Pint of cask chocolate Stout
Want to try a beer so rare that it will never see a bottling line? Don’t want to travel for hours to a foreign country (or Vancouver)?
First a little history lesson on who is behind all this liquid magic. Tommie Grant joined Spinnakers 6 1/2 years ago under the supervision of Lon Ladell, and continued with Rob Monk while he was head brewer until this past fall. Since then Tommie has taken over as the head brewer creating these one off liquid master pieces.
Backed by 15 casks, each is lovingly filled from one of their base recipes and then subtly changed. The change could be something as simple as using fresh wet hops (Whole hops put into the cask) or an over sized tea bag filled with an exotic tea from the farthest corner of China.
Each night a new cask is brought up from the cellar with extreme care so the natural sediment is not disrupted. (PS. Nothing will make a cask brewer angrier than treating his cask without the due love and care it deserves.) Then it’s tapped by hand, a process that has not changed in decades.
When asked how he selects what goes into the new casks Tommie had this to say “When deciding what we’d like to put in a cask, whether it’s a new or unfamiliar hop, or a tea, coffee, chocolate or what have you, we start by thinking about what flavours might be complimentary. From there we will taste the beer and the ingredient side by side, or in a glass together to see if we’re right.”
In addition to the special casks there are an additional 3 hand pulled lines installed in the pub that pull up (at press time) an ESB, the Scottish and the Abbot Ale. All this craft beer has made head brewer Tommie very busy, and while some input comes from fellow staff and regular customers when it comes to creating the beer or cleaning the tanks he is assisted by Aram Heinze and Kala Hadfield in the brew house.
With the daunting idea of creating seven special casks each and every week I asked Tommie if he could recall a cask that went very right. He commented that “Probably my favorite cask that we do regularly is our Jamesons Scottish Ale infused with Scotch Whisky, I think it’s amazing the way the scotch smooths out the already smooth and peaty beer. We first made a scottish and scotch cask for the Hops and Scotch event a number of years ago and it went over extraordinarily well, ( who’d have thought that the folks at a beer and whisky festival would like beer with whisky in it eh?) Since then we’ve been recreating that cask for Robbie Burns day and I think it just keeps getting better every time we make it.”
Building on the hand pulled beers and the special cask, Spinnakers is also working to expand their selection to include a wider representation of beers from low alcohol session beers to higher percentage ones.
List of some of the available beers with their original gravity, IBU , and final ABV.
While you are enjoying your beer and food Paul Hadfield (owner) himself can be sometimes found upstairs keeping an eye on things and chatting with patrons. While we were there he asked if we had tried the cask beer that night. Paul definitely seemed proud of the product he was serving and the goals he has in mind for the future.
Paul and I briefly discussed the presence of two American guest taps, and how his vision was to expand the palate of locals and patrons by exposing them to some of the amazing brews being created south of the border. Thereby creating higher standards for both drinkers and brewers alike in the local if not provincial brewing scene.
I wondered what sort of influence Paul had over his brew house with his years of experience. I learned that when he has suggestions on practices that could be changed Tommie and the rest of the brew house staff listen, encouraged by knowing that Paul has had some of the best brewers in Canada work for him. This reputation can be confirmed by a quick read of the history of the brewers that have graced Spinnakers on their own website.
More information:
Spinnakers can be followed on Facebook, and has a weekly email that comes out 9am on Thursdays that will tell you about upcoming events as well as what is in those amazing casks.
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Weekly changing cask menu
Contest!
Spinnakers has donated a beer and chocolate pairing gift certificate for one lucky person!
To enter, post a comment below with your favorite memory of Spinnakers or your favorite thing about Spinnakers.
Legalese:
Winner will be selected at random using random.org. Limit one entry per person. Entries must be received by June 3rd 2011 @ 11:59PM PST. Winner will be notified by e-mail (so use a real email address on your comment, email address will not be traded, sold, bartered, etc.). You must be over the age of 19 on the draw date. Prize cannot be redeemed for cash. Odds of winning depends on number of entries.
Cask on the counter at Spinnakers
CrispyBacon.Me 
May 20, 2011 at 5:56 pm
My wife & I enjoyed our wedding rehearsal dinner with friends and family at Spinnakers over 12 years ago, and we’re still fans (and still married ;-)!
May 20, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Spinnakers has always been a great host to CAMRA Victoria members. In fact this group was born in a meeting of the founders at Spinnakers many years ago. The attention to the fine art of brewing real ale has always been something you can look forward to at Spinnakers.
May 20, 2011 at 7:25 pm
Spinnakers hosted the first beer-food pairing dinner Mark & I ever attended. It was the 1993 evening with Michael Jackson (the beer guru)and our first official “CAMRA” event as new members.
