Strange Brew: Beer Guy

Strange Brew

by Peter Bailey

Coo loo coo coo, coo coo coo coo!
–So went the call of the hosers, Bob and Doug McKenzie.

Bob and Doug were the creation of two Ontario boys, Rick Moranis (Bob) and Dave Thomas (Doug), but Edmonton is their birthplace and spiritual home. Don’t believe it? Take off, eh? SCTV, including almost all of Bob and Doug’s segments, was filmed in Edmonton from 1980-1982. A personal favourite bit is John Candy as Johnny LaRue, speaking a drunken Christmas Eve soliloquy in the bitter cold outside “the Red Ox Inn, formerly the Beef and Booze.”

Four decades later much has changed. The Red Ox Inn is one of the best restaurants in Canada. Martin Scorsese is making a documentary about SCTV, to air on Netflix. SCTV alumni Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy have conquered the world with Schitt’s Creek. Bob and Doug were honoured with a statue in downtown Edmonton in March.

And Edmonton has moved far beyond hoser beer. Two breweries opened recently focussed on esoteric, complex, funky and sour beer—beer Bob and Doug would undoubtedly call strange brew. We’re talking mixed fermentation or mixed culture beer. These beers are made with a mixed basket of microorganisms—wild yeast like Brettanomyces and bacteria like Pediococcus and Lactobacillus. The mixed culture evolves over time, meaning no two batches of beer are exactly the same. It’s exciting, tight-rope beer-making, not for the faint of heart.

The Monolith is Greg Zeschuk’s entry into this nerve-wracking niche, a much-anticipated sour beer brewery a few blocks from his award-winning Blind Enthusiasm brewery and Biera restaurant. At The Monolith, high-flying head brewer Doug Checknita uses traditional methods like spontaneous fermentation in a high-tech, modern space to make outstanding 21st century beer. People lined up to get a bottle of their first release, A Measure of Patience, in December 2019.

Trial & Ale is a brand new sour beer boutique brewery and a labour of love for co-founders Ryan and Jeff (we are honouring their request not to use their full names). Ryan gets his love of earthy, funky and acidic beers from living and studying in Belgium when he was young. As he told me, “Not a lot of people as a teenager get to taste their way through dubbels, lambics, wits and geuzes.” True that! To make the eccentric beers they love, Trial & Ale focus on diversity—brewing wort (beer before fermentation) in-house or outsourcing it from local breweries, cultivating a diverse mixture of yeast and bacteria over the years, fermenting in oak barrels and finally, carefully blending. As Ryan puts it, “At the end of the day, we’re artisanal blenders.” The magic is in the blending and time. This style of beer-making requires a lot of patience as barrel aging and fermentation can’t be rushed. Ryan and Jeff support themselves with outside income activities, meaning they have the ability to wait the time required to ensure quality and consistency from blend to blend. “With a barrel program, you really need the flexibility to say ‘give it another month’,” notes Ryan.

We’ve come a long way in Edmonton from the Bob and Doug days. But I asked Ryan, is there really a market for these sophisticated but difficult beers here? He replied, “Yes! We believe in Alberta. The love we’ve received humbles us. We see a vibrant and strong beer scene that we hope to be a lasting part of. And Alberta retailers are the best in the world, I’m convinced of this. Our retailers are incredible and that will ensure that word gets out about why good beer is good.” Beauty, eh?

Strange brew six pack
Quirky, unique beers to splurge on at holiday time. Go ahead, you’re worth it.

Click images to zoom

Trial & Ale Separated to a Degree, Edmonton Trial & Ale’s first release, a mixed fermentation sour ale that went through a four stage fermentation cycle. A layered, complex but subtle beer—soft, rounded, dank, earthy with a bit of funk and fruit. Trial & Ale notes the “upfront lactic sourness soon gives way to a retronasal grapefruit olfaction that delights.” Shorter: it’s good.

Blind Enthusiasm/The Monolith Substantially Complete, Edmonton The Monolith’s second release is a mixed fermentation beer that was fermented using a house blend of microorganisms in French oak barrels for one year and then bottle-conditioned for seven months. It’s assertively tart but approachable, with a solid citrus fruit character.

Odd Company Gin and Funk Juice, Edmonton We spent many a lovely summer evening at the Odd Company pandemic patio, which extended into the traffic lane on 121 Street. We hope they keep the patio going all winter long! Gin and Funk Juice is a quirky beer, made through a 12-month fermentation with Brettanomyces culture and adding Saskatoon berries and gin botanicals. Funky and fruit-forward.

Blindman 5th Anniversary Belgian Dark Strong, Lacombe Every fall Blindman shoots for the moon and brews a big ‘boozy Belgian’ ale for their anniversary. This is a strong (9.6 per cent ABV) Belgian dark ale, tasting of dried fruit, black liquorice and chocolate. A perfect holiday fireside sipper.

Snake Lake Lushed Up Farmhouse Ale, Sylvan Lake Brew master Octavio Pauley and his team pulled out the stops on this refreshing ale. Hand crushed Muscat grapes were allowed to ferment and then added to mixed fermentation farmhouse ale. This mixture was aged for 20 months then blended with sour blonde ale (which had been aged for 18 months). A delicious, complex, layered beer.

Grain Bin Opus Pink Guava Berliner Weiss, Grande Prairie “In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer,” -Albert Camus. Keep the spirit of summer alive with this delightful fruity, low alcohol (3 per cent ABV) Berliner Weiss. Tart and refreshing, this 1.5 litre magnum can sit on the holiday dinner table as a wine or champagne alternative.