December

Beerfest Discoveries!

Last Month I had the pleasure of attending Banff Beerfest for the first time in a few years!  It’s only natural then that I feature some of my favourite discoveries made there with all of you!  It was a great experience not just to see all the breweries and distilleries that I already know of, but to discover some new ones.  It’s made me realize that by being so focused on the beer fridge here it’s put me in a bit of a bubble where I’m not discovering new things.  So this month I am very excited to introduce three breweries that are totally new to UnWined!

We’re a few days early on this Beer Club as we wanted to give you a fair chance to get a pack either for yourself, or a beer lover close to you, before the thick of the holiday celebration.  Speaking of, we’ll be open December 24th until 6pm, and we will be closed all day Christmas Day.  Otherwise, we’ll be on our usual 12-8pm.

Be sure to follow us on our social media channels because from the 20th onward we will be revealing daily the selections of our 12 days of Christmas Mystery Box, if you want to participate along with that be sure to stop in today or tomorrow to get yourself a box!  We have 5 remaining!

Lastly we have six seats remaining for our Christmas edition of the Wine Workshop.

We’ll discuss fortified wines, covering why and how they’re made, and of course taste a few very good examples of these wines!  It goes down December 27th at 8pm.

The beer club releases on the third Saturday every month.  There is no sign up for our beer club, just drop by the store any time were open and pick up a pack!  The price will be between $20-$24

Velvet Elvis

The Grizzly Paw

We begin with a familiar face, Grizzly Paw.  It was our friend Finn from the Grizzly Paw that set me up with tickets to attend Beerfest!  Featuring them in this club is my way small way of saying thanks for allowing me to get out and enjoy the event!  Coincidentally this feature has lined up with the return of their perennial Dark Lager, Velvet Elvis.  Presenting almost as black as velvet canvas, this beer is dominantly malty with bold notes of cocoa, there’s a faint smokiness here as well.  While it lacks the strong carbonation of a lager, it makes up for it with density of flavour.  This beer wraps up with a dry finish that is as smooth as voice of The King himself.

Scona Ruby

The Bell in Scona

This beer was by far my favourite discovery at all of Beerfest.  Do I need to say anything else?  Yes?  Okay, fine.  This is a red ale pours a more copper colour than ruby, but don’t let that dissuade you.  The fluffy head holds light aromas of biscuity malt, while the beer itself packs an intense caramel punch with lingering notes of espresso.  While I enjoy almost all styles of beer, this is really playing to my personal preferences in every way.  The brewery itself, The Bell in Scona started up in 2023 and is located in Edmonton, in the heart of Old Strathcona.  The beers are brewed in historic cast iron and copper vessels, which may be giving them a little extra charm.  Clearly I need to go back to Edmonton for another brewpub crawl.

English-ish

District Brewing

IPA’s have come a long way in the past few years, from the extra extra bitter west coasts to the hazy as a pulped orange juice New England styles.  IPA’s were originally made as an English Pale Ale with an increased dosage of hops in the recipe, as the higher alcohol and natural anti-bacterial properties of hops leant towards the beer having greater stability for sea voyages to the Indian Ocean.  Things have changed wildly since the glory days of the Cape Route however.  With that in mind District Brewing has produced this beer as if to pose the question “Have IPA’s gone too far?”.

Now this is not a true English beer, its brewed in Regina after all, and uses modern hops of Simcoe, Citra, Centennial, and Cascade.  It is note-worthy though that these hops were developed by crossings of traditional English hops like Fuggles and Goldings.  So, English-ish, made in a traditional style with modern successors of traditional hops.  The resultant beer is a dark caramel colour, but totally translucent.  At 6.3% ABV it is above a Pale, but not quite the 7+% IPA’s common today, this too is much more characteristic of a historic IPA.  As for flavour you can expect a nice balance between woodsy pine aromas and bitter citrus peel.

Pin’s Rice Lager

Iron Hat Brewery

Coming from Brooks, AB, Iron Hat Brewing just opened November of last year.  To introduce you to them we’ve got their Rice Lager.  This beer surprises to begin with by pouring a deep gold colour, appearing as if it will have some real weight to it, but once in the mouth it reveals that it is light as any good lager should be.  The flavours are mellow with cereal grain aromas and a light sweetness on the tongue.  I would speak more to this beer but if I’m being honest this was about the point in the night when things get a little fuzzy in my memory.  That’s just the reality of Beerfest, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.