CAMRA President Rick Green (left) & Dockside Brewing Brewmaster Daniel Knibbs (right)

On January 17th, the CAMRA Vancouver Annual General Meeting took place at the Alibi Room. If you have ever been to an annual general meeting for any sort of organization, then you know that it’s not always the most exciting thing in the world. In order to get the conversation flowing, R&B Brewing graciously donated a keg of their award winning Auld Nick winter warmer. Along with the free beer also came free food from our good hosts at the Alibi Room, making everyone feel appreciated as an organization and ready to dive into the business at hand.

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This past Saturday at 11:30am people began lining up to sample the best the BC craft beer scene has to offer. With breweries from all across the province descending onto DIX BBQ & Brewery, the air was full of anticipation as we hardcore craft heads mingled and tried to stay warm on the crisp, sunny December morning. After a short wait, we were called into the brewery in order to start the festivities by CAMRA president Rick Green.

Upon entering the venue, many of us quickly surveyed the landscape, identifying what casks to hit first and what ones we would need to build up to. Trust me when I say that if you were one of the few who approached Gary Lohin’s Double Roach Imperial IPA first, you were not enjoying the flavors of the other beers for the next couple of hours as it was a pure pallet wrecker.

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Earlier this week I posted information about two events, the first of which is the Alibi Room’s 100th tap rotation happening tonight at 5:00pm. If you are on the fence about this event, just take a look at the beer list that was leaked by an unnamed CAMRA member:

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This week is the start of the holiday season for British Columbia craft beer fans. Unlike most craft fans south of the border, there is no late November Thanksgiving up here to set the festive atmosphere. No, we rely on something much different. This coming week marks two of the best beer events of 2009 with the 100th tap rotation at the Alibi Room and DIX BBQ & Brewery Winter Xtreme Caskival!

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This past weekend, a group of us local hop heads piled into a van and ventured across the border into Washington. With brews on the brain, tickets to the Tacoma Craft Beer Festival in hand, and a foot to the floor we headed out on our adventure. What follows is a vague account of the next sixteen or so hours.

Stop 1 – 9:30 am – Haggen Grocery Store, Ferndale WA:

Shortly after crossing the border we promptly found what many Canadians consider a hidden jewel for beer buying. Haggen, a local Washington / Oregon grocery store chain, must have some major craft beer fans working in their head office because upon walking into the store we quickly found an outstanding selection of limited release brews. Highlights include the Deschutes Hop Trip, the Stone Vertical Epic 09.09.09 (we got the last three in stock), and the Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest.

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This coming Saturday a group of us BC hop heads are heading down to the Tacoma Craft Beer Festival.  Spurred on by our resident America transplant, we decided to brave the border crossing along with hours of driving in order to taste selections from 40 breweries, many of which we don’t see in stores up north.

I plan on making up the fact we do not see many of these breweries north of the border, and am looking forward to trying as much ‘new to me’ craft as I can. That said, I will still take prolonged stops at Stone, Deschutes, Ninkasi, and New Belgium as I would hate to be rude. See the full brewery list after the break.

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This past weekend the Great Canadian Beer Festival went off with a bang. So much so that it’s taken me a few days to recover and write about it – yes, that excuse will do. Jokes aside, things could not have gone better. That morning I woke up to sunny skies and started my day by meeting Andy The Beer Man and the guys behind Beer Thirst at the ferry terminal. From there we enjoyed a cruise through some of the most beautiful parts of BC while enjoying a Lost Abby Cuvee de Tomme. Pretty good…

Instead of trying to break down everything that happened, all the people I talked too, and what beers I drank I decided to focus on highlights. With that in mind here is my Great Canadian Beer Festival 2009 top 5, or the ‘best of fest’ if you will:

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This coming weekend marks something Canadian beer drinkers look forward to all year. Yes ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the Great Canadian Beer Festival. For those south of the border who are unaware of this event let me tell you, it’s nothing to be scoffed at. Great American Beer Fest it’s not, but with the rate of growth and ever quicker sellouts year to year, it might not be long till the GCBF is being talked about with the same regard. Instead of rambling on about it myself I’ll quote the GCBF site:

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This past weekend I attended the Gastown Cask Carouse, a showcase of the ever growing craft scene down in Vancouver’s historic Gastown. For a very small fee my fellow Cask Carousers and I enjoyed a four part meal, each part with a complementing pint, and each part served at four different locations throughout Gastown. Thanks to solid planning by CAMRA we were not just left to fend for ourselves, but guided through this journey by some of the most knowledgeable local hop heads. The following is a progressively blurry account of the afternoon.

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CAMRA Vancouver is showcasing the ever-growing craft beer mecca that is Gastown this coming Saturday. For $30, or $25 if you’re a CAMRA member, people can enjoy a four part meal, each part with a complementing pint, and each part served at four different locations throughout this historic neighborhood.

Starting at noon a large group of beer lovers will be congregating at Carrall & Water street, between Koolhaus & Chill Winston. From there they will partake in the pub crawl showcasing  The Irish Heather, the Alibi Room, Steamworks, and Six Acres. Of these, The Irish Heather has probably the best pub food in the city, the Alibi Room has the best craft beer selection, and Steamworks has an epic in house brewery. To get an idea of what is in store, earlier today I spoke with Sean Heather, owner of The Irish Heather, and trust me when I say crawlers are in for a treat when it comes to the food at that stop on the crawl. That said, Six Acres is what I’m looking forward to the most as I have yet to be there; hopefully I’ll have good things to report back to you.

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