Recently, we paid a visit to The Dockside Brewery located in Beautiful Granville Island in Vancouver. There we were treated to an amazing selection of craft beers that are sure to appeal to a wide variety of taste preferences. The Dockside not only features a solid rotating selection of quality craft beer on tap. Patrons can also enjoy some excellent food from the restaurant menu with their Beers. But now, let’s get into the beers!
Surrounded by the Dockside Brewing’s invitingly warm decor, we enjoyed tasting a featured selection of five different craft beers. Each beer has its own unique flavouring and qualities, and they were all delicious. The wide range of craft beer options found at the Dockside Restaurant ensures there is something for every visitor to enjoy, no matter what their taste preferences happen to be.
First up is the easy drinking Marina Light Lager. A German Helles-inspired light lager made with Saaz and Huell Melon hops. This beautiful golden lager will likely appeal to most beer drinkers thanks to its familiar light flavour and smooth, crisp finish. Inspired by the traditional Helles recipe native to Southern Germany, the Marina Light Lager is an excellent option for people who aren’t looking for strong flavours in their beer.
Next we enjoyed a delightful sour ale that featured flavours as playful as the beer’s name. The Mango Wango Peachy Tango wild sour wheat ale (say that five times fast) is a brightly coloured sour ale that features an excellent blend of distinct, refreshing fruit flavours. This beer is one of the best sour ales we’ve tried all year, and the flavourful notes of fruits like peach, watermelon, mango, pineapple and strawberry will take you back to the sunniest days of summer even as you look out the window and see cool fall weather approaching.
For a brewery known for their pale ales, the selection at the Dockside Brewery certainly does not disappoint. The first pale ale in our selection is the Cartwright Pale Ale. As far as pale ale’s and their distinct, hoppy flavours go, this beer is definitely one of the most approachable options on tap. Made with Amarillo and Vic Secret hops from Australia, the Cartwright Pale Ale blends the distinct pale ale flavour with a light, easy drinking finish.
For those looking for more hop flavour in their beer, Dockside’s Tight Squeeze West Coast IPA provides the perfect balance of hop aromas followed by a crisp finish that enhances the unique flavours of this beer. With its lighter golden colour, the appearance of this beer can be deceiving, until you taste the explosive hop flavours that most West Coast IPAs are known for.
The final beer in our selection from Dockside Brewery happened to be a seasonal beer that featured a true autumn flavour in the Pumpkin Pie Ale. This seasonal ale is part of a small batch release that gets featured on Fridays at the Dockside Brewery. This light coloured ale is specially flavoured to feature a baking spice aroma that is reminiscent of a freshly baked pumpkin pie. Perfect for the season, this ale can be enjoyed for a short time at Dockside Brewery, so be sure to pay them a visit before its all gone!
Special shoutout to @Dangerdan_yvr for these great pics, for more great craft beer photos and updates be sure to checkout his page!
Want to try them? Head over to this post below to enter out Giveaway!
Craft Beer Market has breweries in Portland, Edmonton, Ottawa, and Vancouver. We were invited to Craft Beer Market Vancouver, for a food and beer tasting and boy was it good!
Not only does the Vancouver Brewery have an old school farm-house vibe, but it also shows it in the restaurant design! With their open concept room, vaulted ceilings and wooden tables, it comes together nicely to create a great atmosphere to have casual drinks with friends or for large group events. If you look up, you’ll even see their beer lines that flow beer daily to their taps!
As we end the fruity beer season that Summer brought, we look forward to what Fall introduces… When we think Fall, we think of Fall colours, leaves that go from green to red, orange pumpkins, Thanksgiving and having cozy times with the family. This is how we selected Octobers Beer of the month
The Charcoal Porter by Coal Harbour Brewing based out of East Vancouver is an easy-drinking porter brewed with activated charcoal. It’s light-bodied and has a nice roast, and chocolate-like notes, with a deep dark hue from the charcoal. Some say they get a hint of smoke to it too!
