Going native: Three Calgary and space companies making tasty wine, spirits and non-alcoholic beer

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The August lengthy weekend in Alberta marks Heritage Day, a time to consider the varied individuals who have come to the province, bringing their very own influences and contributions that add depth and color to our society.

With that in thoughts, I believed I might concentrate on some native producers who weave attention-grabbing flavours into our drinks tradition. Possibly one thing will catch your eye. Benefit from the weekend.

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One for the Highway Brewing Co.

A call to assist a good friend by giving up alcohol for a yr was a life change and a brand new enterprise for Graham Matheos.

In 2006, Matheos give up ingesting in solidarity with a good friend who wanted to surrender alcohol. After the yr ended, Matheos determined to remain dry.

“The professionals of staying sober outweighed the cons, in order that was it,” says Matheos, who had a younger household and a burgeoning physiotherapy enterprise on the time.

Whereas he didn’t miss alcohol, he missed the social facet of having fun with a beer with mates. After failing to discover a non-alcoholic beer that glad his thirst, he determined to strive making his personal. He began One For The Highway Brewing Co. in 2018 with a good friend.

Now the only proprietor, Matheos says the success of the enterprise caught him unexpectedly.

“My expectations had been that this might be a enjoyable little factor for me to do and that rapidly was a enterprise that was rising so much quicker than I anticipated,” says Matheos, who makes use of a contract brewer to make his beers, which can be found all through Western Canada.

He’s having fun with the journey, sharing the perks of a non-alc way of life.

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“You possibly can drive your children to church on Sunday morning and have one in every of our espresso stout beers and it’s OK, you are able to do that,” he says with fun.

What to strive: Stone Couch Kölsch

The primary beer created by Matheos’ workforce is their bestselling brew. It has additionally earned recognition, putting second within the 2022 Canadian Brewing Awards within the low-alcohol beer class.

It incorporates a mild, contemporary nostril of creamy lemon and pear, with malty and nutty notes. Crisp and clear, with a touch of bitterness on the end, it’s an ideal thirst quencher.

It’s out there in native liquor and grocery shops, together with Co-op, Safeway and Sobeys.

Worth: $13 for 4 473 ml cans; 0.5 per cent alc./vol.

Bridgeland Distillery

Additionally launched in 2018, Bridgeland Distillery was born after Calgary engineers Daniel Plenzik and Jacques Tremblay met whereas attending a distilling workshop within the Okanagan Valley in 2016.

Plenzik, {an electrical} engineer, and Tremblay, a software program engineer, determined to associate to create a distillery, establishing in a former furnishings retailer in a distinguished spot on Edmonton Path in Bridgeland.

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“I’ve at all times needed to be an entrepreneur, however within the software program world it’s laborious to differentiate your self, so I went with my interest, which was beer and whisky,” says Tremblay, who moved to Calgary from Quebec Metropolis. Plenzik was born proper in Bridgeland on the Calgary Normal Hospital.

The pair took a little bit of a unique course with their enterprise, making brandy and marc (often known as grappa in Italy) the main focus reasonably than the gins and vodkas that new distilleries usually begin with.

Utilizing a customized copper pot nonetheless manufactured in Kentucky, they produce brandies and marcs from California moscato and Okanagan Valley gewurztraminer and pinot blanc. Additionally they make a wide range of whiskies, together with one that includes 60 per cent Taber corn.

Packaged in smart-looking sq. bottles that includes a photograph of the close by Reconciliation Bridge, their merchandise have loved fast recognition, together with Gold medals on the 2023 World Brandy Awards for the Moscato Brandy and Eau de Vigne Grappolo from Gewurztraminer.

What to strive: Moscato Brandy

Gentle amber in color, the nostril affords wealthy notes of caramel, toffee, baked pumpkin, nutmeg, vanilla and creme brulee. It’s luscious on the mouth, with the identical creamy, caramel, nutty and spicy flavours. The end is clean and wealthy, with a fiery kick on the finish.

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Bridgeland merchandise can be found in a large variety of native liquor boutiques.

Worth: $49 for a 375 ml bottle; 45 per cent alc./vol.

Area Stone Fruit Wines

Alberta’s first property vineyard was launched in 2005 when Elaine and Marvin Gill, Lynden Gill and Glen and Lorraine Ellingson launched Area Stone Fruit Wines.

The group — couple Elaine and Marvin plus Marvin’s brother and Elaine’s sister Lorraine and her husband — had been working an orchard 10 kilometres south of Strathmore for seven years once they discovered they’d an extra of fruit. Fruit wine appeared like an ideal resolution.

Nearly 20 years later, the enterprise has grown, main them to supply fruit from all through Alberta to assist meet the demand, although 75 per cent continues to be grown on the property orchard.

Whereas educating folks about fruit wines took some work to start with, now they’ve a powerful following for a product they’re pleased with.

“Having the ability to supply a whole and real farm-to-glass product, the place we’re the farmers and in addition the winemakers, is probably the most satisfying half,” says Marvin. “This implies we will see the method via from rising a top quality fruit in our personal subject to crafting it into a great product that individuals love.”

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Fieldstone produces 5 dessert wines and 5 fruit wines from strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, rhubarb, chokecherries, cherries and saskatoons.

What to strive: Black Currant Fruit Wine

Made in a barely off-dry model and medium ruby-pink in color, the black currant wine delivers tart flavours of raspberry, bitter cherry, orange, lime and tangerine. It’s frivolously oaked so as to add complexity and physique.

There are Area Stone cubicles at each Calgary Farmers’ Market places, and the wine can also be out there in boutique liquor shops and Co-op Wine Spirits Beer and Safeway and Sobeys Liquor places.

Worth: $25; 12.5 per cent alc./vol.

Contact Darren Oleksyn at [email protected] or comply with him on Instagram or the app beforehand often known as Twitter. On the lookout for a particular wine? As a result of wine inventories are at all times in flux, it’s a good suggestion to name a retailer to substantiate they’ve it. A search on Liquorconnect.com can provide you an concept of shops which have carried the wines.

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