Beer and a history adventure in YEG

BrewCurious Heritage Beer Tour 2015

 

So true my friend...

On April 18^th, I went on the Edmonton City as Museum Project: BrewCurious Heritage Beer Tour. This event and project is an initiative of the Edmonton Historic council.

I am a massive history junkie (especially about my home town) and my second favorite vice is beer. Having history and beer rolled into a six hour tour – it was one of the best days of my life!

We all got on a city of Edmonton chartered bus and sampled beers, had a good breakfast and learned about the amazing brewing history.

It’s truly amazing how Edmonton was shaped by a brewing and distilling industry since the late 1800s. Just like oil - it’s a boom and bust cycle. Our local brewers throughout the ages fought not only changing economies, but also Alberta’s Prohibition (1916-1923), and commercialization of the industry and various changing legislation.

The tour focused on craft brewers, who not only made history - but built unique brands that were enjoyed in pubs and homes across our great province, even to this day.

Our chariot

Our tour started off at Brewsters in Oliver Square. We all hopped on our very own chartered ETS bus. The first brewery we hit was Yellowhead Premium Lager, on 105 Street, just off of 102 Avenue. There we had a delicious breakfast and a sample of their lager. After our fill up of food and beer, we had a tour of the brewery.

Yellowhead brewery in the Shaw Building

Yellowhead Premium Lager is named after the first commercially brewed beer in Edmonton. Yellowhead beer originated in 1894, and was made by the Edmonton Brewing and Malting Company (EB&M), located in the river valley. (More later on this post).

The main entrance

Egg muffins and other baked goodies

The original 1894 ‘Yellowhead’ and the current Yellowhead beer (and the highway too) take the name from an actual historical personality Pierre Bostanais, nicked named: Tête Jaune (Tête is head & Jaune is yellow in French). Tête Jaune was a fair haired Metis trader. If you want to learn more about him, click here.

The building in which Yellowhead is in used to be owned by H.V. Shaw. The building was built in 1914 (cost estimate then at $50,000) and was a cigar factory. The place manufactured over a million cigars, but in 1919 hard times hit with prohibition closing down saloons and the popularity of cigarettes – the Edmonton cigar factory closed its door. In 2007, a brewery by the name of Maverick came in. I did not get much information on them, but they were short lived and Yellowhead took over the building after Maverick left.

The brewery tour

I’ve been to Yellowhead’s tasting room before and attended a wedding reception there. The building is quite nice inside. Exposed brick, large wooden beams, hardwood floors and open space makes the place look rustic. Take a look for yourself here. Plus, their food is pretty tasty. I recommend them for any special events.

The next stop on our tour, was just outside the old Molson’s brew plant on 104 avenue and 121 street. Due to construction, we could not go inside.

Molson's old building - originally owned by Edmonton Brewing and Malting

The building in which the iconic outline of the Molson sign still adorns, was built in 1913 for Yellowhead’s Edmonton Brewing and Malting (EB&M). EB&M wanted to move away from the river valley due to the labour it took to deliver the beer uphill from the river, the occasional river floods and the new location was right by trains for transportation across the province.

The construction cost of the building was about $600,000 and was designed to look like a Gothic German Castle.

In 1922, EB&M was taken over by Fritz Sick. In 1944, Fritz Sick changed the name of EB&M to Sick’s Edmonton Brewing. In 1958, Montreal’s Molson purchased Sick’s Brewing and manufactured beer for the longest time in the location. In 2007, Molson moved out and the building has been empty ever since. The building was designated a historic site in 1980, and the “fort” that was outside the building was famous for hosting the Wayne Gretzky trade back in 1988.

A Picture shown on our tour of the Molson's building in 1949.

As some of you know, the building is being incorporated into the new commercial/shopping establishment called the Brewery District. This new establishment is currently under construction and will likely open later this year or early spring…(?)

After Molson’s, we hopped on the bus again and were on our way to Alley Kat brewery. At Alley Kat, we took a tour of the establishment. We also got a chance to buy off sales – Yeah!

Let the fun begin

Alley Kat Brewery opened its doors in 1995 and remains to be Edmonton’s longest running micro-brewing company (Alberta’s fourth longest micro brew).

Inside Alley Kat's Brewery

Getting samples of beer to the public

Our friends at Alley Kat and Beer Geeks Anonymous founder Jason Foster, brewed a special heritage beer named the GIRDER BENDER. I think the name came about from the 102 street bridge fiasco. This was the only opportunity to sample the beer. 

