James Waltons black leather jacket, platinum blond hair, silver earring and funky coloured glasses juxtapose his old-school ways when it comes to making beer at Storm Brewing. (Where else in this city could you find a Black Plague Stout for all that ales you?)
Back in 1997, Walton did a sour beer aged in oak barrels. Few people were interested in buying it so he halted production. Today, sour beers are the all the rage or, as Walton says, sour is the new bitter.
Then theres his recipe for Red Sky Alt Beer. Its an ale brewed with classic lager techniques, resulting in a nice, full rich mouth beer.
First designed as one of his home brews, he stopped making it at his Commercial Drive brewery a few years ago.
Then one of the young whipper snappers in Vancouvers burgeoning craft beer scene dropped by for a visit. Graham With is the designated brewmaster of the signature beer for 2013 Vancouver Craft Beer Week. The first craft beer he ever tried (before he was of legal age to imbibe) was the Red Sky Alt Beer. He loved it and convinced Walton to share his recipe for this years collaboration brew.
On Friday afternoon, brew masters from across the Lower Mainland gathered at Parallel 49 Brewing Company in East Van, Withs home hopping ground, to toast the return of Red Sky Alt Beer.
A collaboration of the 31 breweries from across the province taking part in the nine-day celebration, the beer will only be available around the time of Vancouver Craft Beer Week (May 31 to June 8.) Proceeds will be donated to Mark Brands A Better Life Foundation. Brand, who recently put his own mark on the craft beer scene with Portside Pub in Gastown and who is about to open Beachcomber Brewing in Gibsons, has agreed to use the money to buy food tokens at Save On Meats (which Brand also owns.) Those tokens will be given away in the Downtown Eastside.
We want to show that Vancouver Craft Beer Week is socially aware of whats going on, says Chris Bjerrisgaard, one of VCBWs organizers. Previous recipients were the tsunami relief fund and the BC Farmland Defence League.
Meanwhile, at six oclock last Friday morning, With and Walton were at Parallel 49 to start making the Red Sky Alt Beer. A traditional beer calls for a traditional method of making it, i.e. a long, intensive process. But the result will be a light, refreshing German-style beer.
You can convert non beer drinkers into craft beer drinkers with this one, Bjerrisgaard says.
To keep up to date on whats being planned, go to VancouverCraftBeerWeekcom.
