My Vue Weekly column this week is a fairly over-due profile of Hog’s Head Brewing, which you can read here. I visited the brewery in the fall, just before their first beer hit the market, and interviewed owner Brian Molloy. For a variety of reasons, the article I wrote up about it was delayed – which is actually a good thing as Hog’s Head’s roll out has been slower than expected.

It is a fairly straight-forward profile piece, but for those of you interested in learning a bit more about the capital region’s latest brewery, it should prove to be an informative read. I anchor it around the three things that set Hog’s Head apart from other micros in Alberta – namely their location in St. Albert (the first brewery in that city in history), their salvaging of Amber’s Brewing, which became homeless in the summer and the resulting unique tw0-brewhouse set-up they have, and their unabashed hop-head approach to their beer.

Coincidentally, my piece appears at the same time as Peter Bailey’s latest column in The Tomato (which you can find here) also highlights Hog’s Head. I don’t talk enough about Peter, who is a knowledgeable, affable and entertaining beer writer – and a librarian, too boot (I like librarians), but you can find his column in every issue of the bi-monthly Edmonton magazine.

The timing of both our articles are fortuitous, I think. Had my piece run in November, as originally designed, I think it would have been hard for people to find their beer. It is a bit easier now. Due to its age, my piece is a bit out of date in places. For example, Hog’s Head is no longer on tap at the Sugar Bowl, and you can now find growlers of its first two beer – Baby Back IPA and Death by Pumpkin – at Sherbrooke and other places, including liquor stores who have growler filling stations.

Alas, Hog’s Head signature beer, Hopslayer, is not yet out. I have not heard official word about why the delay, but I suspect it may have to to with supply of desired hop varieties. Hopefully we see it soon.

For now, interested beer drinkers can head to the Underground or to one of the liquor stores currently carrying them to sample what they have to offer.