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Victoria, for all of it's wonderful microbrews that often call me across the pond, has rather expensive beer and poor service, especially at the best known pubs, such as Thr Irish Times. Yet, close to these snobby pubs is one that makes you feel like you've accidently stepped right back into England, only with the warmth and courstey that can only be found in a Canadian pub.
After finally becoming so annoyed with the poor treatment from the more reknowned pub owners, I convinced my mum to look at Garrick's Head with me. While the enterance through the hotel lobby off of Government St. can be remarkably confusing, the pub had a nice entrance and view of Bastion Square.
When we entered, the bartender was dealing with a load of cruiseship folks, the typical well off older people who enjoyed talking as much as anything else. We sat down at a table while I watched him skillfully hand out samples and determine the best beer for each person by their reactions. Thus, I convinced my mother to move up to the bar with me where we could sample and discuss freely.
While the other bars will charge you staggering amounts of sample platters with five small beers in glasses not much larger than a double shot, Brad, the Garrick's Head bartender was more than happy to put a good amount of any beer that we inquired about in a tumbler for us to sample. In the end, I went for the Hop Circle IPA (the "best beer in the world" according to Brad, which was very similar in hoppiness and taste to Stone's Ruination), while my mother had a local cream ale (Brad claimed it to be his favorite brew on tap, which he noted was a different claim than "best brew in the world).
As we sipped our beers, Brad made smalltalk similar to the kind I find myself fond of AFK Tavern for, making easy conversation more complex than talking about the weather that makes you feel welcome as if you were a regular or a friend. He also correctly that I'm from the coast due to my love of IPAs, which I didn't know was a westcoast trait!
The couple sitting next to us ordered the beer battered fries ($6) and found they had much more food than they could eat, so they gave us the rest. The fries were to die for, they were perfectly crispy in the beer batter on the outside and cut just large enough so each had a small amount of warm, soft center.
The IPA was so delicious that I ordered another pint while my mother slowly worked on her ale, despite Brad's comment that I'd be passed out drunk by 3pm (this was a noon adventure). He was mostly right, as we grabbed our bags, stopped by a figurine store that has a gay pride prade in the front window led by the Empire (yes, I'll upload a picture of it to this blog as soon as I get home), and ate the absolutely most delicious onion rings I've ever had the pleasure of tasting, I found a couch below the main rooms of the Empress Hotel and took a nap. Admittedly, I'm not much of a person for formality, especially when I'm tired, and I have often shocked people with my willingness to sit, lay and sleep anywhere when I feel I need a rest. Luckily, most of the purple who passed my sleeping spot thought it was rather adorable to see all six feet of me curled up into a ball and happily asleep next to my mother, who was reading. I may be able to buy beer and financially support myself, but I'm still her daughter!
I had a few other adventures that I might add here and I'll definitely try to upload photos! Oh, and I now have some feather extensions in my hair, because I was feeling particularly hippy-y.
Now, for the weird blip of text that I can't seem to delete because of how this text box works on my phone: e ever
 
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What's with HMC and alcohol...
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On July 18 2011 14:04 Froadac wrote:
What's with HMC and alcohol...
We know how to appreciate the creations of our ancestors!
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Haha. When I visited some guy had what must have been 100 bottles of whisky and gin on his top shelf. Was quite impressive.
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omg i love onion rings! There's a place down the street that makes onion rings with tempura batter and they are AMAZING. But they bring like 50 onion rings so I can't order real food and eat them all unless I'm with more than 4 people. :C
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On July 18 2011 14:31 Ghin wrote:
omg i love onion rings! There's a place down the street that makes onion rings with tempura batter and they are AMAZING. But they bring like 50 onion rings so I can't order real food and eat them all unless I'm with more than 4 people. :C
That sounds like the serving sizes of Legends, a place near my school.
Anyway, Joe's onion rings were done in a batter that didn't "fluff" much, but was super yummy with various spices and salts. It was absolutely delicious and probably contained 3 days servings worth of salt.
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Wrong part of Canada. All the cool kids are on the East Coast.
