Here’s a direct link to the publisher’s site: here.

CAMRA Vancouver is finally on their way to Whistler. We have a bus and are going to head up to spend the afternoon with brewer Dave Woodward at the Whistler Brew House. Dave will provide us with a tour of the brewery and is preparing a special cask for the event!

DATE: Saturday, May 29th June 12^th, 2010
TIME: Meet at 9:15am, at the Brew House 12:30-4:30, then homeward bound!
COST: $25.00

This event is for CAMRA Vancouver members only. CAMRA Victoria and Pentiction members should contact Lundy; if we have room you will certainly be welcome.

Admission includes the bus trip and one glass of the cask. Everyone will be on their own after that for their food and beer. The Brew House will have their full menu on and will giving us a 10% discount.

Email Lundy if you have any questions.

Please RSVP by May 22nd!

Payment can be made by cheque (mail it here or give it to Lundy in person) or by Paypal (plus $1.06 Paypal fee).

Name:

CAMRA Membership Number:

Also, from April 28th: “Drinking-and-driving rules get stricter in B.C.”

The bus has been booked and we have 40 tickets reserved for us for the afternoon (12-4pm) session.   The fee is $65 which includes the bus and a caskival ticket. This year we received the WABL rate for entry but we will not be given WABL glassware or be able to drink from the special cask.

Here’s the summary of what will be a full day. See further down the page for more details.

• leave Vancouver probably before 7am
• arrive in Seattle with enough time to grab lunch around Seattle Center
• the cask festival is from noon to 4:00
• likely a stop at a good beer store
• a stop somewhere for supper
• finally back in Vancouver pretty late

You MUST have a valid passport, and yes we’ll be checking before the bus leaves.

Payment can be made by cheque (payable to “CAMRA Vancouver” and sent here) or by Paypal (plus $2.25 Paypal fee).

Seats will initially be available to CAMRA Vancouver members only! If we have space we will open it to non-members, but at a higher rate.

SALES ARE NOW CLOSED.

Email Lundy if you have any questions.

More Details

Note that these are still subject to change!

There will be two pickup locations:

• 6:30am in front of DIX (871 Beatty St)
• approx 7:15am at the border, exact location to be determined yet. We’ll call when we leave DIX.

Please eat breakfast before boarding the bus. There will be no stops along the way for food, though there will likely be a pee break at a rest stop.

Hopefully we’ll arrive at Seattle Center around 11:00am, leaving an hour to scavenge for some lunch. There are plenty of options nearby, including a food court and a brewpub for the hardcore. Feel free to check Urban Spoon and Yelp for suggestions, but don’t go too crazy, remember you’re here for the beer, not the food.

The event starts at 12:00, but invariably there’s a long line so it can take awhile to get in. Bring an umbrella and be patient. For more info about the event details click here.

If you haven’t been before, remember to pace yourself, to study the guide, to ask other people what’s good. Remember to drink water, and don’t feel like you must finish each and every sample. If you don’t like it, dump it. Near the end it can help to ask for half pours.

LAST POUR is at 3:30pm. The bus will be leaving at 4:00pm. Don’t get lost!!

Next up will be a side trip to Bottleworks (probably, maybe Whole Foods?). Since time is tight, it wouldn’t hurt check the selection ahead of time. No, they probably won’t have Pliny. AND KEEP YOUR RECEIPT for the border.

You may buy beer to bring home BUT you will be liable for paying duty at the border, since to bring alcohol back duty-free you must be out of the country at least 48 hours. Duty can be expensive (more than the original price), but a rare beer might be worth it.

(Yes, occasionally the border guards don’t bother to deal with duty, especially on just one or two bottles. You may have heard stories about how much made it across last year duty free! On the other hand, they might be having a bad night and may well go hardcore on you. It’s up to you, but remember you might be rather unpopular if the bus is held up while you are doing your paperwork…)

Next will be a supper stop somewhere along the way. Details are being yet firmed up.

Finally the border, hopefully around 10:00pm. By then it should be quick, but… you never know.

Once across the border, the only planned stop is at DIX. Other possibilities may be possible, but please check with Lundy before the trip as there may be liability issues for the bus driver.

Rules:

• Everyone must have a valid passport and whatever other paperwork needed to gain entry to the US.
• Only bottled water and dry food may be consumed on the bus.

Some extra suggestions:

• Travel medical insurance is strongly encouraged.
• Pillows and earplugs may make the journey better in both directions.
• Don’t forget to wear your CAMRA button, and better still your CAMRA shirt!

If you have any suggestions or notice any mistakes in these instructions, please let Rodney know…

WARNING!!! There have been many reports of establishments adding higher-than-normal automatic gratuities to bills (20% or worse). Be sure to ask ahead of time what you will be charged, if this is something you are concerned with.

