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Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! 🍀
With the sun starting to peak from behind the clouds a bit more, it’s time to start thinking about patio season. Black Kettle’s getting ready for it with a new biergarten. Steel & Oak’s two patios and garden bar have been permanently approved. With today’s expected high of 11°C and bright☀️, a patio might be the only way to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day.
In today’s issue we:
Share 21 new beers including a couple Irish Red Ales and a bunch of new sours
Tally your votes your excitement levels for a new brewing district in Burnaby
Ask how you’ll cope with a hike in beer taxes
Share a whole lot of Saint Patrick’s Day events and deals.
Enjoy a classic NEIPA
Enjoy the weekend!
— Joseph Lavoie
FEATURED NEW BEER RELEASE
Prátaí Feirm Irish Ale
@barnsidebrewing/Instagram
This weeks’s featured beer wins novelty points even if we have no clue how to pronounce it. Barnside Brewing brewed Prátaí Feirm Irish Ale to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day. It’s the brewery’s take on a traditional Irish Red Ale. But this ain’t any ‘ol Irish Red Ale.
This one was open fermented over Nugget and Russet potatoes and brewed with Barnside’s own Pilsner malt. It features “a moderate caramel maltiness, toasted notes, and slight earthiness from the skins of the potatoes.” It promises to be incredibly smooth, especially with the nitro pour.
Available: starting at 11am today, in the taproom.
Lagers
White Sails’ Nine Peaks Pilsner draws inspiration from the crisp, pristine glacier lakes hidden away in the mountain ranges of Strathcona Park.
Ales
North Point is also marking St. Patty’s Day with an Irish Red Ale. This malty treat was hopped with Chinook.
Ravens Brewing’s new Blonde Ale is dry hopped, sporting a light malt body balanced with a hint of citrus.
Field House collaborated with Brassneck on a 3.8% table beer fermented with a thiolized yeast strain to bring out fruity aromatics of guava, lime, passion fruit, and citrus.
IPAs
The KPU Brew Lab’s latest signature series, brewed by two second-year Brewing & Brewery Operations Diploma students is a sessionable IPA that was cold-fermented with Voss Kveik yeast.
Old Abbey Ales has a new White IPA with hints of pineapple, citrus, and melon.
Rewind also has a new White IPA featuring notes of tangerine and coriander in a bright hazy body.
Luppolo’s new IPA is a Cold IPA made with a healthy dose of Amarillo, Talus, and Mosaic hops.
Beacon Brewing sought to make an incredibly juicy IPA. The result is a lot of pineapple, mango and citrus note.
Stouts
Dageraad has released a bourbon barrel-aged version of Vast Indifference, with cocoa nibs added.
Beach Fire Brewing is pouring a Whisky Oaked Irish Stout for St. Paddy's day.
Sours
Small Gods has another fresh sour this week. This one is loaded with pineapple, orange, and mango.
Steel & Oak has a new Berliner Weisse available in the tap room.
Dageraad’s Entropy No.29 is a nectarine sour, barrel-aged with Okanagan nectarines.
If you’re looking to make it a double, Dageraad also released Entropy No. 28 this week called Balafon Cacao Sour. It was made with BC cherries and bittersweet cacao nibs.
Foamer’s Folly dropped a blood orange Gose this week, “balanced by the addition of sweet citrusy blood orange, subtle coriander, and pink sea salt.
Field House has teamed up with Banter Ice Cream again to make a lemon curd sour ale that features fresh lemon zest and lactose for a creamy sweetness.
Backcountry has brought back a fuzzy peach sour, and yes, it was conditioned on “a stupid amount of fuzzy peach gummies.”
Farm Country newest kettle sour is a strawberry rhubarb treat and comes in at a light 4%.
HUBco’s new OMG WOW Sour was brewed with loads of apricots, and features subtle herbal notes and a strong apricot finish.
🎧️ PODCAST
In case you missed it
We take a trip to Toronto with our latest episode to geek out with Brandon Judd, Head Brewer at one of my favourite breweries. Brandon covers:
How many of his early beers didn’t sell well and how he had to adapt
Why he left his first brewing job to study abroad
The joys of subtle and wood-aged beers
The ideal beer tasting experience at Avling
You can listen and subscribe here. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Episode three drops next week.
PROPOSED BREWING DISTRICT
Last week we asked you if the idea of another brewing district (this time in Burnaby) excited you.
How excited are you about a possible brewing district in Burnaby?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 (80%) 🔥 On fire. Can’t wait to get my step count in on a brewery crawl
🟩 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ (6%) 🥒 Cool as a cucumber Gose.
🟩 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ (13%) 🙅 Nothing beats the original Brewers’ Row
Your perspective:
C.B: “Im totally stoked for this, mostly because I grew up/ live in that area, and can walk to Studio Brewing from my house! This would be awesome!!
ANOTHER BEER TAX HIKE
By now, you’ve probably heard about the federal excise tax on alcohol. If you haven’t you can get a primer here from CBC News.
