Calgary Food, coffee, etc.

[DizzyEdge]

Or the Hop in Brew!

[MalcolmTucker]

Hit up Simply Irie last night. It is still getting its sea legs, but the food was excellent. Will be making it a regular destination.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by niwell

Any recommendations for good craft beer bars?

If it doesn't have to be on tap, though they have one tap, Kawa Espresso Bar has an incredible selection of international beers in bottles (and cans eg Radeberger and Stiegl Radler are in cans, though I wish somebody would come up with their own Radler with a quality house-made lemon soda like I had in Munich). Many restaurants have amazing beer programs eg Charcut has a "beer sommelier" and they're aren't the only ones. Also it's cool to see that Früh brand Kölsch has a Canadian distributor if you're in the mood for that beer- you can get it in Calgary but you can't get it in Berlin! It's on tap at Wurst and you can get it in bottles at Kawa.

If you haven't been here in a while the beer scene will be unrecognizable to you.

Aren't you also a coffee person? Calgary has had the national barista champ three years in a row and the coffee scene is as good as any city in North America and better than the vast majority of them.

[93JC]

Originally Posted by niwell

Any recommendations for good craft beer bars? I am in town for a bit and wouldn't mind trying a few things out. Stopped by Craft Beer Market today which had amazing selection for sure. But I don't necessarily trust that many kegs on tap (stuck to the rotating ones). Wouldn't mind trying something a bit more low-key.

If you're looking for low-key you might want to try Bottlescrew Bill's, just down the street from Craft and National (corner of 10th Ave and 1st St SW).

It has a couple dozen beers on tap and hundreds of different bottled beers. (click here for the full beer list)

[McMurph]

Originally Posted by fusili

Calgary has definitely moved toward more and more craft beer selections in all their bars. The big ones are Craft and National (on 10th), both with 60+ beers on tap, but both are massive bars. If you are looking for something more low key, try places like local 510, National on 17th, 1410 or Beer Revolution.

National has far and away the best beer selection in Calgary. $5/pint happy hour on all beers is pretty nice too. I gave up on Craft the first time I went when I saw Keith's on their IPA list. Lots of beer there, but loads of crap.

Hop 'n Brew usually has a well curated set of taps in a setting you just don't find in Calgary anymore: a small, quiet, generally douche-less and TV-free pub.

Any word on what Last Best is doing with the space on 11th? Their IPA is one of my favourite beers.

[fusili]

Originally Posted by McMurph

National has far and away the best beer selection in Calgary. $5/pint happy hour on all beers is pretty nice too. I gave up on Craft the first time I went when I saw Keith's on their IPA list. Lots of beer there, but loads of crap.

Hop 'n Brew usually has a well curated set of taps in a setting you just don't find in Calgary anymore: a small, quiet, generally douche-less and TV-free pub.

Any word on what Last Best is doing with the space on 11th? Their IPA is one of my favourite beers.

Yeah, Keith's definitely is not an IPA, not in the sense of how an IPA should taste. Craft is alright, they have a lot more international beers than National, which is OK if you are looking for something very unique. The good thing about National is all the beer is the same price and the happy hour specials are great. Plus, bowling is kick ass.

I am really hoping for the Last Best place to open soon as well. I really like their beers.

How many micro breweries in Calgary now? Village, Last Best, Wildrose? What else is there? I know I am missing a few.

[Spring2008]

Originally Posted by fusili

Yeah, Keith's definitely is not an IPA, not in the sense of how an IPA should taste. Craft is alright, they have a lot more international beers than National, which is OK if you are looking for something very unique. The good thing about National is all the beer is the same price and the happy hour specials are great. Plus, bowling is kick ass.

I am really hoping for the Last Best place to open soon as well. I really like their beers.

How many micro breweries in Calgary now? Village, Last Best, Wildrose? What else is there? I know I am missing a few.

Plus Toolshed, Brewsters, and for the cheaper variety - Minhas. Room for lots more, maybe a new one as part of the Inglewood Brewery District?

Last I heard the resto/bar side of Last Best Brewery was to open in Jan.

[fusili]

Originally Posted by Spring2008

Plus Toolshed, Brewsters, and for the cheaper variety - Minhas. Room for lots more, maybe a new one as part of the Inglewood Brewery District?

Last I heard the resto/bar side of Last Best Brewery was to open in Jan.

Tool shed. That is the one I was forgetting. Decent beer.

I guess I should count Minhas, but feel like I shouldn't. Brewsters is good, but you can't get retail product, just pints in the bar.

[MasterG]

Originally Posted by niwell

Any recommendations for good craft beer bars?

Many places have a good selection of craft beers on tap these days in the inner city.

As mentioned, Hop in Brew is an easy win, although they don't always have much local stuff (not that that is good or bad). About 15 taps there, only craft beers. Rotates regularly so there is usually a weird selection. Owner - as you can guess - likes hops, expect a hop-heavy set.

National's selection is great, although it can get pricy when you start doing too many outside of happy hour. I suggest National on 17th, it's a bit nicer and smaller than the corporate locales on 10th and Stephen Ave.

