One Shot- Whistler Cheakamus Chai-Maple Ale

by v1rgilmdm

On a recent adventure to Brewery Creek, I picked up a selection of tasty beers to try. One of these beers was Whistler Brewing Co.’s Cheakamus Chai-Maple Ale.

COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
A mild ale with all the freshness of maple syrup – and a little bit of springtime spice for good measure. This dark bronze ale is made with real maple syrup added right to the mash. Then, a trace of chai tea is added during the filtration process. The result is a highly complex, mildly spiced palate structure. One taste, and a simple truth is clear: complexity can be a very beautiful thing.

 

The Cheakamus label has a nice pastoral image of maple  trees and scoops of chai tea. The beer pours a dark molasses-brown colour with an off-white head that is thick and foamy. There are bubbles; lots and lots of bubbles. The aroma is very strong with maple syrup. I’m already in love and haven’t even had my first sip yet.

My first sip reveals a nice balance of chai and maple. What is chai?  Besides delicious, it’s a tea made of Indian herbs and spices, which often includes a different list of ingredients depending on who’s making it. This list can include: almonds, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, fennel, star anise, nutmeg, licorice root, and cloves. I definitely get some of the baking spice flavours coming through: a bit of nutmeg and cloves. I like that the Cheakamus is not sickeningly sweet and reminds me of maple syrup on pancakes. Delicious.

The beer has a nice tingly mouth-feel which carries the flavour. The maple leaves a lingering sweetness on the lips with an aftertaste that is creamy and sweet with a slightly dry finish. You should definitely try this one.

One Shot -Vancouver Island Brewing Beachcomber Review

Vancouver Island Brewing Beachcomber Summer Ale

by v1rgilmdm

Here in the Northwest, we celebrate the oh-so-short release of the sun from its wintery bondage by enjoying the limited releases of the summer style beers.

COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
If you’ve got the sun overhead and your feet in the sand while you wander the local tide lines, you’ve most likely reached that zen-like state Islanders call Beachcombing. Here’s to one of Vancouver Island’s favourite local pastimes! Beachcomber Summer Ale is an unfiltered ale styled after a German weissbier. Pouring a glowing, golden yellow, this ale combines mellow aromatic notes of citrus and tropical fruit. These flavours combine to create a thirst quenching, clean beer perfect for those warm summer days

The Beachcomber comes in bright, sunny 6 pack cartons, that depict a relaxing beach scene. The beer pours golden and cloudy with good carbonation. The head seems to retain well. The aroma is grassy and citrusy with a hint of banana. It is my understanding that the Beachcomber was fermented at colder temperature to suppress the banana and clove flavours typical of wheat beers. My first sip is quite fizzy and tastes a little watery. There is a mild citrus fruit flavour but I am definitely missing the clove and banana flavours–to the point where I can almost taste their absence. The Beachcomber goes down easy, with a clean finish and is very drinkable.  Overall, this is a nice, light beer and perfect for sipping on the beach.

One Shot -Tree Madcap Belgian White Review

Tree Madcap Belgian White Review

By Fiddler’s Elbow

Are you are looking for a crisp refreshing light beer for the summer? Well, look no further! We have the beer for you. Tree Madcap Belgian White was released recently and has finally made it to the local stores. This lighter alcohol by volume beer, at 4.5%, comes in the standard 330 ml 6-pack etched glass bottles. The Madcap makes for an enjoyable drink on a hot summer day.

COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
Madcap Belgian White Ale is 4.5% alc., and boasts tropical fruit aromas with a spicy finish. The unfiltered ale provides a naturally cloudy brew, so don’t forget to swirl it around a bit before pouring to fully enjoy the refreshing taste.

I first noticed some sediment that had settled at the bottom of the bottle–don’t worry–this is normal for this style of beer. The description suggests giving it a good swirl before opening, to give it the proper appearance and extra aroma. The Madcap pours a light, cloudy, pale golden colour, with fine bubbles, and has a slim white head which it retains due to plenty of carbonation.

Tree brewing definitely nailed the aroma of a traditional Belgian white, with strong clove and light banana notes and a hint of spice from the yeast. The flavour starts nicely with a crisp, grass-hop bitterness, a bit of citrus, and a light sweet fruity yeast spice in the finish. Overall, the Madcap is fairly comparable to Hoegaarden, the classic go-to Belgian white. If you are looking to support your local breweries however, the Madcap stands out as one of the better Belgian whites currently available. This will definitely be a great beer to relax on the deck and sip while embracing the sunny weather.

On a side note I would love to see the return of the Tree Weizen Bock–one of my personal favourites–and a must try should Tree brewing release it again.

