Yellow Dog “did a Powell Street” in October when it took home a big award just months after opening. Shake A Paw is the name of the beer that won best in show; aptly named, because it did indeed serve as an introduction to many to Port Moody’s first microbrewery. It also sent many more people down Rocky Point Park way, accelerating plans at Yellow Dog for more tanks and a bottling line. (But that’s another story.)
Introduced as a limited-run beer, Shake A Paw is now a staple of the brewery’s tasting room, where it’s tasting very good indeed. Best beer in B.C.? I’m not so sure — there are a couple of other beers that Yellow Dog’s Liam Murphy brews alone that I would rate higher, personally.
Shake A Paw pours very dark brown with garnet highlights. A rich, dense, beige head clears to a steady thick rim.
It’s got a lovely roasted nose, with light coffee, a hint of cocoa and some bread and grains in the mix, while a light creaminess rounds it out. As the beer warms, a bare hint of smokiness appears.
In the mouth, it’s unfussy, uncomplicated, wonderfully clean – almost minerally clean – and smooth, bar a light prickle of carbonation on the tongue. A lightly roasted dark caramel maltiness up front mingles with a hint of 50% cocoa chocolate. More chocolate and fudge notes come through in the mid before a hint of woodfire smokiness from beechwood smoked malts comes through toward the end. A lovely spare, dry finish leaves light roasty fudgy flavours in aftertaste.
My only quibble is that it could maybe use a little more body around the back — more rump, shall we say. The smokiness is very faint, but becomes more noticeable as it warms; and I would argue that this should be drunk at cellar temperature, around 10 C, so you can get the full effect of the smoke and particularly more nuances of the malt.
Food pairing: Steak pie. Put it in the steak pie gravy as well. A rich stew with game meat would be jolly nice, too.
Draught only at Yellow Dog Brewing Co., 2817 Murray St., Port Moody; limited bottles available very soon
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