Sarah: Drop Your Anchors at Portside

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This past Sunday I somehow lucked out and was tasked with going to the media preview of Portside, the latest venture by Mark Brand.

Located in Gastown, Portside hopes to bring East coast pub culture to Vancouver. Right off the bat they had my interest, as Vancouver isn't exactly known as the most friendly place.

With a name like Portside, it's quite obvious that they're going for a nautical vibe, and there are all sorts of cool artifacts to check out in the space. On top of being a bar, Portside also has a stage for live music acts, filling a void of medium-sized venues in the city.

Some highlights of the night, including me stuffing my face (as per usual)

The menu sticks to the basics, but is definitely a step up from your average drunk food. Highlights include the pulled pork, and hot dogs. Drinks are definitely the main attraction though, as Porside features an impressive 24 beers on tap, with 6 selections each from: local, Canadian, American, and international. Needless to say,  I didn't get a chance to try them all, but that will certainly be a goal of mine in the coming weeks.

Overall, Portside has an awesome vibe, and great food and drinks to back it up. I'm looking forward to checking out a live show and getting closer to my beer goal.

Vancouver Food Tour - Craft Beer 'n' Bites Tour

Last week, the Vancouver Food Tour hosted some bloggers on their Craft Beer 'n' Bites Tour. Since we know that the craft beer scene is booming in Vancouver, I was really stoked to learn about some different (new and/or local) beers and have some good eats.

While I can't say where we stopped on the tour, I can tell you the different beers and food we tried - and fortunately the beers at the different stops change, so you may never get the same tour twice!

Stop #1

The beers (L-R): Phillip's Phoenix Gold Lager (Victoria, BC), Parallel 49 Seedspitter Watermelon Wit (Vancouver, BC), Driftwood Fat Tug IPA (Victoria, BC)

The bites (paired) (L-R): Lobster Mac 'n' Cheese, Vietnamese Taco, Award Winning Chili (won the Gastown Chili Cookoff a couple years ago)

Notes: I prefer the Phillip's Blue Buck over the Gold Lager, but this one is still good. I'm not into super hoppy beers, so I don't typically drink IPAs, but this one was a nice middle ground for me. The Seedspitter was amazing - like, I would go back to just drink this beer...and lots of it.

Stop #2

The beers (L-R): Lost Coast Brewery Great White (Eureka, CA), Driftwood White Bark Wheat Ale (Victoria, BC), Crannog Ales Back Hand of God Organic Stout (Sorrento, BC). 

The bites (L-R): Scotch egg, Devils on Horseback (prunes stuffed with gruyere, wrapped in bacon)

Notes: Driftwood's White Bark is a staple craft wheat in my life. The Lost Coast was also great - it was really interesting to juxtapose the two wheat ales. I'm not a big stout drinker, but the Back Hand of God is always enjoyable.

Stop #3

The beers (L-R): Lighthouse Brewery Switchback IPA (Victoria, BC), 2012 VCBW Collaboration Beer (a Cascadia Brown), R&B Brewing Stumpy (Vancouver, BC) *note: The Stumpy is exclusive to this location

The bites: Flourless chocolate cake with raspberry and hazelnut

Notes: By this time, I was so full of food and beer. The cake was delish and the beers were too. I found this IPA too hoppy for me, but the others, for dark, stout-type beers, I enjoyed them. The flavour profiles were so different - which is why I love beer/wine/coffee flights.

The VFT Craft Beer 'n' Bites Tour is $69 plus tax and gratuity. It's a great way to spend an evening whether you're a local or tourist, a great way to learn more about beer, and a great way to go home with a food coma.

Check out my posts on the VFT blog.

VCBW: Sisters of the Tap

Vancouver Craft Beer Week has come and gone and I'm really looking forward to it next year.

It was my first time attending any of the events and I was pleasantly surprised. I attended the Sisters of the Tap dinner, which is one of the marquee events of the week and was blown away. Sure, there were growing pains, and yes, I was extremely out of my element, but the food! The beer! Great.

I loved seeing the women who are part of this very masculine industry - particularly female brewers who work in BC breweries.

I chatted briefly with Claire Connolly (you may know her from the VCBW posters that were around town), who is from the UK, and she said she loves being a Brewmaster in Canada because it's a very progressive industry. The UK is still very traditional in their views on beer, so that would that stifle her creativity.

Well, we're lucky to have her, and all these fabulous women!

Dungeness crab roll with Howe Sound 4 Way Fruit Ale

BC Halibut with Big River Vienna Lager

Braised beef shin with Spinnakers Hoptoria