Stanley Park Brewing - Ice Breaker Launch Party!

What do ya know? I was invited to the Stanley Park Brewing launch party for their Ice Breaker (5.5% ABV; 20 IBU) Winter Ale!

The night started off great, as I was greeted by Neesha and the gang at the door. I got to join a few SPB staff at their table, along with my girlfriend. There were a couple of "ice breaker" activities such as Bingo, and getting our picture taken in the Instagram cut-out. There was even a live-carved ice sculpture beer luge! Todd Fowler, the Brew Master poured an inaugural first pour down the luge and into people's glasses.

Todd Fowler, Brewmaster -- Celebrating with an inaugural "First Pour" into a lucky man's glass.
Stanley Park Brewing - Ice Breaker Launch Party @ The London Pub
Photo: Brewji

What was the brew like? Well, you can see I'm still in a happy mood. The brew starts off with a roasted malt-y cocoa, with a hint of sweetness like a maraschino cherry was dipped in dark chocolate. Now, I'm not plugging anyone here, but since my woman and I both hold seasonal positions at a ...local chocolatier... we were immediately reminded of their Cordial Cherries! Overall though, as Todd said best, it brings back memories of black forest cake. The finish leaves a nice, not too bitter (although I kind of wish it was) after-taste.

My first glass of the SPB Ice Breaker Winter Ale!
@ The London Pub
Photo: Brewji

The low carbonation and low bitterness make it a not-too-heavy but still drinkable brew. They say it's brewed in a porter-style, but it's nothing as heavy as any other porter I've tried. It's a nice change-up to the macro-brewed winters like the GIB and Whistler ales, seeing as they focus more on vanilla and caramel-based ales.

Overall, I'd say this is definitely a more-than-drinkable seasonal brew. I quite like the direction the brewery is headed, and I'd pick this up at the liquor store over most other competition. There's a picture below of the label, in case you want pick some up. They sent me home with a couple of brews, and one is in the picture.

Stanley Park Brewing "Ice Breaker" Winter Ale
Photo: Brewji

This isn't a plug for the beer or the brewery, but go and break the ice with someone special...if you know what I mean.

I give the SPB Ice Breaker a double-enrobed-cherry-in-dark-chocolate 8.5 / 10
Tammy gives the SPB Ice Breaker an 8 / 10

GreenLeaf Brewing - Taster Flight

I decided to take my girlfriend to Lonsdale Market on Saturday, seeing as she's from Ireland and she's never actually been there before. We were downtown, and all of a sudden I was feeling soup from SoupMeister (good God, best soups in Vancouver!). We had a delicious Coconut Chicken Curry soup each, and then walked around the market. All in good fun, we saw that Green Leaf Brewing had its own brewery and tasting area.

What better way to close off a trip to Lonsdale Market? With some craft beer, of course...or so I thought.

Green Leaf Brewing Co.
North Vancouver, BC
Photo: Brewji

We stepped up to the counter, got a tiny free sample of their 20L infusion of a Pineapple Pale Ale, which by my standards, was worthy of a "Let's get a full taster paddle each, dear." 

We ended up getting 4 pre-selected brews for our taster paddle. You can see their names in the picture. Let's review the four below (left to right):

Taster Flight @ Green Leaf Brewing Co.
North Vancouver, BC
Photo: Brewji

1. Hefe in Hiding (ABV / IBU: ?)

Let's dive right into this one. After the Pineapple Pale Ale that we sampled, I was pretty excited to get into this brew. On first sniff, I could smell hints of sweetness like caramel, and couldn't really detect any wheat ale scents. I guess that's why they would call it Hefe in Hiding.

On first taste, I get a little bit of caramel, like a watered down sweet pale ale. The straw like grass flavour of the wheat ale came in on the aftertaste. It wasn't very exciting at all. It sort of tasted like your average pale ale, with an average wheat ale tail end taste...but watered down. Not bad, but I'm hoping the next two will measure up a little better.

I give the Hefe in Hiding a mediocre-but-I've-had-better 6.5 / 10. 

My Irish woman (let's call her Tam) gives this a 6 / 10.

2. Lloyd's Lager (ABV 4.8%; 28 IBU)

Tam and I took a sniff of this one, and we kind of just looked at each other with blank stares. "I've never had an alcoholic beverage that I couldn't smell before," she said. I couldn't smell anything either. On first sip, it tasted like a watered down Molson Lager, except with no taste. There is a slight pilsner-like after taste, but nothing worthy of being called taste. 

The Molson 67 (oh yeah, I'm going there) had more flavour than this beer. I'm sorry, but 28 IBU is an over-inflated number. In Tam's words, she describes it best as "Dirty water". This isn't worth the purchase. Money shouldn't have to be exchanged for this. I'm sorry, but this is right down there with the bottom of the barrel. Moving on!

