These past few months have been a critical mass of new beginnings. It started off in January, when I finally proposed to my longtime girlfriend Darrell on at sunrise on top of Mount Phou Si in Luang Prabang, Laos. (Not as romantic as you might think.) We spent all of February trying to plan two weddings - one in Canada and one in Malaysia - and at the same time, planning to uproot our comfortable lives in Toronto and move to Vancouver. With my contracts finished, I'm having to get serious about the job hunt, and I'm about to start studying for the BJCP certification. Now I'm sitting in my uncle's living room in Coquitlam, a week before we move into our apartment in the city.
I could go on about everything we had to do to get to this point, but this is a beer blog. So it's time to talk beer.
I've been into home brewing and craft beer since 2009, when I started working on my master's degree with no money in the bank, no student loan coming, and thus needing to secure a cheap source of decent beer. Recognizing my passion, Darrell got me a set of brewing equipment for Christmas (probably one of the reasons I'm marrying her now). Once I secured a part-time job and a scholarship, I was free to start exploring commercial brews, and got really into the offerings of Ontario's craft brewers.
I went to quite a few of the Great Lakes Project X events, and I attended the pre-opening at Bellwoods. I visited the LCBO weekly to see what new stuff had come in. I even stood in line for the tiny Westvleteren XII release (twice, before I finally got some of it). For more than three years I got to know Ontario beer intimately, along with everything else the LCBO brought in. I knew which breweries to expect good things from, and which to approach more cautiously. It was easy to walk into a store and see exactly what was new, what was familiar, and what to avoid. This background knowledge is something you come to rely on.
Now I live in BC, and everything's changed.
BC beer (and, for that matter, their excellent wine) rarely makes it east to Ontario. There are some standbys - Tree's Hop Head IPA and Central City's Red Racer IPA are some popular favourites - that you'll often see in the LCBO, but the BC brewing scene goes way beyond that. (Heck, those two IPAs aren't even the best of those breweries.) When I walk into a typical BC Liquor Store or a cold beer and wine store, I'm overwhelmed by all the unfamiliar producers: Parallel 49, Russell, RB, Cannery, Dead Frog, Driftwood... And I have no idea where to start.
Normally the excellent site Ratebeer.com helps me decide what to pick, but although people like their craft beer around here (the craft beer revolution started out west in California, and BC got into it much faster than the rest of Canada), people aren't quite so nerdy about it, and don't jump on the review sites every time they pick up a new beer. Ratebeer's system weights its averages, so with fewer ratings, some of BC's most excellent beer is artificially underrated.
Take for example Storm Brewing's Hurricane IPA (which I tried yesterday - more in the next post). I'm a total hop head, and IPA is probably my favourite style. Trust me, then, when I tell you that Hurricane is one of the best IPAs I've ever had - beautifully balanced, bitterness firm but not overpowering, strawberry and peach in the nose - but with only 28 ratings, it's in the 56th percentile on Ratebeer. Some others I've tried were only at 38 or 49, but merited much higher scores.
So how do I build up my beer knowledge in a new place without these resources to rely upon? It's like going to a Chinese restaurant with no English menu, and you only know a few characters. You know this dish contains pork and that one is chicken, this one is noodles, that one rice. Everything looks good, but you have know idea what's in it. It's exciting and intimidating at the same time.
Well, I'm here for an adventure. And I'm looking forward to putting in the time to learn what's good and what isn't. In the coming posts I'll be sharing my beer experience - favourite new discoveries, adventures in home brewing, brewery tours, and any good books I come across. It's a journey of discovery.
For now, if anyone has recommendations, I'm all ears.
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