The Blog Concept:
We are a group of like-minded individuals with a passion for craft beer located in the Vancouver, BC area. We will not be bought, bribed, or blackmailed into skewing results to favour one particular brewery - our opinions are completely our own. This blog is a sounding board for us to debate, sample, and contemplate all things that are beer. We are here to help encourage growth of craft beer knowledge within our province, so whether you follow us religiously or take us with a grain of salt, know that we are here to stay.
As our tasting map grows, showcasing where and what we've tried, we welcome suggestions from others who wish to see the opinions we might have on their favorite or most hated brew.
The Process:
- Before each meeting, we will exchange pictures of our weekly beer choice through a WhatsApp group to avoid duplication.
- At the start of each meeting we will begin with introductions of our beer, listing all pertinent information on the brewery such as where it is from, what type of beer it is and what they are trying to elicit from initial and after-tastes.
- We will dedicate at least an hour of our time to tasting, appraising and discussing everything to do with beer.
- Each rating will be given out of five and cannot be changed after the fact.
Week 1 - Trial and Beerror.
Kyle's Pick - Brewery & Beer #1 - This beer is called the Keller Pilsner from the Persephone Brewing Company in Gibsons, BC. It is one of their seasonal beers that they claim is, "A crisp refreshing unfiltered lager with a bright, floral hop aroma. Very light in colour and body. The slight bready malt flavour is balanced with a firm bitterness and spicy flavour from a massive amount of Czech Saaz hops."
Aethestically, the bottle has very little information on it and gives nothing of the aforementioned details for us to gauge before buying. It is a fluke that I was recommended this, or I likely wouldn't have given it a second thought. Sadly, it turned out to be exactly what would be assumed by the bottle. It's simple, smooth, crisp and easy to drink, but it lacks in the full body and uniqueness that a craft beer offers. It was given an average score of 2.6/5.
Kyle's opinion on this beer, "The best intro beer for someone who doesn't normally drink beer."
Brewery & Beer #2 - Mike's Pick - Brewery & Beer #3 -This beer is called the Hoyner Pilsner from Hoyne Brewing Company in Victoria, BC. It is available all year round and the intent is to replicate a German Pilsner through Germany sourced hops and malts.
The bottle looks appealing and has the signature "Colour, Hops and Malt Scale," found on all Hoyne products, which makes selecting what you want quite simplified. Our highest rated beer of the week, we found it very pleasant for casual drinking, but with enough of a body to fulfill our craft beer needs. It was given an average score of 3.5/5.
Mike's Opinion of this beer, "A lighter beer that you could sit back and enjoy all night. Das ist ein gutes bier!"
Brewery & Beer #3 - Tim's Picks - This beer is called the Banana Hammock from Parallel 49 out of Vancouver, BC. Parallel describes this beer as, "German-style wheat beer with notes of cloves and banana-like esters which make it very good. We swear." Their website is under construction and unfortunately this leaves us lacking on the details on where they position it in their product line-up.
This bottle is modern with an entertaining caricature, a cheesy joke, QR code and links to all of their social media sources. It was a unique summer hefeweizen that went down smooth and left us with their aforementioned promise of a banana aftertaste. It was given an average score of 3.3/5.
Tim's opinion on this beer, "I was a little cautious getting out the Banana Hammock, but this hefe sits nicely in your throat."
Brewery & Beer #4 - Matt's Pick - This beer is called Fat Tug from the Driftwood Brewery out of Victoria, BC. Driftwood bottle describes this as, "With an extreme power to tonnage ratio, this behemoth delivers a barge load of hops. This unassuming 22 ounce bottle packs 80 IBUs of unrelenting diesel power! Let this Fat Tug pull you in slow and low to Hoppy Nirvana..."
The bottle has all of the details one would expect from a craft beer bottle and its truly unique flavour is an acquired taste. Although Matt gave it is a 3.9, the average score ended up at 2.8/5.
Matt's opinion on this beer, "Everyone needs a fat tug now and then, it awakens the taste buds."
Council's Verdict
| Council Member | Keller Pilsner | Hoyner Pilsner | Banana Hammock | Fat Tug |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Kyle
|
2.7
|
3.8
|
3.1
|
2.5
|
Tim
|
2.5
|
3.5
|
3.7
|
2.2
|
Mike
|
2.6
|
3.7
|
3.5
|
2.4
|
Matt
|
2.5
|
2.8
|
3.0
|
3.9
|
Average Rating
|
2.6
|
3.5
|
3.3
|
2.8
|
Sources:
Persephone Brewing Company - http://www.persephonebrewing.com/
Hoyne Brewing Company - http://hoynebrewing.ca/
Parallel 49 Brewing - http://parallel49brewing.com/
Driftwood Brewing Company - http://driftwoodbeer.com/
