It’s not fire water. It’s Fire Bloom beer

It’s not often that me drinking beer is good for the world. Most of the time, I’m not even sure if I’m drinking to forget or forgetting to drink.

It’s an infinitesimally small step, but every time I sip a Fire Bloom lager from Calgary’s Best of Kin brewery, a portion of the sale goes to help regenerate wildfire-ravaged landscapes like the recent mountains around Jasper. Indeed, flowers from colourful fireweed that emerges from wildfire ashes were used to produce the honey that goes into the seasonal Fire Bloom beer.

Of course, this unique lager tastes pretty damn good, too. We enjoyed a couple of pints, along with a Big Hat hazy IPA, at Best of Kin’s taproom in the close-to-downtown neighbourhood of Sunalta.

It’s liquid honey, not fiery, going down the hatch

Unbeknownst to us, the Best of Kin owners (featuring brothers Ryan and Collin), staff and friends were celebrating the brewery’s second birthday when we visited. It was also happy hour, so a couple of tasty snacks—triple-cooked Kennebec fries and spicy parmesan popcorn—didn’t add much to our already reasonable tab.

The Fire Bloom pairs nicely with triple-cooked Kennebec potato fries

In all, a rather festive way to help the planet.

Best of Kin
1059 14 Street SW, Calgary
Tuesday to Sunday, most days 11:30 am to 11 pm
825-413-4233