May Beer Club

May Flowers Beer Club

May is one of the beer club months that I get most excited about as it is when I get to fully shift gear into the summer beers.  I’ve held nothing back in this pack; sours, fruit beers, and whatever else I could find that fit the theme of sunshine, flowers in bloom, and long days of adventure!

 

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 $30 and $35.

May Long DIPA

Blindman Brewery

We begin by celebrating the long weekend!  the May Long DIPA from Blindman has become an annual tradition for them.  This is a powerhouse of a beer, clocking in at a whopping 8.8% ABV.  There is no place for subtlety here, pineapple and melon flavours come in full force, backed by a robust body thanks to all that alcohol.  This is a beer to either start, or end your night with, or possibly both at once considering the percentage…

$6

You’re Beautiful

Prairie Dog Brewing

In contrast to the big double IPA above, we’ve included this light fruity sour from Prairie Dog.  Now when I say light and fruity I mean it.  3.3% keeps this super mellow, almost like a Radler in approachability.  For fruit this kettle sour gets hit with 90 pounds of blueberry puree, so much that it ends up pouring an opaque magenta in the glass.  Lemon zest comes in for balance against all that rich blueberry, and vanilla for a touch of sweet decadence to wrap it all up.

$5

Park Pass

Born Brew Co

Park Pass is a new endeavor from Born Brewing, a series of four limited release IPA’s.  Each season will see the release of a new beer, and each will have a sticker to remove from the can.  When you pick up this beer club, you’ll have the choice of grabbing your very own Park Pass to collect these sticker with.  After December 1st, 2024 If you’ve collected all four stickers, you can send in your Park Pass to Born for a chance to win an annual Parks Canada Pass, along with some Born Brewing Swag.

So don’t hesitate to get out there, explore our national parks, and explore the many varieties of IPA’s!  This spring “Banff” release is a somewhat-hazy, full bodied offering, of course an experimental beer deserves experimental hops, so this has been dosed with HBC 431 for some tropical fruit aroma, and Centennial for juicy citrus.  While I can’t guarantee that every Park Pass release will be featured in the beer club, we will be sure to grab them as they come so you can keep coming back to fill up your pass!

$5

Aprikat

Alley Kat

It was by chance a few weeks ago that I decided to stop by Beamers Cafe for a coffee on my way to work that I ran into Anthony from Alley Kat.  He was able to swing by the shop later and drop of some samples for me to get re-familiarized with the Alley Kat lineup.  Alley Kat’s is an early craft brewery, around the same time as Grizzly Paw.  At that time craft brewing was a mostly untrodden, lonely, landscape.  While competition has no doubt increased, they’ve stuck around with their flagship brews like Aprikat.  A recent facelift from tattoo artist Sam Keller has helped keep the look as fresh as the taste of the Apricot’s in this wheat ale.

$5

Buy  Aprikat

Burning Fuse

Hard Knox Brewing

Hard Knox was one of the first breweries in Alberta to play with chillies in beer, and their Burning Fuse Pineapple Jalapeno IPA Just got a revamp.  They’ve switched to a New England style IPA, which drops the alcohol and ups the juiciness.  Juiciness is important here as it is the fresh, nectarous taste of the pineapple that tames the heat.  Not to say this is spicy, I actually found Jalapeno showing more grassy and herbaceous than hot.  That restraint and focus on flavour is the proper way to handle chillies and it shows the mastery Hard Knox has over the style.

$5

Pink Moon

Core Values Cider Co

Earlier this month Core Values celebrated their two year anniversary!  I wanted to help them celebrate by including them in this club!  Besides is there a better way to celebrate the coming of summer than a with crisp cider?  How about a crisp cider, locally made, wild fermented, and infused with ginger and raspberry?  That’s what I thought.  

 

My partner and I took to the taproom for research purposes, studying the flowery, fruity, and peppery complexity of this cider.  While there we had the opportunity to chat with Josh and Sarah, discussing how we all came to the valley, what some of their inspirations are when it comes to making cider, and what may be coming down the pipeline…I wont go spilling any beans (or apples) but I'm excited for what they’ve got cooking, er, fermenting!

 

Suffice to say I’m very happy to have them here providing a fruitier alternative to the many breweries and distilleries in the Bow Valley.  Here’s to many more years you two!

$7

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