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We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
Banff
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Jon Walker
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1899
- Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2001 8:00 pm
- Location: Wherever you go there you are
Banff
Heading there this weekend for a few days. Anybody been there recently? Decent bars or bottle shops I can hit? I'm acquainted with the St.James Gate from when I was last in Banff in 2006. Fairly standard Irish pub beer lineup. There's a brew pub called Banff Avenue Brewing that has opened since I was last there but the offerings look pretty tame. Lastly I've been told the Bison Restaurant has Wild Rose on tap. Still no news about a good bottle shop though.
I don't always piss in a bottle but when I do...I prefer to call it Dos Equis.
J.B. formerally of GLB is living there...not sure how much John is on the site but maybe send him a PM, I'm sure he's well aquainted with the beer scene.Jon Walker wrote:Heading there this weekend for a few days. Anybody been there recently? Decent bars or bottle shops I can hit? I'm acquainted with the St.James Gate from when I was last in Banff in 2006. Fairly standard Irish pub beer lineup. There's a brew pub called Banff Avenue Brewing that has opened since I was last there but the offerings look pretty tame. Lastly I've been told the Bison Restaurant has Wild Rose on tap. Still no news about a good bottle shop though.
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Jon Walker
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1899
- Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2001 8:00 pm
- Location: Wherever you go there you are
Mike, thanks for the tip but sadly I didn't read it before heading off so I didn't track him down. Here's what I can report;
The beer scene in Banff is still fairly predictable and poor.
BARS:
Most bars serve macros and a variety of the Big Rock beers on tap. I really only found two places with decent beer options.
1) St.James Gate Irish Pub. A popular place with a typical Irish franchise pub decor and feel. There are about 20 taps but it's all fairly standard and predictable. Still, some okay stuff to be had there beyond macro.
2) Banff Brewing Company. Opened only a couple of years ago. Run by some enthusiastic young guys who make all the beer themselves despite nobody having studied to be a brew-master or apprenticed at a brewery. They have about 7 beers on tap, most quite fresh and decent but nothing will blow your mind. They also have a cask of one of their stock beers on tap most weekends.
STORES:
There are at least 8 liquor stores in the main area of Banff (I didn't explore the outer reaches of the town). All vary in size from literally the size of a 100 square foot room to something the size of a small Safeway. Considering Alberta has such an open importation policy for good beer very little seems to end up in Banff. I came across very little that was new or exciting, there wasn't even wide availability of many of the Wild Rose beers and no seasonals from any Alberta brewery.
As I expect to be back there in the future I hope all of you post your findings here if you discover something I missed.
The beer scene in Banff is still fairly predictable and poor.
BARS:
Most bars serve macros and a variety of the Big Rock beers on tap. I really only found two places with decent beer options.
1) St.James Gate Irish Pub. A popular place with a typical Irish franchise pub decor and feel. There are about 20 taps but it's all fairly standard and predictable. Still, some okay stuff to be had there beyond macro.
2) Banff Brewing Company. Opened only a couple of years ago. Run by some enthusiastic young guys who make all the beer themselves despite nobody having studied to be a brew-master or apprenticed at a brewery. They have about 7 beers on tap, most quite fresh and decent but nothing will blow your mind. They also have a cask of one of their stock beers on tap most weekends.
STORES:
There are at least 8 liquor stores in the main area of Banff (I didn't explore the outer reaches of the town). All vary in size from literally the size of a 100 square foot room to something the size of a small Safeway. Considering Alberta has such an open importation policy for good beer very little seems to end up in Banff. I came across very little that was new or exciting, there wasn't even wide availability of many of the Wild Rose beers and no seasonals from any Alberta brewery.
As I expect to be back there in the future I hope all of you post your findings here if you discover something I missed.
I don't always piss in a bottle but when I do...I prefer to call it Dos Equis.