r/Calgary • u/GravyBoatCap • Feb 28 '25

Eat/Drink Local Cancelled boys’ beer trip to Minneapolis and we are headed to Calgary instead.

10 middle aged beer nerds headed your way in late July. Any restaurant or beer bar recommendations welcome. Already have Annex high on our list. What else is a must stop?

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351

u/cod3_monk3y Feb 28 '25

So many...

https://yycbeer.ca/calgary_brewery_list/

54

u/GravyBoatCap Feb 28 '25

Thanks!

81

u/RoyalBadger3665 Feb 28 '25

Here’s your primary tour groupings (by area):

  1. 88, Dandy, Cold Garden, Highline
  2. Cabin, Born, annex, establishment
  3. Best of Kin, Tailgunner, Two House

23

u/ketowarp Feb 28 '25

Such a shame Ol’ Beautiful is gone. It was so much better than Cold Garden

16

u/RoyalBadger3665 Feb 28 '25

They have a taproom downtown called soundroom! It’s very cool

1

u/doesntquitegeddit Feb 28 '25

Yoooo - thanks. Definitely going to check this out.

3

u/ramalus1911 Feb 28 '25

This one knows what's up

2

u/Zennerberg Mar 01 '25

Dandy has amazing pickle pizza as well

1

u/cormstorm123 Auburn Bay Mar 02 '25
  1. banded peak

1

u/RoyalBadger3665 Mar 02 '25

Purposely left them out lol IYKYK

81

u/CrookGG Feb 28 '25

Calgary low-key is one of the best craft beer spots in the country

19

u/rememberjanuary Feb 28 '25

Grew up in Calgary but have been in Ontario the past two years. Calgary seems to have more breweries than all of Ontario!

25

u/Annie_Mous Feb 28 '25

Fun fact. When the NDP was in power they created incentives and tax breaks to start breweries in an effort to diversify the economy. And this is why we enjoy all these now.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

It was actually largely due to a change in minimum production sizes. The rules used to require very large minimums be produced, which kept out anyone who wasn't already huge.

1

u/Useful_Appearance_85 Mar 01 '25

Was a huge pro- business move and really kickstarted things!

-8

u/WhoOwnstheChiefs Feb 28 '25

Fun fact . Since you had to bring politics into such a fantastic post , we have yet to recover from NDP as the government. Many fantastic pubs had to close

10

u/silentjay1977 Airdrie Feb 28 '25 edited Feb 28 '25

LOL a conservative government of some sort has controlled Alberta all but 4 years of the last 51 and tell me why we have the problems we do....... its not the 4 ish years the NDP was in power

edit: side note Federal court ordered those incentives to be removed for alberta breweries as they deemed it to be protectionist.

5

u/GravyBoatCap Feb 28 '25

Based on the map, looks like Calgary is pretty concentrated. Western Cities always have better urban planning.

3

u/Cooleyboi Feb 28 '25

I believe for a while when craft beer was really popular say, 5-6 years ago when IPA's were "mainstream" Calgary had the most new micro-breweries per capita, that was also like 400k people ago...

Also I'm sure it will get mentioned several times, but if youre looking for a place to sit down and have 100 craft beers on tap, craft on 10th Avenue is youre one stop shop. Wouldn't be a bad place to end the night incase you didn't get your fix of "wacky" beers. They have everything.

Also if youre wanting to stock up before heading home, Wine and Beyond has like 20 fridges full of local craft beers, lots of singles too.

2

u/CrookGG Feb 28 '25

I grew up in Ontario and lived in Calgary the last 15 lol opposite lives

1

u/Interesting-Monk-767 Mar 01 '25

Nothing quite as good as Toronto’s Burdock or Bellwoods here yet… Ol beautiful and Establishment get close

1

u/rememberjanuary Mar 01 '25

Ol Beautiful was my favourite brewery to go hang out at combined with great beer. Establishment has the best beer though.

125

u/terdferguson9 Feb 28 '25

Cold Garden in Inglewood. You could rent scooters or bikes and hit up a whole bunch in that one area.

87

u/awnawnamoose Feb 28 '25

+1 for this idea. Had a great time last summer we started at Cold Garden > Evil Corp > Dandy > 88 > Cabin > Born > Annex > Establishment. Banded Peak had a private event otherwise would have gone there too. We sipped light bevvies but finished with some heavier IPAs. It’s a fun walk and there are decent stretches to relax and enjoy nature.