Jake was brewer then and, as it’s diplomatically phrased on the Spin’s website, he was creative, responsible for “having brewed the greatest number of beers, and having brewed some of the most unusual.”
The commentary by Michael Jackson throughout the evening was outstanding: encyclopaedic in scope and delightfully entertaining in delivery. It was a special evening for everyone fortunate enough to be in attendance.
Directly and indirectly, the current renaissance in craft beers in this province can be traced to the decision of John Mitchell and Paul Hadfield to establish Spinnakers on the shores of Lime Bay. Paul continues to be a patron of the craft brewing art to this day.
May 21, 2011 at 3:02 pm
I love that I can enjoy a wonderful meal at Spinnakers, and a fantastic view of the ocean at the same time.
May 22, 2011 at 10:52 pm
Been there many times but my favorite memory is sitting outside on the patio on a really hot summer night. The beer samplers and the cooling sea breeze were lifesavers.
May 22, 2011 at 11:16 pm
Beer, food, beer, great views, fantastic customer service – and all locally made – did I mention the awesome beers? A definite must see when guests come to town or just on the way home!
May 24, 2011 at 3:37 am
the clever abandon which Spinnakers employs with its beer is always wort the effort (yes, a pun-like spelling mistake). I’ve been a fan since before the upstairs was… when this was the only brewpub. I truly miss the ‘cafeteria-style’ kitchen that was: although I do enjoy sitting-on-bum and receiving!
May 26, 2011 at 1:00 am
Of the many birthdays and sunny patio memories of Spinnakers my best memory has to be the first Cask Fest I attended!
May 27, 2011 at 5:54 am
The potted prawns on Spinnaker’s last Dine Around menu were the highlight of that foodie week in Victoria. I’m also weak for the gourmet confections in the front shop. The white chocolate lemon drops and the milk chocolate and caramel crunch bark are OUT OF THIS WORLD. I stop here whenever I do a walk along the WestSong Walkway–my reward!
May 28, 2011 at 6:25 pm
My favorite memory at Spinnakers was the last firkin fest. And the tuna baguette with kale. Yummy.
May 31, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Warm summer evening, cool beer…Not much to top that. 🙂
May 31, 2011 at 11:08 pm
I love it for the beers that will never be bottled – for being close to everything but tucked away – for coming to after a long walk along the harbour to West Bay Marina and back – for being welcoming to absolutely everybody – and for staying true to its vision for over 20 years!
June 3, 2011 at 5:24 am
I love the food and one of the best hefewizens around. I also really like that there is such a bit restaurant section where you can bring your kid without any issues because there’s nothing better than not being kept from good beer by having a small person with you!
June 3, 2011 at 6:19 pm
The beers Always good here, the casks make it even better.
Keep up the GREAT Work & BEER of course.
June 3, 2011 at 10:51 pm
Nuthin’ like a burger & a beer on the patio.
June 4, 2011 at 5:12 am
When my girls were in Elementary School at Lampson Street, there would be an announcement on Friday afternoons via the PA, that “Choir Practice would begin at 4:30pm”
We would regularly have dinner at Spinnakers on Friday Nights, and my kids were the only ones at School who knew that “choir practice” was held at Spin’s over a Real Ale.
Those teachers were cool…and had good taste.
June 4, 2011 at 5:23 am
Spinnaker’s has been a fixture in Victoria and in my beer appreciation career for many years, starting now to be counted in decades! I don’t know if I walked in the door on opening day but I was there within 3 days afterwards. I remember seeing part of the floor roped off since the early liquor license limited the number of seats! We are still not over all the silliness of our licensing laws but Spinnaker’s has developed into a world class gastro-brewpub that is now a destination in itself. Many other fine brewpubs have sprung up in Victoria and Spinnaker’s was the forerunner of all of them.
My youngest sister was married at Spinnaker’s in the summer of 1996. We were generously allowed the use of the Taproom for the ceremony and we had a perfect summer day. Other than a wayward wasp that tried to crash the middle of the wedding and ended up under the groom’s shoe we all had a wonderful time. We took the incident with the wasp to be an insect sacrifice and an auspicious omen.
Since then I’ve attended many cask festivals and special dinners at Spinnaker’s, I’m a member of both CAMRA and a local whisky club and both have had fine events there. The emphasis on local ingredients make the meals there as worthy as the beer. My mother and I regularly have Sunday dinners there and intermittently I’m also the Mayor of Spinnaker’s on Foursquare! Some lowborn usurper currently has _my_ title but I’ll be working hard to reclaim that.
The chocolate and beer pairing sound wonderful and would give me an additional chance to reclaim my mayorship! Cheers!
June 4, 2011 at 6:24 pm
Thank you for all your entries over the past two weeks. A winner will be selected and notified.
June 4, 2011 at 7:50 pm
Congratulation to Penny R!
Random.org selected post #4, we have sent you information on how to claim your prize.