Have A Beer: Barber Shop Edition
Tristan Young @talltristan
A lot of hoopla and think-piecing has been dwelling on the phased and cautious reopening of businesses across the province. People have a reasonable right to whatever their opinions may be, but we need to get our damn hair cut. At this point Jamie’s hair is long enough to make ample use of a wind machine. Mickey looks like a late stage Wes Anderson character (and is owning it). I am no longer fit to be seen in public, insofar to the extent that that was ever appropriate before. I’m excited to have something done with this mess by an accredited professional, or at least someone who is the not the neighbours that have had it with looking at me. Some people claim to like the curls: I know my mother and landlord will be sad to see them go. But I’m getting dangerously close to fro territory and that’s just not good for business.
To commemorate my coming liberation, let’s have some beers. For EP 44 of BORP we tried out one of the Vancouver OGs as well as a new kid on the block from PoCo. First up was Brassneck Brewery, one of the preeminent breweries in these lands. We tried their Employee of The Month single hopped Galaxy American Pale Ale. Whereas traditional English pale ales tend to be a bit more malt forward, leaning towards earthy and grain vibes, an American pale is more balanced towards hops and has much more of a fruit/citrus flavour. Galaxy hops are a classic varietal used in a multitude of different beers and originate from Australia. Check out our show to learn a little more about the history of Australian hop farming because it’s awesome. The EOTM was vividly bitter, with a wonderfully distinct bite to it. Bitterness and its application in a beer is highly normative, but if that’s your kind of thing this will be right up your alley. It does have a much more subtle sweetness to it, like candied peaches akin to a Belgian style beer. Overall very intense and very sharp, like the kind of beer you would drink in the army, if they would just let you.
Moving outside Metro Vancouver, we checked out Taylight Brewing from Port Coquitlam. Taylight is one of the few brewers in that neck of the woods, having opened last summer. We tried out their Black Tie, black pilsner. With saaz hops from the Czech Republic, its one of the sweeter kind of pilsners, but in this case with roasted dark malts. The idea of a sweet pilsner also being of a dark and ostensibly chocolate variety may be potentially alienating to those looking to avoid an overly sweet beer, yet it was actually pretty well handled. It has more of a dark chocolate characteristic, implicit of a more natural sensation than saccharine, however not as chalky in texture. This relates to the very soft carbonation giving the beer a pronounced silkiness to it. As the beer’s name would allude, this is definitely a special occasion, celebratory kind of beer, but like I said, I am getting my hair cut very soon.