One of my stops when in Calgary a few weeks back was a visit with Brett Ireland over at Last Best, the soon-to-be brewpub that recently took over Brew Brothers brewhouse (life has been a bit busy, so this post has taken a while to get to). While the pub itself is still undergoing extensive renovations – they have hopes for a spring 2015 opening – beer is flowing from the operational brewery and can be found on tap at selected locations in Calgary.

Last Best, of course, is the latest venture from Bear Hill Brewing, the chain of brewpubs in small centres across Alberta (Jasper, Banff and Fort McMurray so far).

Brett toured me through the site and we chatted about their plans. In particular I was curious how they were going to handle entering a burgeoning and relatively more sophisticated market like Calgary (as compared to Jasper or Fort Mac). We then sat down and tried some beer.

Their original plan was not to hit Calgary quite yet. Instead they were eying locations in other mid-sized cities. However, word came down that the owner of Brew Brothers wanted out, so they started talking. As that was ongoing, the lease for Amsterdam Rhino, the restaurant attached to the brewery space (once linked to Brew Brothers but in recent years independent) came up and the restaurant owners also decided to close up shop. Suddenly Brett, Socrates and their partners found themselves with both an opportunity and a dilemma. they decided to jump and start the process of opening their next brewpub in bustling Calgary.

What Last Best looks like at the moment.

At the moment the pub looks like, well, a construction site, but Brett described their plans for this two-floor, expansive space. It seems their plan is a combo of open and elegant with a touch of grounded country. It will have hundreds of seats, possibly making it Bear Hill’s most ambitious project and possibly the most aggressive brewpub initiative in Alberta yet (I say that without really working out Brewster’s capacity – they may very well have similar sized locations).

But it is the beer that interests me most. I am on the record saying that the beer at Bear Hill’s brewpubs are designed for their market. They are well made, but they aim for accessibility rather than stand-out flavour. I get this. They are in markets that are light-years away from Portland or Denver. Their conscious plan is to slowly move palates in those cities. That means, for the moment, their beer can be rather uninspiring for an experienced beer consumer, but we need to interpret that in context. I remember this spring being in Fort McMurray (and quite enjoying aspects of their pale ale and IPA), and talking to someone I was meeting with for my day job. I mentioned Wood Buffalo (in the same building as them) and they criticized it for “not having a real lager”. For the record, they do have a lager on tap, meaning this person’s critique was about something else entirely – namely finding something that tastes like Bud. That is what they are dealing with.

But I will admit I was a bit worried they would apply their usual business model to the Calgary location. I asked Brett and he explained that they knew “the Calgary market is different. We need to bring beer that stand out”. Talk is one thing, and beer is another. So we sampled some of what they have going on.

But the brewery is up and running just fine.

The beer they are currently making serve as the core of their future offerings upon opening. They plan 4 year-round beer but a total of 10 to 11 beer going at any one time. I tried six of what they currently have, which ranged from a schwarzbier to an American IPA. I don’t have space to review all of them (plus I didn’t really take notes because we were too busy talking), but I can tell you what they are: Show Pony Pale Ale, White IPA, Dirty Bird (the Schwarzbier), There Will Be Porter (my favourite name), and their IPA. I am told they also have Good Time Organic Lager, which was out. They also let me try a bit of their Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout.

In general I can say the beer offer real craft options. Obviously some are better than others. Just as an example I found the White IPA to be slightly off the mark but the Porter to be quite appealing.

My main take away is that they have really upped their game for Calgary. The beer are not pedestrian. They are producing flavourful, interesting beer that will stand out in the market. Not all are winners – as is to be completely expected at this point in their evolution –  but they all show a commitment to the best that craft beer has to offer. Brett, Soc and their partners clearly have come to terms with the Calgary market and their brewing chops are up for it.

A prototype of their Pale Ale label.

As an example, let me talk about their IPA, which later in the trip I got a chance to quietly sip a pint. It was a  hazy dark orange and offering a dense, packed white head. The aroma gave me citrus, pine and passionfruit along with some mango, malt biscuit and generic fruitiness.

The flavour stars soft with a gentle roundedness but rather quickly a piney bitterness kicks in. But then that pineyness gets replaced by a grapefruit and mango hop flavour, making the beer quite complex in that regard. The linger has a strong citrus character. The beer has a fascinating balance to it. The fruitiness is interesting and the hops taste very fresh, giving them a multi-dimensional character.

This beer is an admirable IPA. The bitterness levels are totally there. Not perfect, but it offers most of what an IPA drinker is looking for. I choose to not focus on the shortcomings, but instead recognize that Last Best is ready for the Calgary market. They are going to offer flavourful, well-made beer for the suits of downtown Calgary (plus the rest of us who find our way there).

I am pretty sure real beer will be on offer at Last Best. Let’s hope it is not yet their last nor their best venture and more “last bests” are on tap in the future.