Craft beer and southern barbecue meet at Paddy’s Barbecue & Brewery

As the name Paddy’s Barbecue & Brewery suggests, the food shares equal billing with small-batch beers, the latter often in collaboration with other brewers. Brisket, turkey, sausage, chicken and pork ribs are slow roasted daily and offered by the pound (or in a sandwich), accompanied by sides like baked beans and potato salad.

Location Just east of Macleod Trail and south of Burnsland Cemetery. Small outdoor “paddio”

Ambience Warehouse chic: metal, cement and open ductwork

Food All the fall-off-the-bone, house-roasted southern barbecue you can imagine

The barbecue earns equal billing with the beer

Signature beer Award-winning (2019 Alberta Bear Awards) Black Lager Schwarzbier (5.3%, 29 IBU), with hints of chocolate and coffee

A diverse roster of beers

Factoid Named after Paddy Sorrenti, whose family runs Sorrenti’s Catering

Paddy’s Barbecue & Brewery
3610 Burnsland Road SE, Calgary
Wednesday to Friday opens at 11 am, weekends opens at 11 am. Closed Monday and Tuesday
403-651-7150

Dogs are more than welcome at Calgary’s Cold Garden Beverage Company

Arguing that Cold Garden Beverage Company isn’t the coolest craft brewery in Calgary could well draw howls of protest.

That’s partly because the Inglewood brewery welcomes dogs inside its taproom. And on a busy Saturday afternoon, the canine cacophony adds to the general din of folks chatting over some seriously good pints.

About a dozen beers on tap, at affordable prices

Mostly though, Cold Garden is just undeniably funky with vegetated walls, comfy couches, graffiti-covered bathrooms. Really, there’s nothing like it in Calgary’s busy craft brewing scene.

Vegetated walls are just part of the funky design

As are the graffiti-covered bathrooms

Location In the heart of Inglewood’s craft brewing district and just a few steps away from Ol Beautiful Brewing.

Ambience An undeniably funky hangout

Food A few snacks, but it’s all about the beer

Availability On tap at a number of Calgary pubs and restaurants or by growler in the taproom or at a handful of liquor outlets

Favourite beer This Must Be The IPA (6% alcohol, 69 IBU), Favourite name: Red Smashed in Buffalo Jump (Irish red ale 5.1%, 26 IBU)

A flight of excellent brews

Cold Garden Beverage Company
1100 11 Street SE, Calgary, AB
Tuesday to Thursday 11 am-midnight, Friday-Saturday 11 am-1 am, Sunday 11 am-midnight. Closed Monday
403-764-2653

Last Best Brewing’s IPA #3: Tokyo Drift is a 2019 favourite

Usually, a craft brewery’s signature beer is a core offering. And Last Best Brewing & Distillery does make one of Calgary’s better every-day IPAs—one of its two beers you’ll find in six-pack cans at local liquor stores.

But you’ll have to visit its taproom (or frequent a beer hall like National) to sample one of my favourite beers of 2019, Last Best’s IPA #3: Tokyo Drift, weighing in at a flavourful, potent 7.2% alcohol content. My server explains it’s a bit finicky to make and reliably put in cans. But I’m happy to make the journey for a poured pint. Just hope it stays on tap for a good while.

Location On the edge of downtown in the Beltline district

Ambience Large, somewhat sterile space and patio, though I was there during a mid-day lull

A large, pub-like taproom

Food A full menu, ranging from root vegetable fries ($5 during happy hour) to oven-fired pizzas and Korean fried chicken sandwiches

A full food menu including these root-vegetable fries

Favourite beer IPA #3: Tokyo Drift

Factoid Last Best’s owners have three other, older craft breweries: Jasper Brewing Company (opened 2005), Banff Avenue Brewing (2010) and Wood Buffalo Brewing (2013)

Last Best Brewing
607 11 Avenue SW, Calgary
Opens daily at 11:30 am, except Sunday (10 am)

A flight at Calgary’s Inner City Brewing

The backbone of pretty much every craft brewery is its core beers, ones always available in the taproom and liquor stores. But for Inner City Brewing, it’s the more experimental brews that may grab your attention.

This is where the small-batch magic happens

So while you can easily pick up standards like the Bridgelandia Blonde Ale and the 800 Block New England IPA in local liquor outlets, you’ll have to saunter down to Inner City’s taproom to sample small-batch offerings like sorghum beer and coconut Hefeweizen.

Location As the name suggests, Inner City is in Calgary’s near-downtown Beltline district, a few doors down from stalwart Brewsters.

Ambience Warehouse chic, with high ceilings, open ductwork, dark interior, exposed brick and a wall of stainless steel brewing tanks

Warehouse chic design

Food Other than a handul of locally made snacks, your best dining bets may be deliveries from nearby restaurants or bringing your own food

Signature beer Bridgelandia, a modern, hazy blonde ale (5%), featuring juicy hops and tropical fruits. Among the small-batch beers, a standout is The Corner of Here & There, an English red ale

Half a dozen small-batch brews on tap

Inner City Brewing
816 11 Avenue SW, Calgary
Sunday 1 pm-9 pm, Monday to Wednesday 11 am-10 pm, Thursday to Saturday 11 am-midnight
587-880-8600