I don't know about you, but with this pandemic, losing family members, and just plan old unbearable stress, one of the great pleasures I've been able to allow myself is a nice cold beer to go with the shiny new records I've acquired.
With that said, it's really cool to get in a beer thirty column with someone again. Today, James Brookes of Evertrapped will give us his beer opinions.
It's cool to get someone in Montreal to give their beer tastes isn't it?
While you're reading, check out BANDCAMP.
1. My personal favorite beer style is the might Double India Pale Ale. The best DIPA in the world is STLIPA by Urban Chestnut. Tell me about your favorite style.
I am also a big fan of IPA, double or otherwise. One of the best ones I've ever had if actually from Brazil. It's called Vixnu and it's impossible to find.
An Imperial IPA.
The first time I tried it was at a beer fest in Montreal and it took me years until I could get another one. A colleague of mine managed to get one imported for me and it was great. It's got everything...perfect malty flavor mixed with just the right amount of bitterness.
And even at 9%, you don't notice it...unless of course, you drink too many of them.
(NOTE: I had a beer from Quebec that it took me years to find again, Quelque Chose, Cherry Ale served hot.)
2. Many international people have laughed at me for this, but American Beer is the best in the world. Not American Lagers, that piss water is best used for drinking 15 of them while you're at the karaoke bar, but American Craft Beer.
Which nation is pumping out the best beer?
I agree that American IPA is the best or most American Pale Ale. I brew my own beer regularly and every second batch I make is some kind of American IPA knock off.
However, I do like lagers very much but it's got to be done right. I've tried brewing some also but definitely more challenging. We have a local brewery here not too far outside Montreal called Coaticook (which is also the name of the town) and they brew a great straight-up Lager.
It's hard to find a good one, but when I do I'll usually take a break from the Pale Ales.
3. Even though I'm a giant beer snob, I'll drink beers that break the Bavarian Purity Laws. My personal favorite is Schalfly's Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout. It's a might 22oz of 10% ABV Stout aged in bourbon barrels. It'll warm your heart and soul.
What beers do you love that break Reinheitsgebot?
I've never been a big fan of Stouts or beers aged in Bourbon barrels, and I love Kentucky Bourbon. But I suppose the beers I like best that break the rules are my own.
Since I'm just brewing in my own kitchen nothing I make would pass standardized purity laws. I sterilize as best I can but it's still not an industrial grade but I'll tell ya, nothing beats when you open homebrew and it turns out way better than you could have expected.
4. Right now, you couldn't pin me down and get me to give my favorite St. Louis Brewery, though Urban Chestnut's STLIPA does put them in the lead...but if you put a gun to my head, it's Schlafly Brewing. What do you think of your local brewers?
We have a ton of local brewers in Quebec, there's one beer that stands out among many. It's made by Trou du Diable (Devil's Hole) in a town called Shawinigan, and it's what they call a tropical IPA which is really just a white IPA but the most perfectly balanced one I've ever had by far...behold, Les Quatre Surfeurs de L'Apocalypso (The Four Surfers of the Apocalypso).
This beer is magic.
It's become super popular now but I remember the first time I had it years ago when no one knew about it yet and it blew my hair back.
5. Hops or Malt? Personally, I feel like a jerk for asking the question. Give me a malty Scottish/Scotch Ale or a hoppy DIPA...and I'm happy...but you gotta pick one.
Actually this brings me back to the first question when I tried Vixnu and realized that you don't actually have to pick one.
You can get the best of both worlds it's just really really hard to find. In fact, when you start out brewing your own beer with malt extract you tend to get a more malty product even if you dump more hops in there so in a fun kind of way you can get a decent chance of once again having the best of both worlds but at first it's all kind of trial and error of course.
6. Whenever I'm road tripping. I'm always bringing back beers. Ohio, Great Lakes Brewing. East Coast, Yuengling. Western New York. Genessee. What do you bring home?
This is going to seem really lame I'm sure but I always bring back Sierra Nevada Pale Ale every time I go to The States.
I know it seems common, but we can't get that stuff here and I just love it.
I try as many craft beers I have time for when I'm in the US and I can't get enough but my cooler is gonna have as much Sierra Nevada in it on the way back that I am legally allowed.
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