craft beer

Alberta beer sampling

/ Greg / 1 Comment

With the move from Halifax to Saskatoon and all that entailed, this has been a year of shorter trips and vacations. One of those was a July road trip to Edmonton to see the Tragically Hip play on their last tour. Like all my trips this year, and owing to Saskatchewan’s limited selection of craft beer, I managed to find a way to sneak in some sampling and tastings over a couple of days in Edmonton.

On the afternoon before the Hip show, I noticed an interesting beer and wine store in the downtown and grabbed these two to put on ice back at the hotel. The Blindman Session ale was very tasty post-concert. I should have been smarter and grabbed more to bring back home.

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Beer tastings in Regina

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A quick two day trip to Regina to take in my first ever Roughriders game allowed just enough time to squeeze in a few craft beer tastings as I continue to explore Saskatchewan and western Canadian beers that I hadn’t been able to sample while living in Halifax. Beer Brothers, a beer-focused bar in downtown Regina, was the stop following an after work drive into the city from Saskatoon on a Friday afternoon. While my wife ordered from a reasonable selection of gluten-free options on their menu, I went to work trying a couple of beers. On the left, I started with three small samples and was especially impressed with the Rebellion margarita gose (lime, slightly salty and sour, a wonderful summer beer) and their double black IPA.  I’ve become quite the Rebellion fan since moving out here, and selected a pint of their regular IPA, now one of my go-to beers, for my meal.

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Summer beers in Quebec City

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My recent trip to Quebec City didn’t have a lot of time for sightseeing and exploring, but I did manage to squeeze in some craft beer samplings around the work and networking that goes hand in hand with a conference trip. Shortly after arriving in one of the most beautiful cities in Canada, I was in need of a quick lunch, and the craft beer bar Le Projet was a short walk from my hotel. The delicious Horreum Beta, a session saison from Microbrasserie Pit Caribou, was a wonderful match for a truly outstanding poutine. Solid start to the trip.

Le Projet: Horreum Beta by Pit Caribou

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Craft beer sampling in Montreal

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Since I moved to Saskatchewan, I have realized that I have moved to a place that is a little behind other parts of Canada in the craft beer revolution. In a couple of months in my new province, I have sampled most of the craft beers available. So, on my recent trips, I’m making sure to get my craft beer experimentation in before stepping on the plane to come back home. In Montreal for a few days back in April, I managed to find a few new favourites.

On an afternoon with a couple of free hours, I made a stop at Dieu du Ciel and fell in love with their bar. It would be a routine hangout location for me if I lived in Montreal. Of my time in the city, two of the best beers I tried were from this sampling selection: the Aphrodisiaque/Aphrodite stout (second from the left) and the Rigor Mortis Blonde (on the far right). Also not too shabby was the Blanche Van de Plateau (second from the right).  All in all, a great tasting experience.

Flight at Dieu du Ciel!

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First days in the new hometown

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I stepped off the plane in Saskatoon a little over a week ago, dragged two full suitcases to a taxi, and about fifteen minutes later (the proximity of the airport to downtown is a major plus compared to Halifax!) I was in my temporary apartment and unpacking.  My first days included the mundane details of setting up a life in a new city, but I also set aside a fair chunk of time for some exploring before I started my new job.

First things first – Saskatoon is a very picturesque city.  Those trails along the river will be seeing a lot of me:

Saskatoon skyline

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Searching out craft beer in Spain

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Spain and craft beer.  Not two concepts that you’d immediately place together.  In tapas bars in Madrid and Seville, there would always be one tap, and ordering a beer meant having whatever brand was flowing.  Not that this was a bad thing.  The beer was always ice cold, and while eating salty olives, perfectly sliced ham, or any of the other culinary staples in Spain, it made for a great pairing.   Thirsting for something a little different, over two weeks in Spain, I had a few opportunities to dig a little deeper for a beer culture that is emerging, if still at the fringes.

