River City Writer

Edmonton is home to at least 3 2 microbreweries: Alley Kat, Amber’s Brewing, and Prairie Boy Brewing. At least 2 of these breweries—Alley Kat and Amber’s—make really good beer.

Prairie Boy’s Fort Garry and Two Rivers lines may well be excellent beers, but I’ve never tried them. I have, however, tried their Ridin’ Dirty Malt Liquor and I have to be honest: it’s fucking awful. There’s really no other way to describe it. It’s just terrible.

Having said that, I will reiterate: Prairie Boy Brewing may make some damn fine beer, but Ridin’ Dirty ain’t it.

My Favourite Local Beers

Before we get to the results of the Twitter poll I ran on Friday afternoon, I figured I would share my favourite Edmonton-brewed beers with you. I didn’t mention them on Twitter, because I didn’t want to bias the results too much (I did mention my least favourite, though), but here they are now:

• Alley Kat Charlie Flint’s Lager is exactly what it sounds like, a simple lager named after the grandfather of Alberta brewing, Charlie Flint. It’s a bit more malty than most Canadian lagers—perhaps borrowing it’s style more from European beer than from the North American industry—but it’s still crisp and clean. Excellent for drinking on a hot day.
• Alley Kat Full Moon Pale Ale is one of the better pale ales I’ve had the pleasure of tasting. It’s not the best I’ve ever had, but it’s definitely the best in Edmonton. That said, it was a close race between Full Moon and Amber’s Pale Ale. Both are brews that are worth picking up.
• Amber’s Australian Mountain Pepper Berry Lager is a unique lager that is quite unassuming at first. However, after a couple of sips the subtle fruit flavours will start to turn up on your palette. Shortly after, the pepper flavour will begin to assert itself and you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised. I must advise tasting this one while you’re still relatively sober, though. The flavours are quite subtle and it risks tasting like an unremarkable lager if your senses have been dulled by more than 1 or 2 drinks prior to tasting it.

The beers listed above are not the only good brews being crafted in Edmonton these days, they’re just my personal favourites. I’ve tried most of the beers being brewed at both Alley Kat and Amber’s and I enjoy almost all of them. There are, however, a couple that I don’t like.

• Amber’s Sap Vampire Maple Lager is a maple-flavoured beer that is way too sweet for my liking. However, as you’ll see later, one of the people who answered my Twitter poll claimed that it’s a great breakfast beer. While I’ve never tried drinking it with breakfast (I’m not that much of a drunk), I will concede that it probably does go really well with bacon & eggs.
• Alley Kat’s Aprikat is an apricot-flavoured beer cooler. Like the Sap Vampire, I find it too sweet. I’m not opposed to fruit-flavoured beer—I really enjoy a nice raspberry beer on a hot day, for example—but Aprikat is one that I just can’t stand. That said, I know a lot of people who enjoy it, so try it for yourself…you just might like it.

Your Favourite Local Beers

Now that I’ve told you about my favourite locally-brewed beers, let’s get to the results of that Twitter poll, shall we?

The question I asked was: E-town folk: do you drink locally brewed beer? Why/why not? What is your favourite/least favourite local brew? #yeg

I followed that up with: To answer my own question: Yes, I drink local beer. Hard to pick a favourite, but my least favourite is Amber’s Sap Vampire Maple Lager #yeg

With those 2 tweets in mind, you should be able to make sense of the answers that followed:

DougKyle@ink_slinger I really liked Maverick, but I could only find it on tap at the Metro, and they’ve stopped carrying it . Any recommends? #yeg

lsfloyd@ink_slinger Amber’s Sap Vampire Maple Lager… That sounds like a beer I would avoid.

selenized@ink_slinger Other than beer brewed in brewsters I generally don’t drink local beer. Mostly because I haven’t found one I like. #yeg

BrockSky@ink_slinger I agree wholeheartedly with you on the Vampire Maple Lager dislike. It nearly ruined a lovely evening at Ric’s Grill for me.

rafaldyrda@ink_slinger I drink Alley Cat. Love darker beer and for now that’s my favourite. Well, besides Guinness #yeg

mijustin@ink_slinger @BrockSky @lsfloyd No way… Vampire Maple Sap by Amber’s is a great beer… for breakfast!

BrockSky@ink_slinger I really like the Flying Frog lager from Brewsters. I know that is not completely local but it is good.

GregWalker@ink_slinger I do Kokanee. I have since high school cause thats what the older kids drank so I did to fit in. Peer Pressure FTW!!!

DougKyle@ink_slinger cool, have never tried any of the Amber’s. May make a beer run seeing as my afternoon attempt at being productive isn’t working

apotheos@ink_slinger I don’t drink beer regularly enough to support an unpreserved microbrew. Too many calories.

It seems like local beers haven’t developed a very large following, at least among people I follow on Twitter. It’s a shame, really. Some of the best beer I’ve ever tasted is from right here in Edmonton.

For those wondering about Maverick (mentioned by @DougKyle), and why I didn’t mention it at the start of this post, it is unfortunately no longer being brewed.

Maverick Brewing Company was a brewery located in downtown Edmonton. They folded a few years ago (in 2007, I believe) due to financing and distribution issues. It’s a shame, because I really enjoyed their beer. It was a European-style lager that put macro-brewed lagers like Molson and Labatt to shame.

I’d love for someone to buy the recipe and begin brewing Maverick again. I think, with the right marketing, it could succeed in the local market and eventually expand across Alberta (and the rest of Canada). Unfortunately, there is little chance of this actually occurring.

Do you drink local beers? What are your favourites and/or least favourites? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section.