Hey Portsmouth House, we are plugging your bar on this worldwide website! There should be beer drinkers lining up right around Le Grange (the street, not the ZZ Top bordello*) soon for The Ports. The least you can do is pour my old buddy Rick a cold one on the house!
Going back in time with a visit to the Portsmouth House in Kingston to have a brew with my old buddy Rick. I texted him a picture of the Ports bar and asked him if he recognized it. He responded ” Be there in 5.”.
Me: Wow, it must be 40 years since I have been in the Ports, how about you?
Rick : I think I was here yesterday (confirmed by the bartender).
Me: Where’s the shuffleboard table?
Rick: That room is a bakery now.
Me: A what?
Rick: Bakery, buns, bread, you know.
Me: I know what a bakery is.
The discussion deteriorated somewhat from there as the sampling began.
The shy bartender declined a chance at WWW COMDB fame but he unknowingly photo bombed the brew pic anyway. Famous, infamous, mysterious or anonymous, the jury is still out.
I took a look at the brews on tap and spotted a Granville Island English Bay Pale Ale. I remember many years ago having a cold one on a hot day at their pub on Granville Island, taking a water taxi across False Creek which flows out to English Bay. Granville Island’s claim to fame is Canada’s first microbrewery* and is well worth a visit if you are in Vancouver. I reviewed one of their brews previously and tore it a second one, I wasn’t impressed with their Lions Winter Ale. I figured this was a chance for GI to redeem themselves, in my books anyway.
This draft poured a nice amber clear, a proud beer despite being in a Molson’s glass. A perfectly poured tawny white head, well done Larry (not his real name, or maybe it is). An easy drinking mild malt body with a touch of fruit, not citrusy. A hoppy finish but very slight. A refreshing easy drinking ale as laid back and easy as the coast it hails from. Good ale, good pub and good company. How could this be anything but a good review.
Well done Granville Island. “Redemption comes to those who wait, forgiveness is the key.”***
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