The alcohol content is 5.2% and one thing to note is this porter is on the lighter body side when compared to other porters. It is quite tasty and a great brew to sip on as the weather dips into the single-digits.
You can view our Instagram post to see all our food and drink pics! They even gave away $75 in Gift Certificates!
If you own a brewery or food establishment and would like us to do a tasting, please reach out through one of our partner accounts including @VancityEats and @MainMenus.
It’s back to school month and what better way to celebrate than to offer a Back To School Gift Cooler with an assortment of goodies!
After learning that Cariboo Brewing actually brews the small-batch Pacific Pilsner we wanted to do a tasting with them and boy were we happy!
As summer winds down, we slowly take a break from the fruit-forward tasting beers and move towards more of a comfort beer. The Pac Pil, as they call it @ Pacific Western Brewing, an ISO-certified, all-malt recipe. Using our BC spring water, its an essential piece of the puzzle to a great Pilsner brew.
True to Czech style beers this pilsner is crisp to taste, golden to the eye and has a good malt character to it. You can even find a touch of hop with its aroma and dry finish.
TASTING NOTES (from pwbrewing.net)
Our Pacific Pilsner features the tart, delicate flavour of quality Canadian malt perfectly balanced bitterness with Saaz hops. With just a hint of citrus.
Standard Can Volume: 355ml
Alcohol: 5%
Calories: 140
And now… For The Giveaway!
We’re giving away a Cariboo cooler, a snapback hat, beer mug, bottle opener, bottle holder and a 6 pack of the beer of the month!
To Enter, please visit our Instagram page for rules contest rules.
On our trip out to Vernon, we were invited to Martin Brewing Co. Voted one of BC’s TOP 10 Tasting Rooms they are a Craft Beer Micro-Brewery Bar & Grill. Marten Brewing Co. is a Craft Beer Micro-Brewery Bar & Grill and growing roots in the heart of downtown Vernon BC growing it’s roots in the heart of downtown Vernon BC.
The brewery is located at the corner of 3oth & 30th. We were able to meet the owners and get a tour of their gorgeous facility. Stephan and Pearl took on a huge challange when they started to renovate this building, but their finished product couldn’t of turned out more nicer!
There is seating about 200 people and its sectioned off onto two levels. The open concept upstairs overlooks the brewery in the middle of the room. They wanted to beer vats to be the focal point in the brewery and they’ve achieved this.
The food, which is also excellent, featuring a barbecue theme refined by the Naked Pig’s which is next door to them. This couple is not only passionate about the industry, but they are also producing some really good beer and kombucha.
This months BOTM goes to the: BC BUD IPA
You get orange and grapefruit notes with an earthy, herbal aroma. It’s well-balanced with medium malt-ness to it!
6.0% ABV, 50 IBU
If you like IPAs you’ll want to taste this!
The brewery is brand new you and the best part is they’ve sourced out all of the lumber throughout the bar and rooms from local mills and railroad tracks. They cleaned up and fabricated themselves. From the tabletops to the fixtures and tabletop this is everything custom-made by the owner.
We love the gravity-fed brewery which at the moment being Taken over by there Kombucha Which is increasingly popular in Vancouver at Metro area. They have an amazing room with a pool table, foosball table, massive Jenga blocks and the Decour is it perfect throughout.
For food, we enjoyed the Badass Brisket Philly and Boss Crispy Chicken burger. We couldn’t decide on sides so they offered both fries and half salad which came with a light vinaigrette dressing with goat cheese.
Both sandwiches had great flavor and were made fresh. You can tell by the flavor profile that the food was fresh and not frozen
Along with friendly staff and great food, this is a place you want to check out when visiting Vernon or just passing through!
This month we’re invited to Parallel 49’s Tasting Room to try their latest beer…
When you enter, you’re greeted with 20 beers on tap and a menu board that looks like a train station flip board! To the left, is a row of beer coolers stacked with an amazing selection of their latest craft beer. Look to the right, you can enter their Street Kitchen.