With all the commotion the Olympics (am I allowed to use that word?) promise to bring us in February, you’d think we might at least get some interesting beer out of it?

This page will attempt to be a clearing house of places to go and beers to drink, both before and during the Olympics. Be sure to let me know if you hear of anything I could add, or if you’ve given any of these a try.

And, okay, Palle’s making me really JEALOUS!!!!

Provinces

• Atlantic provinces – Propeller, Picaroon, Garrison … maybe they could sneak Adam and Gillian in with the kegs?
  • given Palle’s review I’m definitely heading down there at least once!
  • Feb 18: Peter sends this sad news: “Atlantic House is out of many of their on-tap local (to the Atlantic) brews. They got sent only small kegs, which ran out in the first day after 4 hours, according to the barkeep. They had a few left on tap, mostly Keiths and Moosehead. Otherwise the local (to them) was still available in bottle only.”
  • Feb 18: Better news from Ryan! “I just got back from the Atlantic house and the info on the CAMRA website is a bit wrong. The craft beer is at the Revue stage across from the arts club), and they still have atlantic craft beer. I just got back from there and they had (and I drank) bottles of Garrison nut brown, Pumphouse Cream Ale, and Picaroon Bitter. (They also had propeller bitter). Candahar has Whistler Black Tusk and Lager on tap. Cover during the day (before 4?) is $5.75 and includes your first beer. don’t bother buying another beer as extra drink tickets are $6.90!!! (whistler pale ale and honey larger were apparently cheaper). I’m still amazed that cover + beer is cheaper than beer… (and no, they wouldn’t let me leave and buy cover again… )”
  • Feb 23: Alas, word is there is NO genuine Atlantic beer to be had there anymore. Maybe they’ll get some, but why go through the expense if the hoards are happy with swill? Regardless, be sure to ask before you stand in line.
• Ontario will be featuring Mill St, Steam Whistle, Beau’s and Great Lakes.
  • @OntarioCulinary has been mentioning beer tastings.
  • see Palle’s review
• Quebec (which doesn’t seem to have a site?) is featuring Archibald Microbrasserie brews at $9 for a large can (see Palle’s review)
• Northern House
  • According to Yukon Brewing’s Bob Baxter, “we have our Yukon Red (top ranked beer in the Canadian Brewing Awards 2009 at 45/50) as well as Yukon Gold, Lead Dog Ale, Midnight Sun Espresso Stout, and Ice Fog IPA.” Alas Bob let me know that their brews are being served only for “special” events…

Countries

• German beer gardens!   Serving up Köstritzer Schwarzbier (very nice!) and Wernesgrüner Pils Legende (haven’t tried it yet), $8.25 for a plastic cup’s worth.
  • Also bratwurst on a bun for $7 and a really yummy pork sandwich for $9
  • it’s free from 10-5, then they boot people out, and it’s a $10 cover after 6pm
  • yeah it’s a bit pricey, but it’s better quality than GM Place by far, and probably cheaper
  • And, alas, Fräuleins are yet to be seen…
  • check Palle Hoffstein’s review here
  • Feb 23: Can you be TOO successful? Apparently they are selling 70-80 kegs per day rather than the expected 30, and they ran out of the genuine German beer by last weekend. They are reported to be flying more in, and in the meantime have purchased huge amounts of fresh beer from R&B, Central City and no doubt other local breweries (at least they have the good to buy local). If you’re heading there, be sure to ask what’s pouring before standing in line… and to compensate the punters for serving “lesser” beer they’ve raised the evening cover to $20. !?!?
• the Irish might put on something interesting… though hopes are not high it will be from Ireland… and at $9 for a pint of Guinness?!?
• Heineken House is listed here only for the sake of completeness… yawn. Though they ARE bringing in a dozen shipping containers of kegs from Holland, so at least it will be real Heine.
• reports suggestion “don’t bother” beer-wise with Russian, French or Swiss pavilions…

Locals

No doubt some Vancouver establishments will be trying to impress the visitors. Anyone heard of anything?

• don’t forget about Gastown!
• R&B are selling their special Iceholes brew and are having trouble keeping stores stocked! Grab one beFORE Colbert puts it on TV, or you’ll have to go to Ebay to get one…
• Howe Sound have released their own take on the festivities with their Three Beavers Imperial red ale, but since their site is annoyingly nothing but one giant Flash, I can’t link to it.
• I did get one email from someone rather annoyed at Steamworks: “Our experience was marred somewhat by the 18% service charge added to the bill. Despite my British heritage I am usually a good tipper but was somewhat miffed by this, especially as we were subjected to the unusual occurence of an airhead waitress wearing an ‘I couldn’t give a shit pin’.”

Weird

• How about a fake Irish pub that’s actually a piece of performance art? The Candahar on Granville Island…

Some General Resources

City Caucus seems to be keeping on top of the freebies quite well, and they have a very nice Google map