Beers of Vancouver, Vol 3
This time, some of the beers are actually from BC!
Howe Sound Brewing Garibaldi Honey Pale Ale
This is a relatively normal pale ale, but with honey added. From the taste of it, I’m guessing that the honey was added post-fermentation, because it’s quite sweet and the honey flavour is clearly present.
The sweetness diminishes the solo drinkability of it slightly, but this is an still eminently quaffable beer, and would pair extremely well with, say, BBQ ribs.
At $10 for a 1-litre resealable bottle, this is definitely something worth checking out.
Howe Sound Brewing Whitecap Wheat Ale
This one describes itself as “a refreshing Belgian-style wheat beer with hints of coriander and orange.” I’m not sure if I’d agree entirely. It tastes, to my mouth, a bit more German than Belgian, and the orange/coriander notes don’t quite manage to climb above the hops and say hi.
Honestly, I don’t think I’ll be getting this again, but it’s not because this beer is bad, by any means: it’s just outshone by other beers that I could get instead. For example…
Antares Imperial Stout
Wow. Kudos to Argentina: this beer is awesome. It grudgingly allows light to shine through, but barely. The carbonation is appropriately light. But the taste of it…
This is what Guinness wishes it was. It’s powerfully malty and has a bitterness just big enough to take a couple of good, solid shots at the caramel part, but not enough to win the match. It’s thick, but it doesn’t hang around too long: the finish is full and then it leaves cleanly. There’s no residual bitterness. Where Guinness has a kind of clamminess to it, this has a sharper edge which seems to be largely responsible for the perfect finish.
Find this beer, and enjoy it.
Antares Kölsch
From what I gather, the story behind this beer has something to do with a group of people in Germany who were religiously anti-lager. As in, if you were one of them and you were caught drinking it, you’d be shot. Does this make sense? No. But in light of that, this beer does.
It’s a lager brewed in the style of an ale. It could be offered to those tempted by the devil brew to satisfy their temptation without endangering their soul, or whatever. It’s as drinkable as a lager, but it has more to offer in the flavour department. I could see myself coming to enjoy this beer on hot days.
