News/Events
Make sure you get to Tamam Fine Palestinian Cuisine, 2616 E Hastings St., Vancouver from July 10 through 24 for their special Belgian Beer Days. Take home your Gulden Draak, Saison Dupont or Duchesse de Bourgogne glass and enter to win Vancouver Whitecaps vs. San Jose Earthquakes game.
Great food, great beer and great events are at Tamam.
OK........it's time. Gotta' rant!
On April 1 the BCLDB released it's new pricing strategy. It may have looked like prices in BCLDB stores decreased at this time because they deleted the 5% GST and 10% PST from the shelf price so things looked good until you got up to the till and all the taxes were added back on. It was then you could see that the majority of prices actually increased.
These retail prices lasted about a month then the BCLDB raised quite a few prices (24% of my portfolio) not only on products sold in their stores but on products sold to the hospitality industry who now must pay full retail for every alcoholic beverage they purchase for resale. Why should prices be increased on products not even sold in BCLDB stores? This says nothing but money grab to me.
Now, I see on the BCLDB retail price list for the next period (June 28), they have raised the retail price of another 57% of the products in my portfolio. Only .05% of my portfolio is sold through BCLDB stores and yet they've increased price on 81% of my products since April 1.
As the agent, my selling price to the BCLDB has not increased so that the BCLDB must raise the price to compensate (as stated by Minister Suzanne Anton) but prices have increased each month since the new system has been in place.
It looks as though I will now have to check the BCLDB retail price list weekly (as I've been told they update it weekly) to see if the retail prices remain the same or if they've been changed. No sense in me getting price sheets printed for my hospitality customers as they could all be out of date by they time they are printed.
As with the majority of changes that came about with the updating of BC's antiquated liquor laws, they've managed to bungle another one and the final consumer is the one who pays the price.
A very abbreviated version of my rant as I have to go check and see if retail prices have changed since I started this rant.
We felt it was time for Vancouver to have a unique, style-forward festival. What makes Farmhouse Fest unique?
Well, let’s start with the experience of drinking great beer. We Chose Saisons and Wild Ales For a Reason Drinking a great beer is more than just putting the liquid into your mouth and swallowing. It’s an intense sensory event. Look at how the colour of the beer catches the sun’s rays. Listen to the faint pop of the slowly dissipating head. Stick your nose in the glass and breathe deeply. Faint hops? A bit of fruit? Maybe some acid? Then take a sip, close your eyes and enjoy the cool breeze blowing over you.
Hosting a festival outside isn’t just a location variable. It’s a deliberate decision made to reinforce the connection between what’s in your glass, and what’s in your surroundings. At the UBC Farm, those surroundings include forest, hop bines and an apple orchard. Beer doesn’t spring forth from nothingness. It’s planted, cultivated, harvested, and meticulously crafted into a delicious final product.
Join us Saturday, June 27 from noon to 6:00pm at the UBC Farm 3461 Ross Drive, Vancouver for an incredible craft beer experience.
What a great night!
Vancouver Magazine opened Vancouver Craft Beer Week with the announcement of the Craft Beer Awards and we are proud to say that we had some winners.
Duchesse de Bourgogne won GOLD in the Belgian Sour category.
Peche Mel Scaldis won SILVER in the Fruit/Herb beer category.
We've always known these were great beers but it is nice to hear that from a panel of experts.
Judging was done by a panel of 18 judges who bestowed gold, silver, and bronze ribbons upon bottles in 15 categories. We won in 2 out of the 3 categories we entered.
We are both happy and proud to announce that Brewery De Halve Maan won five medals at the Australian International Brewing Awards, including three gold awards.
- Brugse Zot Blond: gold in the category Belgian & French Style Ale, Blonde
- Brugse Zot Dubbel: gold in the category Belgian & French Style Ale, Dubbel
- Straffe Hendrik Tripel: gold in the category Belgian & French Style Ale, Tripel
- Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel: silver in the category Belgian & French Style Ale, Dark Strong
- Straffe Hendrik Wild: silver in the category Best Speciality Beer, Other
The 2015 AIBA attracted a record number of entries with more than 1,700 submissions from 344 exhibitors, across 35 countries received. The wide variety of beer styles were assessed by an expert industry panel of 58 judges from around the world. Head Judge Warren Pawsey, who oversaw the largest panel of assessors ever assembled for the awards, was overwhelmed with the quality of entrants in 2015, which has improved year-on-year. ‘We have been extremely impressed by the high quality product coming through, and 2015’s pool of entrants has not disappointed.’
To top things of, this year’s Champion Large International Brewery Trophy was also awarded to Brewery De Halve Maan.
