Spring Beer Review 2013

 

As more and more craft breweries pop-up (three new ones will be opening in Vancouver within the year), more and more seasonal options are appearing on liquor store shelves. Over the past few months I sampled a selection of beers that possessed decidedly springy qualities: light, dry, and moderately hopped. These beers have been designed to help drinkers transition from the warmth and heaviness of winter concoctions to the light and fruity characteristics of summer brews. 

 

Buckman Brewery Apple Beer - A-

 

Buckman Botanical Brewery is a tiny operation located in Portland headed by ex-Rogue brewer Danny Connors. It features low-hop to no-hop brews, which is atypical for Oregonian breweries. Buckman grows many of its own ingredients, and uses additional botanicals from the Portland area. I bought a bottle of their Apple Beer from the Rogue stall at the Portland Saturday Market and only drank it last week back in Vancouver. I was expecting a sweet, low alcohol summer beer which would be closer to cider. My expectations were off. This beer is 8% abv and is only appley in its nose and finish. With a smoky orange colour, biscuity mouthfeel, and bold malt profile, this beer is appropriate for sunny days but is not really quaffable. I'm really glad that they have controlled the sweetness levels with this one. I will definitely be buying this again, and hope to visit their taproom in Portland some time.

New Belgium Brewing Transatlantique Kriek - B+

 

Most people assume fruit beers are going to taste like alcopops. I blame coolers and improperly made lambics for this assumption, for the fermentation process in beer-making transforms fruits to shadows of their former juicy selves. Adding fruit to the boil or cooled wort does impart fruit flavours, but the added yeast will consume sugars from these fruits and create a drink that is much more subtle and earthy than any cooler or cider. As with most beers that are part of New Belgium's Lips of Faith series, the Transatlantique Kriek is complex, expensive, and completely original tasting. This beer starts its journey in Europe, where it begins as a naturally-fermented (using wild yeasts floating in the air) and sour kriek made by master brewer Frank Boon in the Lembeek region of Belgium. This authentic and tart lambic is aged for two years and then shipped to New Belgium in Colorado where it is diluted with a golden, Belgian-style ale. The addition of this golden ale cuts the acidity of the European kriek and helps to round out the beer's finish. This was an interesting and satisfying drink, but one that I will probably not crave on a regular basis.

Parallel 49 Hay Fever Saison - B-

 

I like most of Parallel 49's beers, but Hay Fever is the only one that I buy regularly to drink at home. Saisons are becoming more and more popular in the Northwest and are a bit hard to define as a style of beer. This type of beer originated as a low alcohol, bottle-fermented beverage that was made in the fall, aged over the winter, and then cracked in the summer before the next batch of malt and hops was available. It was originally a yeasty and drinkable pale ale with a dry finish. It is largely the same nowadays, except saisons are generally 6% abv and above, and hoppiness can vary a great deal depending on the brewery. Hay Fever pours a cloudy straw colour, lighter than many saisons, and has a nice tart finish. It is springy and appropriate for hot weather, but has enough hops to demand respect.

Keywords: "Alex Dawkins", "Brassneck Brewery", "Vancouver Craft Beers"

Pajo's in Steveston

Not only does Pajo's have the best dining location in the quaint fishing village of Steveston, it also provides some perks that other places do not. They have numerous (excessive?) condiments and garnishes for your fish. While most fish n' chips places I've been to either provide you with an inadequately teeny container of tartar sauce or - zounds! - charge you for it, Pajo's offers free tartar. And as much free tartar as you want! Along the same lines, they also keep a hugemongous bucket of lemon wedges on the service counter. I know they are just lemons, but it's nice to have the option to take as many as you want. I hate rationing my lemon juice when seafood is involved. I went mental at Pajo's...I even squeezed three wedges into my iced tea.

We ordered halibut, chips, and a side of coleslaw. I am really picky about fried fish because I have had many more bad experiences than good. I hate thick, flavourless, artery-clogging batter, so I always focus on this rather than the fish itself. The batter at Pajo's is good. It's not great, but it is fairly thin, which I appreciated. I wish it was a bit crispier though. I really liked the coleslaw. It was light on dressing and contained crunchy sunflower seeds.

Tip: if you are visiting Steveston from Vancouver, leave the car at home and bike! We live in Kits but it only took us an hour and a half to get to Steveston by biking to Cambie, taking the Skytrain to Aberdeen, and then cycling along West Dyke. I'm not sure I could handle a two-piece Halibut without exercising before and after my meal! Plus, it's a beautiful ride.

