers with local chefs and local artisanal foods, such as the Red Truck Beer Dinner at Au Petit Chavignol.
Les Amis du Fromage cheese expert Allison Spurrell and Red Truck Brewmaster Dave Varga will lead a beer-and cheese-tasting followed by an all-beer-inspired menu for a five full courses.
Want to try cooking with beer? The Dirty Apron Cooking School is putting on a one-evening cooking course in which you will learn to cook a gourmet three-course meal incorporating suds from another World Beer Cup medallist, Russell Brewing Co.
If milling around with boisterous beer enthusiasts is more your speed, the BC Beer Awards Tasting Event will showcase the 11 winning beers from the 188 beers submitted for judging. All the beers were blind-judged by certified beer tasters.
For a mere $30 you can try all the top beers at the Heritage Hall on Friday, May 14, snack on beer-friendly munchies and raise a glass to the gold, silver and bronze medallists. If helping brewmasters celebrate excellence sounds like fun, and it does, this could be the premier event of the week. Only 150 tickets will be sold.
Two restaurants will be featuring special beers and menus all week long, for the more casual drop-in crowd. North Vancouver's Taylor's Crossing will offer a series of beer and food pairings designed by brewmaster Varga, while on East 6th at Main, The Whip will feature a special menu paired with beers by the madman of craft brewing, Storm Brewing's James Walton.
rshore@vancouversun.com
SIGNATURE EVENTS
Hoppapalooza
May 10, Alibi Room
Crafting Excellence Five courses by chef Nico Schuerman
May 11, Chambar Restaurant
Upright Crawl
Three courses with three beers at three venues
May 12 and 13, Shebeen, Irish Heather and Salt
B.C. Beer Awards Tasting Night
May 14, Heritage Hall
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/City+b ... z0n0KVU8Ro
VANCOUVER CRAFT BEER WEEK
Where: Venues across the city
When: May 10 to 16
Event and ticket info:
vancouvercraftbeerweek.com---
B.C. beer drinkers are finally growing up, wanting more and even becoming demanding about it. We can now officially say that we have a beer culture, and Vancouver Craft Beer Week is the evidence.
When I first started going to beer parlours, you could order from across the room by holding up your fingers. A man with a bad comb-over would load up a tray and wend his way through the terry-covered tables and deposit eight or 10 glasses on the table. There was no need to speak -- and usually you didn't -- because there was only one thing on tap.
As much as I miss those nicotine-stained dungeons, I'll have an Extra Special Bitter Ale or a smooth British Mild any day.
These days if you sit down for a beer the taps will run the gamut from sturdy pale ales and ambers to stout and all the way back to hand-crafted lagers, with the vast majority of it made right here in B.C., where formerly Lucky Lager and Old Style ruled the land.
Craft beer is defined by small scale, hand-crafting and distinctive flavour, usually without the use of adjuncts such as corn or rice. (Though some traditional European-style beers do use wheat.)
You'll find them on the specialty beer shelves at the liquor store and at brew pubs and gastro pubs.
Hit one of our ever-more-numerous brew pubs -- the millennial answer to the neighbourhood pub boom of the 1980s -- and you might find yourself in front of a Belgianstyle framboise or a superpotent barley wine. These little breweries are very light on their feet, adjusting to the seasons and experimenting continuously, feeding a growing thirst among the drinking public for new beer experiences.
"A brew pub can get away with putting up a different beer every week if it wants to," said Yaletown Brew Pub brewmaster Ian Hill. Microbreweries serving the bottled beer market, just like their monolithic corporate cousins at Molson and Labatt, have to develop brand consciousness and consistency to move product.
The micros keep things interesting by doing seasonal limited release beers, said Granville Island Brewing brewmaster Vern Lambourne. Granville does about nine limited release beers a year in 750-mL bottles suitable for sharing, not unlike a nice bottle of wine.
And it is exactly that wine-drinking experience and B.C. fine wine ethos that craft brewers are starting to cash in on. Brew pubs and their chefs are matching ales with fine dining in the same way that restaurants pair their wines with particular dishes.
B.C. craft brewers are more than holding their own on the world stage, bringing home a mittful of hardware from the World Beer Cup competing against brewers from 48 countries.
"It's hard to even place in a competition that big," said silver medallist Gary Lohin, brewmaster for Surrey's Central City Brew Pub and the author of many of Sailor Hagar's famous beer recipes.
Add to that a "buy local" consciousness in the marketplace and the stars are aligned for a festival to celebrate B.C.'s maturing beer cultures, said Craft Beer Week co-founder and marketing geek Chris Bjerrisgaard. Bjerrisgaard and eight other beer fans -- including current and former execs with the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) -- have organized a full week of events starting with Hoppapalooza May 10 at the Alibi Room in Gastown, a pub with the most eclectic set of microbrews on tap of any place in the province.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson will tap the first keg to officially declare Craft Beer Week.
Tickets are a slightly steep $49, but for that you will receive a tasting glass and free rein over the taps and the food, within reason of course.
"The beer culture is growing so fast in Vancouver that we really thought it was time to put on a week like they have done down south in Philadelphia and San Francisco, San Diego," said Bjerrisgaard.
Many of the week's events will pair brewers with local chefs and local artisanal foods, such as the Red Truck Beer Dinner at Au Petit Chavignol.
Les Amis du Fromage cheese expert Allison Spurrell and Red Truck Brewmaster Dave Varga will lead a beer-and cheese-tasting followed by an all-beer-inspired menu for a five full courses.
Want to try cooking with beer? The Dirty Apron Cooking School is putting on a one-evening cooking course in which you will learn to cook a gourmet three-course meal incorporating suds from another World Beer Cup medallist, Russell Brewing Co.
If milling around with boisterous beer enthusiasts is more your speed, the BC Beer Awards Tasting Event will showcase the 11 winning beers from the 188 beers submitted for judging. All the beers were blind-judged by certified beer tasters.
For a mere $30 you can try all the top beers at the Heritage Hall on Friday, May 14, snack on beer-friendly munchies and raise a glass to the gold, silver and bronze medallists. If helping brewmasters celebrate excellence sounds like fun, and it does, this could be the premier event of the week. Only 150 tickets will be sold.
Two restaurants will be featuring special beers and menus all week long, for the more casual drop-in crowd. North Vancouver's Taylor's Crossing will offer a series of beer and food pairings designed by brewmaster Varga, while on East 6th at Main, The Whip will feature a special menu paired with beers by the madman of craft brewing, Storm Brewing's James Walton.
rshore@vancouversun.com
SIGNATURE EVENTS
Hoppapalooza
May 10, Alibi Room
Crafting Excellence Five courses by chef Nico Schuerman
May 11, Chambar Restaurant
Upright Crawl
Three courses with three beers at three venues
May 12 and 13, Shebeen, Irish Heather and Salt
B.C. Beer Awards Tasting Night
May 14, Heritage Hall
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/City+b ... z0n0KVU8Ro