Oct 08
20
Didn’t we do well! By ‘we’ I refer to British Columbia and Vancouver Island in the recent Canadian Brewing Awards.
Out of a possible 21 gold medals BC breweries captured five and out of a total of 63 medals the provinces breweries captured a total of eleven – the five gold, plus two silver and four bronze.
I was particularly pleased that Victoria’s own Lighthouse Lager won the gold medal as the best North American Style Premium Lager. It was only a month ago that I tried Lighthouse Lager for the first time (at The Beagle on Cook Street) and declared it one of the best lagers I had ever tasted. It’s nice to have my selection validated by such a distinguished body as the CBA (see below).
Out of the 21 BC beers that won awards I am embarrassed to say I have so far only sampled two – Lighthouse Lager and Longboat Chocolate Porter (Gold Medal for Phillips Brewing Co.)
The list of the other medal winners can be found posted by John Boreskie elsewhere on this blog. Over the next few weeks I will sample each and every one of them and pass on my considered opinion. Unlike the CBA official tasters I can’t claim to be an accredited judge but I can claim to have been drinking beer for more than forty years.
As I am still on holiday in Portugal I will make this week’s Brew of the Week the Phillips Chocolate Porter. This unusual beer is a favourite of my cousin Warren and it was he that convinced me to try it during a family dinner at the Four Mile House where they have it on tap. I’m not one for mixing sweets and savories and the idea of chocolate flavoured beer intrigued me. I supposed I shouldn’t have been but I was surprised at the strong chocolate flavour. It’s not really my thing but chocoholics will love it.
Phillips is a Victoria brewery with a wide range of different beers for different tastes. Phillips describes Longboat Chocolate as “Enhanced by a double dose of chocolate, this smooth deep flavoured porter is certain to appeal to both the beer connoisseur and chocolate aficionado.
*The annual Canadian Brewing Awards competition is for breweries of all sizes. Eight certified judges grade the various brews on – appearance, aroma, flavour, mouth-feel and overall impression. There are 21 categories and gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded in each.