The winners were Jim and Elizabeth Findlay, who are originally from Scotland but living in Edmonton. Jim and Elizabeth arrived in Whitehorse late in the evening and were whisked off to the lodge at Uncommon Journeys. The next day, they were helicoptered up for two days of hiking, eating, and drinking. Not a bad way to spend a weekend.

Rod Taylor of Uncommon Journeys brought Jim and Elizabeth to the brewery for a tour and some samples prior to heading to the airport for their flight home. Unfortunately, we all managed to miss the fact that the Air North schedule changed to winter hours that very day, and the flight to Edmonton left at 2:55, not 4:00 pm. We got them to the airport just in time to watch the plane taxi away.

Deb Ryan at Air North jumped to the rescue, booking them onto a flight to Vancouver the next morning and home via Westjet later that day. Since Jim and Elizabeth had never been to Vancouver, they decided to take a late flight home so that they could spend the day in Vancouver. Talk about making lemonade from lemons.

We must say that Deb Ryan stepped up to the plate, big time. She was right on to Jim and Elizabeth’s problem, rebooking flights, finding them a hotel, and then touring them around town before dropping them off.  No wonder Air North keeps getting the compliments.

And, as Jim said after getting home, “Leave it to a Scotsman to miss his flight while standing in a brewery drinking samples”.

After seeing what Natalie Parenteau’s design did for our Yukon Red box it was an easy decision to commision another local artist to design the look of the new Yukon Gold. Lynn Blaikie answered the call and the result has been a bright and beautiful design for Gold’s boxes, cans and labels.

Lynn’s main area of expertise is batik, but she also makes use of watercolours and acrylics to create her fantastic art.

You can check out the new look Yukon Gold on six-packs of bottles or cans, 15 packs of cans and very soon, Gold will be available in 12 packs of bottles.

Enjoy the new look for an old (and current) favourite!

The Yukon Brewing Company will now have to decide what the new addition will house. More bright beer tanks and larger canning and bottling stations could be in the plans as well as the possibility of a distilling operation, which would almost certainly require the square footage offered by the new portion of the building.

The addition should be completed and ready for operations sometime in the fall.

Last year’s Sunstroke was amazing and this year promises to be even bigger and better. The action starts at 12 noon on Friday, June 22nd with tons of activities and great tunes for kids and adults alike and carries on through to Midnight finishing up with this year’s headlining act, hip hop act Freedom Danish of Halifax.

Other acts include Whitehorse’s own Scotch and Nemesis and Vancouver’s reggae group, Fredlocks Asher.

The tunes will be tremendous and that great Yukon beer will be flowing. $10 get’s you in. See you at Shipyards park on Friday, June 22, 2007. 

On Friday, June 15, 2007, the Legislative Assembly of the Yukon ended its current session for the summer months but not before it passed Bill Number 34 amending the outdated Yukon Liquor Act.

The biggest change to the act is that where the Liquor Corporation could grant a “brewer’s license” and a “brewer’s retail license”, it now grants a “liquor manufacturer’s license” or a “liquor manufacturer’s retail license”. A liquor manufacturer is defined as a manufacturer of beer, spirits or wine.

This exciting change of legislation means that the Yukon Brewing Company could venture into distilling spirits within a few short months. This will no doubt precipitate some exciting times here at Yukon Brewing as we excitedly take the steps to produce a range of spirits that the North can be proud of…. and that’ll keep us warm during the cold winter season.

Beef & Espresso Stout Stew Recipe

Ingredients
2 pounds lean stewing beef
3 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons flour
Salt and freshly ground pepper and a pinch of cayenne
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1 large clove garlic, crushed (optional)
2 tablespoons tomato puree, dissolved in 4 tablespoons water
1-1/4 cups espresso stout beer
2 cups carrots, cut into chunks
Sprig of thyme

Instructions

Trim the meat of any fat or gristle, cut into cubes of 2 inches (5cm) and toss them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon oil. Season the flour with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch or two of cayenne. Toss the meat in the mixture.

Heat the remaining oil in a wide frying pan over a high heat. Brown the meat on all sides. Add the onions, crushed garlic and tomato puree to the pan, cover and cook gently for about 5 minutes.

Transfer the contents of the pan to a casserole, and pour some of the stout into the frying pan. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the caramelized meat juices on the pan.

Pour onto the meat with the remaining stout; add the carrots and the thyme. Stir, taste, and add a little more salt if necessary.

Cover with the lid of the casserole and simmer very gently until the meat is tender—2 to 3 hours. The stew may be cooked on top of the stove or in a low oven at 300 degrees F. Taste and correct the seasoning. Scatter with lots of chopped parsley.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Credits

Recipe from: The Complete Book of Irish Country Cooking by Darina Allen (Penguin USA)

Let us know what you think!

In Vex Magazine’s January/February 2007 issue, they give our Lead Dog Ale rave reviews:

“The Northern brewery makes some great stuff but this one most definitely is, as they say, “Beer worth freezin’ for.” Made from a blend of six different malts and mellowed a full two months before packaging, this potent sleeper is loaded with a great blend of sweet malt, bread, chocolate, roasted barley, and a hint of cherry. Finishing dry, it’s also full bodied and creamy with only a mild carbonation so the whole six pack can (and should) be consumed in one greedy sitting.”

Learn more about Vex at http://www.vexmagazine.com