BOW VALLEY – Summer is often associated with warm weather, enjoying an outdoor activity and having a cold drink under the sun.
People can count on all three between June and August in the Bow Valley. While long a place to appreciate the mountain views, hikes and canoe rides, the craft beer scene has had a growth in their market.
The region has riches in beer, cider and liquor for any resident or visitors’ taste – one that’s continuing to grow.
“It’s a trend that has emerged for a few years,” Rachel Ludwig, the interim CEO of Tourism Canmore Kananaskis, said. "It certainly helps that people can walk to great restaurants, breweries and distilleries. … We will market what we have to offer. When we talk to tour operators internationally or in North America, we always bring up our fantastic downtown and culinary scene.”
She said information has shown tourists spend about 32 per cent of their expenses on food and beverages while travelling as culinary tourism is among a priority for many visitors.
Recent years have seen new breweries and distilleries call the Bow Valley home and it has also given tourists another element to experience.
The Canmore Brewing Company, Sheepdog Brewing and the Grizzly Paw Pub and Brewing Company are all community fixtures with multiple beers on tap and retail to purchase.
The Wild Life Distillery, the Blake Brewhouse and Distillery, Canmore Brewery and Distillery and RAW Distillery and Brewery also offer vast selections, while each can offer tours.
In Banff, the tiny mountain town has Banff Ave Brewing Company, Three Bears Brewery and Restaurant and the Park Distillery Restaurant and Bar.
The popular Banff Craft Beer Week is scheduled to run Nov. 19-28 this fall.
The new Angry Bear Growlers is also bringing more varieties to the region by focusing on growler refills from their 58 different taps that have beer, cider, cocktails, kombucha and soda flowing.
“We’re big beer lovers and thought that there was a really good place in Canmore as well as other markets. … It all happened very fast,” Julie Muir, the co-owner who grew up in Canmore, said.
“One of the things we found in craft beer is you get amazing breweries that maybe get a little lost with the amount of breweries. We wanted to go all in with 58 taps, so we could have a large variety that rotate and give people an opportunity to sample things in your town and elsewhere that you would never otherwise try.”
The business opened December 19 in the midst of COVID-19, but has already seen success as the scenic area of the Bow Valley has led to beer fans coming in droves.
“Beer tourism is a huge part of my start-up in craft beer. As the COVID situation improves, it’s something we see Angry Bear becoming a much bigger part of. We’ve already seen people who have heard about us from a friend and they come in. It’s been amazing and we really welcome that audience.”
Muir said she first experienced the craft beer scene while in Ontario for work and visiting Beertown Public House, which has rotating taps. She and her boyfriend also had their first date at a beer painting night in Calgary and grew from there.
“We bonded over craft beer. … Our slogan is it all started with a beer and for us, like our relationship, it all started with a beer with our Angry Bear business.”
Muir added they have plans to open more sites, including Airdrie this summer. The growlers also allow drinkers to reuse and refill their bottles opposed to leaving some type of a footprint that comes with cans or regular beer bottles.
“It was a huge part of our brand to have the growlers available. We also do cans since you have to factor in not everyone is into growler culture, but a percentage of sales is definitely stronger towards travellers and we’re huge fans of the growler concept.”
The Three Bears Brewery in Banff opened their doors in November 2020, but have been impacted with several pandemic-related lockdowns. However, as a draft only place that offers in-person dining, the experience is part of the draw.
Found in a timber frame building, the brewery is part of the Banff Hospitality Collective and has its beer found at several restaurants in the town.
“We’re a restaurant first that happens to have a brewery, not a brewery with a restaurant. The food alone will bring people in, so having a brewery is a bonus,” Stewart Brown, the brewer for Three Bears Brewery, said. “If we can get back to normal tourism levels, with all the breweries and distilleries that the Bow Valley has it can become a desirable for beer and alcohol tourism. … Someone could come for three or four days, enjoy the outdoors and enjoy all the different places.”
Brown, who has been brewing for nearly a decade with stints in Ontario, the Cayman Islands and now Alberta, said the craft beer scene has been growing.
“The craft trend has added to tourism in general. It gives people a viable option to open breweries and locations you may not have originally thought would be viable.”
According to Beer Canada – a trade association for the beer sector – there were 30 breweries in Alberta in 2015. By the end of 2020, that had increased more than fourfold to 130 breweries. There were also 2.12 million hectolitres of domestic sales in the province last year and each person of legal drinking age consumed an average of 69 litres of beer – roughly on par for the national average.
The spark that saw the craft beer seen hit new levels in Alberta stems from the province removing the previous requirement for a brewery to produce 500,000 litres a year to sell commercially, said Scott Messenger, the author of Tapping the West: How Alberta’s Craft Beer Industry Bubbled out of an Economy Gone Flat.
Following the 2013 changes, more breweries were able to open from small rural centres to large urban areas. He said Tourism Alberta and smaller tourism organizations have also helped in promoting the scene, which often has a strong connection to the community they serve and use many local ingredients.
Alberta is renowned in the brewing world for its barley, Messenger said, with many farms such as the Chinook Arch Growers – a group of 14 Alberta farms and one in Saskatchewan – who grow for breweries on both sides of the Canadian and American border.
“It’s not just an urban phenomenon. They’re in rural areas and small towns. There’s a reason for people to get out and explore the province in the same way someone might go through B.C. and explore the wine region,” he said. “The thing with craft beer that I think makes it very successful is that it’s tied to community. The breweries that start up generally start small and serve the people they know. … They’re local entrepreneurs and they focus on serving the local markets.
“Now that we’re going to be doing more travel, there’s more of a draw to go to a small town you may not have gone to before and they have a brewery. You can get a sense of what the community’s like through the brewery in talking to people who started it or locals.”
The craft beer scene has also found allies in other tourism operations.
Ludwig said many outdoor recreation businesses may not actively publicize a connection with a brewery or restaurant, but some will have a food and drink component following an activity.
Chris McKenna, the owner and operator of Canmore Raft Tours, runs the popular Rafts and Crafts with Canmore Brewery and Distillery Tours. It has people go rafting on the glacial waters of the Bow River then get guided to alcohol destinations on the Mountain City Brew Bus.
He said the idea came on a trip to Bend, Oregon – well-known for its many breweries and alcohol scene – so it was natural to combine the two.
“I love beer. I love rafting, so I wanted to blend those two together. … Our love for being on the water was a big part of that, so it was easy for us to combine the two and run with it.”
Since launching, the service allows visitors to experience the best the valley has to offer. They not only get to work up a sweat on the water, but then get shuttled to breweries and distilleries in Canmore to appreciate the local drinks and cuisine.
“I think the way craft brewing and craft spirits is growing it’s really brought it into the mainstream a lot more. People who were only familiar with a pilsner, lager or ale now have so many different options to satisfy their tastes and craving,” McKenna said. “It’s not so much about the alcohol content. It’s about the taste and the creativity like we’re seeing with the sours and the session IPAs. It really allows people to spread their wings and explore different experiences.”
As tourism continues to be a mainstay in the valley, the beer scene in the region has shown no signs of slowing down or letting visitors and locals down.
“We’re pretty lucky in the Canadian Rockies, especially in Canmore and Banff, in the quality of the spirits and breweries here,” McKenna said. “The people doing that work – like everything else in the valley – it takes it to the next level.”
