The Good Old Days When People Protested for Good Beer

The City of Edmonton has good ideas sometimes. The new LRT extension plans? Fantastic! Funding an amazing range of festivals and summer events to make summer enjoyable? Great! Spending hundreds of millions on a new hockey arena? Well, okay, I ain’t touching that one here…

Definitely one of their better ideas is to host a Beer History class in the historic Mahogany Bar at the Selkirk Hotel in Fort Edmonton Park. They have scheduled two evening sessions this summer to teach curious Edmontonians about the origins and evolution of that drink we all know and love. And as a bonus, there will be free samples of Alley Kat and Amber’s beer.

I partnered with the City last year to teach the class, and have agreed to lead the sessions once again. Here is how the evening works: I offer a talk on beer history – where it came from, how it developed and how the styles we know today evolved – and we break up the talking with beer tastings, led by one of the brewers from Alley Kat. It is small (25 people or less), which allows for an informal, relaxed atmosphere. It is also fun and entertaining – because it is about beer, the history isn’t dry and boring, but rather quite humourous and quirky.

The fee is only $30 per person (you don’t have to pay for park entrance), which is a pretty good deal since you are given some free beer and fantastic party trivia fodder. The dates for the sessions are:

  • Tuesday July 6, 7:00 pm (Course Code: 361134)
  • Tuesday August 3, 7:00 pm (Course Code: 361135)

Registrations are open now. The easiest way to register is to phone 311 and give them the course code you want and your credit card number. Or you can use the City’s online registration system by going here. The courses are a bit hard to find, but go under “Courses and Activities”, then “Arts, Crafts and Cooking”, then select Fort Edmonton Park as the facility and then (finally) “Home and Garden”. Voila! (Lord knows why it is home and garden…)

Or you can register in person at any City Facility using the Course Codes. So, really, there is no excuse for registering. So move now before all the spots fill up!

Last year was quite a bit of fun, and I am looking forward to it again this year.