Alberta’s first homegrown big beer brand was not Trad, or Drummond, or Uncle Ben’s, or even Lethbridge Pils or Bohemian Maid. It was Calgary Beer, formally known as Calgary Export Lager, which was first brewed in 1892. Alas Calgary Beer… Continue Reading →
Slushie Sours have invaded Alberta. That is not exactly news as Calgary brewery Outcast Brewing has been making them since February. But, still, they are a new and alien thing to this part of the world. And my oh my… Continue Reading →
What on earth would inspire someone to put lentils in beer? Who would do such a crazy thing? It turns out Regina’s Rebellion Brewing, that’s who. When I first heard about their lentil beer I was instantly curious. Lentils seems… Continue Reading →
Canadian craft beer fans have long had pet theories about regional differences in the craft beer industry. B.C. is reputed to be a province of hopheads, while Atlantic Canada is supposedly more influenced by traditional British styles. And so on…. Continue Reading →
Having just wrapped up our latest beer education course through the University of Alberta Faculty of Extension last week, I am thrilled to announce we will be hosting not one, but TWO, new courses in the new year. And the… Continue Reading →
Recently I came across a presentation by Victor North, who is a Beer Judge Certification Program Director and instructor at the Niagara College Brewmaster Program (follow the links to the presentation and Powerpoint slides found here). North makes the bold… Continue Reading →
In August we had a fabulous uptake on my online course with the University of Alberta Faculty of Extension, selling out both sections of the course (I estimate about 140 people attended in total). We enjoyed the experience so much… Continue Reading →
Breweries are always trying something new. New hop varieties. New brewing techniques. New ways to name something IPA that is not an IPA. So one of the more interesting trends recently is SMaSH beer. SMaSH stands for Single Malt and… Continue Reading →
Parallel to the judging of the 2020 Alberta Beer Awards back in February, which seems like forever ago, Raft Beer Labs ran some analytical tests on a portion of the competition entries. While I was holidaying a couple weeks back,… Continue Reading →
Since the arrival of COVID-19, all of my various beer events have been put on hold. I fully believe that is the right decision and am confident they will return when it is safe to do so, even if that… Continue Reading →
