I’ve come late to the CBC Band Beer party, thanks to that other party known as VCBW.
If you haven’t heard this story, it’s one of those great tales that started out as a joke that got a great reception and was eventually brewed up into delicious reality.
Last autumn, CBC radio host and occasional nudist Grant Lawrence challenged his listeners to make up a beer that punned on the name of a Canadian music act. Lawrence got a great response on Twitter, causing the #CDNbandbeer hashtag to start trending; among the top names submitted were Elliott Brewed, Nickelbock and Godspeed You! Black Lager.
Mock labels were created for the best names by CBC Music’s senior designer, and the fantasy became reality when Jeremy Sibley, co-owner of Old Yale Brewing in Chilliwack, offered to make a brown ale called D.O.Ale.
Sibley soon found three other B.C. breweries willing to soundcheck some ideas. And soon, there was a solid lineup consisting of:
D.O.Ale (brown ale, Old Yale Brewing, Chilliwack)
You Say Barley! We Say Rye! (rye IPA, R&B Brewing, Vancouver)
Said the Ale (Belgian pale ale, Townsite Brewing, Powell River)
Pink Mountainhops (maibock, Cannery Brewing, Pentiction)
And lo, a wonderful marriage of beer, music and puns was consummated.
All four beers are excellent, but if I was pushed to name a favourite it would be Cannery’s maibock. It’s not a brewery known to push the experimental boundaries, but Cannery absolutely nailed this rather rare strong lager style.
Pink Mountainhops — named after Pink Mountaintops, spinoff band of Vancouver-based Black Mountain — is coloured bright gold and is topped by a bright white, rich, almost creamy head that leaves behind intricate lacing on the glass.
The nose is full of toasty, biscuity malt and alive with dense herbal notes and even a hint of peach.
The flavour itself is more gently herbal, with grassier notes arriving introduced after a well-rounded, toasty and lightly rich malt introduction. The balance is superb, the body fully rounded, and the finish soft and gently dry.
It’s an elegant beer that goes down amazingly well; and hiding 6.5% ABV strength in a pale lager is no mean feat.
Here’s hoping we get more of this crossover. I’m looking forward to drinking a Tragically Hop and, well, a Yukon Blonde. But I can’t quite see those Nickelback guys appreciating a rich bock, somehow.
Cannery Pink Mountainhops is now pouring on the Brewed Awakening tap at Pat’s Pub & Brewhouse. Try this lovely strong lager on draft while the keg lasts!
650ml, $5.95, at B.C. Liquor Stores
