Thanks to the proliferation of independent breweries, there’s a handcrafted pint waiting for you in nearly every part of the province. Each is a unique expression of the place and people who made it, a local story about Alberta in a glass. So, get out and get acquainted by way of a cold one. Whether your tastes lean toward small towns, prairie resorts or boreal wilderness, here’s inspiration for a season of taproom tourism.
You can find Snake Lake Beer on tap at a couple of chain restaurants in Edmonton. But missing is the chance to follow it up with a dip at a nearby beach. For that, you go to the source.
Adam Nachbaur has lived in the Sylvan Lake area since he was 18 years old. He’s been an oilfield mechanic and a commercial pilot, and was enticed six years ago to sell nearly everything he had to bring locally made beer to the lakeside resort town. “It was well worth the risk,” says Nachbaur.
The success of Snake Lake — which borrows from the area’s original name — owes to striking a balance. It’s growing annually and shipping beer outside the province. But the 75-seat taproom (the patio accommodates another 50) acknowledges the needs of locals for a good brew, a chat and pub snacks, and of tourists for a memorable getaway.
“We don’t have TVs [because] beer is for conversation,” says co-owner Nachbaur. Some nights, however, there may be live music or comedy.
While the brewery’s top seller is its citrusy-smooth Sidewinder IPA, Snake Lake also serves its own line of ready-to-drink mixes, thanks to a recent addition of a still in an expansion involving the neighbouring building. The snappy vodka lemonade is a favourite, says Nachbaur, but he also notes the subtler green tea blend as evidence of the refinement of the brewing staff.
Tucked into a business park, Snake Lake offers a break from the bustle of the beach just a few minutes away. Other respite might be found in several hotels within walking distance of the brewery (the reliable Prairie Moon Inn is conveniently located 800 metres south). Local taxis can help as needed.
“It’s easy to figure out a way to get home safely,” says Nachbaur — for the night, at least. The hard part might be actually leaving.
26 Industrial Dr, Sylvan Lake, AB
163 km
Prairie Moon Inn
Juan Monterrosa wanted the name of his brewery to reflect his Latino roots, but still be inclusive. “I wanted to make sure that it didn’t have two Rs,” he says, saving non-Spanish speakers the trouble of trying to roll them. Familia did that and more.
This tiny taproom, extended by a deck in summer, sits at the corner of a collection of shops and cafes at Pigeon Lake, the area where Monterrosa grew up after his parents arrived as refugees from El Salvador’s civil war. He remembers home as “vibrant, it smelled delicious, there’s music playing all the time.” Familia, just over two years old, evokes that. It’s comfortable but lively (“staff make fun of me for how much I play Bad Bunny,” says Monterrosa with a laugh), and scented by warm grain.
That sense of welcome is in the beer too. Monterrosa is a veteran homebrewer who appreciates simplicity. Core offerings include a crisp golden ale, a savoury pale ale, and a hoppy but mild New England pale ale. And, of course, there’s a cerveza.
“Every country in Central America has their national beer,” says Monterrosa. Costa del Sol, named for his favourite El Salvadoran beach, is clean and cheerful.
For those less familiar with craft, “I feel like our beers are made to be a low barrier to entry,” says Monterrosa.
But he still enjoys getting creative. Add the likes of a dry-hopped sour or an IPA made with pastry from Holey Grail Donuts & Bakery to your samplings before retiring to the quaint Village Creek Country Inn across the street.
Spa packages are available, Monterrosa adds. Golf courses are nearby. Ma-Me-O Beach is up the road. He sees the brewery as enriching visitors’ experience of Pigeon Lake. Maybe his, too. “I love going in on a busy day and you get the energy of the people,” he says. “It feels like family.”
26 Village Dr, Westerose, AB (Pigeon Lake)
109 km
Village Creek Country Inn
Golf Courses (Black Bull Golf Resort, Dorchester Ranch Golf Course, Willow Greens Golf Resort), Ma-Me-O Beach
Before joining the parade of traffic west to the mountains, consider the paradise of underappreciated wilderness to the north. At the end of Highway 44 is Lesser Slave Lake, a body of water so large that one side can’t be seen from the other, crystal clear and skirted by a white-sand beach, surrounded by lush boreal forest.
And it even comes with a brewery.
“Everyone’s coming here for camping, fishing and all the outdoor activities that we have [in the region],” says Dog Island Brewing cofounder Ben Fiddler. “The brewery is kind of the icing on top of that.”
Pull up a chair at a live edge table supported by industrial piping — a nod to both the natural setting and the trades backgrounds of Fiddler and business partner Chad Paulson — and recount the day’s adventures with family, friends and even the dog, who’s welcome too. Don’t miss Saints and Sinners, one of Alberta’s best examples of a West Coast IPA, and Rise from the Ashes, a rich red ale brewed in recognition of the resilience of the community in the face of the disastrous 2011 wildfire. (The brewery also offers a growing lineup of pre-made cocktails, including a hard iced tea.)
Throughout the summer, you’ll find that community gathered at Dog Island (named, incidentally, for an uninhabited island in the lake) to take in live music, try their luck at cornhole, or to back their favourite food truck at the annual “burger battle.”
“Beer is related to good times with family and friends,” says Paulson. “It’s pretty sweet to be a part of that.”
After those good times, Old Town Cabins offer a comfortably rustic rest, a few minutes north of the brewery and near the lake. If you’re a camper, dive into the wilderness beyond with a spot at the serene Marten River Campground.
250 Caribou Trail SW, Slave Lake, AB
255 km
Old Town Cabins
Marten River Campground
If a student ever left an apple on a Ty de Hoog’s desk when he was a teacher, you might wonder if it got him thinking. These days, he turns about 100,000 pounds of the fruit a year into crisp, creative ciders in his hometown of Camrose.
De Hoog started out homebrewing beer. But when he landed a job teaching in Creston, B.C., he and his wife rented a house on an orchard. When life gives you apples, “well, you gotta give cider a try,” he says. With the arrival of their first child, they headed home to be closer to family, bringing a love of cider with them. True North Cider was the result, opened in January 2021.
De Hoog is still teaching, just not in the classroom. Craft cider is relatively new to Alberta. “It seems like there’s been, slowly, a shift from when we started to now, where people realize what cider actually is,” says de Hoog. “Education is our biggest thing.”
True North is working at “shifting the narrative” from equating the drink with syrupy-sweet, cooler-like concoctions. The cider is always made from 100 per cent Canadian apple juice, dry and easy-drinking.
It also leans toward the unconventional. “In North American cider, there really is no set style,” says de Hoog. “You can go whichever way you want.” His preferred direction includes aromatics, enlisting the nose alongside the taste buds. While True North serves a traditional cider at its taproom and summer patio, its core lineup also includes hopped raspberry and blueberry-vanilla versions. Seasonals have combined pomegranate and basil, lemon and lavender, and more, to delicious effect.
Overall, says de Hoog, “we’re trying to promote quality and uniqueness.” After your crash course, take a stroll through Camrose’s eclectic downtown and consider staying over — most hotel chains are represented, with the Canalta posting strong reviews.
3843 B 44 Ave, Camrose, AB
94 km
Canalta
Camrose Mainstreet
This article appears in the June 2024 issue of Edify
