Bike adventures: Bowen Island

Despite living just a few kilometres away for most of my life, and peering out at it curiously each time I drove up the Sea to Sky Highway, I had never visited little Bowen Island. But, during one my recent little slices of bliss known as a "weekday off", I decided to remedy that.

And thus, one fine Monday morning, my friend and I set out on the 25km ride to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal. The ride was gorgeous (albeit hilly), and only took us an hour and ten - actually quicker than the bus would have delivered us. We walked right onto the 10am ferry, problem-free.

An interview with Four Winds Brewing Co.

Just in case you're a craft beer drinker who's also living under a rock: 2013 is officially the year of the craft brewery in Greater Vancouver, with six new breweries opening plus three major expansions of existing facilities planned to take place before the end of the year. Much of the action is concentrated in the historic Brewery Creek (aka Mount Pleasant) neighbourhood in East Van - but that's not the only area we'll see new beer flowing from in the coming months.

Just southeast of Vancouver proper, in Delta, a little family-owned microbrewery is about to open its doors (and its taps) to the public. Four Winds Brewing is the definition of a family business: Brent Mills is the head brewer, his dad Greg Mills runs the business side of things and brothers Adam and Sean Mills are helping to build the brewery and tasting room from the ground up. I was able to catch up with Brent for a quick interview in the midst of preparations for Four Winds' grand opening on June 1st (more below the break):

Beer adventures: 48 hours in Portland, Oregon

Writing a post about where to find good beer in Portland seems kind of superfluous. It's kind of like writing about where to find good sushi in Vancouver - you don't really need the advice, because you're going to have a harder time finding bad sushi. But, purely for my own selfish interests, I'm going to write this anyway so that I no longer have to type out a list of suggested places every time a friend decides to make the trip. So here goes:

Over the bridge to Bridge Brewing

As a car-free East Van resident, who, for the most part, lives, works and plays within a 5 km square radius, visiting some of the city's outlying areas can seem like an insurmountable challenge. That being said, nine times out of ten, when I actually burst out of my bubble and visit them, I find something awesome (Central City Brewing, anyone?). Last weekend, that something awesome was Bridge Brewing in North Vancouver.

Bridge Brewing's Black IPA (photo: Monica Frost)

Powell Street Brewery opening Dec 15 in East Van

Way back in April, I posted about a new craft brewery coming to East Vancouver. Now, after months of red tape and renovations, Powell Street Craft Brewery is set to open this Saturday! I caught up with owner/brewer David Bowket again to find out more:

Huacachina, Peru: land of sand

Once upon a time, Huacachina was a playground of the Peruvian elite, a veritable oasis where they would come to escape the drudgery of everyday life. Nowadays, it’s more of a tourist trap – the tiny lake in the middle of a sea of sand dunes is lined three-deep with bars advertising 5x1 happy hours and hostels housing tipsy young tourists. It’s definitely not what you’d call a cultural hub. But you only need to head over the first dune to realize what drew the Peruvians originally and the tourists today – a gorgeous, untouched expanse of silk-smooth sand dunes, where, if you time it right, you can see a sunset that will take your breath away.

Sun setting over the sand dunes in Huacachina, Peru

Arequipa, Peru: mummies & monasteries

“This is more like it,” was my first thought as we squealed around corners towards downtown Arequipa in an impossibly compact cab. Colonial architecture, cobblestone roads, people flooding the streets – it had the character and buzz that I expected but didn’t receive from Lima.

Arequipa's main square with volcano El Misti in the background

Mountain biking the world's most dangerous road in Bolivia

I've always thought that the best way to learn something is to just jump in, headfirst, and do it. This statement may provide some context for why I decided that it would be a good idea to try mountain biking for the first time by riding down the ominously named "Death Road" in Bolivia (which also goes by the comforting moniker of "the world's most dangerous road"). Akin to the father who throws his child in the lake and says "and that's how you swim!", I threw myself on the back of a Kona mountain bike with Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking and hoped for the best.

The world's most dangerous road snakes along a volcanic mountain in Bolivia

Trekking to Machu Picchu

Some moments that we experience and then file away in our memories become lost, or faded. Certain others, though, remain crisp and clear, laminated, easily accessible. These are the important ones, our defining moments. I can say with near certainty that watching the sun rise over Machu Picchu will be one of my unforgettable moments.  

Sunrise at Machu Picchu, Peru

Cusco, Peru: fiesta city

Cusco kind of appears out of nowhere from the plane - it´s been nothing but stunning Andes peaks and the occasional farming village for the last hour from Lima and then suddenly, there it is, spreading out up into the hills from a valley at around 3,400m above sea level. The first thing you notice is its characteristic red tile roofs, and as the plane makes a sharp (and bumpy) turn to make the landing on the tiny, one-runway airport, you´re not sure quite what to expect. But it doesn´t take long for Cusco to win you over.

VIVA EL PERU

Lima, Peru: the beautiful and strange

There's that moment when you wake up in a strange place and you don't realize you're not in your own bed. And then something snaps you into awareness. On my first morning in Lima, it was the birds. The bizarre cawing birds, and then someone playing Björk on the stereo in the hostel courtyard just outside our room. Birds, Björk, people speaking in Spanish... and then it hit me: holy crap, I'm in Peru.

Street art in Miraflores, Lima, Peru

Beer adventures: New York City

Hey, you know that thing you heard about New York City? Well, it's true. Every single thing is true. The noise, the people, the smells, the buildings, the street art, the parks, the shopping, the... everything. It's a perfectly glorious overloading of the senses.

It should come as no surprise that the city that never sleeps has a good beer scene. In fact, as with all the other things I wanted to experience in New York, it came down not to trying to find somewhere, but to trying to choose which one of a thousand. And so, without further adieu, here's where I managed to taste local beer in the Big Apple:
*note that this is by no means intended to be a comprehensive or "best of" list. These are simply the handful of places I was able to drag my travel companion (aka Mom) to, in the order we experienced them.

