It’s been a few days since I returned from Victoria, British Columbia, and the Great Canadian Beer Festival, and I figure it’s high time I posted about it. (I’ve kept myself busy this week hitting deadlines and helping to organize the September 30 “National Toast” to the late icon of beer, Michael Jackson. I’ll post more on the latter as it develops, but in the meantime you should go here and read all about it.)
Held outdoors in the Royal Athletic Park under clear blue skies for both days, the GCBF is the jewel of western Canadian beer culture. This year, according to organizers, the fest featured over 170 beers from almost 50 brewers, including many from south of the border and the other side of the Rockies. Not as much selection as, say, the GABF or GBBF, certainly, but then again, how many beers can you really drink in a single session?
As noted in my pre-GCBF post, both days of the fest were sold out well in advance, making total attendance something around 7,000 generally very well-behaved souls. One of the highlights for me was taking to the bleachers at about the mid-point of the Saturday session and simply spending a little time observing the ebb and flow of the event. In testament to the quality of the beer on offer, what I observed was simply a sea of people enjoying themselves, enjoying the sun and enjoying beer. Just as a beer fest should be!
Now, on to the liquid highlights. One of the first brews to catch my attention was the twentieth anniversary ale from Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub, renamed since its introduction two years ago to Iceberg, but still widely known as simply Twenty. I‘ve written about this before, so I’ll only note here that it was a beer to which I found myself regularly returning, albeit at Spinnakers itself than at the fest.
One of my early Friday visits was to Central City Brewing of Surrey, BC, where Gary Lohin, ex of Sailor Hagar’s, is now brewing. Gary’s continued Midas touch was evident from the get-go, with a Double Crown IPA so beautifully balanced it could almost be called reserved, a crisp, fresh fruit Raspberry Wheat and, his opus maximus, a round and frighteningly quaffable Belgian Abbey Special.
Also on Friday, I paid a visit to ex-Bushwakker brewmaster David Rudge’s new Half Pints Brewing Company from Winnipeg, Manitoba. His Little Scrapper IPA proved a softly herbal, notably citrusy treat, but it was the Humulus Ludicrous double IPA that had tongues a-wagging with its perfumey nose, malty-fruity front and pleasingly hoppy finish.
From among the Seattle brewers present, I was most impressed by Elysian Brewing’s outstanding Night Owl Pumpkin Ale, which showed an excellent balance between pumpkin flash flavours, spicy notes and just enough background hop to keep it all on the dry side, and the Pike Brewery’s Monk’s Uncle Tripel Ale, with orangey spicy on the nose, sweet cherry, apricot and peppery orange in the body and dry, modestly bitter finish.
There were, of course, other beers that showed well at the fest, but I’ll be posting notes on those a little later on at World of Beer. In the meantime, plan now to get your tickets for next year’s GCBF, as this fest has certainly established itself as one not to be missed.
Update: Extra tasting notes have now been added at World of Beer’s Kitchen Table Tastings.