Thanks to an article by the wonderful travel blog, Bite-Sized Travel (written by a fellow Haligonian!) I was inspired to chart a course of a few craft beer locations and beers in Madrid, Seville and Cordoba.   My first stop was Fábrica Maravillas, less than a 5 minute walk north from the Gran Via metro.  It’s a brewery in the back, small pub in the front kind of place.  I tried two of their beers – the Malasaña (left; named after the neighbourhood in which the brewery is located; a well-balanced American-style piney IPA) and a bitter (right; light and easy drinking).  This was also the start of my love affair with the plump, salty olives of Spain.   The only thing missing from this visit was the pub’s resident pug, who, if he was around, may have enticed me to stay for a third or fourth beer.

Afternoon drinks at Fabrica Maravillas

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Texas craft beers and bars

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One week in Texas, split between Houston and Austin, gave me plenty of opportunities to sample a number of craft beers from the state.  The refreshment of the beverages (and the air conditioning in the bars) was much needed as the temperatures were pushing into the 30s the entire trip.  Here are a few of the beers I got to try and a couple of the craft beer bars I visited in Houston and Austin:

Mongoose Versus Cobra – Houston

On the way back from a Sunday afternoon Houston Texans game, I got off the train a couple of stops early so I could pop into Mongoose Versus Cobra.    This was my kind of bar – very laid back and mellow.  Here I tried two Texas beers – on the left, an Uncle Billy’s Lazy Day Lager, and on the right, a Buffalo Bayou 1836.  I liked the 1836 the best with its malty taste and dry finish.  It was unique and reminded me of a cross between a British bitters ale and an American pale ale.  I couldn’t resist perhaps the perfect beer snack of chicharrón with chile sauce, salt and lime.

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Mmmmm, San Diego beer

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Full disclosure – I’ve starting writing this piece about the wonderful craft beer I had an  opportunity to sample in San Diego while sitting at my “home” craft beer bar in Halifax.  It’s a case of Nova Scotia craft beer fuelling some writing about beer.

Whenever I visit a new place, that city’s craft beer breweries and bars jump to the top of the must visit list for me.  In San Diego, seven days would be nowhere near enough time to sample all I wanted to, especially considering some of this trip was work related and needed my full attention.   After enjoying a Karl Strauss mosaic ale at a Padres game (my opinion: that might be the perfect ballgame beer), I visited their brewery just a few blocks from my hotel to try some of their other brews.   Of the four samples, I really enjoyed the slightly spicy Windansea Wheat and one of their iconic beers, the Red Trolley Ale:

Karl Strauss beer tasting

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A Vancouver craft beer crawl

/ Greg / 1 Comment

One of the significant advantages of visiting a city for the second time is that it affords you plenty of time to dig into it much deeper.  For my most recent visit to Vancouver, one of the things I wanted to explore was the thriving craft beer community on the west coast.   On my previous trip there a few years back, I had a quick taste of west coast craft beer on a night at the Alibi Room.   On this visit, although I had more in depth explorations planned, I found myself back at the Alibi for a couple of sampler trays and a delicious bison cheese steak.   My favourite beers?  In the first sampler tray (photo on the left), the Brassneck Staircase wit (beer on the far right) and the Four Winds pale ale (beer on the far left) were outstanding.  In the second sampler (photo on the right), the Red Truck lager (left most beer) was a wonderful easy drinking sessional.  Another Brassneck beer, the white IPA (second from right), was truly exceptional – a piney, citrusy mashup of a west coast IPA and wit.   My multi-day Vancouver beer crawl was off to a great start.

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Nashville craft beer

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Every North American city I’ve been to over the past few years has a vibrant and growing craft beer scene.  As part my pre-trip planning, I look for a craft beer bar or two and create a list of beers I hope to try when visiting a city.   For this recent trip to Nashville, a small craft beer bar in the Gulch neighbourhood, Hops + Crafts, came very highly recommended.

Early afternoon on my last day in the city, after filling up on a wonderful pulled pork sandwich from the Peg Leg Porker just around the corner, I arrived at Hops + Crafts just as it was opening.  Not sure if it’s a good or bad sign when you’re the first person in the bar for the day.   But when you catch a look at a set of taps like this, any guilt is gone.  After all, this was a small sliver of vacation time for me…

Taps at Hops + Crafts

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