Keywords: "Alex Dawkins", "Vancouver breweries", "Vancouver fish and chips"

Steve and Rod Smith - Collaboration & Contrast

I studied Art History as an undergraduate and was initially drawn to the diverse media and subject matter that make-up Modern Art from the Western world. From blown glass to formaldehyde fetuses - and from psychoanalysis to automatism - art from the Twentieth Century was so complex and varied that it met many of my intellectual needs, as a right-brained nerd in his early twenties. As I began to consider applying for a Masters degree in this field, however, I found it more and more difficult to find a particular artist or subject to focus on. There was simply too much diversity in twentieth-century art, and I couldn’t think of something that I really wanted to dedicate my time and money to. During my final year, I began working at Vancouver’s Lattimer Gallery. I was not particularly fond of British Columbian First Nations art prior to securing this position at the gallery, but it did not take long for my understanding of this art to develop, and then for my appreciation to pullulate. One of the things that I found so satisfying about this art form was that it had historically-defined and aesthetic constraints, unlike modern art from Europe and North America. There are subjects and shapes and colours that define the creative output of artists from the various cultures along the Northwest Coast, and it takes truly creative individuals to produce novel and innovative works within these artistic and cultural traditions. My time at Lattimer Gallery sparked a passion for Native art from the West Coast, and this is what I ended up getting my Masters degree in.

Two artists that best demonstrate this rare ability to propel Northwest Coast Native art, given these aesthetic and thematic boundaries, are brothers Steve Smith Dla’kwagila and Rod Smith Galuyagmi. Their father, Harris Smith, was an established Kwakwaka’wakw artist who was very successful in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island during the 1980s and 1990s. He developed a distinctive style of painting based on the abstraction of Northwest Coast First Nations design elements. The ovoid, split-u, and s-form would cover surfaces from rustic burl vessels to iconic totem poles in a fluid and dynamic fashion. Harris still produced conventional masks and prints and paintings, but he created many pieces that were blatantly non-figurative and notably innovative. Steve and Rod took-up this style of painting and design sense, but went slightly different ways with it. Most of Steve’s pieces cling to the figurative, while Rod has really embraced and perfected painting in the abstract. Having said this, both brothers have a lot in common: they possess the awe-inspiring ability to apply their idiosyncratic painting style to most any shape and surface, and they have consistently created new and completely original works for over twenty years.

Lattimer Gallery is holding an exhibition of Steve and Rod’s work between June 22nd – July 20th. The show is titled Collaboration & Contrast, and in addition to highlighting the differences between these two unpredictable artists the exhibition will also contain pieces that the brothers have made cooperatively. Steve and Rod are in their prime right now, both born in the 1960s, so I strongly encourage anyone interested in Northwest Coast Native art to go and check out this show. Also, if you can at all afford it, I would advise that you purchase a piece by one of these artists as well!

Keywords: "Steve Smith Native Art", "Alex Dawkins", "Native Art Vancouver"

Pepper Sisters in Bellingham

This blog entry is fuelled by guilt. I recommended this restaurant to my dad and his friend from Bellingham after looking on Yelp for an alternative to our favourite Mexican places in the city, Casa Que Pasa and Tadeo's. I am an Elite Yelper and usually find the reviews on Yelp to be accurate...but they were off when describing the food and ambience of Pepper Sisters. We should have gone to Casa Que Pasa.

My dad's buddy knew about Pepper Sisters and agreed that we should break away from our regular places to try this highly touted "Southwestern" restaurant on the outskirts of town. We were immediately sceptical upon entering: it was bright, sterile, and cavernous. Our excessively cheery server guided us to a table at the window and handed us our vegetarian-biased menus. Do not eat here if you possess a passion for carne asada and carnitas. The dishes here are dominated by veggies and poultry. This isn't a bad thing in and of itself, but the menu is definitely not balanced. Desperate for flavor and protein, my dad ordered the Pork Burrito and our friend ordered the Pork and Posole Stew. I tried to be open-minded and ordered the veggie Blue Corn Rellenos. I figured they couldn't mess this up since a standard chile relleno is vegetarian, but the Pepper Sisters version was packed with goat cheese. A little goat cheese mixed with the jack cheese would have added a pleasant zing to the filling, but there was so much chèvre that it just ruined the dish. My dad said that the density of his pork combined with the mandatory whole wheat tortilla it was served in resulted in a dry and disturbingly bland burrito. Our friend said the stew was so-so, but that he could have easily made it at home.

Adding insult to injury, our bill was almost double what it would have been at most other Mexican restaurants in the city. And I'm sorry, but a few pieces of deep-fried dough ("sopaipillas") don't warrant these inflated prices.

If you are vegetarian or are dining with vegetarians, I would actually recommend Pepper Sisters, despite my negative review. They have a huge number of options for those who are unable or are unwilling to consume pork and red meat (aka the backbone of both Mexican and Southwest cuisine). I won't be back here though.

PS - The owner, Susan Albert, has never lived nor cooked in the Southwest.

