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it's friday night

10/25/2019

It's Friday dammit! Let's talk beer!

I feel a little like Homer Simpson when he was a food critic and he was told he needed to back off on just absolutely loving every place he went to. I've been on a really good run lately though, what can I say?

I have a lot to catch up on; a bunch of Phillips releases from the summer, excellent local Kelowna breweries, and this week's round up of dark beers.

Ladies & Gentlemen.

Parallel 49's Lost Souls Chocolate Pumpkin Porter. I like pumpkin, and there are some very good pumpkin beers out there. Plus it's been a few years for me, so I grabbed a couple this year.

I didn't get a great deal of chocolate from this, and the pumpkin flavour was mild, but I did like it. As usual with stouts and porters, I pretty sure I drank it too cold. It got better and better as I went.

3.75/5

It's Sunday Funday Breakfast Stout from Detonate Brewing of Summerland, BC. An oatmeal stout with hints of coffee and caramel. Excellent heavy bitter and flavourful stout. Detonate is a revelation!

I had never heard of Detonate before we moved to the Lower Okanagon, and I am very impressed so far. Their Call the Hops IPA is terrific, and this stout is excellent. Looking forward to more from these guys.

4/5

From Fernie Brewing it's Ghostrider Pumpkin Brown Ale. It's derived from the very nice First Trax brown ale. I do like First Trax, but this didn't really do much for me. Not much pumpkin, it was just a brown ale.

I love Fernie, but this is not their best. Certainly won't stop me from buying their other beers.

3.5/4

Race Rocks Ale from Lighthouse Brewing of Esquimalt, BC. Of course these days, when you see "ale." This is clearly not a pale ale, and it is awesome. Great toasted malt flavour and a very nice change of pace from the dominate pale ale style.

Lighthouse are maybe not considered in the same league as Victoria heavy hitters Phillips and Driftwood, but maybe they should be because they make great beers. They certainly know their way around IPAs.

4/5

So there you go; I don't absolutely love every beer I try, and I don't only drink pale ales and IPAs. Dark beers like these here are a refreshing change of pace. I really like porters, stouts, ESBs, and even Belgian ales a little.

Let's have another.

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it's friday night

10/18/2019

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It's Friday dammit! Let's talk beer!

Here's a couple more American beers before I go pretty much exclusively CanCon.

Not intentionally mind you, but American stuff just isn't very common here. The two best stores I used to visit in Edmonton carried lots of American craft options, but so far stores I've been to in BC really don't get into it.

I'm guessing it's because they don't need to, given the local scene.

Lagunitas Super Cluster! A heavy citrus and hop infused IPA from a California brewery. Heard that one before hey?

No question that brewers down there like to crank out the IPAs. But they're really good at it, Lagunitas especially.

This one is a beauty too. Very strong citrus and the right amount of bitterness.

4/5

So, when we lived in Osoyoos, on our first trip to Oroville, I nearly flipped out when the grocery store we went in to had Fremont Brewing's Lush IPA. Lush was one of the highlights of our visit to Seattle in 2018.

This is a serious West Coast IPA - hoppy bitter and lots of citrus. Something you'll probably want to work up to if you're not a big IPA drinker.

I am though, and it's a solid 4/5.

I said this before, but again here is evidence of a very different market for beer than you'll find in some Canadian cities. In California and Oregon, breweries pound out heavy IPAs like their lives depend on it. And I'm ok with that.

I'm ok with it because I get cravings for hops. Like I need them. This doesn't happen for any other style. There's so many things that can be done with an IPA though.

Let's have another.

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Rocky Mountain Summit RL

10/17/2019

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Apologies for being away for a couple weeks; we moved and I ended up with a different computer, and it took me a while to figure out the login for this website again.

We're back and we're talking old bikes again. Last week I picked up a very rare bike from Rocky's 1991 lineup - the Summit RL.

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it's friday night!

10/4/2019

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It's Friday dammit! Let's talk beer!

Moving to BC has brought me much closer to so many great breweries. And therefore, a much better chance to experience more beer, which is always what I want. I recently discovered a solid selection of Category 12 brews at one of the liquor stores here.

So, here's two from one of my favorite breweries in Canada;

It's Skewed Data Sour Hazy IPA from Category 12 Brewing of Victoria, BC. If you've flown in or out of Victoria and not hit Cat12 on your way to or from the airport, you've missed out brother.

Given the choice, I'd much rather have a NW style IPA than a NE style, but I still keep buying the hazy ones. And this was a good one, throwing in some sourness for good measure.

3/75/5

Category 12's Vivid Data Pineapple Hazy IPA. I think all of the Cat12 "Data" beers are hazy NE style deals? I've kinda lost track of them, I need Untappd just to keep track.

This one is a real beauty though. Just the right amount of pineapple to spruce it up. It's perfect for poolside in this sun-baked valley I live in.

4/5

I love Category 12 right from the first time I heard of them. Their branding is just perfect. And the story of founder Michael Kuzyk dumping a career in microbiology and biochemistry to brew beer is just awesome. Plus check out these Commodore t-shirts - I need one!

However, the first few times I had their beer, it was meh at best. But they just looked so good, and their tap room is so cool, and the people there are so nice, I kept trying.

Thankfully, they just kept getting better and better. The black IPA is brilliant, their barrell aged stuff is great, and of course they're good with those trendy sours and hazy beers. They're a corner stone in the Victoria scene, and a must stop any time you're on the island in my book.

Let's have another.

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it's friday night

it's friday night

Rocky Mountain Summit RL

it's friday night!

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