#weekly intro

I’m turning my attention this week to some drummers side-projects. I’m not gonna list my very favourite drummers, though some may be. The point here is to dig into albums with one big drummer behind that was already known for being a former member of a bigger band. Some albums don’t have the credit they deserve, I shall point out, even though the drummers I’m gonna talk about are not underground musicians at all.

This week I continue to make my way through Belgian-style beers that get much of their flavour from yeast. Week 25 features the saison, which is the french word for season.

Traditionally, these are farmhouse ales that are brewed in the cooler months for consumption by farm workers, who were often seasonal, in the warmer months. Nowadays, the style is brewed all over the world. It represents a light, refreshing option that is full of yeasty flavours.

The standard for all saisons seems to have been set by Saison Dupont, a Belgian classic, and the last beer I review this week. In the meantime, I will review a bunch of BC brewed saisons, and see how they stack up.

Saisons have become very popular, and for good reason. They are well carbonated, quite dry, and have lots of flavour. Many have spices added, but those that don’t still get some spice flavours from the yeast.

These beers are very good for summer sipping. You won’t see any double digit alcohol numbers this week.

The time has come to kick off the season of warm weather, and I will do that with a whole week of saisons.

Cheers

T

This week I will continue to review malty beers, with five stouts from around Vancouver and its suburbs. As Vancouver IPA week was so good, I am hoping for similar results.

Lots of folks associate dark beers with colder, winter months. Seeing as these are all from Vancouver, I might just find something for those rainy days, and months, that we see in south western BC.

I am going to review one stout every day. The first four are all stouts from prominent Vancouver area breweries. On Friday, I will review a Russian Imperial Stout that is a limited release.

The week will feature Bridge Brewing’s All Out Stout, Green Leaf’s Lolo Stout, Red Racer’s Stout, Powell Street’s Stout, and Parallel 49’s Russian Imperial Stout.

This last beer is a high-end barrel aged RIS. Next week’s Friday review will feature Driftwood’s Singularity RIS, so this one is the first leg of a showdown.

Cheers,

T

For this fourth and final consecutive week of hoppy beers, we are taking the next step up. It is time for one more week of the hoppiest beers I can get my hands on, double or imperial IPAs.

This week I will review five more of these big beers, all from BC. Considering the fact that every brewery has an IPA, many of them quite good, there just aren’t that many doubles out there.

There have been a few newer DIPAs that have impressed, though. Tofino’s Cosmic Wave was outstanding in the first round, and there is a couple of relatively new beer this week, too.

I will review Central City’s Red Racer Imperial IPA, Howe Sound Total Eclipse of the Hop, Persephone Double IPA, Hoyne Heavy Rain Double IPA, and Tin Whistle Scorpion Double IPA.

This is Tin Whistle’s first appearance on the site.

This will effectively double the quantity of double IPA reviews here on the Flagon.

Cheers,

T

I have now done two week of IPA reviews, and there is a general lack of beers from my hometown on the list. This week, then, is committed to filling that conspicuous absence, by reviewing a bunch of IPAs from in and around Vancouver.

Vancouver is now full of thriving craft breweries. Many have opened their doors in the past few years, and more are coming. Nearly all of them produce an IPA of some kind.

This week I will review two IPAs every day, for a total of ten beers from nine different breweries. I am looking forward to some really delicious beer being reviewed this week.

I will review two beers from Howe Sound, and one each from Four Winds, Powell Street, Bridge, Old Yale, Green Leaf, Russell, Central City, and Parallel 49.

This does not cover all of the Vancouver area breweries, but it certainly gets the ball rolling.

In the years since I have moved away, the beer scene in Vancouver has taken off. It will be nice to see what is out there nowadays. It will be, just a little bit, like making a trip home.

Cheers,

T

I have reviewed a wide variety of beers over the past couple of months. There has been lots of enjoyable drinking, but I feel like it is time to come back around to where I started. So, over the next few weeks, I will return to heavily hopped beers.

There are a lot of beer styles out there, and I am constantly seeing new trends impact what is on the shelves and taps near me. One of the beer styles that I have been seeing more of lately is hoppy red ales.