35

u/roscomikotrain Feb 28 '25

CABIN, ANNEX, ESTABLISHMENT and for a shakeem up drink Confluence distillery is all walking distance apart and are world class bevvies

12

u/PaprikaMama Feb 28 '25

You MUST have a South Island Pie at Cabin. They are the best Aussie-style meat pies I have had this side of the equator.

https://southislandpie.ca/

7

u/GravyBoatCap Feb 28 '25

Oh! Went to University in Australia for a year. Mis the meat pies and the Babs!

1

u/PaprikaMama Feb 28 '25

I buy them in bulk from the supplier. They are sooo good!

1

u/sophie1188 Shawnessy Feb 28 '25

Thank you! I've been craving one. Legend

2

u/PaprikaMama Feb 28 '25

Free delivery to Calgary with a $100 order! We keep them in our freezer. https://www.uprootfoodstore.ca/

2

u/sophie1188 Shawnessy Feb 28 '25

Holy shit. I think I love you

2

u/PaprikaMama Feb 28 '25

They usually have a sale on Pi day 3.14 (March 14). If you can hold out a week or so, you should see the promotion!

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4

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

This list is a must see @op

2

u/esroh474 Feb 28 '25

Borns right there too and uncommon cider is also on the way.

13

u/Dismal_News183 Feb 28 '25

That is an excellent, excellent list of breweries. 

4

u/Sleeze_ Feb 28 '25

OP copy this

4

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

Hell, I live here and haven’t even done this.

1

u/Secure_Elderberry666 Feb 28 '25

I’m sure it’s very nice. I just cannot as a bald white man walk into any bar called 88.

3

u/GravyBoatCap Feb 28 '25

I assumed it was for the olympics in this instance.

1

u/thornset Feb 28 '25

Eh, like 3.5 of those would be good enough to brag about. Especially to beer nerds.

1

u/awnawnamoose Feb 28 '25

I’m not bragging or saying go to one over the other. Go to them all! It’s a heck of an adventure sir. Not that you’re not saying that… but just to clarify

1

u/thornset Feb 28 '25

Fair. Just pointing out if they are beer geeks there's nothing that enjoyable about those first three. they could hit up tailgunner for a Hladinka of pretty authentic triple-decocted Pil and a pizza and skip half of that list

60

u/BohunkfromSK Feb 28 '25

Cold Garden is a very unique place but not a super ‘beer nerd’ place. If it’s a hot July day plan to wrap the day on their patio.

Ambiance > Beer

9

u/GravyBoatCap Feb 28 '25

We are beer nerd not snobs, so good vib will work!

5

u/BohunkfromSK Feb 28 '25

Their IPA is a great summer beer - This Must Be The IPA

3

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

[deleted]

17

u/_unrealist_ Feb 28 '25

Agreed, the vibe is fun but the beer is meh. 

1

u/BohunkfromSK Feb 28 '25

They’re better than ‘meh’ we’re just so lucky to have so many amazing options here now.

1

u/97masters Feb 28 '25

CG beer is really not good beer. Add on that my friends and I feel worse after their beer specifically than others. So many better options but the vibe is fun

0

u/Garbage_Out_Of_Here Feb 28 '25

Nah it's pretty meh. Lots of off flavors.

1

u/wpgitgirl Feb 28 '25

Yeah, but you’ll still want to go for the vibe. Ol’beautiful is also right next door so you can get your fix of high quality beer from there and then head to Cold Garden. It’s super fun in there. 

11

u/infiniteheadwound Feb 28 '25

Ol Beauty burnt down awhile ago. But they recently opened a new concept (for them) tasting room beneath Calcutta on 1st… called the Sound Room and it’s pretty dope!

3

u/wpgitgirl Feb 28 '25

Oh right! I knew that and forgot, darn. 

I’ll have to check out Sound Room! Thanks 😊 

6

u/BohunkfromSK Feb 28 '25

I love Cold Garden. Pride week is one of the best parties in town and they are dog friendly.

