Customer Showcase
The Crow & Gate Pub
The Crow & Gate Pub replicates an authentic English Pub that you would find if you were visiting the English countryside. The Crow & Gate Pub is a welcoming watering hole for the weary traveler, a quiet and romantic spot for an intimate dinner, and a great venue to get together with friends to enjoy good company and fine fare for lunch or dinner.
The Crow & Gate Pub is proud of their warm hospitality, extensive beer and wine selections as well as their famous traditional pub-style menu that will accommodate even the most discerning palette. We at VIB would recommend the Farmer's Lunch paired with a pint of Pipers Pale Ale!
The Crow & Gate Pub is located mid-Vancouver Island in scenic Yellow Point, near Cedar and within easy access of the Airport, Seaplanes, and Ferry Terminals in Nanaimo. Some people have even landed their helicopters in the nearby fields that are on the property just to get quick access to the pub!
For more info, please visit www.crowandgate.com or call (250) 722-3731
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Staff Profile
At Vancouver Island Brewery, it is our people that make the difference. Growing from only 6 employees in 1984 to over 40 "Islanders" today, we are proud of our employees and want you to learn more about them and why they love working with us.
This month we feature Becky Hay, who is one of our Beer Desk ladies. We asked Becky a few questions about herself:
I got my start with Vancouver Island Brewery in 2001. Everyone likes to know how a person gets a job with a brewery, and this is my story: I was working at Cascadia Bakery in Victoria and Barry Fisher, VIB President was a regular customer...we talked a lot about dairy farming as we both had a history of this in our background. I eventually was looking for a change in career and I asked him if there were any opportunities at the brewery. I told him I would do any kind of work he needed me to do and literally wrote my resume on a napkin! I started working in the Brewery Store but also filled my 40-hour week with liquor store tastings, working on the bottling line, etc. I went on to run the Brewery Store for 5-6 years.
More about me: - I was born and raised in Victoria
- My favourite Island destination is a secret place on a river out by Port Renfrew
- My favourite VIB beer depends on what the weather is, what I am eating, what mood I am in etc... but right now I am loving the Spyhopper Honey Brown!
- I love my job here at Vancouver Island Brewery most because of the teamwork, the sense of family and the beer!
Thank you Becky for your energy, passion for beer and commitment over the past 8 1/2 years!
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Community Commitment
Mt Washington
Vancouver Island Brewery is proud to announce their partnership with Mount Washington Alpine Resort in the beautiful Comox Valley. The mountain is now open early! It opened November 28th after their biggest November snowfall on record! This is also the first time they have opened in November in 17 years. You can now get a pint of Pipers Pale Ale or Spyhopper Honey Brown up on the mountain. We have committed to helping promote Mount Washington all over the Island at local liquor establishments. Look for local pub and liquor store promotions where you could win ski gear, lift passes, transportation up to the mountain and even accommodation! Help us in supporting another Island business and destination and make a winter trip up to Mount Washington Alpine Resort! For all information about the mountain, please go to: www.mountwashington.ca
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Brewing News
The holiday season is nearly upon us and around the brewery there is lots of talk about spending quality time with family and friends. With over 40 full and part-time Islanders employed at Vancouver Island Brewery, we are thankful and grateful for the support of our local customers. We realize that there is an array of beer choices at your local pub or liquor store and we truly appreciate when you choose to purchase a local Vancouver Island Brewery craft beer.
 Thank you to everyone who participated in Movember and helped us donate $2000 to Prostate Cancer Canada Research through the sales of Pipers Pale Ale. Our brewery team also raised an additional $700 with their mo's.
The holidays are a time to entertain which may increase your stress level as you struggle with decisions on deciding what to serve friends and family. We wanted to try to help relieve some of this holiday stress by introducing our Winter Pod Pack. We have crafted a variety pack with 4 of our finest beers: Piper's Pale Ale, Spyhopper Honey Brown, Hermann's Dark Lager and Victoria Pilsner. This great assortment of finely crafted ale's and lagers is sure to satisfy the most discerning guest this holiday season.
During the holiday season and throughout the year, we encourage you to plan ahead before any social activities that you may be attending. Whether it's having a designated driver or simply calling for a taxi ride home, we want everyone to have a safe and happy holiday. Please enjoy our craftsmanship responsibly.
Happy Holidays from Vancouver Island Brewery!
Jim Dodds,
General Manager
Vancouver Island Brewery
www.vanislandbrewery.com |
Ask the Brewmaster
Ralf Pittroff is Vancouver Island Brewery's certified traditional Brewmaster. Trained in Germany, Ralf brings a lifetime of brewing experience to our small local brewery. He is the keeper of our craft recipes and champion of our all-natural brewing process. Each month we will select a customer question for Ralf to tackle.
This month our question comes from Karl Boehm in Sidney, BC.
Karl asks:
I love lagers, but not ales. What is the difference between a lager and an ale?
Thanks for the question Karl.
