Beer review #3: Rocky Mountain Pilsner

Picked this one up for a bargain at Spirit of Home Liquor store on Granville street. As their 'beer of the month' it was down to $10 for six - damn good value for an independent store. Always enthusiastic about getting trashed for the bare minimum spend, I gave it a go.

This offering comes to us from the good people at Russell Breweries. The can doesn't bring to mind delicious drinky-beer so much as some kind of extra strength cleaning product - too much silver and minty-fresh green slapped on there for my liking. I think they're going for 'virgin mountain snow' but I'm getting 'keeps surfaces spotless and germ free'.

Still, OmniKlean style can aside, what's the beer like? The label promises "Fresh, Crisp, Clean" - suddenly I'm thinking of laundry detergents. Have I discovered the first beer which will treat your woolens delicately without skimping on cleaning power?

On the pour it's definitely a pilsner; pale, clear, nice and fizzy. Not much of a head and what there is doesn't hang around for long. Not too much of a smell to it either.

Taste? I'm pleasantly surprised! A little watered down but served cold (this one had been in the freezer for ten minutes) it's refreshing, light, and doesn't have the dodgy aftertaste you're apt to find in a cheaper brew.

I probably won't be rushing back for more of these once the offer is over but even though they only weigh in at 5% ABV I'm still prepared to make this my session beer for the month and give Cariboos genuine draft a rest.

Verdict: 6/10

Beer Review #2: Duchy Original Organic Old Ruby Ale

I'm tempted to go back and visit the liquor store where I bought this to figure out where the hell they got it from in the first place.

This beer, as the label shows is part of the Duchy Originals range of organic foods - a line of products owned by Prince Charles and sold exclusively (supposedly) in the UK supermarket Waitrose. Does its appearance in Canada perhaps signify the first step in a convoluted plot aimed at placing the nation back under imperial rule? Could this be the sinister machinations of a future English king bent on world domination through the export of bespoke beverages? And if it is, why would anyone come up with such a shit plan?

In any case, it turned up in a liquor store on Cambie so, in the spirit of patriotism and getting all beered up I parted with $4.10 for a bottle of the stuff.

Right off the bat it looks pretty classy. There's coats of arms, royal sigils and possibly coded messages from the illuminati slapped all over this thing. It claims to be 'preserving our heritage', it lists the specific species of barley used and it's got so many sustainability credentials that it seems quite likely that this beer will be the last living thing on earth after the Mole People rise up from the underworld to devour us all. The one missed goal is the plain bottle cap. Even shitty brands of lager go to the trouble of personalising their caps and it seems just plain lazy for his highness to overlook such a detail. Shame on you Charlie. 

Sometimes patriotism is drinkable

When you get inside it holds up pretty well. 'Ruby' is a bit of an exaggeration but there's some reddy colours in there that give the name some credibility. It tastes pretty good too - malty and fizzy and nowhere near as heavy as I was expecting. 

The one thing this beer can't do is justify its price tag - at $4.10 and only 5% ABV this is a very expensive way to get on it. If it had a bit more kick to it so one bottle would start off a night on the lash in good stead, then it might be able to justify its high roller status, but as it stands it barely pips budweiser to the post - and still falls behind Cariboos, the local bargain brew. This is not a beer to get plastered on at a party and one bottle on its own somehow fails to satisfy completely.

To sum up Old Ruby Ale looks good and tastes good, but not good enough to justify the price tag - a price tag which is bumped up significantly by the cost of importing it.

5 out of 10.

7 out of 10 (at UK prices)

Beer Review # 1: Cariboos Genuine Draft

For a brewery not famous enough to qualify for its own wikipedia article, I've seen an awful lot of this stuff around.

Within: Liquid charisma

The can boasts that the beer is made from 'pure spring water'. This isn't much of an achievement but they've stuck it on there all the same. There's also some stuff about planting trees whenever you buy their beer, which assuages the environmental concerns in every beer hunter's soul. 

Sadly absent is the usual obligatory story about how the beer is brewed using 'age old techniques', presumably by some wizened old man who mutters to himself like a senile, alcoholic version of Willy Wonka. 

There's a picture of what I assume is a caribou on the can as well. This isn't really doing anything for me.  

They have probably assumed (rightly in my case) that it's the cheap and cheerful price tag rather than an expectation of some life-changing beverage experience that's attracted you in the first place. 

A pack of 20 cans set me back just over $30 - the cheapest I've found so far. A bargain price can often be a warning sign for a weak brew but Cariboos Genuine Draft comes in at respectable 5.5%. 

Now that I've exhausted the delights of the outside of the can, what about the beer?

Pours easily, brief white head that pretty much completely disappears. Pale, clear colour. Smell is pretty sweet and flavour is what you'd expect - inoffensive and mostly bland. Little bit of a metallic aftertaste but that may have to do with it coming out of a can. 

Light and easy to drink without much else going on, this beer is never going to rock the world. 

But, given its fairly impressive alcohol content and low price this is already establishing itself as my session beer of choice. You're not going to want to place yourself in an isolation tank for three or four days to heighten your senses to peak precision before drinking, but you could comfortably put away a few of these while watching a movie or trying to force a conversation with an accountant you've been introduced to at a party. 

Verdict: 6 out of 10

From Beer to Eternity

A wise man once said,

'Some people say alcohol's a drug. It's not a drug - it's a drink.'

I offer you that piece of non-sensical gibberish to prepare you for what lies ahead.

I'm Alan - a 24 year old Londoner currently wandering about in Vancouver, Canada. I do a bit of journalism and telly related work. I have almost 6 friends. I once woke up in Quebec without any shoes.

This is my blog. It delves into the heart of Vancouver to see just what kind of beer this city can brew and bottle and what kind of pint it can pull.

That guy who is me

Is there a pub in Vancouver where you can order a yard of ale? Can you find a liquor store in British Columbia that sells Ugandan lager? Is it possible to convince a brewery manager that I'm a respectable journalist and not just some dickhead trying to get free beer?

These great mysteries, among others, will be answered.

Aside from that nonsense I'll be reviewing the best and worst drinkables that the Great White North has to offer as well. With a wealth of microbreweries and a big market for international brews Vancouver is certainly a good place to start.

So I invite you to join me in the Great Canadian Beer hunt!