If your humble narrator could ever marry a specific day of the year, that day would be the first Friday in August, also known as International Beer Day.
Yes, gentle reader, the 9th annual International Beer Day has come and gone, and your humble narrator spent the day in a celebration of all the joys that beer brings us.
First celebrated in California in 2007, IBD has grown into a worldwide soiree, with events in 200 cities and 50 countries across the world.
Since I couldn’t find a nearby pub that was observing IBD, I decided to host a garden party and beer tasting for my beer-appreciating friends.
The declared purpose of IBD is threefold: To gather with friends and enjoy the taste of beer; To celebrate those responsible for brewing and serving beer; To unite the world under the banner of beer, by celebrating the beers of all nations together on a single day.
Your humble narrator certainly fulfilled the first two goals of IBD, but it was hard to celebrate the beers of all nations, if only because of the rich and bountiful cornucopia that makes up the Canadian craft beer scene.
In the spirit of inclusiveness, I did sample Canadian beers from as far east as Nova Scotia, and as far west as British Columbia.
The camaraderie was high among the assembled beer fans, each trying to live up to the ideals of this solemn occasion by giving the gift of another round of beers to their tablemates, and waxing poetic about the love and attention that the brewmaster adds to each bottle and keg.
Stepping out of the comfort zone of your normal beer of choice is highly recommended on IBD, giving you the chance to experience new beer-related happiness by sampling a beer from another culture.
Luckily, with the provincial liquor control boards across the country starting to reduce the red tape required for a brewery license, we are seeing new and exciting craft brewers spring up on an almost daily basis across our fair land!
In an attempt to drink my way across our great country, I started with a west coast beer from Dageraad Brewing in Vancouver. Dageraad produces mainly Belgian-styled beers, and their Burnabarian is made in the style of a Tafelbier (table beer). This would be a humble and unassuming beer by Belgian standards, but the added coriander and exotic yeasts make it extraordinary to the Canadian palate. With added oats for body, and coriander for a spicy finish, the Burnabarian was the hit of my garden party.
Moving closer to home, I poured samples of the Pale Session Ale from Calgary’s own Goat Locker Brewing Company, a new craft brewery that threw open their doors back in May.
Made with typical Pacific Northwest hops, this is a good gateway beer for macrobrew drinkers, as the flavours are muted enough to not scare off those raised on a steady diet of Coors Lite, but still flavourful enough to appear to the beer snobs.
Moving all the way to the east coast, my next delicious pint was the ESB (Extra Special Bitter) from Propeller Brewing in Halifax.
Although the ESB is made in the style of an English Bitter, don’t let the name fool you, as English Bitters are not actually that bitter. This one really isn’t any more bitter than a Coors Lite, so this is not just a beer for the hopheads.
With a deep copper hue, the Propeller ESB has plenty of the caramel malt that is typical for this style, providing a structured malt backbone to the beer, with hints of burnt toffee and a bit of floral hop aroma.
Those who enjoy a full-flavoured beer without a biting hop bitterness usually like the ESB style, and the guests at my garden party were no exception.
There were many other beers enjoyed by your humble narrator and his drinking companions on IBD, but space constraints prevent me from describing them all.
You too, gentle reader, can do your part to promote beer-related happiness. In the spirit of International Beer Day, why not give the gift of beer to a friend? And be sure to tip your servers at the local watering hole; they
put up with all our debaucherous misbehaviours while we are imbibing, and they deserve some love!
