Well somehow the last day of August snuck up on me and I hadn't posted so here goes with random musings.
Okanagan Getaway - once again we were able to take advantage of a friend's largesse and enjoy six days in the Okanagan (there's a place in heaven for them). We get gifted a cottage in Summerland and spend a week or so doing, well, not much. Some time at the beach, some mini putt, read some inconsequential books, watch SpongeBob and catch up on sleep. We also drove up to Kelowna and went for lunch at The Terraces at Cedar Creek Winery to celebrate GrandDad's birthday, great location, very good lunch, passable service, but then restaurant service in the Okanagan is rarely more than passable .
Wife always claims she "doesn't need a vacation" until she's on one and then realizes how important they are. In the past I've always spent a day or to scouring the wineries for hard to find bottles but with the spiraling cost of BC wines I passed this year, just bought a bottle or two for dinner consumption and didn't bring any home.
Okanagan Wines - I've said it before and I'll keep saying it, the price points for Okanagan Wines start too high . Basic everyday wines are in the $20 range and the price/quality ratio is just not there. The best bottle I had while in the valley was Arrowleaf Pinot Noir which is reasonable value at $17.99 but really how many people spend $18 on daily wine ?
If the Okanagan industry is going to continue to grow they need to start marketing "entry level" varietals in the $13-15 range, but when you can sell them for more why bother ? You bother because you want to sell wine in 10 years as well as tomorrow so you need to grow your customer base.
Chris Chelios retires at the age of 48 after 1651 games in a career that spanned 4 decades . An amazing athlete, not without warts, Chelios is easily the greatest American born player in NHL history .
Happy Birthday Frank Robinson and Jean Beliveau, two first class athletes from another era, the era of my youth . Beliveau was so good that even though he played for les Canadiens I liked him, and that is a momentous statement .
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
The Summer of My Hefeweizen
June wasn't much of a summery experience but July has been long and hot and as such my thoughts turn to lottery wins and beer.
I haven't had any luck with the former but the beer thing has been going really well. I'm generally a pilsner guy in the summer, I like the hops and palate cleansing refreshment, and for the most part Pilsner Urquell and Konig Pilsener are still my "go to" beers . This summer however I have been drinking lots of Wheat Beer, and there are lots around to drink.
My first experience with Wheat Beer occured in Seattle about twenty years ago and I've always sought them out in the dog days of summer. Wheat beers are common summer drinks in Europe, and year round in southern Germany, and come in many forms.
Hefeweizen is the most common in Germany, cloudy unfiltered ales with wheat mixed with barley malt to create lightly hopped highly carbonated sippers. In France, Belgium and Holland they make "whitbiers", or white beers, that are generally flavoured with coriander, bitter orange and hops .
Regardless of how they do it these beers are generally delicious, and the antithesis of my normal "hoppy" consumption, and recently we've seen a surge in choices available in Vancouver. Many of the local micro-breweries have jumped on the "wheat beer" train with Granville Island Brewery making a decent, widely available variety while Whistler Brewing make a delicious example, particularly on tap, that is a bit harder to find.
The German samplings are abundant, particularly if you have a good private retailer in your area, among my faves are Konig Ludwig and Schneider Weisse - both available at the monopoly stores. Schneider Weisse is generally credited as the "Original Weisse Beer" and it's a good one but the best of the German's, to my mind is the one from Weltenburger Kloster which is only available in private stores.
As with most things "beerish" weisbier or whitbier is best served on tap, many local pubs will have an example and I urge you to seek them out and support them. On that note I will mention that the best example of the spicey/fruity whitbier style I've ever had is Kronenbourg Blanc, which poured regularly at Stella's on Cambie in my hood. I strongly recommend a couple on a hot day, or cool day - but not too cool as weiz/whit/hefe seems to me to be a summer event.
These beer styles are not for everyone, they have overtones of spice, citrus and banana to them so the Kokanee/PBR crowd will likely find them too weird . Some are also intimidated/off-put by the cloudy character and price, generally north of $3 per 500ml serving, retail, but to me I'll take quality over quantity in the beer department.
