B.C. Beer Round-Up
August, 1999by Dave Preston
The local CAMRA chapter took a ferry to find its latest field trip, the field in question being on idyllic Salt Spring Island, home of Gulf Island Brewing. Fitting right into its laid-back environment, GIB lives in a red barn at the top of a well-treed hill, but this is no backwoods moonshine operation.
After a brief tour of the tiny operation - just one fermenter in commercial operation, so only one batch can be brewed every five days - two of the products were tasted. Bureaucracy Bitter was named for the five different levels of government hassle the brewery had to deal with, and was a fine example of its style: delicious floral tones from the Saaz and Mt. Hood aroma hops and lots of bite at the finish. The Pender Island Porter was rich, chocolatey and well balanced.
Two other brews are being crafted here, a light "Golden Ale" and the dark "Whale Tale Ale" made specifically for Moby's, a neighbouring pub.
Another Salt Spring islander, Michael Nichols, is keen to grow hops for GIB at his Seven Ravens Farm where he's currently experimenting with a few bines, tucked behind a windbreak of tall poplar trees.
It's festival time in eastern Canada (those who enjoy the less intense climatic zone of the Pacific coast tend to do the festival thing in the darker months, with maltier brews). I headed out to Montreal once again to take a run at the huge menu they offer at Mondial de la Biere, June 10-19. More than 200 brews from 90 brewers representing around 20 countries make for a marathon sampling session - but ten days is plenty of time to do it all.
Even after ignoring the big guys' stuff, and the bought-out-by-big-guys' stuff, there was a colourful array of traditional and specialty brews. Unibroue still rules the local roost and has a dozen well-made, tasty beers in its portfolio. A couple of new additions, U, a 4.9% Pilsner and U2, a dark Pilsner at 5%, are faring well in the local market, going head to head with Molson in the draught bar arena.
Seigneuriale (now owned by Sleeman) with four great bottle-conditioned ales were a must-visit, and McAuslan, of course, were there with a fine offering, including a new apricot wheat beer, Abricot Blé at 5%, and a cider or apple ale, Cidre Mystique at 4.5%. Both were welcomed by summer tipplers, though the St. Ambroise Noire (stout) is still my favourite.
Brasserie Boreale, in new packaging, also caught my palate but the most memorable glass was poured from Heather Ale Ltd. A Scottish brewery. Their bottled Alba Scotch pine Ale was, indeed, something else. Though I'm not quite sure what.
The Kingston Beer Festival, June 19-20, held in the north corner of Ontario in old Fort Henry, was my next stop for a hot two-day bash. Only a dozen or so breweries but some fine ales and a delicious lager from Creemore Springs. The heat maybe kept away some of the expected crowd, but it certainly brought a huge thirst, but one easily satisfied by the likes of Niagara Falls Brewing with their dry, malty Gritstone bitter.
Hart's Pale Ale was also a refreshing mouthful, clean and well-hopped but still not hoppy enough for this Pacific Northwest fan (I guess because we grow them over here we use a lot more - thank the Lord). The Lakes of Muskoka Brewing Co. had a questionable steam beer but the Cream Ale there was good. Newcomers the Scotch Irish Brewing Co., (who currently rent Hart's brewing system near Ottawa), had an interesting Canadian Pale Ale, using British malt and Target and Goldings hops. One to watch on draught for UK beer fans.
When Spinnakers Brew Pub turned 15 recently, owner Paul Hadfield and his staff were showered with gifts, one of which was a brand new brewer, in a brand new white coat. Matt Phillips, hailing from Wolfville, Nova Scotia, has found a new home in the brewery here on Catherine Street. (Matt replaces Barry Ladell who's gone up-island to Nanaimo to open Longwood Brewing, a brew pub which will be many months in the building.)
Formerly with the Grizzly Paw brew pub, then Whistler and Wildhorse, Matt brings fours years of solid, (or liquid) experience with him.
Is he planning any changes? Well, Spinnakers is certainly not broken and doesn't need fixing, so Matt will keep the same recipes rolling through, but he is adding a few new beers, such as Maibock and an Oktoberfest.
Big River Brewing of Steveston (just south of Vancouver) is all set to send a tributary flowing north. Brewer Vern Lambourne says a new sister brewpub is underway in Kelowna and will be hand-pulling at least three new beers by September. The new place will be called Big River, too. Guess we have lots of them on the wet coast.
Dave Preston
Dave's column is a regular feature of our Northwest edition and we thought our Rocky Mountain readers might like to see how things are going north of the border.
