Calgary's beer scene is about to get a little bigger.

The Calgary Herald reported late last week (thanks to Chad for drawing my attention to the story!) that a new microbrewery is about to open in southeast Calgary. The men behind it include two former Big Rock heavies – former VP Jim Button and former CFO TIm Duffin – and Allan Merlo and Rob Bondi, who the story says are owners of a brewing equipment company (a cursory Google search came up empty).

The brewery will be called The Village Brewery, and they say the first beer will be ready late fall (which is odd given the photo in the story has them pouring over plans in an empty warehouse). From the story, it seems they will be tap-only at first, with growlers sold out of a tasting room at the brewery. It looks like the brew system is about 20 hectolitres. They promise a downtown storefront in a couple of years. No word on bottling.

What can we expect from the beer? Obviously that is hard to tell right now, but there are a few clues. The initial beer will be a blonde ale, and Button says the plan is for a couple of “mainstay” products but with supplemental beers that are “more creative”. I had dealings with Button when he was at Big Rock and I can say he did know a thing or two about beer, and was always accessible and easy to deal with. I imagine he learned a few things about running a beer business when he was there.

My guess is that Village may follow a bit of a Big Rock route – offer some more accessible anchors to draw in a broader range of customers, but then offer some seasonals and rotating beer that offer more adventurous styles. We can debate how much Big Rock does that today – but that certainly was their model in the early years.

One odd thing in the story is the refusal to name the brewmaster, who apparently has 40 years of experience. It is particularly odd since the brew system was purchased by the brewmaster BEFORE they hooked up with Button et al. I suspect said brewmaster was going to open their own brewery but ran out of cash. But why not put them front and centre? If they are a name we know, it might add credibility to the brewery and their beer. It certainly adds an interesting human dimension to the story.

I guess I, along with the rest of you, will need to sit tight and see what transpires over the coming months. I don’t get to Calgary much these days, so if any of you down there hear anything more, let us all know. I trust there are thousands (hundreds? dozens?) of onbeer.org readers who want to know more.