These beers have become quite prominent in the Pacific Northwest, with several new red ales popping up over the past year or so.

These beers share many similarities with hoppy North American ESBs. They often combine pine, citrus, and tropical fruits with tastes of caramel, bread and honey. They tend to be a little heavier, as well.

I have enjoyed these beers, though I have found quite a variety of tastes in the style. I have had red ales that compare to some of the maltier IPAs, and others that were far closer to milder amber ales.

This week I will review red ales from Persephone, Vancouver Island Brewing, Ninkasi, Parallel 49, and Steamworks. This will be Steamworks first appearance on The Flagon.

This week will be a return to hoppy flavours, with a twist. Sometimes seeing red is a good thing.

Cheers,

T

Here we are, in heart of winter. This is the time of year when we face the wet, the cold, and the short days. Where I live, it is mostly the wet. The holidays have passed. Everyone is taking down the decorations. This is the down time for many businesses, too, especially pubs and restaurants.

Throughout January and February I always enjoy staying in with my wife, cooking comforting dinners together, and relaxing. I have a certain number of meals that have always been my comfort foods, like shepherd’s pie, ham and pea soup, braised pork, stew with dumplings, mac and cheese, and ribs. These foods help warm me up, and make the winter seem far away.

I have my comfort beers, too. When I want to tip a few back in the heart of winter, I seem to come back to brown ales. They are lighter than stouts and porters, and often have flavours of nuts, brown sugar, and toasted grains. The texture is usually on the creamy side. They carry all of these comforting tastes, but stay easy drinking.

Part of the comfort people from get food and drink comes from familiarity. Brown ales are a natural place for people to start drinking craft beer, as they are not giant flavour bombs. The good ones tend to be subtle and smooth. Bad brown ales can be sweet and sugary, though.

The term ‘brown ale’ was supposedly coined in 17th century London as a term for certain mild ales. Since then, as is typical with labels of this sort, it has evolved to mean different things in different places. As usual, Martyn Cornell knows much more than me on this subject, and if you click here you can find an informative article.

To me, brown ales represent slightly lighter dark ales, when compared to porters and stouts, that carry many characteristic lighter malt flavours. Sometimes they have a stronger hop presence, but my favorites are usually smooth, toasty, and rich.

The five beers that I will review this week are all from B.C., with a couple of breweries that are appearing on The Flagon for the first time.

I will review brown ales from Barkerville, Spinnakers, Howe Sound, 4 Mile, and Tree. The last two are new to the site.

So, grab a brown ale, curl up on the couch, block out the outside, and warm up with one of my comfort beers.

Cheers,

T

If there is one style of beer that comes to my mind when winter hits, it is barley wine. Barley wines are produced by many breweries every winter, and they are typically full of complex malt flavours.

While the history of barley wine as a style of beer goes back to England, it is hard to pin down what the term actually meant back then. Nowadays, they are usually strong in both alcohol and taste, with the latter being full of big maltiness. For a glimpse into the history of the beer, and the use of the term barley wine, click here.

Often, barley wines around North America are not only full of sweet malt tastes, but contain lots of hops, too. Most are ready to drink now, but they are one of the main styles of beer that can benefit from some aging.

For a nice breakdown of cellaring beer click here.

Personally, I am ok with buying a beer and cellaring it, though in my case I am actually closeting it, as I have no cellar in my apartment. I don’t mind doing this if it will improve the flavour of an already good beer.

Barley wines might be the beers that benefit most from being cellar aged. They can have prominent boozey flavours, and these mellow over time.

I understand that most people do not want to spend $15 on a beer to drink it in two or three years, so I am going to review this weeks beers right off the shelf. Hopefully they are all drinkable, even delicious, right away.

This week I am reviewing five barley wines. Four of them are from 2014 releases. Two have already had a year of aging, with one being cellar aged for a year by the brewery before release.

I will review Old Cellar Dweller from Driftwood, Thor’s Hammer from Central City, Persephone Barley Wine, Howe Sound Woolly Bugger, and Class of ’88 Barley Wine from North Coast Brewing.

Let the week of wines begin!

Cheers,

T