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2 days agoWhy the Craft Beer Scene Is Better Now Than Ever | PUNCH
Craft beer culture is evolving, with a return to its roots despite recent industry challenges and declining trends.
Snake River Brewing has quietly earned its place as one of the town's original après-ski gathering spots, a place where cold fingers warmed up around pint glasses and powder days were replayed one story at a time.
In 2014, Leon opened his brewery's first location inside a tiny warehouse space in the city's north-east. It was good timing. All over North America, millennials were going crazy for craft beer, and in Alberta, the government had recently changed rules to help microbreweries get their product to market. "There was a huge thirst in Alberta for craft beer," said Leon, who recalls getting emails about new breweries opening nearly every week. "It was a pretty wild time."
We gravitated towards the Blue Ball as teenagers, not because they served underage drinkers. They didn't. And we could only afford to drink lime and soda anyway. No, we loved this place because it had (drumroll) two bars. So we were not only cool enough to go down the pub (never to the pub, strictly down the pub or, better still, down the Blue), but we even had our own bar.
Fans of the Hot Toddy will love the warming, boozy flavors of a well-made Mulled Wine. This drink is about as timeless as it gets, with origins in ancient Rome. At its essence, it's a warm drink featuring red wine, orange slices, honey (or maple syrup), wintry spices and an additional spirit like brandy or whiskey (or any spirit you have on hand).
Low Key represents a deliberate innovation play for Harpoon based on emerging cultural trends toward moderation over abstention, the company notes. Rather than simply diluting an existing popular recipe, the team applied new techniques to preserve flavor, aroma, and craft quality, just at a lower ABV.
No trip to the brewery is complete without sampling the wares. Even if it's a place you visit regularly, you'll likely want to sample most of what it has to offer at least once. But while a greater variety may seem more enticing, it can also signal a potential red flag. Every kind of beer they have on tap means another tap that needs to be maintained. The more tap lines they have, the more likely it is that maintenance or cleaning gets neglected.