TAPPING INTO CRAFT CRAZE
Raise a glass to some new local breweries
Nothing beats a cold beer on a hot day — except maybe a cold beer made close to home, from people who are seriously passionate about what they do.
It’s no secret to Calgary beer aficionados that the province’s craft beer scene is booming. With that in mind, here’s the lowdown on a few of the new breweries popping up in and around Calgary.
Banded Peak Brewing (bandedpeak
brewing.com) — After getting laid off from his job as a geophysicist, Alex Horner decided to follow his real passion: making beer. He and a couple of childhood buddies, Colin McLean and Matthew Berard, had been having fun brewing at home for a few years. Sharing their creations with fellow beer aficionados seemed like a natural progression.
They brewed their first official Banded Peak beer in April and in May, they launched publicly at the Calgary International Beerfest. The taproom opened on the May long weekend, and they haven’t slowed down since.
“Construction was pretty stressful,” Horner admits with a chuckle.
“But now we’re doing what we set out to do — make adventurous beer and share it with people.”
The first three beers include the Plainsbreaker, a pale ale, Summit Seeker IPA and the Chinook Saison, a Belgian farmhouse-style ale.
Banded Peak takes its inspiration from the mountains and, in particular, Banded Peak in the Kananaskis. “It has one steep rock band that never gets snow. It’s a very recognizable mountain,” says Horner.
“We thought it was a great symbol for the brewery and for the kind of beer we want to have.” Half Hitch Brewing (halfhitchbrewing.ca) —
Based in Cochrane, Half Hitch is the creation of the Heier and Kozloski families who, in 2011, decided they needed a family business to keep them together. They talked about starting a bakery because a couple of them are great in the kitchen, “but we quickly realized none of us were too interested in that pursuit,” admits Chris Heier, Half Hitch’s president.
Then Chris’s brother, Kyle Heier, suggested starting a brewery, and they all jumped on board.
Brewmaster David Neilly, formerly at Wild Rose, has been hired to make the beers.
This summer, there will be three released under the Half Hitch name: Farmer’s Daughter (a pale ale), Shotgun Wedding ( brown ale) and Fire ‘n’ Fury (a red ale.)
“They all have an American style twist to them, rather than the heavier English or European style,” says Heier.
Half Hitch is slowly rolling into pubs across Cochrane and Calgary; and recently received cans so are working on getting their canning line up and running. A full restaurant is likely in 2017 with a tap room for brewery tours possibly earlier.
Six Corners Brew Works (sixcorners.
ca) — Luke Wooldridge grew up on a farm near Longview, south of Calgary, and, as an adult, started making beer at home. He enjoyed it so much, he decided to take it to the next level, training in Scotland at the prestigious Heriot Watt University. He finished a master of science degree in brewing and distilling, before returning to Canada to work at Saskatoon’s Paddock Wood and Brewster’s Brewing Company in Calgary.
But his family wanted to start a business together, something close to where they grew up. A brewery seemed like a natural fit.
Six Corners Brew Works was born. The name is a nod to a local landmark, a handful of back roads that come together, not far from town.
“It’s something all the farmers know about, but probably no one else,” Wooldridge says.
Beers include the Trailhead IPA, Stump Splitter Amber Ale, Post ‘N Bale Farmhouse Ale and Triple Summit seasonal IPA.
The family hasn’t yet broken ground on the brewery building, but it will likely be east of the Okotoks Costco. For now, they’re brewing their beer in Saskatoon and selling it across Alberta. “My dad and I go out there and package up the stuff that we brewed last time we were there, and then we brew more,” he says. “We work like crazy, super-long hours for a few days, and then we head home to work on sales and getting the building started.”