Alberta craft breweries and good bottle shops?

[The Mick]

Taking a trip out west to Alberta in a few weeks and I was hoping to stop by a few breweries while I'm out there. I was hoping some of the more western towellers on here could point me in the right direction. Will be in Calg most of the week, a day or 2 in Edmonton and out near Banff as well. Don't know much about the brewing scene out there...but I do know I`m not really interested in going to Big Rock.

If there are any good bottle shops in Calg or Eddy that carry a good selection that's unavailable in Ontario, that would be a welcome recommendation as well.

Cheers,
M

[cfrancis]

I'll talk with my buddy in Edmonton that I trade with and I'll get you a list. I know there are a few good bottle shares in Edmonton at Alley Kat.

[boney]

I lived in Calgary up until 6 mo ago. I'll post some info tonight when I get off work.

[markaberrant]

I sure wouldn't bother going to Big Rock.

Calgary pubs/brewpubs
Wild Rose Taproom
Hop in Brew - mostly draft, all local/regional
BeerRevolution - constantly rotating taps, including Brewster's one-offs (Brewsters owns the place, and their flagship brewpub is right next door)
National Beer Market - similar to Beer Revolution, equally impressive rotating taps

Calgary Bottle Shops - Zyn, Kensington Wine Market and Willow Park are all good, but most of the beer is not refrigerated. Most Co-op grocery stores in town have liquor stores with walk-in beer coolers, and the selection is excellent, particularly at the Hampton's location in the NW, as it is the distribution point for all the beer, but just about any store will have good stock.

Edmonton - I haven't been there in a few years, and lots of new pubs have opened such as Sugar Bowl and Wunderbar. Alley Kat is the big craft brewer there. Sherbrooke Liquor boasts the largest beer selection in Canada, and all the beer is in a walk-in cooler, it is a great store.

Banff - Banff Ave brewpub is supposed to be decent, may also want to check out Grizzly Paw brewpub in Canmore.

If you are particularly looking for AB beer, best breweries are Wild Rose, Alley Kat, Brew Brothers (draft only), and Brewsters (large chain of brewpubs). Frankly, almost all of the regular lineup beers are fairly pedestrian, but most of the seasonals are quite good. You'll see other stuff like Village Brewers, Ambers and of course gobs of Big Rock everywhere, but none of it is very exciting.

Folks in Alberta like to brag about how great their beer scene is because they have an incredible assortment of top notch imports.

[cfrancis]

From my buddy

EDMONTON:

Alley Kat Brewing - 9929 60 Ave NW:
-They are open from Monday-Friday & give free brewery tours during operational hours at no cost. They have a tasting room where you are free to sample all their beers and current seasonals
-This is likely to be the cheapest place to purchase Alley Kat beer in the city and if you have a growler you can get it filled with any of their beers for $10. However they don't sell growlers.

Yellowhead Brewery & Tasting Room - 10229 105 Street Northwest:
-This is the only other brewery in town and they've just recently added a tap room and grill and have a simple but great lunch menu. The tap room is only open for lunch hours 12-5 I believe & the brewery only makes one kind of beer. It's a good place to go for lunch. They sell branded growlers and fill them for $10.

The Next Act Pub - 8224 104 Street Northwest:
-This pub is one of the better pubs in town, they make the best burger in town and have a decent selection on tap. Prices are fairly reasonable. Biggest bargain here is that they carry an even better bottle selection including some random big bottle stuff from Phillips that is very well priced for a 650ml bottle. Approximately $8 for the bottle or so.

Three Boars Eatery - 8424 109 St NW:
-This place has a crazy off the wall food menu that changes weekly.
-Beer selection here is small but phenomenal and is constantly changing as they usually only commit to one or two kegs of the beer they bring in or in some cases it'sall they can scoop up for a particular Evil Twin or Mikkeller beer.

