September 17, 2007 -- Over at my blog at thatstheSPIRIT.com, I recently reminisced on some of the excellent beers I sampled at the 15th annual Great Canadian Beer Festival in Victoria, British Columbia. But as is so often the case with such events, there was not nearly enough room to wax rhapsodic on everything worthy of praise, so here, then, are a few more tasting notes from Canada’s longest-running beer fest.

Dave Buhler from Seattle’s Elysian Brewing pulled me over to sample their Avatar Jasmine IPA, which I could have spent a considerable amount of time quaffing had there not been 170 or so other beers demanding my attention. From its lightly sweet, perfumey aroma and floral front end, the Avatar segues into a more herbal character before blossoming into a crisp, hoppy body and finish. Certainly a different sort of IPA, but also an altogether satisfying one.

On the local front, I thought the Hermann’s Dark Lager was tasting better than I’d felt it had for several years now, with a brilliant balance of chocolate and roasted malt, a reserved sweetness and great body with a lingering, roasty finish. I didn’t have a chance to sample any of Vancouver Island Brewing’s other brands, but on the basis of this one, I’d say the island pioneer is right on track.

Another local, although in the B.C. mainland sense, Cannery Brewing, impressed with their Blackberry Porter. Even though it is a beer with added blackberry extract, rather than a fully brewed fruit ale, the integration of the fruit into the porter’s character is pretty impressive and the roasty, slightly smoky fruitiness was a pleasure to sip.

Also on the mainland, Crannog Ales just gets better and better, with a lovely organic Insurrection Pale Ale, an interesting and enjoyable riff on a Belgian-style wheat called The Village Idiot, served on cask, and the ever popular, roasty-balanced Back Hand of God Stout. I believe that they were the first booth to run out of beer completely on Saturday afternoon, and with good reason.

Speaking of organic, Nelson Brewing, also of B.C., surprised me by having moved all their production – or at least all they were serving at the fest – to organic standards. I hope it’s been a recent move, however, because judging from what I sampled at their booth, all the kinks haven’t quite been worked out yet.

Finally, on the other side of the Rockies, the Wild Rose Brewery and Wildwood Brewing both did Calgary proud with, respectively, an ever-tasty, mildly aggressive Industrial Park Ale and a pleasingly fruity Hefeweizen.

Overall, as I noted over at the blog, I was left with the definite impression that the GCBF has now firmly established itself as one of the “go to” beer events in not just Canada, but North America. Start planning now for next year.

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