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And yes, legends is amazing. Went there with my cousin. Just got like onion rings and the basic melt. So good :DD
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On July 18 2011 14:48 Torte de Lini wrote:
Wrong part of Canada. All the cool kids are on the East Coast.
Only because you're closer to Europe. 
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On July 18 2011 14:48 Torte de Lini wrote:
Wrong part of Canada. All the cool kids are on the East Coast.
South-East Coast.
Down in that america bit ^^
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Vancouvers the only cool place in Canada
Victorias just a bunch of old retired people lol
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On July 18 2011 18:05 Kojak21 wrote:
Vancouvers the only cool place in Canada
Victorias just a bunch of old retired people lol
Eh, I go to Vancouver often, too, but I really like the chill atmosphere of Victoria. Plus, trying to get into any clubs in Vancouver makes me want to scream. Huuuugeeee lines.
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If you want the best brew Canada has to offer you go East Coast.
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On July 18 2011 18:05 Kojak21 wrote:
Vancouvers the only cool place in Canada
Victorias just a bunch of old retired people lol
You've obviously never seen most of Canada if that's what you think.
QQ Canucks, I'll pity Vancouver while I'm drinking from Lord Stanley's Cup on August 1st!
If you want the best brew Canada has to offer you go East Coast.
This. It's a crime that Keith's is an "import" in Ontario.
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On July 18 2011 22:25 StarStruck wrote:
If you want the best brew Canada has to offer you go East Coast.
except that's all the east coast has to offer... that and unemployment 
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On July 18 2011 14:48 Torte de Lini wrote:
Wrong part of Canada. All the cool kids are on the East Coast.
As a western Canadian myself, I can agree with this. imo the best cities in Canada are Montreal, Halifax, and Charlottetown, in no particular order. /unrelated.
On July 18 2011 22:25 StarStruck wrote:
If you want the best brew Canada has to offer you go East Coast.
And this part I'd have to disagree with. My favorite beer probably comes out of Quebec (Unibroue ftw) but as far as micro-breweries go, there is some amazing beer in western Canada. Wildrose IPA will make your dick hard for an hour.
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On July 19 2011 00:41 OmniEulogy wrote:Show nested quote +On July 18 2011 22:25 StarStruck wrote:
If you want the best brew Canada has to offer you go East Coast. except that's all the east coast has to offer... that and unemployment
I'm sure the plains are exciting and amazing!
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On July 19 2011 01:38 Flaccid wrote:Show nested quote +On July 18 2011 14:48 Torte de Lini wrote:
Wrong part of Canada. All the cool kids are on the East Coast. As a western Canadian myself, I can agree with this. imo the best cities in Canada are Montreal, Halifax, and Charlottetown, in no particular order. /unrelated. Show nested quote +On July 18 2011 22:25 StarStruck wrote:
If you want the best brew Canada has to offer you go East Coast. And this part I'd have to disagree with. My favorite beer probably comes out of Quebec (Unibroue ftw) but as far as micro-breweries go, there is some amazing beer in western Canada. Wildrose IPA will make your dick hard for an hour.
What is this IPA and where can I find it?
>:D
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On July 19 2011 01:38 Flaccid wrote:Show nested quote +On July 18 2011 14:48 Torte de Lini wrote:
Wrong part of Canada. All the cool kids are on the East Coast. As a western Canadian myself, I can agree with this. imo the best cities in Canada are Montreal, Halifax, and Charlottetown, in no particular order. /unrelated. Show nested quote +On July 18 2011 22:25 StarStruck wrote:
If you want the best brew Canada has to offer you go East Coast. And this part I'd have to disagree with. My favorite beer probably comes out of Quebec (Unibroue ftw) but as far as micro-breweries go, there is some amazing beer in western Canada. Wildrose IPA will make your dick hard for an hour.
The micro-breweries in Quebec alone are enough to quench my thirst. There are so many and the flavors are endless.
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Canada5565 Posts
On July 18 2011 14:48 Torte de Lini wrote:
Wrong part of Canada. All the cool kids are on the East Coast.
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Damn, this is the first blog in 4 days. I thought you died or something. X_X
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On July 19 2011 12:21 Whole wrote:
Damn, this is the first blog in 4 days. I thought you died or something. X_X
Going to Canada isn't dying!