Game Review: The Walking Dead Episode 1

Telltale Game’s The Walking Dead

Imagine a world where a mutated virus causes the dead to rise and then stalk and eat the living. Now, throw in a few desperate survivors that will do anything to stay alive. This is the main premise of The Walking Dead (an ongoing story of survival horror) that was first released as a comic in 2003. The comic was written by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore and published by Image Comics. Later developed into a TV series which aired on AMC in 2009, it is currently going into its 3^rd season. Both comic and show have since become cult hits, which sparked Kirkman to team up with Telltale Games to produce the video game. Telltale Games is known for producing point and click graphic adventure games which are split into episodes and released as downloads. Other games they have produced include: Sam & Max, Wallace and Gromit, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park.

By Fiddler’s Elbow

Continue reading

Check This Out! May 4, 2012

8 Bit Beer Blog’s Weekly Check This Out!

Starting today we are going to try to bring you a weekly Check This Out! A list of stuff we like… This week.

Beer:

The Shopping List (aka New Releases):

BC Craft Beer Guild 2012 Sampler Pack

The B.C. Craft Beer Guild has released a sampler pack availabe in both 12 can and 12 bottle.

 

 

 

 

3045 Main Street
Vancouver, BC

Townsite Brewing Zunga Golden Blonde Ale and Pow Town Porter

Mission Springs Jazzman Pale Ale

Lighthouse Highland Challenge

Spinnakers Titanic Stout

 

Coal Harbour Brewing Triumph Rye Ale

Coal Harbour Brewing now available in 650ml bottles.

Tree Madcap Belgian Ale

Tree Madcap Belgian White now available in BC Liquor stores.

 

 

 

 

Just Here For The Beer radio broadcast aired April 26, 2012 on AM650.  Available as a free podcast here.

Interesting CVVMagazine.com article about Victoria’s brewing renaissance.

Comics:

It’s a Marvel rumble!

Avengers vs. The X-Men, all your favorite heroes, no whiney villians.

Batman “Night of the Owls” crossover.  Looks like someone might seriously get hurt.

 

 

Books:

Home Brewing!

Home Brewing: A Practical Guide to Crafting Beer, Wine and Cider by Kevin Forbes is published by Fox Chapel Publishing, was released May 1^st, 2012 and available at Chapters and Amazon.

 

 

 

Video Games:

New video by xStrangeLuvx and her impressions of the new C.O.D. Black Ops2 trailer.

 

Telltale Games The Walking Dead Episode 1 released April 26, 2012

Minecraft for Xbox 360!

May 9^th Minecraft is coming out on xbox  it’ll cost 1600 microsoft points or roughly 20 dollars.

 

 

 

 

Hoyne vs. Lighthouse Porter Super Punch-out!

This week, for a change of pace—and to have a little fun—we decided to try something a little different.

The Battle of the Porters.

Recently, two local breweries, Lighthouse and Hoyne, released porters. We thought we’d have some fun and review them Super Punch-out style. Before we get started, let’s recap what constitutes a porter.

Originally, a porter was a darker version of the brown ale created in London, England around the 18th century. A porter is characterized by medium to heavy hop additions and chocolate malts which give it the darker colour and a sweeter taste. Now, having said that, you might ask: how is a porter different then a stout? Among beer enthusiasts, this is a heated topic with many interesting ideas—one of which is that the stout started as a stronger version of a porter. However, with brewers experimenting now-a-days, there doesn’t seem to be a real difference between the two styles anymore.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s meet the challengers:

Lighthouse Chocolate Porter

Hoyne Dark Matter

VS

 

 

 

 

We can’t wait to see how this fight goes down!

READ MORE TO WITNESS THE AWESOME BATTLE THAT ENSUED!

Strange Encounters

In case you haven’t noticed, V1rgil and I (Fiddler) tend to mostly focus on the beer part of 8-Bit Beer Blog. To help re-balance that, we decided to ask our friend x StrangeLuv x if we could post a few of her gaming videos. StrangeLuv is an avid Call of Duty player, but don’t let the name fool you—she is one of the best COD players that I have played with and against. She has also taken an interest in making videos of her online adventures and a few game reviews.

x strangeluv x

She is no stranger to craft beer either! Some of her favourites include: Wheeler Peak Wheat and the Nevada Gold from Great Basin Brewery in Reno (where she’s from). She is also a big fan of Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen, and Shiner Bock.

This week we will be checking out just a couple of her videos:

• Epic music and awesome artistic graphics in the Two Cent Arcade: Twisted Shadow Plant review

• These ghosts in C.O.D. video will definitely have you checking over your shoulder

And, of course, if you can’t wait for us to post some more of StrangeLuv’s videos, I would highly suggest you subscribe to her Youtube channel and Facebook page to stay updated with her awesome content! Keep checking back here for more videos!