Your intrepid liquor reporter has been giddy with anticipation for months, waiting for a new craft brewery in Calgary to finally throw open its doors.
It all started when I got a sneak peek of Banded Peak Brewing back in March at the Calgary Beerfest, and could not get enough of their Plainsbreaker Pale Ale.
Indeed, I was like a little kid in a candy store, dashing from booth babe to booth babe, gorging myself on the hoppy goodness. With more than 500 different beers from 100 different brewers available for sampling, it was truly the mecca that your humble narrator makes a pilgrimage to every year.
I pined away for a few months, longing to sip the golden nectar pouring from the stainless steel teats at their still-under-construction brewery and tap room, and finally got the chance when they threw open the doors at the end of May.
Banded Peak Brewing has a taproom attached to the brewery in the Manchester Industrial Park in Calgary, just minutes from downtown, on 34 Avenue off Macleod Trail. Drive through downtown, and turn east off Macleod Trail after the cemetery, and you will find the brewery a few blocks in. Let’s hope there is no zombie uprising, or the long-term residents of cemetery hill will take up all the seats in the taproom!
The brewery is named after Banded Peak, the distinctive mountain in Kananaskis with a band of steep cliffs circling the top of the mountain, giving it a visible band of black rock just below the snow-covered summit.
Founded by a trio of born-and-bred Calgary lads who loved mountain culture, Banded Peak Brewing is the perfect après-ski refreshment in the winter, or a welcome burst of frosty refreshment after a long hike in the summer.
Most of their brews are made in the styles of the Pacific Northwest, taking inspiration from the pioneering beer fiends of Portland and Seattle to produce beer that bursts with floral hops and flavourful yeasts. There are three flagship brews at the moment, with plans to increase the lineup to ten over the next year.
With nearly 75% of the hops in North America grown in the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington, Banded Peak is boldly blending from the best hops our continent has to offer, with impressive results.
Lacking a bottling line in their small brewery, the beer is available from their taproom in tallboy cans, as well as in giant-sized 1-litre cans, affectionately nicknamed “The Canimal”. You can even get 2-litre growler fills onsite at the brewery, and at a few retail liquor stores that have growler refill stations.
The Plainsbreaker Hopped Wheat Ale is an unfiltered brew with tropical notes on the tongue from the exotic yeasts, and late-addition hops providing aromatics without too much bitterness. This is their most popular brew, and is appreciated by beer nerds and macrobrew drinkers alike.
The Summit Seeker IPA is a quintessential North American IPA, with hints of fresh pine on the nose, and robust hop bitterness for the IPA fans. While most IPA is pale yellow, the Summit Seeker is a deep amber from a unique strain of local barley, which provides a solid malt backbone to balance the Oregon hops.
The Chinook Saison is perhaps the most interesting, made in the style of a Belgian Farmhouse Ale, with spicy yeasts and an earthy finish, your humble narrator went through more than a few pints on a sunny patio last week.
Your intrepid liquor reporter has long maintained a love-hate relationship with Saison beer, if only because there is so much variation within the style. Saison is like my libidinous college girlfriend who was also slightly insane, because you never know what you’re going to get from day to day. Fortunately, the Chinook Saison does not go full-Belgian with weird yeasts and oddball adjuncts, leaving a simple and refreshing sessionable ale that is a perfect patio beer.
Banded Peak Brewing has only been in operation for a few months, but they are already appearing on tap in the normal places that beer nerds tend to congregate. You can also visit the taproom Thursdays to Sundays to enjoy straight from the source, or get a growler fill at progressive booze merchants like 5 Vines or Oak & Vine in Calgary.
