So three weeks ago, I visited Victoria, B.C. for four days and during that time, I tasted 61 different beers in pursuit of the very best that Vancouver Island had to offer in terms of local beer.
Keep in mind that this competition should be taken with a grain of salt for many reasons, including:
1) Some beers were tasted on site and others were tasted using market samples, and often in differing packages
2) Beers tasted were in different sample sizes, glasses, and temperatures.
3) Only beers good enough to be identified as finalists were revisited later
4) I don't normally taste very much craft beer, but I know what I like.
That said, here are the competitors:
Canoe Brewpub, Marina & Restaurant
Beaver Brown Ale
Red Canoe Lager
River Rock Bitter
Siren's Song Pale Ale
Summer Honey Wheat Ale
Driftwood Brewery
Crooked Coast Amber Ale
Driftwood Ale
Farmhand Ale
Fat Tug IPA
White Bark Ale
Gulf Islands Brewing
Salt Spring Island Heatherdale Ale
Lighthouse Brewing Company
Beacon IPA
Lighthouse Lager
Race Rocks Amber Ale
Riptide Pale Ale
Phillips Brewing Company
Amnesiac Double IPA
Blue Buck
Centennial IPA
HopCircle IPA
Hoperation Tripel Cross Belgian IPA
Instigator 2010 Doppelbock
Krypton Rye PA
Longboat Chocolate Porter
Raspberry Wheat
Service 1904
Skookum Cascadian Brown Ale
Slipstream Cream Ale
Wheatking Hefeweizen
Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub
Blue Bridge Double Pale Ale
Casked Nut Brown Ale
Discovery Ale
Extra Special Bitter
India Pale Ale
Jameson's Scottish Ale
Lion's Head Cascadia Dark Ale
Northwest Ale
Peach Hefeweizen
Summer Ale
Tsarist Imperial Stout
Swans
Appleton Brown Ale
Arctic Ale
Buckerfield's Extra Special Bitter
Extra IPA
Oatmeal Stout
Old Towne Lager
Pandora Pale Ale
Raspberry Ale
Riley's Scotch Ale
Witbier
The Moon Under Water
Lunar Pale Ale
Moonlight Blonde Ale
Summer Ale
Tranquility IPA
Vancouver Island Brewing
Double Decker IPA
Hermann's Dark Lager
Honey Ale
Phoenix Lager
Piper's Pale Ale
Sea Dog Amber Ale
Spyhopper Honey Brown
Vancouver Islander
Fortunately, there was no beer in that list which was bad enough to be singled out as undrinkable, but there can only be one winner. Here are the finalists:
3rd Place:
Summer Ale - The Moon Under Water Brewpub
This one has only been out for a few weeks. I come never to expect greatness from a seasonal beer, but this one is different. You can never go wrong with Saaz hops, they have a place in any beer. It's a bit wheaty at first, but that goes away after the third or fourth sip. It's also just a little mouthcoating and the bitterness lingers a bit more than I would expect from something which is supposed to be a light beer. However, with a 4.2% ABV, you'd have no problem putting away 3 or 4 during the summer. The unfortunate bit about The Moon Under Water is that it's a bit out of the way and closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but the food and the beers are both good.
2nd Place:
Driftwood Ale - Driftwood Brewery
Driftwood is a place that's serious about its beer. It's a lot smaller in scale than its more established neighbours over at Vancouver Island Brewing and Phillips Brewing, and it seems they don't do as many tours either. But Kevin and Tim over there were nice enough to show us around, even though it looked like there was a lot going on at the time. Their flagship brand, Driftwood Ale, has a nice aroma of fruity hops and good quality bitterness that lingers slightly on aftertaste. Aside from that, it's fairly clean, clears quickly, and pretty dry. Something that's refreshing and easy to drink.
1st Place:
Farmhand Ale - Driftwood Brewery
Honestly, I've never had a bad Belgian ale. I'm convinced that the secret to this gem is good yeast. It reminded me of Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde at first...it doesn't kick your ass, take your name, and get you drunk like La Fin Du Monde, but it is still a little stronger than most at 5.5% ABV. You'll get oranges/coriander and cloves/spice on the nose which might convince some of you amateurs that it's closer to Rickard's White or Hoegaarden. It's more grainy/more wheaty than those two and clears more quickly as well. Maybe a little heavy for the style, but I think it works for them. Very slightly drying on the finish. I think this one will satisfy the trendy beer drinker who enjoys all the weird fruit-infused shit that passes for craft beer these days, and the beer snob/Bavarian purist of 1516 at the same time. That means this one's a winner.
