Calgary's best kept secret

[Mabby]

Having read N. Pashley's "Notes on a Beermat" recently, I felt moved to tell you of a really, really great place to drink really, really good beer.
Unfortunately for most of you, it is in Alberta (as the topic above alludes to).

However, I understand that there are airplanes and regular flights between our provinces and if anyone should have occaision to be in Calgary (just south of downtown- you could walk from a transit train station in 5 minutes) and is looking for good beer, I can recommend the spot for you.

The name of the pub is "The Hop-In" and it is run by a Dutch fellow named Dick Hoppener. Dick's philosophy and business model is to serve quality food with quality beverages. A quick word about the food; they serve one of the best pizzas in town- your choice of a dozen or so, or make up your own combo. Otherwise there is not much else for food. Nachos and a quesadilla, I think. That's it.

As for the beer, well let me wax poetic for a short while.

Dick features western microbrews on tap. I'd say there's a dozen of them at any one time. The star of the show is a brew that Dick has had brewed especially for him, of his own recipe. It is closest to a Belgian Trippel but it has its own quirks, like a hazy wheat thing going on. Every keg is a little bit different; some more citrus-y, some kind of sour, but it is NEVER a bad beer. At 9.5 to 10%+ , one pint is all I can drink in a night (I have to drive home) but I never go a visit without one. Simply the best beer on-tap in Calgary. I defy anyone to find me a better one.

The regular microbrew selections are also stellar. (NOT Stella; give me some credit, please!)
There are three bitters- Hop Head from Tree Brewing (Kelowna), Full Moon Pale Ale from Alley Kat Brewing (Edmonton), and Industrial Pale Ale (I.P.A.) from Wild Rose Brewing (Calgary). Depending on which one I'm having at the time, it is my favorite of the three. They are all uber-hopped and delicious.

Alley Kat is a mighty fine brewer from Edmonton (and I'm born and raised in Calgary- 46 years- so it's hard to compliment the city up the highway). They often have seasonal brews like an Oktoberfest ale or a St. Paddy's Red or a Saison or a Maibock in the spring. For Halloween they came up with a "Pumpkin Pi" Ale, but it was too much like pie and not enough like beer for me. They also regularly have a fruity beer on-tap called Aprikat which I can't vouch for; let's just say I like my fruit a long ways away from my beer...
And, if you're in Edmonton, go to the Chateau Louis Hotel and get some "Chat Eau stout", made especially for the cold beer store attached to the hotel. The Chateau Louis is NOT an old CP hotel, by the way. It's a quirky place up near the municipal airport.

Anyway. Alley Kat = good. Now Wild Rose, from Calgary, is really making a push to becoming what Big Rock Brewery used to be like. WIld Rose really does it right. They have the aformentioned IPA, plus a "Velvet Fog" wheat ale, a lovely brown ale, and a kick-ass stout called "Alberta Crude". Yum. Did I mention that ALL of these beers are on-tap at the Hop-in? Well, I guess I just did...

Speaking of stouts, there's another on tap at the H.I., and this one is made by Big Rock. It's know as McNally's Reserve and, while a fine stout in its own right, it must not be confused with McNally's Extra, which is the world class Irish ale mentioned by Michael Jackson in print back in the day. Unfortunately, Dick tells me that he can't get "fresh" McNally's (Extra), so he refuses to serve it. In fact, it's darn hard to find anyone serving McNally's on-tap; what a shame.
Not much other big Rock- maybe "Grasshopper" and recently they had a Winter Spice ale.

Another favorite of mine at the H.I. is from Yukon Brewing, called "Yukon Red". Quite fabulous in bottles, out of this world on-tap.

There are others that I never get to, like a Black Pilsner from Brew Brothers (Calgary) and a steam ale (can't remember the brewer).

Thirsty yet? Hop a plane, hop a bus or a train, Hop-In.

One of my favorite parts of Nicholas' book was the opening about the ideal pub, and the Hop-In has several things going for it. No TVs, for one thing. There is canned music but it is ecclectic. I've been there on nights where they've played Sinatra and Dean Martin all night.
There is a coin-op pool table and a coin-op foos ball table upstairs, but that's it. Most people sit downstairs and talk. We always go upstairs (usually not as busy up there) and play board games at a booth. There's a Scrabble board and I think a chess set downstairs, on the fireplace, for anyone to use as well.

OK, enough ranting and raving:

The address is 12 Avenue SW just west of 1st Street SW. There is a place called the Drum and Monkey on the corner (ignore unless you are age 18 to 23 and like Stella Artois and dance music). Go past it on 12th Avenue (against the one-way traffic though, so you'd better walk or drive around the block to 2nd Street before going one-way the right way past it) for a half a block. There is an old, turn of the century Victorian house set back from the street. That's it.

For those confused about Calgary road planning, we have a Centre Street that runs north-south. If you are east of Centre Street, you will be at an address either Northeast or Southeast. If west of Centre Street, you're Southwest or Northwest. The river through downtown is roughly (very roughly) the boundry between north and south. South of the river, West of Centre Street is SW. Simple.

