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Calgary Brewery Tour
Calgary Brewery Reviews
Banded Peak Brewery - Sept 1, 2023
Every year, the team at YYCTOURS volunteers at the annual Calgary event Brewery and the Beast. This year, aside from getting our fill of meat from dozens of local Calgary restaurants and vendors, we also got to pour some Banded Peak brewery beers for those in attendance. Unfortunately, volunteers can not drink at the event, so in order to review their beers, we decided to head down to the brewery itself.
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Located in the heart of the 'Barley Belt', and just south of the Stampede Grounds at 519 34 Ave SE, Banded Peak has just finished a major and impressive expansion. Word on the street is that the renovations also include a possible 'rooftop' patio, which would make Banded Peak the only brewery on town with such a feature. A couple years ago Banded was purchased by Labatt breweries, but despite what some think, that doesn't mean they sold out. In fact, just the opposite. The support from Labatt allows Banded to continue doing what they did before catching the eye of big business. They have fun and experiment while making excellent craft beers.
Our flight at Banded included three 8oz pours for $10.00. We started with the Amber Lager, a beer that has roots tracing back to traditional German / Oktoberfest styles, the Amber IPA, which is a rare style of beer, and the Cold IPA, which is also another fairly hard-to-find beer that features Ale ingredients with Lager yeast, but is not to be confused with an India Pale Lager.
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First up was the Amber Lager, a seasonal beer from the brewers at Banded Peak. At 5.1% ABV, this beer was smooth and clean with a nice grainy maltiness.
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Second was a core beer that many Calgarians are familiar with, Summit Seeker Amber IPA. This easy-drinking ale comes in at 6.5% ABV and features prominent hop aroma and flavour balanced with a malty sweetness.
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Lastly, the Cold IPA. This style of beer is a newer offshoot from the IPA trend, which is made just like an IPA, except, instead of ale yeast, uses lager yeast and lagering temperatures. You can still expect everything you would normally get from an IPA such as high hop content and citrus notes, but the Cold IPA technique allows for a cleaner and crisper taste and finish. Here we picked up prominent pine and a light citrus. This beer, which is only made in small-batches, is super crushable, like most Banded Peak beers, and is our choice for Beer of the Week.
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Banded Peak brewery has a large selection of tasty food, here is their menu. Banded Peak is also Dog Friendly on the patio and the staff are always quick to come out and say hi. Our dog mascot kept watch as we ordered a very good Grilled Reuben sandwich.
With so many breweries in Calgary to choose from, don't pass on a chance to drop in and have a few beers at Banded Peak, and if you would like to stop in to Banded Peak on a Calgary Brewery Tour, just let us know below.
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YYCTOURS also offer Calgary Charters if you would like to plan your own event and just need wheels and a driver.
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To see more Calgary Brewery Reviews, click here.
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Cheers