The Sugar Bowl - 10922 88 Avenue Northwest:
-Great beer pub in Edmonton, should likely be the first pub on the list but I have em a bit lower because their food has gone downhill a bit but is still respectable.
-Have a great selection of beer on tap(roughly 35 taps) and bottles(at least double the tap selection)

The Underground Tap & Grill - 10004 Jasper Ave:
-Food is crap here but the atmosphere is nice
-Beer bar that has a huge selection of about 60 beers on tap so it's a one stop shop for beer. They are fairly new to Edmonton and their initial tap line up wasn't great but as time goes on it seems they are willing to branch out and put a lot of micros on tap and cut ties with the macros they were hell bent to have on tap upon opening.

MKT - 8101 Gateway Blvd NW:
-I wouldn't have normally bothered to tell you about this place as the atmosphere isn't a great crowd but they do have a big selection of beer on tap.
-My only reason for going is Thursday evenings when they sell 12oz. shakers for $4. It's a great price for a lot of heir higher end beers and they are clearly loosing money by doing this but they do it since they have such a big selection of beer(60 taps and 60 bottles) and to turn over kegs. Some higher end stuff I've had on rotation if the Nogne Imperial Brown and Mikkeller Texas Ranger.

Sherbrooke Liquor Store - 11819 St Albert Trail NW:
-One phrase: Find it and enjoy the beer cooler.
-Hard liquor selection is great too if that appeals to you.

Keg N Cork Liquor Store - 3845 99 St NW:
-I love this place as much as Sherbrooke if not a bit more mainly just because the staff here is great. Beer selection is similar just on a smaller scale.
-They also have a growler station and have 4 taps of constantly rotating beer. They also sell growlers that can be filled.

CALGARY:

Now I'm not as good on Calgary as I am in Edmonton so I'll just let you know the essentials in terms of beer places.

WildRose Brewery & Taproom - 4580 Quesnay Wood Drive Southwest:
-It's a taproom, pub and brewery all in one and they do scheduled free brewery tours.
-Food is good from what I've had
-Every Friday they do a firkin Friday cask in the afternoon.
-Currently they have their Cherry Porter on tap as their seasonal and they also have their stout which is a tap only beer on tap and is only available at a few places in Alberta(SugarBowl and Underground I know currently have it on tap right now).

Beer Revolution - 1080 8 st SW:
-Probably the best beer bar in Alberta it's a great set up with a good listing for both their kegged and bottled beers.
-They use an airport board type system listing all heir beers on tap and when they were tapped or when the bottles were brough in so you know how old they are.
-They just tweeted today that they just got 2 kegs of Mikkeller 1000 IBU IPA

Brewsters Brewing - Right next to beer revolution:
-Brewsters owns beer revolution and thus the "Beer Revolution" beers on tap at beer revolution are brewed by Brewsters.
-Not really much else ado about Brewsters as their beers as a whole are overly great and thus the main reason to just go to beer revolution.
-This brew pub is a chain and is in both Edmonton and Calgary, if attending an Edmonton location go to the Oliver Square one.

Craft Beer Market - 345 10 Avenue Southwest:
-Just another big tap beer place. Probably pretty comparable to Underground in Edmonton except bigger.
-They have about or just over 100 taps and at least half of it is respectable beer choices or at least it was when I went there a year ago.
-Decent atmosphere and it isn't too far from Beer Revolution either in Calgary's downtown core.

[Torontoblue]

From my buddy

EDMONTON:

Alley Kat Brewing - 9929 60 Ave NW:
-They are open from Monday-Friday & give free brewery tours during operational hours at no cost. They have a tasting room where you are free to sample all their beers and current seasonals
-This is likely to be the cheapest place to purchase Alley Kat beer in the city and if you have a growler you can get it filled with any of their beers for $10. However they don't sell growlers.

