The Ports
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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