Canoe Brew Pub and Restaurant         450 Swift Street, Victoria,

British Columbia, Canada

                                                                        250-361-1940

                                                                        www.canoebrewpub.com

This place is located in downtown Victoria by the water.  It is in a large, newer, wooden building made to look rustic and older.  It was a nice atmosphere for a brew and some good food.

 “Winter Gale Stone ale”

This is a seasonal brew for Canoe.  After the first sip my first thoughts were that I had never tasted a beer with this flavor.  It certainly was unique and unusual.  My second thought was that I doubted the listed alcohol content at 8 to 8.5 because it had such smooth and mild characteristics.

Amber in color it had hints of cinnamon, ginger and clove so Canoe says.  Perhaps it did but my taste buds could not pick up all of that and all I know is that I liked the very unique brew.  It was a bit malty sweet and perhaps would have benefited with a touch more hops but why change a good thing?

“Beaver Brown Ale”

This is the one Jan tried and she described it as “so smooth”.  It had a deep mahogany brown color.  Canoe says it contained rich chocolate roasted malt and exhibited a full body, creamy texture.  I could not argue with that.  This was another fine beverage created by the Canoe Brew Pub.

So it was a nice place with good food and great beer.  What’s not to like?

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Boundary Bay Brewing Company

1107 Railroad Ave, Bellingham, WA  98225

                                                          (360) 647-5593

www.bbaybrewery.com

Ok, l will get right to the point.  This is the best brewery and pub I have experienced.  I think over about a six week period Jan and I visited this place at least five times.  I supplied the boat with some of their 22 oz bottles for special times when we will be in some remote places in British Colombia.  That is if I can wait that long before getting out the bottle opener.

The building is old and converted from some other important use of days gone by.  It is rustic but comfortable.   Western Washington University is not far away and patrons are an interesting mix of college students and young retired folks.  Old fogies like us can look around and remember back to those carefree college days also long gone by.

In one corner they have large windows separating the pub from the brewing room.  We sat there watching the brew master doing his thing.  He was constantly monitoring temperatures, adding water or hops, and taking samples for testing.  On another visit we watched as he was cleaning one of the boiling vats and he was working hard.  It seems as though half of the work in making beer is cleaning.  If your tools are not spotless and completely sanitary there is no way to make a great tasting brew.

Not many pubs do this but all should follow this example.  When they bring you your first beer they also bring you a pint of lightly iced water, perfect.

First the food.  You can have your filet mignon, caviar, and NY steak and you can call me a heathen if you wish but I will have the stew.  I do not think I have had a better beef stew than the one served here.  And I have had plenty of them as stew is one of my favorite meals.  I ordered this nearly every time I was there.  They call it “Beer Beef Stew: A warm & hearty compilation of vegetables, potatoes & tender chunks of beef simmered together in our Scotch Ale”.  Let me say you did not have to ask “Where’s the beef?”  The stew is loaded with it.  It really is very tender and the flavor is outstanding.  Even if they did not have the best beer I would go out of my way to get more of that stew.  The other food was good too, they make a decent pizza, but you might be getting a clue that I think the stew was something special.  Now, for the good part, the brews.

“Inside Passage Ale (IPA)”

For me this is the best example of an IPA (not to be confused with their “Imperial” IPA below) and here is what they have to say about it:

“A style developed during the days of the British Empire; IPA’s higher alcohol content and big hop character were natural preservatives that protected the beer during its long voyage eastward to India.  As one story goes, a shipwreck washed many cases of IPA to England’s shore and the locals tasted the beverage… the rest is history.”

This IPA is the best.  For one thing the aroma is just outstanding.  This is attained by adding lots of hops right at the end of the boil and dry hopping during the fermentation process.  This brewer is not saving money holding back the hops and it shows up in the final product.  I could almost buy a glass and just sit there and smell it all day!  Jan got a bit frustrated with me exhorting her to have another whiff of my beer.

I could taste the Cascade Hops right off and I asked the Master Brewer about it as I just happened to pass him walking down the hallway.  He told me, “That’s right lots of Cascade Hops are used during the last seven minutes of the boil”.  He did not mention dry hopping but I do not think you can get that level of sweet aroma with out doing so.

This is a bitter beer but it is not the kind where the bitterness lingers on the back of your tongue all day.  Everybody’s taste buds are a little different, well let’s put it this way, I will keep trying to find a better IPA but I would not bet on it.

“Imperial Oatmeal Stout”

This is Jan’s favorite and they describe it as follows:

“Perhaps more than any other beer, Oatmeal Stout deserves to be called a meal in a glass.  For many years it was considered so nutritious that it was often served as s health tonic.  Lightly hopped, it is aged for one month to allow the medley of dark malts and oats to celebrate their union.  Try it with dessert!”

