R&B Brewing are actually one of the local old-school breweries, having opened in 1997 in the same space (now expanded and remodeled) on East 4th & Quebec St. They’re within walking distance of the new Faculty Brewing, Steel Toad, 33 Acres, Brassneck, and Main Street Brewing. R&B were a near-casualty of the Vancouver craft beer boom, and got increasingly overlooked, out-brewed, and ignored when everyone else was opening up tasting rooms where people could hang out, fill growlers, etc, while R&B were stuck with no ability to open a tasting lounge that’s become a critical part of becoming a successful brewery in Vancouver. On the brink of bankruptcy, they were bought out by Howe Sound Brewing in April 2015, with one of the founders, Barry, continuing on as an employee. With that injection of capital and manpower, they’ve finally opened up their lounge and pizza oven in August 2016. How do their beers fare now in today’s crowded and hot hot hot craft beer scene? And how’s their pizza?
Tag Archives: beer
Happy Hour Quickie: Craft Beer & Nibbles at The Blind Sparrow
The Blind Sparrow on Denman (across the street from Kintaro Ramen) calls themselves “Vancouver’s first gastrotavern”. I fail to see the difference between “gastrotavern” and the more popular term “gastropub”. Let’s see if my visit during their happy hour cuts through the bs and answers the question, “Is this place good enough to return to?”
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First Look: Great Pizza at Strathcona Beer Company
Everyone seen the promo video for Strathcona Beer Company yet? They’re really showing their love for skaters, motocross, bocce ball, weenie-roasting, working out on rooftops, and beer! This place finally opened on Friday, July 15 after a bit of controversy over opening up a brewery in a low-income neighborhood that struggles with addiction.
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Craft Beer meets Kick-ass Tacos at Four Winds Brewing
Four Winds Brewing is mentally far for me but not actually far time-wise. In good traffic, it takes less than 30 minutes! That’s about the same amount of time for me to drive to Kits. Four Winds started offering tacos in their tasting room about three weeks ago, and since I was on my “staycation”, we checked them out. I’m glad to say that they’re now not only a great beer destination but a great LUNCH destination too!
Read about my very first visit to Four Winds back in June 2014 here, and their one-year anniversary pop-up restaurant here. These guys are serious about their food!
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Red Racer/Parallel 49 Craft Crossing Beer Advent Calendar Giveaway
CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED! THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!
Congratulations to daughtersofbeer for winning! They’ve been blogging about their beer adventures for more than five years! Check out their Tumblr if you’re interested 🙂
Time for another contest! This box contains 24 unique beers by Central City/Red Racer and Parallel 49 Brewing that you’re supposed to drink daily from Dec 1 to Dec 24, sorta like an adult advent calendar with delicious craft beer instead of crappy chocolates! This box contains 12 beers that are unique to this collection. Approximately $70 value that can be yours for doing next to nothing!
All form data is encrypted and will be deleted once the contest is over. This contest is not in any way sponsored, supported by, or endorsed by Central City Brewing or Parallel 49. I paid retail for this box, now I’m giving it away. Simple as that.
Good luck!
First Look: Callister Brewing in Yeast Van
Callister Brewing is now open! Their soft-opening was yesterday, but I guess this was their first full day being open to the public. It’s good that they’re open now, while there’s still some good summer weather to be had. I’m not sure if people would come out if it was the middle of a dreary Fall.
Beer Recap: Four Winds 2nd Anniversary Pop-Up Restaurant
Four Winds surprised the hell out of everybody by announcing a pop-up to celebrate their 2nd anniversary, a mere 5 days beforehand. Just check out the Instagram reaction:
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Four Winds’ limited bottle releases have consistently sold out fast and furiously. If there was one BC brewery that inspires the madness of crowds, it would be Four Winds. (Driftwood would be up there too.) The guys are the nicest, and this down-to-earth quality was reflected in how we were treated last night. I had a great time and I didn’t want it to end.
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First Look: Red Truck Beer & Truck Stop Diner Soft Opening
Red Truck Beer and their Truck Stop Diner finally soft-opened last week in the historic “Brewery Creek” area. They’re located on 2nd Ave, about a 5 minute walk east of Main St. Lots of other beer places already exist in this neighborhood, including Brassneck, 33 Acres, Main Street Brewing, Steel Toad Brewpub, CRAFT Beer Market, Tap & Barrel, and Big Rock Urban Eatery. They haven’t announced their grand opening date yet, but they’ve already announced their Parking Lot Concert Series, which starts June 13. The concerts are sponsored by CFOX and JRfm, so that sorta gives you an idea of the kind of target marking this brewery is aiming for. Will they stand out in Vancouver’s increasingly saturated beer market? Have we reached “peak beer”? More importantly, would I come back here?
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Flirting with Danger: Thai Sour Cured Pork Ribs with Brett Beer
Kin Kao on Commercial Drive was the first Thai restaurant in Vancouver to serve Sour Cured Pork Ribs that are fermented with cooked rice for a few days then deep fried. I love the sour tang (similar to flavours in some kinds of charcuterie), and it’s excellent with beer! (You can read my review of Kin Kao here.)
Recently, Longtail Kitchen started serving their own version that had a more pronounced sour tang:
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LA Day 9/10 – A Last Hurrah at Possibly the Most Decadent Beer Place in LA, Plus a Final Taste of LA Vietnamese Food
After the big Vietnamese blowout during Day 9, we headed to Koreatown for one last evening of decadent beer food.
- Beer Belly (Koreatown)
- Banh Cuon Hai Nam Saigon (San Gabriel)