On Sunday, October 16, Victoria Beer Society hosted Fresh to Death, a celebration of hopped-up craft beers. Held at the Esquimalt Gorge Park Pavilion, the venue was modest, and the event featured 20 fresh brews from 12 BC breweries.
I started off with Howl Brewing’s Chai Pumpkin Brown Ale (6%), which seemed to me to be the perfect initiation into the Halloween season. This is a very mild ale with subtle chai notes, but I didn’t taste much pumpkin, and before the end of the sample I had forgotten I was drinking it. Those expecting a more robust flavouring should look elsewhere.
Next up was Loveshack Libations’ Marvellous Marzen (7%), which is a strong, malty lager with a taste of fresh pine. The hops are bitter but not overwhelming, although the aftertaste is fairly harsh. A good way to avoid this, however, is just to keep drinking it.
Locality Brewing collaborated with Fieldhouse Brewing to develop Community Harvest (5.5%), which has a very sweet taste and utilizes wild hops harvested from local railway tracks. As far as a flavour profile goes, the sweetness overwhelms the bitters in the hops, and if you like this kind of thing, it would be easy to drink several in one sitting.
For the final taste, I wanted to try Death Wish (9%) by Jackknife Brewing, but they were all out. Fortunately, I was able to search out that sweet taste of mortality within the Green Reaper Fresh Hop IPA (6.5%) by Phillips Brewing. This beer tastes startlingly green, using fresh, non-dried cashmere hops, which lend a taste almost like fresh marijuana buds. With a dazzlingly bright amber colouration and a distinct but gentle hop bitterness, this was certainly the most memorable beer of the evening.
Although the venue and number of participating breweries was not as impressive as past Victoria Beer Society events, the showing was strong nonetheless, and from the buzzing crowd of satisfied beer enthusiasts, it was clear to see that Fresh to Death was a budding success.