Jan has now learned what she has been missing, she loves the stouts.  If you are not a fan of bitter or “strong” beers do not let the “stout” in the name keep you from trying this brew.  It is chock full of flavor and it is very smooth.  When I am not in the mood for hoppy bitterness this beer and Cabin Fever are the first to come to mind.

“Cabin Fever”

This is a seasonal ale described as:

“Specially brewed & bottled for the Pacific Northwest winters, this winter warmer’s dark red-brown color and rich malty flavor will compliment any rich, hardy meal as well as your favorite spicy dish.  However, with its cold conditioned, smooth, dry-hopped flavor, Cabin Fever is very satisfying all by itself!”

I could not agree more.  It is great by itself and in fact that is how I prefer to drink it.  I do not want the food to inhibit or change the flavor of the beer itself.  I am a big fan of highly malted and highly hopped beer and this has it.  I tell you these guys do not hold back on the right ingredients for their brews.  This is another top quality beer by Boundary Bay.

“Imperial IPA”

This too is a seasonally brewed beer:

“A full bodied, copper colored India Pale Ale, with a fairly strong alcohol content and an aggressive “fresh hop” quality.  Only in the Great Northwest can one find such a well balanced, over the top highly hopped draft ale.”

If I could have only one beer in the next month this would be it.  Look back at the description of their regular IPA above.  Now multiply all of those comments by two but cram it in the same volume, a pint.  This is my favorite IPA off all time.  It has very unique coloring and texture for an IPA.  This beer is not for drinking; one should sip it like you might do with a great wine.  It has such an outstanding flavor, aroma, and texture and one will be enough as it is high in alcohol content.  In fact you cannot buy a pint of this at the pub.  They serve it in a smaller glass similar to a wine glass.

Our son, Kevin and I are big fans of IPA’s and we have tried many of them together.  Top of our list is Ruination from Stone Brewing and the IPA from Laguinitas Brewing.  We have visited both of these breweries together in the past.  A while back I had the opportunity sit down with Kevin and have one of these Boundary Bay Imperial IPAs.  Before he took his first sip I told him that this one had the others beat.  He drank nearly the whole bottle before commenting but he did say that, yes, this is the best IPA.

“Scotch”

This is in a very short list of beer that I like with the word scotch in the name.  I have nothing against the Scotch but there is something in this style that I just do not care for.  I think it must be the sour mashed malt.  I cannot stand a sour mash based whiskey.  Perhaps this brewery uses less of it than most.  Here is their description:

“Traditionally strong, this ale is a unique beer with a similar malt profile to its more famous cousin Scotch whiskey.  Roasted, unmalted barley provides a distinctive flavor.  A thick creamy head and a beautiful red hue are two of the trademark results of its brewing process.  Hopped just enough to achieve balance with the malt, the end product is incredibly smooth with a finish that lingers.”

This is another great beer.  They must have used lots of barley and fewer hops so it is on the sweet side but it does have a nice flavor.

 “Dry Irish Stout”

“A small amount of sour mashed pale malt combined with a generous dose of roasted barley and fuggles hops gives this lighter bodied dry Irish Stout its silky body and session beer qualities.  Served on nitro for maximum smoothness & dense creamy head”

Jan liked this and her first comment was “very mild”.  She said it reminded her of a mild Guinness but with more of a burnt flavor.   I would agree with that assessment.  The “nitroed” brews can not be beat for smoothness and this is no exception.  You can drink it right down like a glass of juice but that would be a mistake as you would miss all of the flavors the brew master worked so hard to pass along.

“Bellingham Blonde”

“As a straight forward lighter bodied ale, our Blonde was brewed for summertime, however it compliments any meal nicely.  A great beer for lunch or after work, it’s well rounded softness results from the generous amounts of German pilsner and Vienna malts that balance with a crisp yet cleansing Noble Saaz hop finish”

This is as close to a “regular” beer as we tried during our five different visits to this pup and brewery.  But this has the regular beers beat many times over.  Their description of having the Blonde with a meal is right on the mark and each of us had one with our lunch.  With more yeast flavor present this was one of Jan’s favorites.

Boundary Bay Brewing Company in Bellingham is my favor place to have a beer and some great food.   In addition to the beers we tried they make others with names of Best Bitter, Amber, Reefnetter, Pilsner, and Harvest.  I also noticed on their website that they have made a Dopple Bock.  I would love to try that one.

I did not see any evidence of their possible indifference in the notion of “saving the whales”.  In fact I would guess that these folks at Boundary Bay are all for the idea.  But that is not really their thing as they had t-shirts and sweatshirts, for sale with a message some would say is just as important…  “Save the Ales”.  I thought about buying one but I spent my money on an ale instead.

In any case if you are anywhere in the vicinity of Bellingham, WA, and you like beer, go out of your way if necessary to visit this place.  You will not be disappointed.