Vancouver Craft Beer Week is coming up May 10th until the 16th as the city celebrates local brews and the tradition of fine artisanal beer.
Consisting of signature festival events and independently organized satellite events in participating retail stores and restaurants, VCBW aims to attract the widest demographic possible in order to further grow the craft beer culture of the region.
I had the chance to visit the judging panel a few weeks ago where dozens tasted, sipped, and ranked craft beer in preparation for the BC Beer Week Awards. There I met Chris Bjerrisgaard (of TrueCask.com), @BCBrews, and @AndyTheBeerman who gave me a crash course in craft beer.
“Craft beer fans are a community,” Andy told me as he spoke about the passion many of them have. The typical craft beer fan can probably list off several food pairings for pretty much any beer type you throw their way. Chris said the beauty of beer is that you have your four main ingredients (barley, hops, yeast and water) and then you can add whatever you like to the mix — from berries to spices. With over 80 styles of beer out there, the possibilities for delicious combinations are near endless.
For a place that has only recently made its mark in the craft beer realm, Vancouver has increasingly become a destination for those looking for micro-brews and brew-pubs alike. However “beer geeks”, as they call themselves, have a keen interest in watching a wave of change pour over more local dining establishments.
During our conversation it was mentioned that some restaurants have pages upon pages in their wine menu while only offering two or three kinds of beer. Andy said if the roles were reversed, it’s like offering your customers only one type of wine — from a box — on your wine list. They gave kudos to restaurants such as Vij’s who have actually dedicated their entire beer menu to Storm Brewing. Praise also went out to the Alibi Room, and St Augustine’s.
The craft beer community aren’t snobs when it comes to beers, it’s more about them knowing this fantastic secret and wanting to share it with the world. The goal is to share this enthusiasm for craft beer while educating everyone from the casual drinker to those with the finest of palettes.
For more information check out CAMRA Vancouver (The Campaign for Real Ale), and the upcoming Vancouver Craft Beer Week site for announcements over the next few weeks. You can also follow @VCBW on Twitter for news and information.
Update April 19, 2010 Tickets for several VCBW events are now on sale. View the complete listing online.
Last Thursday I met Keira at Sanafir on Granville and despite getting the call that my site was down just as we were finishing up, we still had a delicious lunch.
Our menu items were everything from seared tuna to salmon wraps, naan bread, butter chicken and baklava. When you’re sitting in the space with papyrus on the wall and authentic Egyptian light fixtures you forget for a moment that you’re sitting right off bustling Granville. Sanafir’s space is beautiful with an upper level complete with bed seating, for those who want to dine, drink, and dish with girlfriends in this festive area.
After our savouring our power lunch we went our separate ways; Keira to her John Mayer concert at GM Place and I to my Muse show at Pacific Coliseum. Now, I had heard that Muse was currently the best live band in the world but I had no idea I was in for such a treat.
Silversun Pickups opened up the show and played a solid set. I’ve been a fan of theirs for the last few years and have always missed them when they’ve played smaller venues in town like the Commodore or Richards on Richards (RIP). They put on a great show and are very active on Twitter, I recommend following them @SSPU.
Once the draped columns that looked like city towers dropped to reveal Muse it was on. A wall of crisp powerful sound moved across the coliseum and wrapped itself around everyone in attendance. The band began with Uprising as the lighted columns cranked out the lyrics in time, “they will not control us”.
The crowd pumped their fists, sang along, and became entranced by the music. The band’s songs are simply epic.
Powerful political messages mixed with Peart-like drum solos, piano ballads and throat-ripping lyrics. They have it all and I’m glad local stations like CFOX and The Peak are playing their tunes. I was so stoked to see Map of the Problematique live as well as it’s one of my all time favourite driving tunes.
Muse covered quite a bit of their catalog in the show, although the crowd of thousands kept up the pace and continued to sing along to the most obscure lyrics. At the end of the performance dozens of giant blood-shot eyeballs dropped from the ceiling revealing red confetti when popped. But that wasn’t all — encores ensued.
As we left John looked over and said, “they could have charged double for that.” With our tickets being almost $60 after taxes and fees, I still agreed without question.
Muse continues their tour with stops in Phoenix, Tuscon, Las Vegas and San Francisco this week.
Disclosure cmp.ly/2 – our meal at Sanafir was complimentary.
I wanted to write a post to address the recent attacks on Miss604.com. These weren’t your regular spam or virus attacks, these were mighty serious. There wasn’t much I could have done to prevent these, or to get my site back online, but by detecting vulnerabilities or even the attack early, you have a better chance at a speedy recovery. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
A spring and summer highlight for many, great getaways at 78 BC Provincial Park campsites are now available to book.
Today the reservation system begins taking your requests for the upcoming season which will open up for the May long weekend.
How to reserve your campsite
Book your site through the reservation system at DiscoverCamping.com
Call 1-800-689-9025 or (604) 689-9025
Visit the GoCampingBC website for information
The reservation system is open April 1, 2010 until September 15, 2010.
If tent camping isn’t your thing, some BC Provincial Parks also offer yurts. You can book a yurt (see a photo of some in my Sunshine Coast post) at any of the following campgrounds: Allison Lake, Ellison, Fintry, Kekuli Bay, Kikomun Park, North Okanagan Lake, South Okanagan Lake, and Wasa Lake.
I personally love camping although I (haven’t been in about two years) and I’ve slept in tents from Norbury Lake to Wells Grey. I have heard that the reservation systems are pretty busy today but I encourage you to try again tomorrow if you can’t get through. Camping in BC is just absolutely the best experience.
The Arts Club is presenting the California Wine Fair April 7th from 7:00pm until 10:00pm at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
This is the 30th anniversary of the fair that tours around showcasing premium wines from over 100 California wineries. Tickets can be purchased for $60 (or $50 for groups of six people or more).
Attendees get the chance to sample 350 wines from the region and bid on silent auction items that include everything from a bottle of 2005 Silver Oak – Cabernet Sauvignon, a Whistler getaway, or Canucks tickets. Proceeds from the auction support the Arts Club Theatre Company.
I have two pairs of tickets to give away and you can enter to win them by leaving a comment or re-tweeting the following:
You must be 19+ to enter and I’ll draw the winners Monday, April 5th at 5:00pm.
Update I have drawn the winner at random and it’s Nicole (comment entry) – congratulations and have fun!