Hope you'll take me up on this recommendation. I wish I owned the place.

[markaberrant]

I love the Hop In Brew, but this reads like an advertisement.

[Mabby]

I love the Hop In Brew, but this reads like an advertisement.

Yes, you're right; it does SOUND like an advertisement. But I am in no way related to anyone there nor do I have any financial interest in the place.

I just love it that much.

The next best viable option for me would be Brewster's. A much better food selection than the Hop-In, and decent beer, but when they told me/ us that they had discontinued the Bighorn Bitter- my absolute go-to beer- I've had little reason to darken their doors again. What a disappointment!

Other than that, what? Overpriced bottled imports from Bottlescrew Bill's or the same old stuff as anyone's got on-tap. I mean, even Red Lobster has Guinness.
The only time I go to Bottlescrews is for a CAMRA event featuring cask conditioned Wild Rose and Alley Kat beers. The Hop-in once hosted a CAMRA beer-fest of the same sort and, other than the packed in like sardines crowd, it was just as good.

[markaberrant]

The next best viable option for me would be Brewster's. A much better food selection than the Hop-In, and decent beer, but when they told me/ us that they had discontinued the Bighorn Bitter- my absolute go-to beer- I've had little reason to darken their doors again. What a disappointment!

Other than that, what? Overpriced bottled imports from Bottlescrew Bill's or the same old stuff as anyone's got on-tap. I mean, even Red Lobster has Guinness.
The only time I go to Bottlescrews is for a CAMRA event featuring cask conditioned Wild Rose and Alley Kat beers. The Hop-in once hosted a CAMRA beer-fest of the same sort and, other than the packed in like sardines crowd, it was just as good.

Brewsters doesn't cut it for me, too many bad experiences. When I'm in Calgary, the ONLY places I'm going for a beer are (in order of preference):

Hop In Brew
Wildrose Tap Room
Ship and Anchor - for beer only, and I'm in the mood for a scuzzy bar atmoshphere with loud punk rock (but still a good tap selection)
Original Joe's - when I'm staying at my in-laws in the NE and nobody wants to drive far.

[Mabby]

Those sound like other reasonable places to go. I haven't got to Wild Rose in the Garrison Market yet but I'm itching to try.
I've seen a couple of great concerts at the Ship (back in the 90's and early 00's) and had decent beer there- more Big Rock & Wild Rose than most places serve, as I remember it.

I've never been to Regina; what's a good place to go there if I ever make it?

I couldn't find anything decent the last time I was in Saskatoon.

[markaberrant]

I've never been to Regina; what's a good place to go there if I ever make it?

I couldn't find anything decent the last time I was in Saskatoon.

Bushwakker in Regina is one of the best brewpubs anywhere. Period.

Regina also has a beer bistro called Beer Bros Bakery and Cuisine, most of what they have is available in Alberta, although they have a few treats such as Half Pints Stir Stick Stout on tap, and bottles of Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter.

Saskatoon has a beer bar downtown called Winstons, but I can't give it a ringing endorsement. I usually head to Broadway Ave and stop in at the Yard and Flagon (they carry the excellent Paddock Wood Black Cat schwarzbier on tap), or across the street to the upscale cafe called Calories (they always have 3 different kinds of Paddock Wood on tap).

And you are doing yourself a huge disservice by not checking out the Wild Rose Tap Room. It's a little out of the way, but well worth it. I'm certainly craving some of their Cherry Porter that I was able to get a pint of at Hop In Brew last xmas (it was sold out everywhere else).

[Colin @ Canada]

I'm going to Calgary at the end of December and will check out The Hop In. Sounds like my kind of place.

[Queef]

I had the house beer you talked about. Dick explained it to us as his barley wine though, and was very very good.
I think I once mentioned bad lines about this place, but upon further thought, I think I was just really really drunk that day.

[markaberrant]

I had the house beer you talked about. Dick explained it to us as his barley wine though, and was very very good.

I didn't care for the Gold Spur, only tried it once, so may have to revisit. I thought it was cloying and heavy for a tripel, and way too hot and boozy.

[Beermat]

Since my name was invoked early in this thread, I may as well observe that I went twice to the Hop in Brew this summer and liked it very much, anointing it as the pub I would spend my time in if I lived in Calgary.
Nick

[Queef]

Wild Rose IPA cask night at the Ship and Anchor, first friday of every month in the winter WAS calgarys best kept secret once upon a time. $5 pints of cask IPA, till the keg was gone (usually about an hour to an hour and a half in)

[markaberrant]

Wild Rose IPA cask night at the Ship and Anchor, first friday of every month in the winter WAS calgarys best kept secret once upon a time. $5 pints of cask IPA, till the keg was gone (usually about an hour to an hour and a half in)

Not sure if the Ship still does this, but the Wildrose Taproom does have a cask every Friday, typically their IPA or bitter, with a different dry hop everytime. Last xmas, they added some port to their oatmeal stout. They post the cask schedule right on the front page of their website: http://www.wildrosebrewery.com/