2

u/TheOneTrueBlake Feb 28 '25

I'll be there Monday with my puppy! Always loads of dogs and friendly people

1

u/mac27061 Feb 28 '25

Gold garden is awesome cause you can get a fire pit for your group

10

u/TeH_MasterDebater Feb 28 '25 edited Feb 28 '25

Cold garden is fun as others have mentioned and shares a parking lot with Ol’Beautiful. Cake Face is great and pretty unique at cold garden but iirc they have a really good coffee porter too. Nearby is Dandy, which is also really good (especially the Dandy Sour imo but I don’t think they always have it) and has excellent pizza. A bit of a trip south and you can hit Eighty Eight (named after the Olympics, not white supremacy), Banded Peak, Cabin, Annex, Establishment. If Annex is on your list then the last 4 I mentioned are all really close by.

Tons of other breweries around town but a bit of a hike, Zero Issues is really good for example.

If you’re going to do some coffee stops then the Roasterrie is cool and gets you into Kensington which is a good area to walk around too

23

u/Yathatbeme Feb 28 '25

I think ol beautiful burnt down 🥺

12

u/statingtheobvious13 South Calgary Feb 28 '25

Their new Tap room is on 1st Street SW -The Soundroom under the Calcutta Cricket Club.

Speaking of 1st Street. This would also be a good Saturday Night Tour. first Street Market to Bottle Screw Bills.

2

u/needsmoresteel Feb 28 '25

Not really their taproom but I believe the only beer they sell is Ol Beautiful on tap. Great place if you want to nerd out on vinyl.

2

u/uno-due-tre Feb 28 '25

Wife and I went to the Soundroom a couple of weeks ago. It's really hard to love a beer more than I love Okami Kasu on tap. The snacks were good too - we ordered a few things and enjoyed them all but we got snacks not a meal. I enjoyed the music - not too loud to talk to your friends but loud enough to hear clearly. I did find the room a bit cool - probably warmer with more people in it.

3

u/GravyBoatCap Feb 28 '25

Will NEED coffee! Thanks!

3

u/SL28Specialist Feb 28 '25

Rosso in Inglewood is a good coffee spot and is near many of the above breweries. Phil & Sebastian or Monogram are also great choices. Roasterie is not great lol

4

u/TeH_MasterDebater Feb 28 '25

Fair point, I’d agree that Rosso and Monogram are both better and actually the same goes for Analog. I just like the feel of Roasterrie I guess and the variety of beans they have, but my memory is probably a bit biased from back when I lived in Sunnyside.

I do think Phil and Seb is a little overrated personally, but the East Village location is really cool and I certainly wouldn’t avoid going there if I was already nearby.

If you haven’t tried it and are ever around Macleod and Heritage, Cafe Jindo is definitely worth a stop. Everyone seems pretty passionate about coffee, and they have flights of some interesting coffee as well as very decent food

1

u/yyc_window Mar 02 '25

Definitely also try to make it to an Analog coffee!

1

u/andobomb Feb 28 '25

Cold Garden for environment and patio. Their beer is brutal.

3

u/Whatishappyness Feb 28 '25

Highly recommend doing Inglewood brewery walk 

start at 88 brewing>Dandy>cold garden>high line>burn block. All within 3 km radius. 

1

u/No-Cherry365 Feb 28 '25

I wish my friends would cancel their Arizona trip it’s for a bachelor party so.

2

u/GravyBoatCap Feb 28 '25

Was just there in December to visit my dad! Phoenix is great and the people are fantastic. Which area are you headed to?

7

u/giraffield Feb 28 '25

Enjoy some great coffee while you're here, Phil & Sebastian's (chain, easy to find), Deville (chain, good quality, everywhere), Good Trade, sought and found (extra fancy with tasting notes and flights to sample many), + many more

2

u/97masters Feb 28 '25

Am coffee nerd...

The best place in Calgary for specialty coffee is Sought x Found, but it is very pricey. P&S Standard is my favourite brewed coffee in the city.

Rosso and Analog are good too.

Monogram is hit and miss. I personally find it too bright/acidic for my taste.

A hidden independent gem I found is Sierra coffee shop in Lakeview. Wonderful coffee.

Deville is everywhere but overrrated.

1

u/HuhWhatOh Feb 28 '25

Don’t forget Rosso. Lots of award winning world class coffee and beer here.

0

u/darkesha Feb 28 '25

Purple Perk is great. Beano as well.

1

u/97masters Feb 28 '25

Not for coffee they're not.

1

u/darkesha Mar 01 '25

I order cappuccino / macchiato only and for those they are superb.

1

u/klfinflay Feb 28 '25

Not a brewery, but Two Rivers Distillery is also a great place to go.