#blindmanbrewing

Recounting my favourite collaborations and one-offs of my year of Alberta beer is kind of cruel. Unless you had a chance to try them, you probably never will. One-offs are called that for a reason and breweries don’t partner up with the aim of reproducible results.

But they’re worthy of recognition for an important reason. They represent the industry’s sandbox, low-risk places in which inspiration guides creativity. As drinkers, we expect experimentation – that risk is part of the fun.

I think – just like with people – growth can’t happen without chances being taken. Alberta beer is a baby (advanced, I’d say, but I’m biased) still in development. Playing alone or nicely with others is a great way to do it. Here are 5 teachable moments that impressed me most in 2016.

Dragon Series Alley Kat Brewing Co.

As I’ve said before in this blog, I’m a sucker for a good beer geek out. So, even if it’s not intentional, I like the professorial quality of Alley Kat’s Dragon series of (mostly) double IPAs, the majority of which are single hopped, letting inexpert drinkers like me to get acquainted with the distinct qualities of a variety.

The bonus is that they’re delicious. “Cerulean” stood out to me, with its scent of pine and rose (I was supposed to get apple or pair but didn’t) and body of rich caramel and loaded fruit salad: maraschino cherry, green apple, grapefruit, cantaloupe, even almond.

I regret not getting more than one bottle but, happily, it’s a series. I already regret not buying another Amarillo, Cerulean’s successor, and look forward to mourning Magenta, currently chilling in the fridge.

Related: A taste of Alberta Dragon, made entirely of ingredients grown in the province

Related: Further tasting notes for Cerulean Dragon, single hopped with Calypso

The Hermit Bench Creek Brewing and Ribstone Creek Brewery 6% ABV

Speaking of beer geek outs, this one takes the (yeast) cake. For all the wonderfully nerdy details, check out Jason Foster’s post on a side-by-side tasting of the 2-beers-in-1 (or is that 1-beer-in-2?) that came out of this meeting of 2 of Alberta’s best breweries.

The short version is that the breweries were inspired by the spiced fruit of the age-old hermit cookie, thinking its flavour profile would lend well to a brown ale. But rather than meet at a 1 brewery, they made both made it using the same recipe. “We wanted to create a unique experience for the Alberta beer drinker,” says Mark Boutler, Ribstone’s director of marketing.

Success! The result is a glimpse into the capricious but fascinating world of beer making. As Foster points out, the Hermits are distinct beers. The recipe, as experienced brewers know, is just part of the process. Other variables include water, fermentation temperatures, exposure time to spices, the alignment of the planets, and so on.

Science aside, these are delightful beers, each in its own way. Bench Creek’s shot, fizzier and livelier, is toasty and biscuity, showcasing the more savoury aspects of the hermit cookie. Ribstones’ takes another tack, fruit-forward, and accented with walnut, coffee and vanilla.

The dual-brewery experiment marks a first for Alberta beer. Happily, it is likely not the last for the Twin Creeks, as the breweries call their collaboration. “We look forward to the next one!” says Bench Creek owner Andrew Kulynych.

Marzen The Dandy Brewing Co. 6.3% ABV

My Calgary beer road trip coincided with the city’s Oktoberfest, for which the Dandy Brewing Co. had smartly brewed a marzen, a Bavarian lager. After my tour of the brewery, co-founder and marketing and sales director Matt Gaetz pour me a taster (it’s the one at the top).

“I honestly think it is one of the best beers we have ever done,” he said.

The orange-amber beer was brewed in March and had been aging since. It offered roast malt on the nose, and dark stone fruit, savoury spice and a lot of caramel on the palate. It was perfect – and to think that, other than “marzen,” it didn’t even have a name, as if brewers’ expectations of it were far too humble.

I hope that I’m wrong to put it on this list. Perhaps there are plans to put in another batch this spring and make it a seasonal? If so, there’s also plenty of time to give it the great name it deserves.

Related: My 3 favourite beers from my Calgary beer trip

One Summer in Saskatoon Cold Garden Beverage Co. 6.2% ABV

Speaking of that Calgary trip, Cold Garden was a warm welcome for an Edmontonian out of his element. Marketing director and co-owner Kris Fiorentino met me for lunch and a chat at the Nash, and guided a tasting of the brewery’s Red Smashed in Buffalo Jump and This Must Be the IPA.

“I loved this beer right up until they did the dry hopping,” Fiorentino laughed and said of the IPA.

Impressed, I decided later that afternoon to locate more of the brewery’s beer. At Craft Beer Market, I found a saison: the pleasingly complex One Summer in Saskatoon. The hazy red copper seasonal smelled of yeast, nutmeg, elderberry, gingerbread, even fallen leaves.

It tasted even better. One Summer featured a sturdy malt foundation of whole grain toast and caramel as well as heady spices and a lively snap of pepper. The saskatoons came along soon after, a rustic juiciness accompanied by the essence of raspberry and vanilla. The finish seemed a logical conclusion: an earthy bitterness with zest of orange rind.

This beer – and this brewery – was one reason I left Calgary with a looming sense of envy. Edmonton has progressed more slowly and, if all goes well, is soon to be home to more up-and-comers than ever. They’ll do their own thing and do it well, but it wouldn’t hurt to look to the talented newbies in the south who have blazed the trail.

Peculier Fellows Old Ale Blindman Brewing Co. and Trouble Monk Brewery 5.7%

My favourite central Alberta breweries proved that going back to basics needn’t be boring. This year, nearly neighbours Blindman (Lacombe) and Troubled Monk (Red Deer) got together to brew up a wonderfully satisfying dark beer, Peculier Fellows Old English Ale.

Root-beer brown, it smelled of wood smoke and peat, well-worn leather, dark chocolate and black licorice. It was downright grandfatherly, but without veering into grumpy old man territory.

That is to say it was incredibly light and, as it warmed, smooth. In just a few minutes at room temperature, any edginess of the roasted malt was replaced by medium-dark chocolate and buttered rye toast. Peculiarly, it finished with the flavour of fennel.

More foundational than flashy, this was a great addition to Alberta tap takeover at Beer Revolution during Alberta Beer Week 2016. A portion of the batch was canned. It’s worth looking for just to see how a young industry (and even younger breweries) is quickly gaining mastery of tradition.