Keywords: "Bellingham Mexican Restaurants", "Alex Dawkins", "Vancouver Mexican"

Beau Thai in Portland

In cities rife with trendy restaurants and high turnover, it is satisfying to dine at establishments that have been around for years. It is true that these types of family-run neighbourhood 'institutions' often rely upon regulars and have the tendency to rest on their culinary laurels, but these restaurants are important to a community's identity and economic foundation. I was in Portland with my mom in May of 2013 and she really wanted to go out for Thai one night. We stumbled upon Beau Thai on 21st Avenue, but before we entered I Yelped Thai restaurants in the northwest. I quickly discovered that Beau Thai failed to place in the top three. This was a bit disconcerting so we checked the menu of nearby Red Onion and another place on 23rd. They looked good, but they also looked like they were trying a bit too hard. We opted for Beau Thai, and not only was the food flavourful and light (we ordered the roasted eggplant stirfry, pad thai, and salad rolls), my mom remembered that she had eaten there five years before with my dad. She spoke to the owner, who was serving us, and expressed how much she liked the restaurant and the food. The owner was over the moon that we had come all the way from Canada to eat at her restaurant, and she described some of the challenges the restaurant has had as of late.

This was a great dining - and socio-economic - experience. As a diner, you have the ability to influence your neighbourhood with your wallet. Next time you are going out and are tempted to try that new bistro serving biodynamic spot prawn risotto with preserved lemon, or what have you, consider using your money to support a restaurant with history and cultural significance :) Red Onion may have had dishes with more complexity and obscure ingredients, but Beau Thai served solid food with a local flavour.

Keywords: "Alex Dawkins", "Portland Thai Restaurants", "Beau Thai Portland"

Rocanini Coffee Roasters

My first time here was at a Yelp event in March and I learned a great deal about the coffee industry at this crash course in roasting. I would not recommend Rocanini as a cafe. This is a roastery, in the factory and small manufacturing district of Vancouver, and the cafe within the business is clearly an addendum. Sharif was hosting the event I attended and he was extremely open and frank about both the coffee world and his business' practices. For example, I learned that the average cost for one pound of decent green beans in North America is $5. This means that roasters add between $10-$15 to roast, package, and distribute their product. This seemed like a lot to me when Sharif was describing it, but then he explained that money must also be spent on marketing and staffing. A $10-$15 markup is not a huge amount.

The most valuable activity we participated in at Rocanini was a cupping session based on SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) standards. Cupping involves brewing a predetermined amount of freshly ground beans with a consistent amount of water at 195-205 °F (95 °C) and then both sniffing and slurping the coffee after four minutes. This method forces you to really concetrate on the idiosyncratic qualities of EACH bean, in its purest form. I find taste tests like this to be the most helpful when trying to memorize traits of my favourite foods and drinks that come in unique varieties: single malt, wine, cheese, and cured meats.

At Rocanini we cupped Sumatran, Ethiopian, and Costa Rican grounds. The flavours were completely different from one another, and these differences would not have been as pronounced had the beans been blended or diluted with milk. Sharif explained that coffee aromas and taste profiles are really affected by altitude, and that this is one of the reasons Indonesian coffees are more earthy and one-dimensional than beans grown up in the mountains. The Ethiopian coffee was floral and acidic, while the Costa Rican was nutty with hints of citrus.

After this experience I could really relate to those who are obsessed with this dynamic bean, and it's hard not to become a bit snobby when one spends so much time studying and appreciating a favourite subject (i.e. drink, artist, animal, tv show...). However, as Sharif said, sometimes you just feel like a Timmy Hos. The staff at Rocanini are knowledgeable without being pretentious, and this seems to be rare in the coffee roasting world.

Keywords: "Alex Dawkins", "Vancouver Coffee Roasters", "49th Parallel"

Elite Danish Bakery in Burnaby

Even though I have lived in the Lower Mainland my entire life, I know very little about any community outside of Vancouver. I have always lived in Kits and my ignorance of our suburban towns is so high that I get panicky any time I am east of Commercial Drive. I recently secured a contract job with BC Hydro that required I commute to Edmonds in Burnaby. On my first day of work I got off the Skytrain and was totally disoriented. If someone had walked up to me and said I was in Asheville, North Carolina I would have believed them, so poor is my knowledge of Burnaby and its environs. Fortunately, one of my co-workers at BC Hydro was a huge foodie who lives in that neck of the woods and immediately started firing-off recommendations once she discovered I was a Yelper. One of her favourite places was (and still is!) Elite Bakery.

In a squat, unattractive strip of small shops on sleepy Rumble Street lies Elite, with its massive 'ALMOND KRINGLE' sign in the window. This is a Danish bakery, and I did not know much about Danish baked goods before eating here. I'll save you a Google search and tell you all you need to know about pastries from this part of the world: almonds. Every freakin' item in Elite (besides the out-of-place samosas and buttery copenhagens) was either almond or marzipan based, including the massive and eccles-like kringle. I bought some kransekage cookies and an almond-chocolate slice. Both had an outstanding texture, with crisp exteriors and chewy interiors, and the almond flavour didn't slap you in the ansigt. The service was also great. I guess there IS good food beyond the far reaches of East Van!

Keywords: "best vancouver bakery", "Alex Dawkins", "vancouver food blog"