I know I missed a lot during my absence. Funny how the prairie brewers didn’t close up shop upon my departure eastside. Instead they kept brewing, the presumptuous imps. What do they think they are – entrepreneurs?
At any rate, I knew I was blowing by some stuff, and others I had no idea were being released. So, in the interests of catching you all up – and finding my feet again – here is a quick round up on the seasonal beer available from our region’s brewers. And, lord, have they been busy. I realize anyone who has actually resided in these parts for the past few weeks already knows about these beer, but since I am trying to be the prairie beer catalogue, I am going to make you suffer through a run-down.
Alley Kat: Aside from their summer seasonal, Brewberry Blueberry Ale, the Kats have put out their latest Big Bottle Series – White Tail Hefeweizen – and a third oak-aged beer in conjunction with Sherbrooke. It is called Accent Double-Edged IPA and it is Bad Hare Day aged in some wood casks for a couple of months.
Amber’s Brewing: Edmonton’s second micro has a new, draught-only product they lovingly call Zombie Apocalypse. It is an unfiltered red lager. That is all I know. Amber’s Jim needs to update their website more – or at least email me.
Brewster’s: I am told the Alberta chain not only has THREE – count ’em, three – seasonals on right now, but they have added a new permanent beer to their tap lines. The new mainstay is their Curly Horse IPA, while the seasonals include Fruit Hog – a watermelon beer (huh?!?), West Coast Steamer (a Steam Beer, and an American Amber.
Half Pints: Is celebrating summer with the latest release of Weizen Heimer, their take on a hefeweizen, which may or may not make its way out of Manitoba. They are also gearing up for their 5th anniversary celebration this summer, so expect something interesting (including the latest Humulus Ludicrous and Rigamorale). Stay tuned here, kids.
Paddock Wood: Two interesting things happening with our Saskatchewan friends. First is the re-release of Loki, their controversial and dangerously drinkable Double IPA. I am interested to see how it compares to last year’s version. PLUS, not one to miss out on a craze (but without selling out), Stephen has released Melon Head – a light German lager (which sounds suspiciously like a Kolsch) designed for Roughrider fans. You might think there is watermelon in this beer, but you would be wrong. The connection to the odd tradition of wearing a watermelon on your head to football games is that the box is designed to convert into a handy pseudo-melon helmet. I guess even craft beer geeks need to find a way to fit in during a Roughrider game…
Wild Rose: As usual, our Calgary friends are busy creating new beer. Their regular seasonal right now is a Kolsch, which is a notoriously hard-to-brew German ale-lager hybrid. They also have the return of Royal 100, which last year commemorated the centennial of Mount Royal College/University.
I also know that Urban Diner is hosting a beer dinner with Granville Island on July 14. Tickets are $69 and feature five courses paired with various Granville Island beer.
I have not yet tried any of the beer listed above – given my recent return. However, I hope to over the next couple of weeks explore some of these beer and I will try to offer more insightful observations than this simple newsy post. So keep coming back. Life will return to normal.
July 7, 2011 at 10:42 AM
Welcome back Jason. First of all in regard to your Vue article, I had actually tried a Garrison Mixed 6 pack in mid-to-late Feb.(about the time they were initially available here).They were all fairly decent, but my preferences were the Tall Ship Amber, the Nut Brown & last-but-not-least, the Martello Stout. The Hopyard was impressive though in retrospect…I’ve since developed more appreciation for paler ales(as opposed to porters, stouts & nut browns).
I was quite impressed with Alley Kat’s Hefeweizen – I found(side-by-side)that it compared quite favourably to the Wiehenstephaner Hefweissbier…at least in my opinion. Alley Kat’s White Tail had a pleasant rather applish tartness. Nice with both local Smoky Valley Farmers’ goat cheese & some Lemon Dream chocolate from Kerstin’s. The tartness really gave the candied lemon a tangy enhancement.
I’m disappointed with this year’s Brewberry. Much too weak on the blueberry-wait, Is that blueberry back there?? Says blueberry on the label-I’ll take their word for it! Really enjoyed Cannery’s Blackberry Porter when I had that at Wunderbar, the blackberry is easily distinguishable & it works great imho.
July 7, 2011 at 11:11 AM
I’ve tried 2 of the Fruit Hogs so far from Brewsters: the Strawberry Wheat and the Watermelon Wheat. The strawberry was a crowd-pleaser for the patio crowd. The watermelon was interesting, in that it is a delicate flavor paired with a delicate style, adding a low watermelon flavor and finishing sweet. I think they got the pairing of fruit and style right, I just wouldn’t care for a second one. Supposedly, others coming soon include:
– Ruby Red Grapefruit White Ale
– Strawberry Hefeweizen
– Tangerine Wheat Ale
– Peach Ale
– Apricot Pale Ale
July 7, 2011 at 5:42 PM
You also missed the inaugural Edmonton Beer Geeks night with the wonderful DIPA from Yukon Brewing.
July 22, 2011 at 11:54 PM
Jason,
Indeed the Melon Head is a Koelsch style. One of the local home brewers (Cal Soloway) has won awards with his version, and he gave us the details of of his research, which even involved spending a month in Cologne visiting breweries. So we pulled out all the stops with water, lager malts, lager hops, #2565 yeast – which has a telltale flavour. Some is heading to AB for the end of July.