My favourite kind of rainbow at Brooklyn Brewery

New brewery in town: Powell Street Craft Brewery

East Vancouver is quickly becoming a hot bed for Vancouver's craft brewing scene - which, as an East Van dweller, I am totally okay with. After a heads up from a fan on the CAMRA Vancouver Facebook page (thanks Warren Boyer!), I found out that Powell Street Craft Brewery will open up shop this summer at Powell and Victoria. Earlier this week, I was able to get in touch with president & founder David Bowkett for a quick chat about the brewery:

Beer adventures: Victoria, BC

Way back in August, I won a craft beer weekend at Swan's Brewpub in Victoria as part of Miss 604's Backyard BC contest series. It had been a few moons since my last beer adventure, so by the time I got around to planning this one, I was raring to go.

I’m going to be honest - Victoria’s never been at the top of my travel list. I’m a bit too old for Jagr bombs with UVIC students, I’m not really a tea-at-the-Empress-with-grandma type and whale watching is way out of my budget. But after this trip, I can officially declare that it’s won me over. As it turns out, Victoria is more than students, seniors and stalking sea mammals – it’s charming, friendly, sunny and chock-full of craft beer. And I didn’t even have to do a single Jagr bomb.

Spring in Victoria, BC

CAMRA Vancouver/Beerthirst Tour de Richmond

Ever wondered what happens when you take 50 beer nerds, stuff them into a school bus named "Gordon" and ferry them around to six pubs in one afternoon, filling them full of brew & snacks at every stop?

Well, as one of said lucky nerds who got to partake in the tour (and its copious amount of pints), I can't quite tell you exactly what happened (what happens on the bus stays on the bus!) - but I can tell you that it involved many delicious beverages, beer-related chants, near-victory over an obscene food challenge and a much greater understanding of what one locale outside Vancouver proper has to offer in terms of craft beer.

Amanda (CAMRA Vancouver) and our trusty steed "Gordon"

Essentially a pub crawl for beer nerds, the concept behind Camra Vancouver & Beerthirst's Tour de Richmond was to get us out of our usual city haunts, and experience some of what the 'burbs have to offer in terms of crafty goodness. Turns out, in the case of Richmond, the offering is pretty darn good.

Red Racer Pumpkin Ale Bread

2011 might well be the year of the pumpkin ale. In 2010, everyone seemed to jump aboard the winter ale train, but this year, it felt like every brewer and his dog released a pumpkin beer of some kind. This is great news for pumpkin ale fanatics like me, who wait all year for the spicy, gourd-flavoured brew to hit store shelves. Now, instead of a couple of options, we've got a veritable buffet of orange cans and bottles to salivate over.

One of my favourite local pumpkin offerings comes from Surrey's Central City Brewing. Their Red Racer Pumpkin Ale is creamy and delicious, with subtle hints of cinnamon and cloves (pumpkin pie!), and without the overwhelming sweetness of some other pumpkin ales. Nice and balanced, I thought it would be a perfect choice for my first attempt at pumpkin beer bread. (yes, this is my second beer bread post this month. I think it might be becoming a thing.)

Homemade crusty beer bread

Bread is awesome. If it were socially acceptable (and physically possible) for me to eat an entire loaf in one sitting, I would do it. But despite my enthusiastic appreciation for bread, I'd never once tried to make it myself. This might have had something to do with growing up in the 90s and assuming that owning a breadmaker was a necessary part of the process (do people still use those?). Luckily, turns out it's not - as it happens, bread is actually pretty easy to make. Who knew?

For my first attempt at bread baking, I decided to start with (what else?) a bread with beer in it. I used Granville Island English Bay Pale Ale, and it turned out great - with a nice, almost honey-like flavour. You could use any light beer for a more subtle result, or try a darker, spicier beer for more of a noticeable flavour. I'm looking forward to experimenting with different brews in this recipe.

Lighthouse Beer Riptide Pale Ale Veggie Chili

It's an amazing experience when two things you love separately come together to create something truly magical. Like beer and snowboarding. Or beer and camping. Or beer and... ok, you get it. This week I had the fortune of stumbling upon one of these mash-ups from above whilst nerding about on the internet. And thus I present to you: beer and chili, together at last.

I found the original recipe on the Lighthouse Brewing website and decided to use it as a base for my chili feast, with a few tweaks & additions.

Beer adventures: Montreal & Ottawa

Earlier this month, I left my humble west coast abode and headed 4,000+km east for a week with my bestest buddy from university. The plan was to spend a night in Montreal, a night in Ottawa and then head to her cottage in Quebec. Although the focus of the trip wasn't beer, and we only really had one day in each city, I figured there had be some way to work a beer adventure or two into the agenda. And luckily, I was right.

We started with Montreal. Although we only had 24 hours in the city, I was determined to get at least a taste of fresh local beer on my lips. And so, after a quick meal at my favourite cheap Montreal eatery, we headed to Dieu du Ciel, an artisinal brewpub in the Plateau area of the city.

Camp like a (green) champ

Ah, camping. That coveted chance to head to the woods and get away from it all - to get off the computer, enjoy being with nature and drink a few cold ones on a lake. Unfortunately, sometimes "getting away from it all" also means buying a pile of unnecessary stuff, creating a bunch of garbage, and, in a few select cases, burning entire trees on a fiery inferno started with gasoline (guys on the east side of Harrison Lake, I'm looking at you).

But, that doesn't always have to be the case. Here are some tips on how to enjoy staying in the great outdoors without being a jerk to the earth:

Photo by Thruhike98 on Flickr