MAIN ST. BREWING BRINGS BACK SMASH HIT ‘HULA HULA TROPICAL MILKSHAKE SOUR’ The team at Main St. Brewing is swinging for the fences and bringing its crowd-favourite Hula Hula Tropical Milkshake Sour back to the lineup at the Mount Pleasant brewery on Friday, March 4 and adding the brew to the roster at Vancouver Canadians baseball games at Nat Bailey Stadium this spring and summer.

TROPIC LIKE IT’S HOT: MAIN ST. BREWING BRINGS ITS SMASH HIT ‘HULA HULA TROPICAL MILKSHAKE SOUR’ BACK FOR ANOTHER AT-BAT Sherbety Summer Slammer Returns to Main St., Local Stores Friday, March 4, Joins the Rotation at Vancouver Canadians Games at Nat Bailey Stadium in April The team at Main St. Brewing is swinging for the fences and bringing its crowd-favourite Hula Hula Tropical Milkshake…

A Pint of Mild and a Quart of Hurt

There’s a brewery in Seattle making super credible English style ales. Machine House Brewery specialize in cask conditioned ales, but they also bottle a Dark Mild and Best Bitter. When was the last time you saw a Bitter? But I cannot in good conscience recommend them. 

The beer is good. The Dark Mild has a nice dark roast malt flavor, with just a hint of charcoal smoke. It’s super light and refreshing on the tongue. The Best Bitter is, ironically, a little too Bitter for my taste. It’s got nice bones, but the hopping is just a little too strong and overpowers the rest of the beer. That could just be a bach issue though. Both beers are British enough, even down to the paltry alcohol by volume. It’s authentically weak, which is part of the problem.

A single 500mL bottle of 3.7% Mild costs $7.25 at my nearest bottle shop. That’s nuts. Despite rave reviews on Twitter and elsewhere, it took quite a bit of justification on my part in order to put the beer in my basket. You’re paying for quality; you’re supporting rare and important beer styles; alcohol isn’t everything. Yes. All true. But there is also the issue of dollars and cents.

I could just as easily buy two satisfying cans of Old Speckled Hen. It might not be as good, but I won’t nearly feel cheated as soon as I finish the last dregs. 

…today we got some moonshine

see through simnel rain

now we got some moonshine

smothered soused warm indolence

busted October flushes

sigh out cards face up

on the maple table

pot goes to Rainbow

New Real Ale Review:

Commercial description: Over the Hill is a full bodied, single-hop, malty dark mild, with Hillside Brewery’s Bramling Cross hop complementing a cocoa and roasted malt character. This is a great dark mild, lots of flavour and quite creamy. This style is growing in popularity again as drinkers love the strong coffee and chocolate flavours and it has a good amount of body to back it. Over the hill …

I knew nothing of English Dark Mild Ale before I ordered this Dawn Patrol from Port Brewing.  This Dawn Patrol had a dark amber body, with a just off white head.  The scent was faint, but toasty.  The taste was hearty, yet light. It had a toasty, slight bitter dry-crispness.  It was superbly balanced, the light feel with the filling flavor was amazing.

This was a great beer. With the mild taste and relatively low alcohol content this ale seemed like the perfect thing to sip at the close of a long night.

Taste: A-

Drinkability: A