Sometimes, it isn’t simply straight forward to tell someone that you simply love beer without sounding like a chronic drunk. When many people think beer, they think North American light bodied lagers, which barely differ in flavour. Brews like your standard Budweiser, Miller, and Coors, or in Canada, Molson Canadian, Alexander Kieths, Kokanee, among others. Back in high school, beer was looked at as a beverage where folks would brag about how many Bud Lights it took to get them drunk. Kegs of “yellow fizzy water” would make their rounds at parties, and people would enjoy, get hammered off a few gallons, and make a mess of someone’s garden.
I can honestly say that I was never usually among that crowd, although my fight to find a good tasting beer generally left me trying other less mainstream brews, only to try and fight to find a difference in flavour between one brew and another. I have always had a love for beer, but I have never had the opportunity to experience true craft beers. That was until I had the opportunity to enjoy the ‘Dark Ale’ at the Wildwood Restaurant and Brew Pub (which is unfortunately closed today). It was my first experience drinking something truly unique, and since that first drink, I’ve been on the hunt high and low for beers that could come even close in terms of flavour and quality.
I would generally broaden my horizons trying imported beers, and varieties of different beers from some of the smaller breweries in Canada. Doing this, I had discovered a whole new world of flavours. Strong ales which were hard to drink as quickly as a light lager simply because the flavour was too bold, and well rounded beers that contained a nice amount of maltiness and bitterness. Most recently, two Calgary based breweries have come to the forefront for store bought beers in my mind. Big Rock Brewery, and Wild Rose Brewery.
Big Rock had become very profitable, crafting many different kinds of brews with distinctly different flavours. Grasshopper for those who want a lighter beer, Traditional Ale for those that wanted something that embodied a nice easy drinking flavour without being too strong, and for those wanting bold and bitter, there was Warthog. All different beers, and all distinctly different flavours. This goes for Wild Rose Brewery as well. they brew 6 different beers in active circulation throughout the year, with an India Pale Ale that makes Alexander Kieths IPA seem like a light lager, and a Wraspberry Ale that has proven to be one of their more popular brews with a distinctly fruity flavour, with a medium to dark body and easy drinking taste. Wild Rose is proving that they have what it takes to be a craft micro brewery in an Alberta market that is sorely lacking in local breweries and brew pubs.
More and more people I talk to are buying into the idea of better beers, and not treating it as much like a party beverage and more as a beverage of a civilized society, in the same manner that beverages like wine and scotch have found their place among the dinner tables of the savvy and social drinkers.
My hunt for great beer started many years ago with that first trip to the Wildwood. My hunt has now brought me down to the level of brewing my own. While I haven’t crafted my own beer yet, I have now undertaken the journey of becoming my own brew master. In search of a great flavour, I want to be able to brew beer of any style, with a distinct difference between styles, and between other beers in the same style. Beer has ceased to become simply an opportunity to load up on alcohol, and more to enjoy the variety and richness of such a fundamentally down to earth beverage.
Beer is a unique and complex beverage in its own right. A beverage that starts from the basic grains that come from the local farmers field. Grains that can can come in many varieties, then malted, and further diversified by kilning or roasting processes to invoke more unique flavours into the brew. These malty flavours are bittered and balanced by the floral aromas of the many varieties of hops. Some brewers will even season the brew with spices that can be found in most peoples kitchens to add another level of complexity to the flavour.
My experience to date has not begun with the fundamental ingredients, but with wort (pronounced “wert”) kits. These kits involve no mashing or boiling so it allows you to cost effectively star brewing your first beers. Most importantly, it teaches you three fundamental golden rules.
- Sanitize everything that touches your beer
- Patience
- Relax, don’t worry, have a home brew
The process of fermentation will tax you on rules one and two, especially if you don’t already have a home brew completed, in which case, rule three doesn’t apply, but it makes rule two oh so difficult. Getting into brewing beer this way is a great way to start home brewing as it gets you right into one of the most important parts of the brew process. Pitching the yeast to convert all of those fermentable sugars from the malts into alcohol, and to allow yeast to impart their natural flavours into the brew. For the home brewer, yeast will most likely play two roles. Fermentation of course being primary, but if you are bottling your brew, you will be adding sugar to the brew after fermentation is complete. Without extra sugar, the yeast would have nothing to feed on to carbonate your beer in the bottles.
I am not involved in the whole process of brewing as of yet, but in order to continue my hunt for great brews, I will have to begin the process of building them from the grains. It may not be today, or may not be tomorrow, but soon, I will be among those who can confidently say, “I am a Canadian craft brewer.”
