My latest Beer 101 column (read here) offers a look at the monks who brew beer. The Trappists. I know I have written about them before and many, if not most, of you are well familiar with their history, approach… Continue Reading →
In the past few months, it seemed hardly a week went by without news of one of the big corporate breweries buying up an independent craft brewery. Heck, ABInbev bought out three in one week at the end of December…. Continue Reading →
Back in 2012 there was a little-known dispute between Canada and Denmark over a godforsaken rock called Hans Island (read here). And, somehow, Sherbrooke Liquor Store got itself in the middle of it. It commissioned a beer in a (light-hearted)… Continue Reading →
Kettle souring is a thing. It has gone from nowhere to relatively common in the U.S. in relatively short order. And now it has come home to Alberta. Wild Rose just released Cow Bell, their first kettle soured beer, and… Continue Reading →
It’s not often when a brewery can pay homage to a local landmark. But Polar Park Brewing (no website yet) intends to do exactly that. Polar Park (originally called Alberta Game Farm) was an exotic animal destination. They housed a… Continue Reading →
Over the past couple weeks a huge amount of beer news has piled, not even counting the ongoing debate about Alberta’s mark-up policy (read here if you have missed it). So here is the latest rundown of what is happening… Continue Reading →
Yesterday at the Court of Queen’s Bench, Steam Whistle Brewing out of Toronto was granted a temporary injunction against the new Alberta mark-up policy established in the fall provincial budget (read about the policy here). Here is the Canadian Beer… Continue Reading →
It may have the most hope-inspiring name of all beer names. Aphrodisiaque. The classic and inspired stout from Dieu du Ciel seems to promise more than a beer can normally offer. Sadly, it can’t deliver, at least in that respect…. Continue Reading →
The arrival of Sierra Nevada to Alberta in the fall was a noteworthy event. Most beer fans were quite happy to find in their local liquor store bottles of SN Pale Ale, Torpedo and other classics from one of the… Continue Reading →
One of the highlights of popping into Brewsters during the winter is a chance to sip on a glass of their annual seasonal barley wine, Blue Monk. I always find it at its best in October (when I am told… Continue Reading →