Yellowhead Brewery & Tasting Room - 10229 105 Street Northwest:
-This is the only other brewery in town and they've just recently added a tap room and grill and have a simple but great lunch menu. The tap room is only open for lunch hours 12-5 I believe & the brewery only makes one kind of beer. It's a good place to go for lunch. They sell branded growlers and fill them for $10.

The Next Act Pub - 8224 104 Street Northwest:
-This pub is one of the better pubs in town, they make the best burger in town and have a decent selection on tap. Prices are fairly reasonable. Biggest bargain here is that they carry an even better bottle selection including some random big bottle stuff from Phillips that is very well priced for a 650ml bottle. Approximately $8 for the bottle or so.

Three Boars Eatery - 8424 109 St NW:
-This place has a crazy off the wall food menu that changes weekly.
-Beer selection here is small but phenomenal and is constantly changing as they usually only commit to one or two kegs of the beer they bring in or in some cases it'sall they can scoop up for a particular Evil Twin or Mikkeller beer.

The Sugar Bowl - 10922 88 Avenue Northwest:
-Great beer pub in Edmonton, should likely be the first pub on the list but I have em a bit lower because their food has gone downhill a bit but is still respectable.
-Have a great selection of beer on tap(roughly 35 taps) and bottles(at least double the tap selection)

The Underground Tap & Grill - 10004 Jasper Ave:
-Food is crap here but the atmosphere is nice
-Beer bar that has a huge selection of about 60 beers on tap so it's a one stop shop for beer. They are fairly new to Edmonton and their initial tap line up wasn't great but as time goes on it seems they are willing to branch out and put a lot of micros on tap and cut ties with the macros they were hell bent to have on tap upon opening.

MKT - 8101 Gateway Blvd NW:
-I wouldn't have normally bothered to tell you about this place as the atmosphere isn't a great crowd but they do have a big selection of beer on tap.
-My only reason for going is Thursday evenings when they sell 12oz. shakers for $4. It's a great price for a lot of heir higher end beers and they are clearly loosing money by doing this but they do it since they have such a big selection of beer(60 taps and 60 bottles) and to turn over kegs. Some higher end stuff I've had on rotation if the Nogne Imperial Brown and Mikkeller Texas Ranger.

Sherbrooke Liquor Store - 11819 St Albert Trail NW:
-One phrase: Find it and enjoy the beer cooler.
-Hard liquor selection is great too if that appeals to you.

Keg N Cork Liquor Store - 3845 99 St NW:
-I love this place as much as Sherbrooke if not a bit more mainly just because the staff here is great. Beer selection is similar just on a smaller scale.
-They also have a growler station and have 4 taps of constantly rotating beer. They also sell growlers that can be filled.

Alley Kat - their bottles are actually more expensive at the brewery than at the likes of Keg 'n Cork or other liquor stores, only by about $0.50 or $1.00, but it all adds up. You really have to want to to go the brewery as there is NOTHING else around there......unless you want to buy party favours from the store on the corner!!

Sugar Bowl is a good destination....if you can get a table. It's a big student hang out where they will hog tables for the free wi-fi whilst sipping a glass of water. Tap selection is good but pricey, bottle selection is better and pricing is better, too. Service can be flaky. Food is good.

Underground Tap - right in the heart of downtown. Can't agree with the comment regards the food or tap selection. Food is tasty and reasonably priced. Tap selection is very much micro-centric, and they are moving to 24 rotational taps sometime this month. They actually have one of the better tap selections in town. Only place I know of that serves 20oz pints for the same price as a 14 or 16oz servings elsewhere in the city. Only downside to Underground is the service...totally lacking.

Next Act - OK place. Food is good, tap selection is so-so, service kinda flaky. It's not a relaxing place to go due to the decor and seating. Better places in town.

Accent European Lounge - Small bar across the road from Next Act. Coay, English looking place, small but decent enough tap selection. Have a good bottle selection, too. Ask for what's not on the list. Wednesday is $2.00 off draught beer night, with half price steak tartar. Best night to go!