 All beers fall under the category of either lager or ale. The main difference between the two comes down to the type of yeast used during fermentation. A lager is a beer fermented with lager yeast, or bottom-fermenting yeast that ferments best at cooler temperatures. Ales are fermented with ale yeast, which is top-fermenting and ferments best at warmer temperatures. Because of the lack of refrigeration technology until the mid 1800's, ales were some of the first beers ever brewed, but as lagers have become more refined they have also gained popularity.
The brewing process for lagers and ales can also differ. Ales can be brewed fairly quickly and tend to be more diverse in terms of style and resulting flavours. Our Pipers Pale Ale and Spyhopper Honey Brown are both ales, however the ingredients and brewing process are quite different for each of these, resulting in two unique tastes.
To make a true lager, it should always be brewed with authentic, bottom-fermenting lager yeast and it should be "lagered" or aged for much longer than an ale. Our Vancouver Islander Lager is lagered for four weeks before it is packaged. This provides you with a smooth, clean beer, just the way I meant it to taste!
At the end of the day, it truly depends on your personal preference for beer. You might prefer the smoothness and drinkability of a lager, or you might like the body and complexity of an ale!
Many of the multi-national commercial breweries attempt to speed up the natural lagering process with the use of cheaper cereal grains such as corn or rice and possibly the addition of additives and chemicals to reduce aging to as little as 9 days. When looking for a high quality lager, make sure its fresh and properly "lagered", you have my word that Vancouver Islander Lager is one of them!
Cheers,
Ralf
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Beer School
The Brewing Process
This month for Beer School, we would like to teach you about the brewing process.
The brewing process can be a very complicated, confusing process. I will do my best to lay it out in a straightforward manner, so that it is easy to understand. If you would like to learn more, you can build on this knowledge. It is important to remember that not every brewery follows this exact process, and may have customized the process due to volume requirements (big or small), newer technology, the brewmaster's preference or beer style (such as an unfiltered hefeweizen). This section of Beer School also does not go through the packaging, distribution or serving process of beer, which has its own process and complications!
Here is the 10-step process:
1) Milling
The process starts with malt, which is typically Barley that has gone through the "malting process". Malting creates starches within the grains so they can be later converted to sugars, used for flavour and fermentation. The malt gets milled (partially crushed) to break open the husks.
2) Mashing
Here, the milled malt gets "sparged" or evenly soaked with hot water to convert the starch into sugar and pull the sugars and other proteins out of the milled malt. The sweet liquid that is produced is called wort.
3) Lautering
This is the process of separating the wort from the spent grain. At VIB we use a lauter tun with a false bottom to let the wort pass through, but hold back the grain. The wort is then transferred into the kettle to get boiled.
4) Boiling
This is where hops are added and then boiled. This boiling process brings acidity or bitterness out of the hops, as well as aromatics.
5) Whirlpooling
Just as it sounds, the boiled wort is spun around, separating the remaining liquid from the solids of the hops. The wort is then pumped off.
6) Cooling
The wort is still extremely hot and needs to be prepared for fermentation, so it will get passed through a heat exchanger, to cool it down. This is much like the radiator in your car.
7) Fermenting
This is where yeast is "pitched" or added to the cooled wort. The yeast feeds off the sugars from the malt and creates alcohol and carbon dioxide. This can now be called beer! The brewers will monitor the beer during fermentation as at a certain point they will have reached the desired alcohol content. When this occurs, they will cool the fermentation vessel and make the yeast fall dormant. The yeast is drawn off and cultured for more batches of beer and the beer is transferred to conditioning tanks.
8) Maturing
The beer spends some time in the conditioning tanks to mature. It needs this aging time to bring the desired flavours together and to let the beer settle.
9) Filtering
The beer then needs to be filtered to a certain level before getting packaged. This process gets the remaining yeast and other particles out of the beer so that the consumer gets a clear, consistent product.
10) Packaging, Distributing and Serving
The beer is then kegged, bottled or canned and distributed to your local pub, restaurant or liquor store. We hope you enjoy our creations!
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Island Destination
Campbell River - Salmon Capital of the World
Nestled on the east coast of Central Vancouver Island, Campbell River is a natural destination choice, in more ways than one. Long known as the Salmon Capital of the World, Campbell River is the gateway to Strathcona Park, the Discovery Islands, and remote North and West Vancouver Island. In this wilderness destination, you'll find a world of mountains, coastlines, and islands just waiting to be explored.
Campbell River is also your gateway to outdoor recreation and eco-touring. For summertime seclusion, or winter snow activities, venture into Strathcona Provincial Park, where the mountains draw climbers, heli-skiers, and other enthusiasts from around the world. Continue into remote reaches of North or West Vancouver Island. Head offshore to the Discovery Islands' region for whale watching, kayaking, and other unparalleled wilderness opportunities.
For thousands of years, from the time of First Nations' villages to the arrival of European explorers and eventually permanent settlement, the rhythm of life in this region has flowed with the movement of the salmon. The salmon and the waters they travel are an intrinsic part of Campbell River's heritage and legacy. You are invited to share in it!
Find out more at www.campbellrivertourism.com
Campbell River Marina
Photo courtesy of Janice M Stefanyk | |