I give the Lloyd's Lager a dude-even-Molson-67-was-better 1.5 / 10

Tam gives the Lloyd's Lager a 1.0 / 10

3. Pie Hole Pale Ale (ABV 6.2%; 40 IBU)

Finally, something with some colour! Maybe I'll shut my pie hole if I drank this. Well, then it better be drinkable! Right now, the Green Leaf brand and Brewing Co. has itself in the dog house. 

I smell real notes of hops in this at first. There seems to be a slight hint of citrus in the scent as well. I go in for the first sip, with some good front and middle tastes. This appears to be okay at first, but then the end taste and after taste kick in. The end taste is a watered down pale-ale-meets-wet-dog taste. The after taste is pretty rancid. I'm not sure if this tourist hub leaves a good impression on the tourists as to what Vancouver's Craft Beer scene is all about.

Tam agrees, that the second (and further sips) get more difficult as we keep going. They start to taste like dirty water, only with more flavour.

I give the Pie Hole Pale Ale a you-got-the-flavour-wrong-and-I-want-real-beer 3.0 / 10

Tam gives the Pie Hole Pale Ale a 1.5 / 10.

Let's just say, this isn't the best impression I've left on her for our Craft Beer scene. It's a good thing I've given her 100 other craft beers in the last 2 months to make up for this!

4. Wyld Ryed Ryepa (yes, this is how they spell it, it bugs the crap out of me too) (ABV 6.2%; 80 IBU)

Okay, this HAD to be their saving grace. If anything, I was ready to walk out of here without finishing my brews. I've never left a brew behind, but I was actually thinking about it here.

The first sniff of this IPA revealed a malt-y Belgian Yeast, and not much else. I could barely smell any west coast flare to it. Barely any citrus as I recall on the sniff. 

On first sip, I'm confused. This tastes nothing like an IPA. This isn't a West Coast IPA, and this isn't an English Style IPA. This isn't even bitter. They call this a "Sessionable" IPA, but let's get started on the breakdown of what this really tastes like.

This "IPA" was described as "dry, and light-bodied". Let me give it to you straight. It had a rancid "OH GOD WHY DID I DO THAT" after-taste, and their lager had more body than this brew. I'm sorry, but this beer is offensive to my taste buds. I think my exact words to Tam were "This tastes more like a marshmallow cloud than an IPA."

I give the Wyld Ryed Ryepa a wrong-beer-wrong-category-wrong-wrong-grumpy-cat-wrong 0.5 / 10

Tam was a little bit more generous and she gives the Wyld Ryed Ryepa a 2.0 / 10

Sorry, Green Leaf, but you've started off on the wrong foot. I'm just your average Craft Beer appreciator, with about 2000 beers under my belt, and this has officially been the bottom of the taster paddle barrel for me. Maybe there's hope one day. If you decide to make the Pineapple Pale Ale a permanent addition to your line-up, I might be back. Aside from that, please brew better beer.

Don't worry everyone, I took Tam to the Alibi Room right afterwards and we had some solid brews (that post is coming next week!).

Cheers!

Windstorm Pale Ale by Stanley Park Brewing

Well, I'm back after a 3 month Brewji hiatus. I had to sort out things like how I'd pay the bills with a new job and all that jazz. In the meantime, I've sampled 100s of craft beers, and boy, do I have quite the line-up for you folks. I'd like to start my first with one of the brews I received courtesy of a kind courier (who didn't drink the beer like the last one did!). I received the Windstorm Pale Ale (5.7% ABV) from Stanley Park Brewing. 

Stanley Park Brewing - Windstorm Pale Ale
Photo: Brewji

It's got a solid-looking green coloured can, with the SPB logo. But what's this attached to the can? It's a tree! Do you remember the great windstorm of 2007 that wreaked havoc in Stanley Park? This brew has been created to commemorate the efforts of the rebuilding of Stanley Park.

Enough about the packaging and extras...let's get to the brew itself!

It pours a golden orange copper, with a little bit of lacing along the top. The scents I picked up were hops, pine, and a little hint of citrus. It's got the right characteristics of an American-style Pale Ale. On first sip, it's stronger than its scents. It has a mild sharpness to it, with a bit of orange peel, bread-y malt, and has a little floral hops to it as well.

Stanley Park Brewing - Windstorm Pale Ale
Photo: Brewji

Overall, the flavours swing well together and create a well-rounded few sips. The beer itself, outside of the Stanley Park rebuilding effort, is worth a go. If you see this in the liquor store, grab a couple of cans and support the rebuilding effort while enjoying a drink or two! It's a solid pale ale that meets the expectations, with a little extra flavour.

The Stanley Park Brewing Windstorm Pale Ale gets a rebuilding-my-blog-posts 8.0 / 10