The Bar Scene – Brew Brothers Restaurant and Pub

Enjoying the Patio on a Friday afternoon	The bright and lively taproom
The subdued, but stylish restaurant	Did anyone notice she was pouring beer?

As you probably already know from reading The Monthly Brew, the much anticipated Brew Brother’s restaurant and brewery is now finally open. Despite the delayed opening the idea for serving Brew Brother’s excellent beers in a pub atmosphere was only devised last Boxing Day. From idea to conception it took just over seven months, which is an astonishing feat by any stretch of the imagination. And for anyone who at one point or another stumbled into or out of The Fox and Firkin on the former electric avenue you will have quiet the shock upon entering the current premise as Brew Brothers has created a warming atmosphere on the verge of being classy, but without pretension. Encompassed in an early 20th century red brick bock building that over the years has seen various tenants come and go Brew Brother’s has creatively used the original 1910 pillars that stretched above patrons at ‘The Fox’ and made into a beautiful wooden bar.

On the pub side of the restaurant, a combination of natural light and lighting make it a bright and lively atmosphere with live music every Saturday night. Attached to the pub side is an enclosed patio that has been appropriately decorated with various plants, which blend nicely with the wooden floor and cement tables. There is also a tarp that can close over the patio making it a suitable place to eat or drink without concerns for the weather in the summer months. There are future plans to install a high tech mechanically opening and closing roof that would provide 365 day dinning, but this will likely not happen for sometime. There is smoking permitted on the pub side of the restaurant, but not on the patio (due to City of Calgary smoking bylaws). However, on the restaurant side of things you will find a dimmer, more relaxing atmosphere, complete with a fireplace surrounded by a waiting area with big comfortable chairs. There are approximately 12 booths and about 15 tables in addition to the bar which has several seats in front of it. Despite it being the restaurant side I feel this side has a better atmosphere for enjoying a pint with friends, as it is usually less busy, less noisy, more relaxed AND there is no smoking (a big plus for me!).

The food ranges from the standard pub fare of burgers and fries to the inspired pistachio crusted halibut. However, my personal recommendation is the Spicy Spolumbo Pizza. It is a fiery combination of Italian sausage and banana peppers that is goes down beautifully with a pint of Prairie Berry beer. It should be noted that all prices on the menu include GST and have been rounded out to the quarter, therefore figuring out an appropriate tip or having to deal with small change are problems of the past.

At the time of writing this article only Brew Brother’s five beers were available on tap, however, they were expecting to have 15 guest taps up and flowing within the next couple of weeks. The guest taps will include beers from Wild Rose, Alley Kat and Big Rock. There is no happy hour at Brew Brother’s but with $4.50 (remember this includes tax) pints of their own beers and $5.50 pints of guest taps, prices are more than reasonable. As of last May Brew Brother’s switched their contract brewing from Bear brewing in Kamloops to Wild Rose in Calgary for obvious logistic reasons for the opening of the brew pub. There are some subtle differences in the beers since changing from Bear to Wild Rose, but nothing too outstanding. Of course Brew Brother’s goal is to be brewing beer in the basement of the restaurant, which will include a bottling line and four additional beers. However, lots of work still needs to be done on this and the beer likely won’t start flowing from in house tanks for a couple of more months. Patrons can look forward to having the only cask conditioned beer available on an on-going basis in Alberta, but again this is still likely a couple of months away. And finally they will be developing a cigar/scotch bar in the basement, but don’t expect this much before Christmas.

Brew Brother’s restaurant and brewery, still in its infancy stages, offers one of the best beer enhanced dining experiences in Calgary and this should only get better in the coming months with the addition of in house brewing and cask conditioned beer. Three Cheers to Brew Brothers for serving real beer.