Though with all of the yummy food and beer I had, maybe I was in heaven...
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You should have gone hunting for the darth vader with a fiddle. The guy is hilarious, and is normally at a corner performing on wharf st 
On July 19 2011 01:38 Flaccid wrote:Show nested quote +On July 18 2011 14:48 Torte de Lini wrote:
Wrong part of Canada. All the cool kids are on the East Coast. As a western Canadian myself, I can agree with this. imo the best cities in Canada are Montreal, Halifax, and Charlottetown, in no particular order. /unrelated. Show nested quote +On July 18 2011 22:25 StarStruck wrote:
If you want the best brew Canada has to offer you go East Coast. And this part I'd have to disagree with. My favorite beer probably comes out of Quebec (Unibroue ftw) but as far as micro-breweries go, there is some amazing beer in western Canada. Wildrose IPA will make your dick hard for an hour.
As someone who has been to every one of those cities except montreal, I would say Victoria should be in that mix purely for having the best weather and perhaps the most friendly people in the country.
As for the best brew, I am a personal fan of lighthouse products which I have been unable to find anywhere outside of BC.
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Hop Circle is a pretty decent IPA, but any sort of best beer in the world claims are crazy. It's not even the best IPA that comes out of BC.
The East Coast Canadian beer snobbery in this thread is pretty funny too, I guess that Unibroue is pretty great if you like Belgians (or faux-Belgians), but the West Coast (Canadian) microbrew scene is much, much better than anything else Canada has going beer-wise. My feeling is that it's because of the influence of the West Coast (American) microbrews, which produce some of the best beer in the world.
Anyways, even though there's some decent stuff in BC, overall the best US microbrews are better than anything Canada has to offer. I'd rather have a Dogfish Head IPA than any beer brewed in Canada, for example.
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I live in New Hampshire and we have awesome local beer. I live on the border to Maine, which also has awesome local beer. In Portland alone I can think of at least 10 good restaurants that brew their own beer. There are so many awesome local breweries here I honestly can't think of them all.
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On July 19 2011 18:14 blah_blah wrote:
The East Coast Canadian beer snobbery in this thread is pretty funny too, I guess that Unibroue is pretty great if you like Belgians (or faux-Belgians), but the West Coast (Canadian) microbrew scene is much, much better than anything else Canada has going beer-wise. My feeling is that it's because of the influence of the West Coast (American) microbrews, which produce some of the best beer in the world.
Anyways, even though there's some decent stuff in BC, overall the best US microbrews are better than anything Canada has to offer. I'd rather have a Dogfish Head IPA than any beer brewed in Canada, for example.
It all comes down to personal taste.
Quebec has over three times the amount of microbreweries compared to B.C. The Maritimes is a hotbed for them as well. Last time I was in British Columbia and got my drink on was for the Olympics. There were a few that tickled my fancy. The east just has more. As another guy pointed out, there are several really good ones along Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts too.
Once again, personal taste.
The best way to find your favorite Canadian brew is to attend one of the following events:
- Great Canadian Beer Festival (Victoria, B.C.): weekend after Labour Day
- Oktoberfest (Kitchener/Waterloo, ON): starts the Friday before Canadian Thanksgiving. 9-day event.
- Toronto's Festival of Beer (Fort York/Exhibition Place): first weekend of August
- The Mondial de la Bière (Montreal, QC): first quarter of June
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On July 19 2011 18:14 blah_blah wrote:
Hop Circle is a pretty decent IPA, but any sort of best beer in the world claims are crazy. It's not even the best IPA that comes out of BC.
The East Coast Canadian beer snobbery in this thread is pretty funny too, I guess that Unibroue is pretty great if you like Belgians (or faux-Belgians), but the West Coast (Canadian) microbrew scene is much, much better than anything else Canada has going beer-wise. My feeling is that it's because of the influence of the West Coast (American) microbrews, which produce some of the best beer in the world.
Anyways, even though there's some decent stuff in BC, overall the best US microbrews are better than anything Canada has to offer. I'd rather have a Dogfish Head IPA than any beer brewed in Canada, for example.
