The most-talked-about but least understood beer happening in Edmonton is the impending opening of Blind Enthusiasm. The soon-to-be brewery kind of defies categorization. It will be a brewpub. But it is more than that. It will also be Canada’s first brewery committed to spontaneous and mixed fermentation.

To make sense of things there are couple things you need to know. First, Blind Enthusiasm is actually two breweries under one operation (I’ll explain). Second it is the creation of Greg Zeschuk. For those who don’t know him, Zeschuk is a physician, founder and former co-owner of software and gaming giant Bioware, creator of The Beer Diaries, an online TV program on craft beer across the continent, and former Executive Director of the Alberta Small Brewers Association. Given his financial capacity and his passion for beer, it is no surprise to people who know him that he was going to create a beer project of exceptional quality and ambition.

I had a chance earlier this week to sit down with Zeschuk and one of his head brewers, Doug Checknita, to talk about the brewery, its plans and how it will fit into Edmonton’s beer scene. At its core, the vision is simple. “We want to make interesting, ambitious beer with creativity and artistry and good brewing techniques,” says Zeschuk. He sees the operation as being about moving the public as much as selling to them. “It is about education, showing people what beer can be”.

But in the end, the beer needs to be enjoyable for consumers. “It will be really good and approachable,” notes Zeschuk. “If it is not good, it will not be served”.

As I mentioned, Blind Enthusiasm consists of two separate brewing operations in two locations. The brewpub will be located at the four corners in the Ritchie neighbourhood south of the east end of Whyte Avenue. It is the anchor of a multi-business new building that will also house Transcend Coffee Roasters, Acme Meats and a bike shop. But they are also building a second brewery a few blocks away off 99st (across the street from the old Amber’s Brewing brewery). Each brewery will have its own dedicated head brewer.

The brewpub will offer “traditional” craft beer offerings, from pilsners to bitters, IPAs to stouts. A possible flagship beer might be a Belgian Single, the style brewed by Trappist Monks for their daily consumption. Zeschuk explains they will serve 12 to 13 beer at a time, along with a couple of guest taps. “We will have a limited regular line-up”, opting instead for mostly one-offs and seasonals. “We might go for a model of a summer line-up and a winter line-up,” rotating beer as seasonally appropriate.

Given their co-tenants in the building, food pairing and brewing with coffee will be a big element of their approach. “You will see a lot of coffee beer on tap.” They hope to design the menu to include beer as a central aspect of the food.

They are installing a 10hl brewhouse with 10-10hl fermenters and five serving tanks to create maximum flexibility. Also the second floor will house a barrel room where they will produce a range of barrel-aged beer. Zeschuk says the brewpub will have a “warm industrial” feel, with lots of glass, high ceilings and a “big patio”. He also hopes it to be a family-friendly space, where kids are not only welcome but encouraged.

If I stopped there you would be convinced this will be an impressive and highly anticipated project.

Then there is the second brewery, which will be devoted to “mixed fermentation” beer. In other words, sours and lambic-style beer. The sour brewery will have a 20hl brewhouse and a sizeable warehouse for storing barrels for aging. The volume is needed because, aside from aging, they will engage in traditional blending processes to create complex sour and lambic-style beer. They have even ordered a custom-designed coolship (a large, shallow vessel for initial innoculation) to facilitate spontaneous fermentation . Yes, they are going to do spontaneous fermentation in Edmonton.

Zeschuk knows they are flying blind a bit on that. “We don’t actually know what there is, but there will be something. Look at where we are, near the river valley, there will be stuff, and it will be unique to us. We will have a house flavour.” Checknita adds that they will be making “an educated guess” about how the beer will work out.

If you doubt that Blind Enthusiasm is not serious about this sour project, that doubt is quickly erased when you listen to Checknita, their sour brewmaster. Checknita was in the first graduating class of the Olds College Brewing program. He then spent some time working at Le Trou du Diable in Quebec. He also spent last winter working at Cantillon Brewing in Brussels. Cantillon, for those unfamiliar, it is universally considered one of the premiere Lambic breweries on the planet. While there, Checknita helped owner Jean Van Roy with every aspect of the brewery. “I helped blend every 2015-16 batch”, he notes.

Checknita is serious about sour beer, even doing a special project at Olds on isolating micro-organisms. “I went all in on sours,” he says. He wasn’t really expecting to land a sour job this soon in his career. “I thought I’d be the weird guy in the corner.” Spending a bit of time talking with Checknita about sour beer quickly convinces me he is both passionate and very knowledgeable about sour beer and Lambic.

Blind Enthusiasm Owner (and cool dude) Greg Zeschuk

One of his observations really stuck with me. Checknita talks repeatedly about the “old wives’ tales” of sour brewing. I ask him for an example and he answers me in one word: lactobacillus. “Everyone thinks lactobacillus is the be all and end all of sour, and that is what creates sour.” He disagrees. “It is good in the short term, but it is unstable, doesn’t interact with oxygen and has a short lifespan,” adding “Lambic is created by 50 different organisms.” He highlights that lactobacillus is important for lowering pH but argues that creating a complex sour beer requires much more than one organism.

Checknita suggests that Edmonton is actually well positioned to do spontaneous fermentation. “For four months a year our climate is identical to Brussels [the home of Lambic].” He is careful not to compare what Blind Enthusiasm is hoping to do to the classic lambic breweries. “We are not trying to make Lambic. We are trying to create spontaneous beer for Ritchie,” recognizing that the city’s flora will differ significantly to Brussels. “We have done tests, we know we can get something good here.”

It might seem crazy or excessive to open two breweries, but it makes more sense than it seems. First, separating the two processes prevents issues of cross-contamination which could destroy the brewpub beer. Second, Blind Enthusiasm clearly has a two-part business plan. “90% of the beer brewed at the brewpub will be sold on-site,” says Zeschuk. “It is intended to be a true brewpub.”Everything will be packaged in kegs (growler fills will be available), although they do anticipate hand-bottling some of the barrel-aged beer for limited release.

The sour brewery will produce rare, “sought after beer”. They plan to package in 750-ml bottles and think that they will “work their way around”. Aware that Alberta may have, for now, a limited demand for mixed fermentation beer, Zeschuk sees the possibility of shipping it farther afield, noting “given the state of the rules in Canada, it will likely be the U.S.”

As for the name, it reflects the basic approach of the founders. “It comes from a desire to go straight for the end point of the project,” says Zeschuk. “We want to jump right away to the point where you might hope to be in a few years.” At one point he jokes that they are “trying to be New Belgium after 20 years in year one.” His other comparison is to be “Russian River light.”

Blind Enthusiasm hopes to open its doors in March 2017 with offerings from the brewpub brewery. Obviously the sour brewery will take more time to produce product, but they hope to tease people with early offerings shortly after.

I, for one, will be one of the first in line when the pub opens.

[Edited September 16 to make a couple minor wording corrections.]