Beer Bottles - Kensington Wine Market

1257 Kensington Road NW • Calgary, Alberta • T2N 3P8

Brad Arnst

I have lived within very easy driving-distance from the Kensington Wine Market for about six years. For the last four years it has been along my (walking) route home from work. The store is amongst the many shops, cafes, and pubs of "Kensington" that I frequent on the weekend, or any other day of the week. But, convenience has never been the deciding factor when I choose to purchase beer from the store; or any kind of spirits, and yes even wine! I choose to buy my beer from the Kensington Wine Market because of the quality and quantity of their selection, and knowledge and great service from the staff.

Not everyone at the store is an expert on beer, but there is usually someone there to answer much of your questions or to help you with a selection. I have talked to a couple of real beer aficionados at the store, perhaps Mario was the most keen. Alas, I just discovered that Mario will only be at the store part time from now on. But, fear not, he will still be around enough to ensure that there is a good supply of Unibroue (and other beers, of course) on hand. Speaking of Unibroue, the Kensington Wine Market was the first store in Calgary (as far as I know) to have the new La Terrible and Éphémère - Peach on hand.

Unless you know exactly what you want before you arrive at the store it may not be easy to make your selection. They have approximately 90 different beers at the store. I have noticed, over the years, that the owners, Nancy Carten and Richard Lindseth, are not afraid to try new beers at the store. And, their store will often be the first, or among the first to offer a new (to Calgary) beer. They do not usually have a large quantity of each individual beer in stock, but are usually quick to restock if the beer is in demand. So, you can be confident that the beer you purchase is fresh, and has not been sitting in the back for a few months. And, someone at the store must be good at restocking, or they must have good inventory software, because I have rarely been disappointed to discover that my favourite beer was out of stock.

A few tidbits about the store:
They have been in business for 11 years.
Currently, they have approximately 90 different beers in the store.
Beer is their third biggest seller, after wine (of course) and scotch.
Their current What's Hot beers are Alhambra Reserva 1925 (a great Spanish/Granada beer; you've got to try it!), A Marca Bavaria (its amazing what a Brazilian beach beauty on TV can do for beer sales), all of their Young's beers (Ramrod Ale, Double Chocolate Stout (mmm tasty), and London Special Ale), from Fuller's the just-brought-in London Pride, ESB, and all of the new Wild Rose bottled beers (Wild Rose Brown, Industrial Park Ale, Velvet Fog, and Wrasberry Ale).
If Mario can get it in, look soon for a new gluten-free beer from Quebec. Sorry, I didn't catch the name.

Finally, if you are looking for more than just beer they have a great selection of wines and spirits. All of the staff are knowledge regarding the wines, and there are some scotch experts and most of them can help you with any of the spirits. They have a good variety in all spirits, including: bourbon, rum, gin, etc. And, they have the best variety of saki that I know of. This is not your crappy, have-to-heat-it-up-so-you-can't-really-taste-it stuff, this is very good saki, usually served chilled or even cold.

The store hours are:

Mon - Wed	10:00 - 8:00
Thu - Fri	10:00 - 9:00
Sat	10:00 - 8:00
Sun	12:00 - 6:00

Once again I am off with my random picks. I decided that covering new release in Calgary would be an effective way to help readers choose their beers wisely on their next trip to their local beer store.

My rating system focuses on how enjoyable the beer is to beer drinkers. The system will read as follows: 5 – Undoubtedly a favourite of many people; 4 – Outstanding, most people will like this beer; 3 – Some people will like this beer some won’t; 2 – I didn’t like this beer, but maybe you will; 1 – I don’t know how anyone could like this beer, but perhaps there is one person. Horsepiss – self-explanatory

Fuller’s - London Pride (England) 4.7% - Tim
I had a little jump of joy when I heard recently that Fuller’s was available on local retail shelves. Fuller’s is one of England’s premier breweries and is the direct competitor of its cross-town competitor Young’s in London. Both breweries have long interesting histories and booth produce some world-class beers and lucky for us we can sample some of these. Of course not all of Fuller’s line up is avialable, but never the less two really good beers or for that matter bitters are. I am not the world’s biggest bitter fan, but I do love trying the classics and booth of Fuller’s products are.

