A Christmas dilemma: the joys of flying versus the open (hopefully snow-free) road. Your choice.
In Praise of Road Trips
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Monthly Archives: December 2022
Beer of the Year?
This black-as-night imperial coffee stout is my fave beer of 2022
You just can’t beat serendipity.
So, we’re in Canmore’s Angry Bear Growlers, sampling a healthy number of the 60-odd, mostly regional, beers on tap and having a grand time with our pourer, Euan.
Euan poured us multiple samples at Angry Bear Growlers in Canmore
In walks a sales rep from nearby Canmore Brewing Company to replace a spent cask. He happens to mention a new beer the brewery and Lacombe’s Blindman Brewing have concocted. It’s an imperial coffee stout—three magical words to my ears—so it takes no convincing for us to toddle a few blocks over to the brewery to pick up a four pack.
Blindman Brewing in Lacombe, Alberta is a partner in this mad concoction
It’s called Brewers’ Breakfast and, should you heed the morning admonition, this oat-laced stout has got enough wallop to propel you out the door or back to bed, your choice.
Not surprisingly, it’s labelled a “strong beer”, weighing in at 8.5% alcohol. In the brewers’ words, it contains a “truckload of roasty, toasty and chocolatey malts from Red Shed Malting (Red Deer County) and an overzealous dose of freshly roasted Mocha Java coffee from Eclipse Coffee Roasters” (Canmore).
I might call it a thick sweater to coat and roll around your tongue on a frosty winter’s day, when the long nights are as black as this brew. Indeed, late in December, I think I’ve found my beer of the year for 2022.
If you fancy a brew with full-on intensity, you might want to pick some Brewers’ Breakfast up while this seasonal ale is in stock.
Angry Bear is happy to seal anything on tap in cans for takeway
Canmore Brewing Company
1460 Railway Avenue, Canmore, Alberta
Taproom opens at 1 pm daily except closed Tuesday
403-678-2337
Angry Bear Growlers
105, 304 Old Canmore Road, Canmore
Opens at 3 pm daily except closed Monday
403-675-9910
Note: Besides growler sales, Angry Bear will seal any beer on tap in 16-ounce cans.
Day Trips From Calgary a Great Christmas Gift
If you’re looking for a great, locally produced and locally focused Christmas gift, may I humbly suggest my Day Trips From Calgary book, just out in its fourth edition.
Why? It unveils nearly 100 things you can see and do on day trips within a two-hour drive of Calgary. They range from visits to world-class museums (like Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump) to nearby picnics (Big Hill Springs Provincial Park). From native-grass walks (the Whaleback) to scenic drives through prairies, foothills, mountains and badlands.
The Whaleback in southwest Alberta
Did I mention these are day trips, where you can just hop in the car and discover all the great landscapes of southern and central Alberta… and be home in time for dinner?
In other words, no horrors of airports, flying or wondering about the maskless coughing of a seatmate? Or, if you’re driving stateside, about lines at customs and dollars that cost nearly $1.40 Canadian.
Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park in eastern Alberta
Did I also mention it’s expensive to travel internationally these days, whether it’s flights, hotels or car rentals (yikes!). On a day trip from Calgary, your primary cost is gasoline, which has recently come down to under $1.30 per litre.
So why do you need my book? Well, it’s been in print since 1995 and sold more than 60,000 copies, so at least some folks think it’s worth keeping in their glovebox. It’s got a ton of trip ideas and enough detail to provide a rather complete natural and human history of Alberta, from the Crowsnest Pass north to Wetaskiwin, from Dinosaur Provincial Park to Lake Louise.
Historic Flat Iron building in Lacombe
Plus, in this edition, there’s a fairly comprehensive list of good, affordable eats and drinks in cities, towns, hamlets and roving food trucks (You knew there had to be a tie-in to Marathon Mouth). The photos are mostly new and better; thank you iPhone Pro.
Fabulous Homestead Bakeshop in Fort Macleod
It all adds up to nearly 400 door-stopping pages, for a steal-of-a-deal price of about $25.
Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park in central Alberta
Where can you buy it? Pretty much all the great, local, independent booksellers—Owl’s Nest Books, Pages on Kensington, Shelf Life Books and even Cafe Books in Canmore—carry it. As do the online giants Amazon and Indigo Chapters.
Marathon Mouth 