The Ship and Anchor on 17th Ave is the defacto stop for all drinkers, has around 25 beers on tap. Surprisingly full list of local brewers: Last Best, Village, Wildrose & Big Rock. The People's bar if there ever was one. Not known for it's beer selection, but that is mainly because it is particularly well known for everything else.

Beer Revolution on 11th and 8th Street SW is also a reasonable one. All craft brewing, rotating taps so each time you go the list changes. A neat idea, but the space is unremarkable. Kind of a typical modern place with good beers and pizza.

Outside of that, you will find most restuarants and bars in the inner city serve at least one of Calgary's breweries and most will have a random assortment of craft brews too. Serving craft beers is about as mainstream in Calgary as it can be, you'll see them all over.

[1ajs]

what about that place called the pint their opening one in winnipeg so im curious of opions

[MalcolmTucker]

Good for cheap afterwork pints. Definitely helps with beer price inflation everywhere having to compete with $4 pints.

[93JC]

Originally Posted by McMurph

National has far and away the best beer selection in Calgary. $5/pint happy hour on all beers is pretty nice too. I gave up on Craft the first time I went when I saw Keith's on their IPA list. Lots of beer there, but loads of crap.

:/ I prefer Craft.

About half of National's beer list is also available next door at Craft, and while admittedly the other half of the National list is pretty good the other 70+ beers you can get at Craft and can't at National more than make up for it in my opinion.

Yes, Craft has more mainstream macro-beers like Keith's, Bud, Bud Light, Kokanee, Stella Artois, Sapporo and Carlsberg. It also has pretty good mainstream beers like Guinness, Erdinger, Kronenbourg, Pilsner Urquell and others that seem like obvious omissions on National's part.

Any word on what Last Best is doing with the space on 11th? Their IPA is one of my favourite beers.

Ah no wonder you prefer National. Craft doesn't carry any Last Best beers, whereas National carries four of them.

Rodenbach is one of my favourites, and Craft is the only pub in Calgary where I've ever seen it.

[simster3]

Originally Posted by fusili

Tool shed. That is the one I was forgetting. Decent beer.

I guess I should count Minhas, but feel like I shouldn't. Brewsters is good, but you can't get retail product, just pints in the bar.

I believe I saw Brewsters at the Altadore Liquor Depot. I was really surprised when I saw it.

[McMurph]

Originally Posted by 93JC

Ah no wonder you prefer National. Craft doesn't carry any Last Best beers, whereas National carries four of them.

Rodenbach is one of my favourites, and Craft is the only pub in Calgary where I've ever seen it.

Yeah, I guess I should qualify my National statement by saying that it has the best selection of North American micro brews, particularly western North American. But seriously, why drink anything else?

The 1410 group and Craft have better world selections for sure. Laurier Lounge has the nice pairing of Quebec beers and great poutine in a pretty nice little space. Ship is the all-around best beer locale, in my opinion. I agree that the Ship's great list is often uncredited due to it's many other unique attractions.

The beer selection in Calgary is getting great. Presumably it will get even better with some of the regulatory changes and the brewmaster program at Old's College. Minhas, however, hardly counts on any measure. They seem to have entered the market from a purely financial angle, with little regard to making a quality (or even a local) product. Most of their stuff comes from Wisconsin.

[1ajs]

bistro wine bar?

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

bistro wine bar?

yes...

[stophs]

So a bright yellow new Tim Horton's has been 'unwrapped' from the Mount Royal Village renovation on 8th street (not facing Tompkins Park). If I'm not mistaken it's yellow stucco base with brick above. I'm a fan of using colour other than our shades of beige and gray in the city, but to me it's an odd combination. Maybe it's a one off, but it makes me wonder what the rest of the renovation is going to look like at the base level.

[McMurph]

Originally Posted by stophs

So a bright yellow new Tim Horton's has been 'unwrapped' from the Mount Royal Village renovation on 8th street (not facing Tompkins Park). If I'm not mistaken it's yellow stucco base with brick above. I'm a fan of using colour other than our shades of beige and gray in the city, but to me it's an odd combination. Maybe it's a one off, but it makes me wonder what the rest of the renovation is going to look like at the base level.

That's not the finished product. If you look closely the yellow is just plywood or some other sort of board. The final cladding has yet to appear. From the render, it looks like it will be stone and brick.

[niwell]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Haven't been able to get out again yet due to family stuff but hope to try some places next week before I leave. The National on 17th seems interesting to me, as does Hop in Brew.

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

Aren't you also a coffee person? Calgary has had the national barista champ three years in a row and the coffee scene is as good as any city in North America and better than the vast majority of them.

Yeah I love coffee as well and Calgary's scene seems great. Unfortunately caffeine doesn't treat me so well anymore and I have to severely limit my intake. Trill like to treat myself once in a while! Will probably grab something at Phil and Sebastian while in town.

[stophs]

Originally Posted by McMurph

That's not the finished product. If you look closely the yellow is just plywood or some other sort of board. The final cladding has yet to appear. From the render, it looks like it will be stone and brick.

Thanks, my mistake. Got to see it up close today and you're right, it's not complete yet.