it's friday night

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. 

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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

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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

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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.