The short version is this: every year, taxes on beer go up automatically. That’s right, automatically. No vote, no legislative review, just a calendar change and bam, higher taxes.
This year, the tax is going up by 6.3% on April 1, which is no joke. If we’re all lucky, the March 28 federal budget will claw back this tax hike. But, I’m not holding my breath.
Which has me wondering….
Saint Patrick’s Day Lineup
@beacon.brewing/Instagram
🍀 Beacon Brewing is marking the occasion with two small-batch releases, green beer, a Mexican food truck, and live music.
🍀Fuggles has $5 Lucky Alien Lager all day.
🍀Streetcar has $20 pitchers of green lager.
🍀$2 off all flagship pints at Bomber Brewing.
🍀3 Dogs has green beer, Guiness for the day, Irish whiskey and Irish dancers at 2pm.
🍀North Point is hosting a St. Paddy’s Day Party with Irish coffees starting at noon and bagpipers at some point.
🍀R&B has a mocha stout release and Luck of the Pie’rish pizza.
🍀Five Roads has comedy starting at 730pm, all-day happy hour $1 off pints, some Irish beers, a nitro stout float, and Shepard’s Pie made with beef braised in the their Schwarzbier.
🍀Parallel 49 is also putting on a party with happy hour from 2-5pm and a live DJ at 830pm.
🍀Dead Frog has $1 off dark beer flights and an imperial stout on nitro.
🍀Farmhouse Brewing’s hosting a yoga session at 10am before 11am beers.
Plus, way more. This list could go on forever. If you’re wondering if your favourite brewery is doing something for St. Patrick’s Day, chances are, they probably are. Get out there and enjoy it!
Also happening this weekend
🎚️ Beats, beers, burritos…it’s Frequency Fridays at Russell Brewing, 7-9pm.
🎸 Red Truck has live music Friday and Saturday from 730-9pm.
🐶 Fuggles is putting on the Return of the Puppy on Sunday. The brewery is teaming up with animal rescue Endless Pawsabilities to bring cuddly, adoptable puppies to the brewery. Starting at noon, $1 from all pints sold will support the non-profit.
🎶 Deadfrog has live music every Sunday from 230-6pm.
🪕 Smuggler’s Trail also has live music this Sunday, 3-6pm.
🎤 Open Mic Sundays at Container Brewing. Grab a beer, get on the mic, bring your fans. Sign-up is at 6pm, mic opens at 7pm.
Upcoming Events
NEW! 👩👩👦👦 Patina Brewing has a $65 Family Meal deal on for all of March Beak, available 3-6pm.
📚️ Small Gods is also hosting a book swap on March 20 from 6-8pm. Meet other book lovers and get a chance to trade books with a new friend.
💥 Small Gods is taking over the taps at The Butcher and Bullock on March 22. The takeover gives those of us on this side of the Straight to try Small Gods’ beers, including a new lager that will get released for the event.
NEW! 🎸 Nashville Nights makes its return to Farm Country on March 30th, featuring live music in the tasting room and proceeds from ticket sales going directly to the artists.
🌭 KPU Langley Campus is hosting Food Truck Wars, with 45+ Food Trucks, a beer garden, and live entertainment from March 31-April 2.
🤣 Five Roads Brewing is hosting comedian Ed Hill on April 15. Tickets $23.
🎪 Kelowna Beer Fest will feature 30+ breweries on May 13, 1-7pm.
🎪 Brewhalla is back in Fort Langley on Saturday, May 20th for the 6th annual craft beer and music festival.
🤯 Trivia Nights
Every Monday at Smuggler's Trail in Langley
Every Tuesday at Old Yale in Chilliwack
Every Tuesday at Farm Country in Langley
Every Wednesday at Moody Ales in Port Moody
Every Thursday at 3 Dogs Brewing in White Rock, it’s music trivia.
Every Thursday at Small Gods is full deck games night.
Container hosts game night on the first and third Tuesday of every month.
🏃♀️ Run Clubs
Steel & Oak hosts a run club every Wednesday night. Run 3km or 5km to earn that beer!
Small Gods invites you to join the Small Gods Production Team every Tuesday evening. Meet at the brewery at 6pm, run around Sidney and return at 7pm to enjoy $1 off the latest beer release.
GAMES
Our crossword returns this week. You’ll need to pay attention to this week’s release list to guess the answers.
Backcountry Widowmaker
The Beer Shack in White Rock had this on tap the very same week that it was featured in our latest mix-pack series. Cole Staughton told us that it is one of his go-to beers. I figured it must have been a sign, so I took a break from my current kick of British-inspired ales to enjoy a hoppy treat.
It pours a beautiful orange colour with a wall of haze. As soon as you put the glass up to your nose, you get loads and loads of fresh tropical fruit aromas. The body is incredibly smooth with a tropical cocktail up front and a light bitterness in the back. It is dangerously good with loads of tropical fruit flavours to keep you coming back for another sip. A beautiful East Coaster.
BREWERY OPENING
I’m impressed at how quickly Old Yale Brewing built its Abbotsford location. It looks like the tap room is nearly ready.
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