MKT - have to be careful here as the wife works for the parent company. Tap selection, be it all of 60 taps is severely lacking in imagination. Macro big boys are 2/3 of the selection.....of the 60 taps, there's roughly 16 I'd drink. And the 6 rotational taps has now gone down to 3. Pulls in your typical Whyte Ave "Look at me, aren't I marvellous/douchy" crowd. And yes, Thursday is THE only night to go if you don't want to spend a fortune. Oh, and the food is woeful, which is a surprise as the chef's do well in the other restaurants.

Sherbrooke is a must visit...but make sure you have lots of cash. Prices tend to be $1 to $3 more per bottle than the like of Keg 'n Cork, Devines, COOP, etc. There are issues with bottle freshness so double check what you buy. Again, Sherbrooke is a pain to get to if you don't have a car, and there is nothing else around there.

Keg 'n Cork. Half the selection of Sherbrooke for beer, but IMO it's a better selection, cheaper and fresher. Staff are friendlier and know more about the beer than at Sherbrooke. Also now have 4 taps to fill growlers. Again, will definitely need a car to get there.

If you're in Downtown Edmonton, check out Devines on 104 & Jasper. Small but good selection of beers.

There's also a new brewery open up in St Albert called Hog's Head Brewing. Open for unofficial tours and tastings.

Edmonton is a good up and coming beer town....we just need the local brewers to step up a little now.

Have fun!

[boney]

Mark and Chad summed Calgary up nicely, so I only have a few things to add.

-Beer Revolution has Cask on Friday at 5. Usually a Brewsters on-off creation. It's just too bad you can't be at two places at once, as Wild Rose taps their cask at 4 on Fridays. BR's pizza is fantastic and the pretzles are out of this world.

-Brewsters on 11th Ave. (there are multiple in the city, but 11th is next door to Beer Revolution and close to other joints, so you really only need seek that location out). They have multiple seasonals at a time now, all of them are pretty top notch. Take a peek in the beer fridge to see if they have any bottles of Blue Monk Barely Wine for sale, it's a winner too.

-Craft Beer Market has cask on Tuesday nights.

-Village Brewery. Don't waste a pour on their Blacksmith Black IPA, it's not a CDA/Black IPA. It's maybe something close to a schwartzbier in ale form.

Grizzley Paw in Canmore. Their seasonals can range from ho-hum to amazing. I had a sour American Barley Wine there about a year and a half ago that came in second to Cantillon Fou Foune for my top beer of the year, that year. Unfortunately, they are building a new brewery and have cut back on seasonals for a while until they make the move, so I can't promise there'll be something intruiging if you go.

Big Rock: Yeah, pretty bland. I've heard decent things about their Barley Wine from their new Alchemist line. Maybe consider taking a chance if you see any it.

It's worth hitting Willow Park, Zyn, Kensington and CO-OP. Each will have 1 or 2 beers that the other doesn't carry. Zyn breaks down most of their sixers so you can try singles.

[Torontoblue]

I'll talk with my buddy in Edmonton that I trade with and I'll get you a list. I know there are a few good bottle shares in Edmonton at Alley Kat.

Who is your buddy in Edmonton, if you don't mind me asking (we're a pretty small beer community here)?Are they on RB or BA?

[markaberrant]

Are they on RB or BA?

I'd assume RB, that place is overun with Edmonchuckians.

[Torontoblue]

I know, I had to do a semi defect from BA to be accepted

[The Mick]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, now I just need to convince the lady that all these stops are necessary... yeah right. I'll report back on what I do manage to make it to though. Thanks again!

[screw2000]

Definitely hit Beer Revolution -- was the highlight of my last trip out to CGY in November.

[markaberrant]

Definitely hit Beer Revolution -- was the highlight of my last trip out to CGY in November.

Their taplist is constantly rotating, AND constantly kept up to date on their website (seems to be foreign idea to most other pubs in Canada).

http://beerrevolution.ca/