Anyway there's lots of choices, both local and otherwise, so get out there and "get your Hefe on" before the summer weather fades away.
I haven't had any luck with the former but the beer thing has been going really well. I'm generally a pilsner guy in the summer, I like the hops and palate cleansing refreshment, and for the most part Pilsner Urquell and Konig Pilsener are still my "go to" beers . This summer however I have been drinking lots of Wheat Beer, and there are lots around to drink.
My first experience with Wheat Beer occured in Seattle about twenty years ago and I've always sought them out in the dog days of summer. Wheat beers are common summer drinks in Europe, and year round in southern Germany, and come in many forms.
Hefeweizen is the most common in Germany, cloudy unfiltered ales with wheat mixed with barley malt to create lightly hopped highly carbonated sippers. In France, Belgium and Holland they make "whitbiers", or white beers, that are generally flavoured with coriander, bitter orange and hops .
Regardless of how they do it these beers are generally delicious, and the antithesis of my normal "hoppy" consumption, and recently we've seen a surge in choices available in Vancouver. Many of the local micro-breweries have jumped on the "wheat beer" train with Granville Island Brewery making a decent, widely available variety while Whistler Brewing make a delicious example, particularly on tap, that is a bit harder to find.
The German samplings are abundant, particularly if you have a good private retailer in your area, among my faves are Konig Ludwig and Schneider Weisse - both available at the monopoly stores. Schneider Weisse is generally credited as the "Original Weisse Beer" and it's a good one but the best of the German's, to my mind is the one from Weltenburger Kloster which is only available in private stores.
As with most things "beerish" weisbier or whitbier is best served on tap, many local pubs will have an example and I urge you to seek them out and support them. On that note I will mention that the best example of the spicey/fruity whitbier style I've ever had is Kronenbourg Blanc, which poured regularly at Stella's on Cambie in my hood. I strongly recommend a couple on a hot day, or cool day - but not too cool as weiz/whit/hefe seems to me to be a summer event.
These beer styles are not for everyone, they have overtones of spice, citrus and banana to them so the Kokanee/PBR crowd will likely find them too weird . Some are also intimidated/off-put by the cloudy character and price, generally north of $3 per 500ml serving, retail, but to me I'll take quality over quantity in the beer department.
Anyway there's lots of choices, both local and otherwise, so get out there and "get your Hefe on" before the summer weather fades away.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
A Little Hockey Hall of Fame Moment
The Hockey Hall of Fame has just announced it's latest selections and once again two players with solid credentials have been passed over, Doug Gilmour and Pavel Bure .
Little has been mentioned in the local media about Gilmour's exclusion but there has been much gnashing and wailing regarding the snub of Bure. This strikes me as odd that Vancouver is much more loyal to Bure than he was to Vancouver but enough about that.
A friend of mine wrote in his column today about how Bure was the "3rd leading goal scorer in goals per game among players with more than 400 goals" which is now my new favourite statistic .
The bottom line with Pavel Bure is that he has three big things going against him:
1) He's not North American
2) He never won a Stanley Cup
3) He was a jerk
I defy you to find anyone else in the Hall of Fame who possesses all three of those qualities so it is my considered that Pavel will continue to look in from the outside.
I still hold out hope that Killer will be inducted .
Little has been mentioned in the local media about Gilmour's exclusion but there has been much gnashing and wailing regarding the snub of Bure. This strikes me as odd that Vancouver is much more loyal to Bure than he was to Vancouver but enough about that.
A friend of mine wrote in his column today about how Bure was the "3rd leading goal scorer in goals per game among players with more than 400 goals" which is now my new favourite statistic .
The bottom line with Pavel Bure is that he has three big things going against him:
1) He's not North American
2) He never won a Stanley Cup
3) He was a jerk
I defy you to find anyone else in the Hall of Fame who possesses all three of those qualities so it is my considered that Pavel will continue to look in from the outside.
I still hold out hope that Killer will be inducted .
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