The London Pride is a deep amber color brew that carries an earthy, fruity aromatic nose. The middle has earthy, fruity notes that are accentuated by hints of tobacco, while the finish has a very mild lingering hoppiness. Not a bad beer, but certainly not going to blow anyone away, but still worth your time in my opinion. 3½/5

Fuller’s – ESB (England) 5.9% - Tim
Now this one showed some character to it. The deep copper – reddish body has an excellent nose of apples, oranges and spice. The body is very complex with woodiness and earthy, fruity hops backed up by a firm maltiness. However, the finish is astonishingly dry and very mildly bitter. Not exactly what I was expecting, but pretty damn good nonetheless. 4/5

Holsten – Duckstein (Germany) 4.9% - Tim
OK, unlike Fuller’s, I never get excited about a new Holsten product and this one doesn’t surprise me that much. A light amber colored brew that has an unpromising nose of oranges, apricots and tin. The body is thin and malty and then ends dry. I was recommended by a friend to allow this beer to warm up a bit to show more character. I took an hour to finish this beer. It got progressively better, but very marginally. 2½/5

Tim’s Take

BYOB and Danielle Smith’s article on alcohol in the movie theaters.

I would like to comment on a recent decision by the Alberta government to restaurants adopt BYOB (Bring Your Own Booze) policies. When I first read the article in the Calgary Herald, I was elated as I had visions of a well hopped IPA with curry from an Indian restaurant and a bottle of Trois Pistole at a French restaurant, but these visions of grandeur soon came to a slamming halt when I read that only wine would be permitted to be brought into restaurants. I was speechless, how could they so indiscriminately discriminate again beer (and spirits)? This is what I have been ranting about all year that beer never gets a fair shake, while wine seems to get the best deal of them all. The government tried to meagerly imply that this was done so if people didn’t finish a bottle of wine they could cork it and take it home, therefore saving them from drinking too much and driving drunk. WHAT a bunch of B.S. that is!!!! Is that really the purpose? Is the government so afraid that people can’t drink responsibly they want to try and help us out? If that is truly the case, I call for a ban on the sale of alcohol in the province!! If the typical Albertan cannot drink moderately and has reckless drinking behavior it would be appropriate?? I personally can never have just one beer at a restaurant, I usually won’t stop till I have drank them dry of their cheapest swill and then because I am an Albertan and I can’t drink responsibly I usually drive home stoned drunk hitting everything in my path and the funny thing is every Albertan I know acts just like me, so the government must be right?! Please save us from drunkenness and our own lack of discipline!! But seriously the government is missing out on the point of BYOB and that is for consumers to enjoy their favourite beverage with their meal or better yet enjoy a beverage that compliments the meal and enhances the dinning experience. And why should this favourite beverage or ideal beverage for the meal be limited to wine?? I believe that beer can match food better than wine and I am sure in the general population there are more people who would say beer is their #1 drink of choice than people who would say wine, so any reasons for excluding beer and spirits are simply unfounded. Once this by-law is implemented in the fall, I recommend all you to go to a participating BYOB restaurant and bring beer and simply claim your ignorance that the law only included wine. If the proprietors seem up tight about the situation let them know that you think beer can match food much better than wine and you don’t know why beer is discriminated against so much. If they are still hesitant on your beer then simply ask them who you can contact to complain about the structure of BYOB in Alberta.

I would like to give a big pat on the back to Calgary Herald reporter Danielle Smith. In this time of apparent insanity in Alberta, Ms. Smith has graciously injected some common sense. Her article entitled A Beer with Popcorn sounds great is an enlightening look at how ridiculous it is to oppose movie theaters from serving alcohol. In fact 82% of the people in an Edmonton Journal poll stated they were against the idea of serving alcohol in movie theaters. I agreed point for point with Ms. Smith on why 82% of the poll respondents were out to lunch. But perhaps from these type of polls is where the Alberta government got the image that Albertans can’t drink properly. I just can’t fathom this one at all. I encourage all of you to read her article to get involved and write your MLA.