A small sampling of the tap lines at Craft Beer Market

Most of you will know by now that a couple months ago, two new beer-focused places opened in Calgary. The bigger deal is the Craft Beer Market boasting over 100 beer on tap, ranging from the light and watery to the heavy and complex. On the surface it sounded impressive – and the few of you who have been there (and shared your experiences with me) have been very positive. The second spot is a German-themed beer hall, called Wurst, that opened in the location of the old Wildwood Brewpub which closed a couple years back. I spent an evening in Calgary the other night, and took advantage of the opportunity to swing by both places for a beer and, mostly, to check them out.

Craft Beer Market (CBM) was jam-packed, loud and much beer was flowing. It is spacious with lots of wood, imposing rafters and unavoidable steel cylinders running from the keg room to the taps in the centre of the room. The latter feature was impressive. Despite running off their feet, the staff took time to offer samples and chat about the beer – a touch I appreciated. They do not lie – more than 100 beer were on tap. The menu is thoughtfully laid out from lightest to darkest, broken into categories that roughly reflect styles. They even offered a couple of adjectives for each group of beer to help the undecided along. Most of the beer is served in CBM’s own branded glassware – the exceptions being the Belgians and Weizens (possibly some others, I couldn’t tell).

I spent quite a bit of time pouring over the beer list, and came away believing the hype. There is a solid range of beer here. Even the most picky beer geek will find something to sate them. When it opened I was fearful that 80 of the 100 beer would be corporate beer and standard imports – and don’t get me wrong the big boys are fully represented. However, I did a little counting and this is what I came up with:

• Corporate domestic beer: 20
• Canadian craft beer: 38
• Alberta craft beer: 16 (11 from Calgary brewers – which is fair enough)
• Other Prairie craft beer: 3 (Paddock Wood Bramling Cross, Yukon Red, Great Western Original 16 – I am being generous here)
• Belgian Strong/Trappist/Abbey: 6
• American Craft Beer: 5
• Big Rock taps: 6
• Wild rose taps: 4
• Seasonals on offer: 9 (all from western Canadian micros)
• Cask Ale every Tuesday Night (rotating among Alberta craft brewers)
• Some random beer that caught my eye: Hopworks IPA, Russell Blood Alley Bitter, Chimay, La Trappe, Gouden Carolus Classic, St. Bernardus ABT12, Wild Rose Alberta Crude

Most of the remaining Canadian craft beer were from B.C., plus there was your standard corporate imports as well (I got bored counting as a beer was calling me). I do have a few nitpick-like criticisms. While the ale list was pretty thorough; the lagers not so much. This says more about the sad state of lager brewing in this country than the bar. There are some pretty dismal beer on the list as well that likely should be removed for the sake of not contaminating the good beer (e.g. MTL lager – really??). Alexander Keith’s is listed under the IPAs, which is a real education opportunity lost. Plus it seems they got suckered by Minhas with a stout they are marketing under a pretend brewery name (more on that another day).

They offer two house beer, but in reality they are Drummond Lager and Big Rock Magpie. Not sure why they feel the need to do this. If they want to serve those beer, give the breweries credit. Sigh.

The servers (or at least the one I got) were beer knowledgeable and seem to be able to help guide customers. This is a crucial part of having this many beer. Without staff who know what they are talking about, things can go horribly wrong.

The crowd was very corporate, and the feel of the place was that the owners see their target as the downtown Calgary crowd. This could be fine, but it has the potential of sucking the life out of the place. If they push too hard for corporate parties and the suit-people, I fear this will squeeze out space for experimentation, beer education and trying to build a “beer culture”. My worry is that the crowd may be more interested in beer as trendy, rather than beer as supreme liquid of great diversity. However, the place is certainly upscale, and they are responsible with their serving sizes – the bigger alcohol beer are served in smaller volumes. Overall I came away impressed.

As for the Wurst, it left me a little less impressed. The German beer hall thing is obvious from the moment you step in. Long wooden tables and benches are the only seating (aside from the bar), servers run about with German steins wearing the traditional dresses (with less cleavage than the stereotype, which is likely good for the servers). The beer is served in house branded steins and weizen glasses (and 2 litre boots). The beer list is heavily German in its influence. Okay, I think we get the picture.

However, it didn’t really work for me. The beer list is decent but not out of this world. In fact if you aren’t in the mood for a German lager of some form you are hard pressed to find something. And the atmosphere didn’t feel right. It seemed too clean, too fancy, too upper class. The wood was new and well-carved. The metal shiny and classy. Even the dresses didn’t seem quite right (and I am NOT talking about the cleavage). It is like they want German beer hall to fit Urbanite sensibilities. A Brauhaus for the landed gentry, rather than the masses, as it were. And that just doesn’t seem to fit for me. In Germany, beer halls are social equalizers. This feels like a stratified place, where a working class guy would be snubbed by the suit next to him at the table. Maybe not – maybe I was just there on the wrong night – but that is my sense coming away.

One thing that I liked was the number of serving size options. You could get any of the beer in 250 ml, 500 ml, 1 litre and 2 litre glasses. While 2 litres is likely excessive, I like that I can order a small beer or a standard pint(ish), depending on my mood, whether I am driving or whatever. More pubs should offer a bigger range of sizes.

I will definitely return to CBM when in Calgary again. And I could be persuaded to give Wurst a second chance. More importantly, I see this as the next step in western Canada’s embrace of good beer. Hopefully other prairies centres follow Calgary’s lead soon.