Thursday 28 May 2015

Vancouver Craft Beer Week Trivia Giveaway!

Well, I haven't mentioned it on my blog yet, since it has been sold out since before I found out, but Colony Main Street will be hosting What the Hop? Beer Trivia on Saturday, May 30th, from 2-6 PM as part of Vancouver Craft Beer Week. The event will be hosted by IQ 2000 Trivia, and entry comes with rounds of craft beer to taste, as well as appetizers for the team.

Why am I mentioning this now? I already said it was sold out. Even if you had the sixty dollar entry fee, you wouldn't be able to get a ticket. Am I just rubbing it in your face? Of course not! The kind folks running the show have provided me with a table to give away to one lucky reader. So here's what we're going to do. If you want to go (and trust me, you do), send me an email at vancouverpubquiz@gmail.com letting me know what your favourite craft beer is, and I'll pick a winner, and you'll have a chance to get day drunk and answer some trivia questions. 

I realise it would be more germane for a quiz blog to ask you a quiz question for a contest, so I'll make this a bit more interesting. I'll give priority to whoever gets this question right: In what local district municipality will you find the main brewery for Four Winds Brewing? 

Once again, send your answers to vancouverpubquiz@gmail.com to get yourself and some friends a spot at Vancouver's first craft beer quiz. 

Wednesday 20 May 2015

The Portside Pub: Reloaded


Yet again, the quizmasters at the Portside have changed. Now Mondays will find it being hosted by IQ2000 trivia, with the exact host unconfirmed at press time. 

Where: The Portside Pub, 7 Alexander

When: 7:30 PM Mondays

Web Presence: Quizmaster Katie usually provides some hints on her Facebook page

Team Info: Max team size of seven, so if you have more, get ready to break them down into two teams

Prizes: $60 in bar credit for first place, $40 for second, and there's even a prize for team who finished second to last.

Format: Two halves, with three ten-question categories each. There was a lightning round that gave beer to the winners as well, which is a fun diversion.

Food and Drink: Much the same as before, but the beer selection seems to have grown in their variety. If you've got a sweet tooth, they've got a tasty ice cream sandwich, made with ice cream from the impeccable Earnest Ice Cream.

Alright! You may recall that I recently did a review of the Smartside Trivia at the Portside, but forget about that! It's old news! The Portside has revamped their quiz by tipping the fantastic Katie, of Darby's notoriety, to host the show. As you may have expected given her previous body of work, it was a smart choice.

The linear quarters of the Portside haven't changed much in the last six weeks, but the trivia sure has. The quiz starts around 7:30 PM, and moves along at a decent speed. The content is classic: heavy on the pop culture, themed rounds, with a willingness to ask some legitimately tough questions. There's an enjoyable music round, some matching, and even a few new twists to Katie's formula. The lightning round between halves is a great way to hand out some free beer. Identifying random things as fast as you can is a better beer dispersal mechanism than heads or tails anyways. I suppose you shouldn't complain about free beer, but I don't see why I can't rank my preferred methods of handing it out.

As a relatively young quiz, the Portside doesn't yet have the crowds of regulars that some quizzes have. The night we were there had about seven to eight other teams, and a few tables that weren't participating. Personally, I find it interesting to see a quizmaster who is used to packed houses and rapt attentions hosting at a smaller level. Katie does a great job engaging the teams, and it looked as though even the teams who hadn't come out explicitly for quiz were having fun. Gastown is in need of more pub quizzes, and Monday has always been one of my favourite nights to go to a quiz. The week's just started, but there's still a reason to look forward to Mondays. Forget what some cats may say, if they even exist. Anyways, hopefully the word gets out that there's good times and great prizes to be had here, and the ranks of quizzers will swell.

Judgement Day: An excellent Quiz Night With Katie quiz, in a convenient downtown location, with excellent prizes. May as well get in on the action at ground level.


Mixing my sequel signals 2: Electric Boogaloo