by Bev Robertson, President, The Bushwakker Brewpub
The craft beer industry sometimes sounds a bit like Rodney Dangerfield. We complain that the mainstream media does not carry as much coverage of craft beer as is warranted by the size of the craft beer market. We point to the fact that 60%-65% of the North American population drinks beverage alcohol, depending on whose survey you read. Twenty-five percent more people claim beer as their drink of choice than those who claim wine as their drink of choice, but wine gets much more coverage in most newspapers and television programs than beer. At this point we must point out that Savour Life is a notable exception and should be congratulated for being far ahead of the curve.

0 Comments BevRobertson submitted 39 days ago

by Bev Robertson, The Bushwakker Brewpub
Last month we talked about the trend in craft beer toward very bitter beers, as represented mainly by west coast style IPAs and Double IPAs. This week we will look at some examples of these styles.

The Green Flash Brewery in San Diego County CA. offers “West Coast IPA” which it calls “extravagantly hoped”, with 95 international bitterness units (IBU) and 7.3%ABV. I’m surprised by the number of people who were drinking Molson’s and Labatt’s industrial beers just a few years ago and who now tell me that this is a wonderful beer. There is no doubt that they have shifted their lupulin threshold dramatically. Some tell me that their friends who have not undergone the shift think that they have gone completely over the edge.

Green Flash’s IPA is indeed “big” in terms of both malt and hop, but is balanced far toward hop character. And of course, with a name like “West Coast”, those hops are highly citric in nose and palate. We’ve looked around town for outlets that offer West Coast IPA and it appears that the only place that it is currently available is the Bushwakker.

0 Comments BevRobertson submitted 65 days ago

by Bev Robertson
You may ask “Why so much attention to Belgian beers. After all there are four great brewing countries or regions; The Czech Republic, Germany, The British Isles and, of course Belgium. Why so much attention to Belgium? It is because Belgium is the origin of more beer styles than all of the rest combined, and both the flavours of those beer styles and the techniques used in their production are on another level of sophistication relative to the flavours and production methods used in the rest of the world.
0 Comments BevRobertson submitted 130 days ago

by Bev Roberrtson
Most consumer phenomena, like the emergence of the craft beer movement, follow a classic curve of market penetration, with a slow start, a steep middle section as the phenomenon takes off and a slower growth again as the market becomes saturated with the product. Those of us who have watched the growth of the craft beer industry assumed that we had reached that market saturation point roughly a decade ago when craft beer stopped growing at under 5% of market penetration in the U. S. (Unfortunately, meaningful values for Canada don’t exist.) But we were wrong.
1 Comments BevRobertson submitted 165 days ago

guest article by Grant Frew, The Bushwakker
perhaps in the midst of a long, cold and unrelenting Saskatchewan winter, a sampling of the touted "nourishing" stout isn't such an incomprehensible idea. After all, stout is said to make one strong, be full of vitamins and revitalize one's body. A welcomed ally against our harsh elements to be sure. In the past, stout has been prescribed as a general cure-all from the cradle to the grave; as a bathing tonic for newly born babies, an aphrodisiac and a strengthening tonic. Guinness used to be marketed under the slogan ‘Guinness is Good for You.’
0 Comments BevRobertson submitted 193 days ago

by Mitch Dalrymple
Modern day brewers are a lucky bunch. We have access to ingredients from all over the world and an incredible array of yeast strains from which to choose. We can replicate any beer style of our choice. With filtration and brewing salts we can adapt the water to match the local water from wherever the intended style was first brewed. Things weren't always that way. There was a time when our only choices were from whatever ingredients were available locally. Of course, the need to use local ingredients is one of the reasons that we now have so many diverse beer styles from which to choose.
1 Comments BevRobertson submitted 222 days ago

Last month we wrote about some implications arising from the fact that Regina now has a privately-operated specialty wine store, and that we were pleasantly surprised to discover that the Willow Park specialty store also served a few other items, including beer, although the inventory that may be devoted to other items is proscribed by law. Last month’s column had been written elsewhere and when we returned to Regina for the Christmas season we dropped in to see the Willow Park people at 3809 Albert St.
0 Comments BevRobertson submitted 222 days ago