Now in its second year, the Weathered Beer Celebration has quickly become one of the can’t-miss beer events in the province. It’s small, exclusive, and the painstakingly curated beer list is one of the most impressive in B.C. This year, close to 140 beers will be pouring from more than 50 breweries from all over world. There’s arguably no better place to go whale hunting.
Or so I’ve heard. Sadly, I wasn’t able to swing a ticket last year, and this year I’ll be unavoidably out of town, much to my chagrin. So while everyone is drinking insanely hard-to-find barleywines and epiphany-inducing imperial stouts, I will be following their progress on social media and wishing I was there. It’s going to be like high school all over again.
So here, then, is my list of 10 beers I wish I could try at Weathered this weekend. Maybe next year I’ll get the chance!
Cantillon Rosé de Gambinus • Fruit lambic • 5.0% ABV
I can’t get enough of this classic Belgian lambic, made with Serbian raspberries. Cantillon takes a 20-month-old blend of lambic and further ages it for two to three months on raspberries, then blends it with one-year-old lambic, before refermenting in the bottle. Also, one of the most ridiculous labels to ever grace a beer.
Firestone Walker Sucaba 2018 • Barleywine • 12.5% ABV
One of the most anticipated releases every by this venerable Californian brewery. Big, boozy bourbon and American oak aromas combine with soft chocolate malty undertones with notes of vanilla, tobacco, coconut and just a touch of dark cherry. Yes, please!
Field House Flanders Red Anniversary Edition • Flanders red ale • ? ABV
Field House took a tiny amount of its sublime oak foeder-aged Flanders Red, then further aged it on black raspberries and port, and cellared the result for the past year. Weathered might be your only chance to taste this and if you do, then I’m very jealous.
Hair Of The Dog / Omnipollo Maja 2019 • Barleywine • 10.8% ABV
Portland’s legendary Hair of the Dog teamed up with boundary-pushing Swedish überbrand Omnipollo to create a pale barleywine with aromas of peaches and “pleasant memories of the past” with notes of marshmallow, maple and “whimsy.”
Jester King SPON Muscat • Wild ale • 6.4% ABV
Austin, Texas’s Jester King took a blend of 100 per cent spontaneously fermented beer and refermented it with 2,000 pounds of Texan Muscat grapes.
Les Trois Mousquetaires Porter Baltique Édition Spéciale 2018 (Bourbon & Brandy) • Baltic porter • 10.5% ABV
LTM’s perennial award-winning Baltic porter gets aged in 12-year-old bourbon and brandy barrels, making it even more impressive. As if that was possible.
Mikkeller SpontanCherry Frederiksdal • Kriek • 8.2% ABV
This lambic-style beer from the Danish hypemasters features notes of cherries, almonds and sour fruit. Aged in oak barrels on cherries from the award-winning Frederiksdal plantation on the Danish island of Lolland.
Temporal Artisan Ales Ruby Continuum 2019 • Sour ale • 6.0% ABV
This game changer of a beer by East Van’s Temporal features a blend of beers aged for an average of 11 months in wine and port barrels, then further aged for two months on whole raspberries and hand-picked tayberries before being bottled back in August. If you haven’t, you simply must.
Brouwerij Oud Beersel Bzart Lambiek Millésime (2016) • Lambic • 7.0% ABV
This natural, sparkling lambic merges two glorious brewing traditions: the “Méthode Traditionnelle” for sparkling wines and the spontaneous fermentation for lambic beers. Spontaneously fermented in oak barrels and aged for one year, then bottled by with sparkling wine yeast and sugar for a nine-month secondary fermentation.
Parallel 49 Gravitational Time Dilation • Imperial stout • 13.2% ABV
Perhaps inspired by Storm’s legendary Glacial Mammoth Extinction, this imperial stout was ice fortified and aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels for four months with orange peel, vanilla beans and coffee.
- Weathered Beer Celebration takes place this weekend at Heritage Hall on Main Street. Session 1 takes place Jan. 25, 1-5pm (SOLD OUT), with Session 2 at 7-11pm. Session 3 takes place Jan. 26 from 1-5pm. Tickets are $100 and include all drinks. Tickets and complete beer list info at WeatheredBeer.com.