As a follow up to our June post, we continue into summer to enjoy the freshness of these new fruit-forward beers! This months beer of the month is the;
This limited release beer is a light, clean, crisp, and lightly Sour Ale produces a light fragrant guava aroma and accentuated flavor. Bringing out a tropical touch and finishing with and finishing with a crisp, effervescent, tart bite.
It is 4.7-4.8% alcohol in a tall can, and when you hear ‘sour’ you may automatically remember the taste of eating sour keys as a kid (or an adult ?), but you’ll be surprised how delicious this is! It has a light sourness to it, enough to enjoy more than 1!
If you haven’t visited Parallel 49’s Tasting Room or Beer Store, then you haven’t seen their food truck that is actually inside the building! It’s quite the setup and I highly recommend you try it out. If you’re looking for a casual event for a date or a boys/girls night out, this is a must!
I had an opportunity to stop by the Big Rick Urban-Vancouver Brewery recently, to see what the Eatery has been up to since my last visit. Conveniently located between the Canada Line Olympic Village Skytrain station, and the 99B Line bus on Broadway Street, Big Rock Urban provides a beer-inspired menu and a variety of beverages with a sessional focus.
Beer of the Month
As the summer season approaches, the beer style that I tend to gravitate towards is refreshing, easy on the palate, and food pairing-friendly. Big Rock Brewery’s newly launched, Canadian style Craft Lager, meets all the criteria. Using Canadian ingredients, this clean, subtlety flavorful, but drinkable lager is all about balance, by keeping hop bitterness, and heavy mouthfeel to a minimum.
It really gets the job done when you’re snacking on the hop salt and pepper 16-hour dry ribs, or digging into the ‘Thirsty Bird’ pizza, topped with “drunk’n” chicken chunks, double smoked bacon, fior di latte, roasted garlic crema, caramelized onions, fresh basil, and chili flakes. Craft lager is available in 6 pack cans, or 4 pack tall cans, so it is perfect to take to go when you’re heading out to a barbeque, or a beach campfire with friends!
In addition to the craft lager, the eatery and retail shop also offers a Grapefruit Radler from Kelowna’s Tree Brewing Company. German for cyclist, a radler, or shandy, is a thirst-quenching light beer blended with a citrus fruit juice. Tree’s Grapefruit Radler is a 2015 Canadian Brewing Awards Gold Medal winner, brewed at the Big Rock Vancouver facility, and clocks in at 2.5% ABV. So don’t feel guilty if you want to have another glass or two.
The citrusy notes and juiciness do wonder when you are munching on their “heat n’ sweet” chicken wings, or Korean fried cauliflower, sprinkled with a bit of cilantro, lime, green onion, sesame seeds, and coconut crust.
Not in the mood for beer? The eatery and retail shop are featuring a Rock Creek Dry Rosé Cider. Made with Okanagan grown apples, and natural rosé wine flavors, this bubbly treat is fruity, floral, sweet, with hints of vanilla and cinnamon. I’m sure you can find a tasty snack or shareable item on the menu to pair it with when you visit!
Special shoutout to @Dangerdan_yvr for these great pics, for more great craft beer photos and updates be sure to checkout his page!
Situated in the heart of the East Vancouver Brewery district known as ‘Yeast Van’, is a quaint but vibrant craft brewery known as Andina Brewing Company. The South American inspired lounge space offers a variety of artisanal beers, local craft cider, alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails, as well as Chilean or Argentine wine. The tasting lounge also offers an extensive selection of traditional Andean dishes prepared in-house, with the freshest South American and British Columbian ingredients.
Beer of the Month
It just so happens, the brewing team released a fresh batch of their ‘Pálida’ pale ale on tap during my latest visit. Don’t let the hazy appearance fool you, it is approachable as it is flavorful. Notes of citrus, stone fruit, and melon, along with a light-medium mouth feel, makes it the ideal beverage to pair with their fresh and tangy ‘De La Casa’ ceviche (cooked shrimp, avocado, cilantro, peppers, red onion, and mango in a light mayo/lemon sauce).
Next on the docket, is the year round staple ‘Monita’ Blonde IPA. Although hop forward, this balanced brew has a sturdy malt presence, and restrained bitterness.
