Casks Of Dreams And Dream Vacations

Just got back from my annual vacation where I was able to try some Incredible brews from Maui brewing. they have 2 outlets on the Island 1 up near Kapalua and the main production facility in Lahaina I visited both, the restaurant brewery has a wide selection of seasonal and collaboration brews as well as the main line up of year rounders, food was great,  staff was knowledgeable and beer experience is cool. My favorite was the Liquid Breadfruit which is a collaboration brew with Dogfish Head featuring some crazy yeast from Delaware peaches, breadfruit and toasted papaya seeds.                

I got back to work just in time for our whisky club's annual Robbie Burns Night where we tried a number of good whisky's including the Cask of Dreams Canadian edition 17yr Glenfiddich. For me this was by far the treat of the night this limited production special was deep and layered deserving of a long slow contemplative consumption at a later date.

          

I fired up the beer engine last night for another cask of dreams of sort, a cask conditioned amber ale with Jack Daniels and Oak added smooth, silky and gone. sold out in 1 night. Special thanks to Cannery Brewing here in Penticton for that.

Oh well there is always another one to try coming up. 

Next on the horizon is a beer cellar I have ordered some big malty and funky brews that should change and develop over time. The plan is to stock up a bit and cellar them for a minimum 6 months and release them with some food pairing suggestions and tasting notes. I think this endeavor will really start to shine in a year or so when the cellar gains a little depth. Can you imagine even thinking of this 5 years ago? It truly amazes me how far we are going and how fast we are getting there.

If any of you out there have a beer cellar let me know if there is some brew that should be included. I need some help with this project. Cheers

Live Ale Fridays (or weekly cask event)

How many of you know what this is? It represents a new commitment to Real Ale Starting in February every Friday will be live Ale Friday where you can have local cask conditioned ales poured through a real beer engine. This little toy arrived today and I can't wait to fire it up. After changing out our draft system we were left with some beer lines not hooked up to a glycol system so we can pour real ale at 45*, a few pieces of tubing and a beer engine and we are set to go. Local brewer Cannery is setting up a cask to be ready for February 1st, if it is anywhere near as good as the last Just The Tips pine ,spruce and fir tip conditioned Porter we had at Christmas I can't wait.We will have our big cask party on April 6th to celebrate the Okanagan Fest of ale and Murder's Row will feature 5 casks from different B.C. breweries. Tickets will be available in mid March.

Cheers to Real Ale.

What did you drink this Christmas

Every year around Christmas I love to go to the local liquor store and have a look what is being released for the season. This year there was an abundance of Craft mixed packs from breweries large and small with some real interesting ones like a Traditional ales of Scotland pack bittered with everything from pine to meadow sweet and heather (very cool). The annual focus on bubbly was there as well with many fun offerings and what would the holidays be without lots of sweet liqueurs around for coffees. So what did I wait to unwrap until Christmas eve. 3 great Abbey ales all very different and very tasty.

We started with the 3 Monts which was a French beer in the Belgium style straw colored and effervescent with a crisp finish I liked this with the cheese tray. The next was Abbaye des Rocs Speciale de Noel, wow this is serious beer dark and rich like fruitcake drizzled with molasses I should have bought 2 bottles of this and let one age for a couple years I think this will even get better with age.The grand finale was Val- Dieu grand cru another age worthy monster, this one was more refined with all kinds of subtle flavors and yeasty goodness. Now I know that everyone must be thinking geez this guys a drunk, 3 ales all over 8% but I had a lot of help from the family tasting panel and 5 or more on a bottle didn't leave near enough for yours truly so I need to go out and try to find some more of these. While I was imbibing in these truly special ales I had a recurring thought I paid $13 for the most expensive of these world class beers what would I have to pay to experience the best Bordeau or single malt.

Bourbon for Fall

I know it is winter in a large part of the country but here in the Okanagan it is really just fall, the leaves are dropping and the temperature is hovering around zero so time to start looking for a warming tipple.So Bourbon fits the bill with notes of spice and vanilla it makes you feel warm just to smell it. I think the aromas that come off of a well crafted bourbon are probably my favorite drink to just get lost in the scent of. Most bourbons have a higher than average alcohol percentage usually around 50% so they sneek up on you quickly and warm your insides in a hurry.

This weekend our whiskey club had a chance to try a number of really nice bourbons the hit of the night for me was the Old Forester Birthday Bourbon huge vanilla and orange in the nose smooth and rich tasting a real winner Honorable mentions go to Pogue, Hancocks Single Barrel, and Russels 10 year Old.

We also tasted a Whiskey from Oregon, Edgefield Hogshead Whiskey . It had the strangest botannical nose on it and an interesting herbaceous flavor my guess is they are adding a small quantity of hopped whiskey to the mix for interest very different than anything I have ever Tasted 

PUMPKIN???

I used to think that Pumpkin was just an excuse to throw a whack of spices at some marginal ale and sell it around Halloween. Well my opinion is starting to change, this is fast becoming a legitimate style of ale that delivers a range of unique taste experiences. I think the thing that hits me most is when the beer delivers a silky mouth-feel at the back of the pallet and a subtle hint of spice that is neither cloying or acrid. There are still some underwhelming Pumpkin brews out there but this year there are many more good ones than bad ones. I actually got to help with the pumpkin portion for Cannery Brewing's Knucklehead Pumpkin ale which ended up with 250lbs of Pumpkin in a 20hl batch of brew( that is a lot by the way). I still have this beer on tap at the pub and it is great. Also Check out Tree's , Howe Sound and Fernie's Pumpkins as well, all are good.