The Girder Bender - very good beer.

I am not a dark beer/stout fan – but I really did liked the beer. It was smooth, hints of caramel and went down very easily. I won third prize in describing the beer’s taste. I am an owner of a new growler bottle from Cask and Barrel. That made my growler collection now to about six.

Neil Herbst co-owner of Alley Kat and me

One of my purchases

After getting a bit of a buzz on the various beer sampling at Alley Kat, our next stop was off the beaten path. We headed to the City Artifact Centre that is on Fort Hill road, located off the Walter Dale hill, just east of the Kinsmen sport centre. I didn’t even know this building existed until that day. What is interesting about that building was that it was built to be a new brewery that never opened.

Up the hill from this building, used to stand the original Strathcona Brewing &Malting’s brick building that was facing Saskatchewan Drive. The brewery went out of business when prohibition came into effect.

The hill where the Brewery used to be

After prohibition, the Northwest Brewing Company’s (O’Keefe’s Brewery was the parent company) purchased the building in 1924. In 1958 the NW Brewing Company changed their name to their flagship beer: Bohemian Maid.

The beer was manufactured well into the 1970’s. Which in the same decade the company built another newer building just down the hill. In the late 1970’s, Bohemian Maid packed up and the original brick building that Strathcona Brewing started was torn down, while the newer building still stands and houses artifacts.

Outside the Edmonton Artifact building we were shown a now covered sink hole that appeared in 2013. When the city tried to fill the hole, the crews noticed there was an underground stream that was most likely used in the manufacturing of the beer, and lots of stubby beer bottles at the bottom of the hole.

We were so lucky to have the opportunity to into the Artifacts building. This place is not open to the public and as a historic nut – I was in heaven.

In the artifact building. Some of the beer items collected.

The building is very large and had two floors filled with lots historic artifacts from Edmontonians. I was most impressed by the chair that Emily Murphy used in the Legislature. There were old HBC coats, chairs, pictures and of course old beer memorabilia. This place was a candy store of all things antique and I could’ve stayed for hours.

Historic!

Emily Murphy's chair

HBC coats 

We were told the artifacts are restored and are used in Fort Edmonton Park and John Walter’s Museum. Individuals have either donate items or the city purchase items from various estate sales. Trust me, this place was just amazing. The tour’s fee was worth every penny when I saw the inside of the building.

Furniture from old department stores from Jasper Avenue.

The next stop of the day, took us to the other side of the river in the Rossdale community. There, in its glory - we were outside the building that started Edmonton’s first beer: Yellowhead. The building was established in 1905 by Edmonton Brewing & Malting and is a historic designation. When the demand of beer increased, and the issue of bring the barrels up the hills got too tiresome - EB&M moved into the building that housed Molson. The EB&M Rossdale building is now home to private citizens.

The building where it all began

An interesting tid-bit, the original EB&M “Yellowhead” Rossdale building is currently owned by GeneDub, who is no other the owner of the ‘now’ Yellowhead Premium Lager. Wow, a full circle in Edmonton’s beer history!

A picture of the original brewery behind the baseball diamond

The final stop of the tour was our original start: Brewsters in Oliver Square. At Brewsters’, we had a tour of their manufacturing and storage facilities. The beer is made on the first level and then pumped and stored in a very cold room, on the second level. The bar has pipes that link to the second floor. You can’t get any fresher beer than that.

At Brewsters, we got our swag bag, which consisted of two glasses. An Alleykat glass and a special and limited edition of the Girder Bender. We also got a ticket to the Craft Beer Festival on June 6^th and a Sherbrooke bottle opener. I found the goodies pretty sweet.

Our swag bag

Also, our tour included a free pint of beer at Brewsters. I had the Hammer Head red ale and when my hubby picked me up, he ordered himself a black and tan. Ah, what a great way to end a day of beer history.

Hammer Head Red Ale

Black and tan

I truly enjoyed this tour with Edmonton City as Museum Project and I hope they continue with more. Our tour guide mentioned that they are thinking of doing another beer tour in October. - Sign me up!

Some old beer labels made here in Edmonton

Beer 101: Lagers are a German style of beer. You will hear a lot about lagers and ales, and the difference is lagers are fermented and conditioned at low temperatures, while Ales are brewed using warm fermentation. The new buzz is India Pale Ale or commonly known as IPA’s – it’s a type of beer originated in Great Britain, which used a high quantity of hops to keep the beer from spoiling on voyages to India. Hops gives beer the tangy, grapefruit like taste.