Rest assured, there are options for casual beer seekers also, as the clean and refreshing ‘Cerveza’ Pilsner pairs wonderfully with their flavorful and satisfying empanadas.
For the self-proclaimed craft beer enthusiasts, Andina offers a rotating ‘Conchita’ coffee beer series to satisfy your thirst for the experimental. Their latest release is a Kölsch, an approachable German blonde ale, infused with Colombian Coffee. This one is balanced but complex, due to the interplay of the subtle coffee and beer flavor profiles.
Be on the lookout for their ‘Agria’ rotating sour beer series as well. Rumor has it, the upcoming release will either be jam packed with a certain type of berry, and/or a popular citrus fruit!
I really enjoyed my latest visit to the Steamworks Taproom in North Burnaby, because the tap list had a mix of winter seasonals that were on their last legs, some year-round crushable brews, and a limited release beer that is available in select stores throughout spring.
Beer of the Month
The limited release ‘battleship’ double IPA definitely caught my attention. There was a light burst of tropical notes on the nose, from the generous helping of aromatic hops. In terms of taste, hints of citrus fruits, mango, pineapple, and papaya, with a dash of astringent character coated my palate, as it cleverly disguised the 8.9% alcohol by volume. The 65 bittering units (IBU) provided a faint bitterness to balance out the full mouth feel, which also prevented it from being cloyingly sweet.
If big and bold flavors aren’t what you’re looking for, then their mainstay premium craft lager would be the perfect match for any pub grub or comfort food craving. Clean, crisp, with a gentle addition of hops for that zippy character, makes it easy for you to have another when accompanied with friends.
Those who have an affinity for dark and deep flavors won’t be disappointed either, as they still have their seasonal nitrogenated session stout available in limited quantities. Gentle notes of coffee, dark chocolate, and vanilla, coupled with a velvety mouth feel from the nitrogen, makes this the ideal beer to pair with caramelized meats, and hardy stews for those chilly spring evenings.
Lastly, for those who are feeling adventurous, the taproom offers an experimental small batch every Wednesday called the ‘weekly one-off’. Luckily, they still had a bit of their latest one-off, the peach and pomegranate sour ale. A light-medium bodied beer, intentionally and thoughtfully soured to impart natural lemon character, which was then dosed with a generous helping of pomegranates to create a fruity, and refreshing brew.
Although the taproom doesn’t have a kitchen, they have a selection of locally sourced light snacks and treats if you’re feeling peckish. Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood meat market and deli, Cioffi’s, also delivers a limited number of freshly prepared gourmet sandwiches daily, so grab one before they’re gone!
Give-away
We also have a Give-away to announce, hit up our Instagram page for how to enter:
Vancouver weather can be temperamental in the month of June, so finding a beer that is light and refreshing during the balmy days, but also hardy enough for the cool evenings, can be a challenge.Enter @coalharbourbrewing’s pineapple and passion fruit Tiny Umbrella Double IPA.When gently chilled, the generous tropical fruit and hop variety additions will satisfy the fruit smoothie lover in you.As the beer warms, the 8.2% ABV and 60 hop bittering units provides a subtle kick on your taste buds.Pair this juicy but hoppy beer with light greens, spicy dishes, or something greasy, and enjoy!
June 2018 – Coal Harbour Brewing Tiny Umbrella Double IPA.
Originally dreamt up by Powell Brewery and Handtaste Ferments for a “This Sandwich, That Beer” throw-down event several years ago, this drinkable Yuzu Lager at 4.8 ABV% and a minuscule 8 bittering units is a crowd pleaser for this non-rainy month of May!The slick mouthfeel from the black jasmine rice, and refreshing aroma from the yuzu, will keep the craft beer enthusiasts happy.The clean yeast profile, and light body would satisfy the casual beer drinkers when they enjoy it with an order of nigiri, or a nice greasy slice?
May 2018 – Handtaste Ferments X Powell Brewery Rising Sun Yuzu Lager.
