Beer of the Year?

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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

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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

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.

On the Road Again

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Two-and-a-half years later, it was time to head out on another road trip to the southwestern US, featuring all those red states south of Alberta: Montana, Idaho, Utah and, mostly, Arizona. Twas a grand time for warm, early winter hiking.

Along the I-15 in northern Montana

Lovely walking paths above Butte, Montana

Moose near Melrose, Montana along the I-15

Irrigation ice-up near Dillon, Montana

Always have to stop for a burger at In-n-Out

Along the Zen Trail in St. George, Utah

Petrified sand dunes in Snow Canyon State Park, near St. George

River rules at casino in Laughlin, Arizona

Flatiron hike outside Apache Junction

Antelope slot canyon tour in Page, Arizona

View from the I-15 in Fillmore, Utah

Best Western Paradise in Fillmore

Wind turbine blades heading north to Canada

Best almond croissants in the world at the Homestead Bakeshop in Fort Macleod, Alberta. Welcome back to Canada!

You Can’t Have Too Many Farmers’ Markets in Calgary

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Folks are flocking to the new Calgary Farmers’ Market location

If you ever thought Calgary was oversaturated with farmers’ markets, think again.

When the Calgary Farmers’ Market opened its long-awaited second location last week, in the city’s west end near Canada Olympic Park, there were 35,000 shoppers and gawkers who passed through its doors, a vendor told me… in one day!

Its high-ceilinged, 55,000-square-foot indoor building, and its some 75 vendors, seem capable of handling such mobs. I’m not so sure about the traffic.

A majestically long, high-ceilinged building

When I visited on a glorious Friday morning, a week later, it was a game of musical cars, with multiple motorists waiting for someone to leave so they could park. The traffic spilled over from the paved lots to a gravel yard to the north.

It’s not like everyone was rushing to save money. I saw lots of meals, from the various food vendors costing $15-plus dollars. The produce and other foodstuffs are nice but not exactly cheap, for anyone expecting a rural, bare-bones experience.

Fresh fruit is always a draw

But this is Calgary, where folks are accustomed to, and maybe even expect, upscale farmers’ markets. Indeed, it’s a pleasant place to shop, wander and meet with friends.

And the aisles are sufficiently wide to avoid the indoor traffic jams—known as stroller Fridays— that plagued previous incarnations of this market.

Luc’s cheeses are a mainstay at both Farmers’ Market

Phil &Sebastian is returning to Calgary Farmers’ Market after a long absence
You should order one of Renay’s fabulous, gluten-free birthday cakes

Calgary Farmers’ Market West
25 Greenbriar Drive NW, Calgary
Wednesday to Saturday 9 am-7 pm, Sunday 9 am-5 pm

Serving Up Pie in Alberta’s Remote Foothills

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Loading up plates of pie at The Miners’ Cafe in Nordegg, Alberta

I’m not sure there’s a foolproof formula for a successful restaurant, especially after all the shutdowns and draconian regulations of the past two-plus years. But if there is, I’m betting it has something to do with pies.

It’s hard to resist the temptation, and aroma, of fresh-baked fruit pies, witness the allure of places like Shuswap Pie Company in Salmon Arm, B.C. or Pie Junkie, and their butter-rich crusts, in Calgary.

But to prove that a pie-laden concept can work even in the boondocks, I present as evidence The Miners’ Café, in the forested foothills of west-central Alberta.

Where? An hour’s drive west of Rocky Mountain House. Where’s that? More than two hours north of Calgary.

Let’s put it this way. Nordegg is a former coal-mining town that’s been elevated from ghost town to hamlet, population less than 100.

And yet, there were half a dozen people in line ahead of me, when I pulled into The Miners’ Cafe on a recent summer’s weekday.

A diverse lunch menu

Some, like me, were ordering mid-afternoon soup, sandwiches and coffee. But it seemed pretty much everyone was also getting a wedge of peach-apple or strawberry rhubarb to stay or to go. Others were loading up on whole pies, fresh or frozen, of blackberry-apple or ginger-pear.

But it’s the pie menu that captures most people’s attention

I mean who’s going to compete with $22 for a whole, frozen pie? Or a deep-dish pie that packs in nine cups of fruit?

It’s enough to make you jump in your car and drive a long, long way north and west.

The egg salad sandwich is darned good, too

The Miners’ Cafe
619 Miners Crescent, Nordegg, Alberta
Daily, mid-morning till 4:30 or 6:30 pm
403-322-0314

A Shelter in a Storm

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Six hours holed up in Coastal Kitchen Cafe gave us time to work through the menu

I’ve never been kicked out of a coffee shop.

I’m sure I should have been. And not because of any bad behaviour.

It’s because of the countless times, throughout western North America, I’ve nursed a cup of coffee over two hours of catching up on email, doing online research, writing blog reviews or just killing time.

But I certainly set a personal best/worst recently, although arguably with good reason.

We had just come off the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, a four-day backpack in the southwest corner of Vancouver Island. The last day, we had started hiking, sans breakfast or coffee, at 5 am because of a predicted heavy rain beginning around 7 am.

The Juan de Fuca Trail was certainly wet, muddy and rooted

It was a good call because the rain started in earnest just after we hit the trailhead. Still, we were reasonably damp by the time we walked the 2.5-kilometre road into the small community of Port Renfrew.

Normally, not a big deal. But because of our super-early start, we had about eight hours to kill before our shuttle bus arrived. And standing still for that long—even under a protective awning or tree and even with a change into dryer clothes—would be a chilly experience or worse.

So thank God for Coastal Kitchen Café, one of only a couple of restaurants in Port Renfrew. We dumped our packs on the patio, then marched into the mercifully warm café and set up camp, so to speak, at a far table.

Hot coffee and an excellent pulled-pork breakfast sandwich were the first order of business

There we sat for the next six hours—warming up, drying out and watching the steady rain out the window. Every half hour or so, one of us would venture up to the counter and order something to eat or drink. Just to show we were paying customers.

How about a bowl of fries? Sure, why not?

It was also a great way to work through a menu. Everything was first rate, from a breakfast sandwich featuring house-smoked pulled pork to a spinach-fruit smoothie to a bowl of hot fries. And lots of cups of good, steaming hot coffee.

Chased by a smoothie

Throughout these six hours, no one asked how long we were planning to stay, even during surges of activity that filled all the indoor tables. They pretty much just ignored us.

We finally did pack up and leave, near closing time, but only to move across the street to the Renfrew Pub, where we knocked back celebratory pints of beer along with local rock-cod fish and chips and poke bowls. Here, too, we were treated graciously, albeit for only a couple of hours until we dashed out into the unceasing rain to finally catch our bus back to Victoria.

A final meal of rock-cod fish and chips and poke bowls at the Renfrew Pub

So, a big thank you to Coastal Kitchen Café and Renfrew Pub for saving our bacon.

Coastal Kitchen Cafe
17245 Parkinson Road, Port Renfrew, B.C.
Daily 4:30 am-3 pm

Renfrew Pub
17310 Parkinson Road, Port Renfrew
Daily 11:30 am-8 pm