Haha, it was what the bartender said, not me! He does have to sell his products!
I probably prefer West Coast brews because I really enjoy more hoppy beers, like IPAs.
Also, I just had a 6 pack of Dogfish Head two week ago. Mmm.
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The only canadian beer I've ever had was La Fin Du Monde, which was incredibly overrated. Sure, it's good, but it replaces the over-sweetness that most non-Belgian attempts at Belgian-styles have with an overall blandness and ridiculous over-carbonation; the citrus flavors are a pretty big fault for the style. It's better than, say, Golden Monkey or possibly even New Belgium's Trippel, but that's not much to reccomend it.
Dogfish Head 90 minute is quite good if fresh, although it's only available in 4-packs in my area. 60 Minute is kinda meh; Torpedo and Hop Devil are both much better "standard" (i.e., not double/imperial)IPAs, and, when it's in season, Celebration Ale is pretty much the last word in "standard" IPAs.
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On July 19 2011 21:30 StarStruck wrote:It all comes down to personal taste.
Agreed, for sure. If you want to drink tripels you're better off in Quebec and if you want to drink IPAs you're better off in British Columbia.
But some of what you say doesn't quite add up. For example, according to Beeradvocate, the brewery count is 89 versus 57 for Quebec versus British Columbia. But the British Columbia microbrews have much better ratings overall (9 places with a beer average of A- or better versus only 1 in Quebec). To name a few, Central City, Driftwood, Howe Sound, Lighthouse, and Phillips, all have very solid ratings over a fairly large sample size. Driftwood in particular is really good.
On July 20 2011 03:36 Riku wrote:Haha, it was what the bartender said, not me! He does have to sell his products!
That wasn't criticizing you, just his claim.
On July 20 2011 10:11 Obscura.304 wrote:
The only canadian beer I've ever had was La Fin Du Monde, which was incredibly overrated. Sure, it's good, but it replaces the over-sweetness that most non-Belgian attempts at Belgian-styles have with an overall blandness and ridiculous over-carbonation; the citrus flavors are a pretty big fault for the style. It's better than, say, Golden Monkey or possibly even New Belgium's Trippel, but that's not much to reccomend it.
Lots of the 'real' Belgian tripels have moderate to strong citrus flavors; Westmalle's tripel and Tripel Karmeliet, for example. And those are two of the best tripels I can think of.
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On July 19 2011 08:29 Riku wrote:Show nested quote +On July 19 2011 01:38 Flaccid wrote:On July 18 2011 14:48 Torte de Lini wrote:
Wrong part of Canada. All the cool kids are on the East Coast. As a western Canadian myself, I can agree with this. imo the best cities in Canada are Montreal, Halifax, and Charlottetown, in no particular order. /unrelated. On July 18 2011 22:25 StarStruck wrote:
If you want the best brew Canada has to offer you go East Coast. And this part I'd have to disagree with. My favorite beer probably comes out of Quebec (Unibroue ftw) but as far as micro-breweries go, there is some amazing beer in western Canada. Wildrose IPA will make your dick hard for an hour. What is this IPA and where can I find it? >:D
Wildrose IPA is over-hoppy, coming from a pilsner lover. Their Velvet Fog is pretty good though.
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Had a similar experience when I went to Newcastle there recently. Sort of weird to be able to say I have a favourite local beer in Newcastle, North-east China and home!
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On July 20 2011 13:19 blah_blah wrote:
Agreed, for sure. If you want to drink tripels you're better off in Quebec and if you want to drink IPAs you're better off in British Columbia.
But some of what you say doesn't quite add up. For example, according to Beeradvocate, the brewery count is 89 versus 57 for Quebec versus British Columbia. But the British Columbia microbrews have much better ratings overall (9 places with a beer average of A- or better versus only 1 in Quebec). To name a few, Central City, Driftwood, Howe Sound, Lighthouse, and Phillips, all have very solid ratings over a fairly large sample size. Driftwood in particular is really good.
That's odd because according to Bières et Plaisirs 402 different beers are produced in that region alone in '08. Note: this doesn't count for the number of microbreweries. There are just over 60 of them now.
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EPT
