Five Walkable Brewery Districts in Calgary

This summer a few more Calgary breweries opened for business, creating four new districts for Walking Brewery Tours where beer fans can have a full afternoon of sampling the freshest YYC beers from at least three craft breweries.

Until now, the Barley Belt and Inglewood were the only real ‘walkable’ brewery areas in Calgary that featured at least three breweries in close proximity to each other. The Barley Belt, situated in the Manchester district, just south of the Calgary Stampede grounds, features Cabin, Born, Banded Peak, Confluence Distilling, 2021 Canadian Brewery of the Year The Establishment, and their neighbour Annex Ales. The Historic Inglewood district, one neighbourhood over from East Village/Downtown Calgary houses Ol' Beautiful, Cold Garden, Highline, and Revival Brewcade.

Now, with the recent brewery openings in Calgary, beer fans of all types can also visit Alyth/Bonnybrook, Sunalta, Currie Barracks and 1 St SW to find at least three breweries all within a very short walking distance of each other. As seen on the YYCTOURS Calgary Brewery Map, 16 of these breweries are found in districts that are next to each other and very close to downtown, making them not only easy to access with transit, but also perfect for a walking Calgary Brewery Tour.

1st St S.W.

If you're visiting Calgary and seeking breweries near downtown, the Beltline district is a must-visit. Located just south of downtown, it boasts five breweries. Specifically, the vicinity of 1st St SW and 10th Ave SW features three excellent breweries within a two-block radius, and a short walk westward reveals two additional ones. Its proximity to the downtown core and public transit makes it an ideal spot for an afternoon brewery tour, ensuring a safe return home..

33 Acres Brewing Company

33 boasts several locations in Vancouver, and they've recently launched a quaint brewery in Calgary known for its exceptional beer. Among our top picks is the Superberliner series, a rotating selection of Berliner Weisse-style beers. 33 presents an extensive array of finely crafted beers, featuring a charming outdoor seating area along 11 Ave SW, complete with fireplaces, as well as indoor seating. Discover our comprehensive review of 33 Acres in our Calgary brewery reviews.

BottleScrew Bills.

Since 1980, Bottlescrew Bills has stood as a Calgary icon and a pioneer in craft beer offerings. Amid the pandemic, they innovated by swapping out some tables for a brewery. Now, they not only craft standard brews like hazy IPAs, lagers, and ales, but they're also among the select few in the city serving Real Ale and Raw Ale. Their expansive venue boasts multiple rooms, partitioned, sheltered, and elevated patio areas, along with a cozy 'dive bar' ambiance indoors. Our review of BSB for Calgary Brewery Tours can be found here.

Four Dogs Brewing.

Four Dogs, having opened in July 2023, are the newcomers on the scene. They produce small batches of beer on-site and also engage in consignment brewing with Common Crown, the 2020 Canadian Brewery of the Year, to satisfy their beer demand. Four Dogs has rapidly become popular as one of the few establishments in town that allow dogs inside the brewery. For our review of Four Dogs, click here. For a dog-friendly map of Calgary that indicates which breweries welcome your four-legged friends, click here.

Last Best and Inner City

Just west on 11 Ave you can find Last Best who are both a brewery and a distillery, and Inner City brewing.

Sunalta, Calgary

Located just west of the Beltline (14 St SW) there are three more Calgary breweries to visit within three blocks of each other. All featuring great food and various styles of brew for any level of beer drinker.

Tailgunner Brewing

Tailgunner is one of our favourite breweries in town for a few reasons. First the ownership and team are great people which always makes a venue worth visiting. They offer Acme Pizza which in our books, is a must when consuming beer, and lastly, they use a very traditional German and Czech brewing technique called decoction. Decoction involves taking parts of the mash out and boiling them at different temperatures, then adding them back into the mash, to create added layers and dimensions to the overall beer. Normally this is done to lagers, which is what Tailgunner specializes in.

Two House Brewing Company

Located just a few blocks west of Tailgunner is Two House brewery. Two House used to be in a different building close to 14th St, but they moved West after constructing their own building and relocating the equipment there. Several beers are available in the large barn-style brewery and they offer snacks and pizza.

Best of Kin Social

The newer of the three, Best of Kin is located directly on 14th St. It is a small batch brewery with tasty food and a great family atmosphere. BOK offers a wide variety of beer from lagers to hazy’s, but are possibly best known for their Coffee Kelp Stout.

Alyth Bonnybrook

Situated on the south-side of Inglewood, Alyth/ Bonnybrook now has three top notch breweries that are all within walking distance of each other. One of them just opened and is serving great beer with a cool concept, while the other two are some of the most heavily awarded breweries in Calgary.

Eighty-Eight Brewing Co.

Everyone in Calgary knows Eighty-Eight. They are multi-time provincial and national award winning brewers and masters of hazy beers. 88 also has more than a dozen other beers across all styles pouring fresh on tap. The Inside of Eighty-Eights Calgary 88 olympics themed taproom is Portland Street Pizza, which offers some of the best pies in town, along with great charcuterie, meatballs and more. There is also lots of outdoor and dog friendly seating.

Dandy Brewing Company / Dandy Pizza

Dandy has been around since the beginning of the craft beer boom in 2013. They craft excellent products and also serve great pizza. Any beer that is made at Dandy is going to be delicious as they consistently win awards for their brews. Dandy features a line up of core beers along with several small batch rotating features.

Evil Corporation Brewing

As we covered in our recent review of Evil Corporation Brewing here, they make some great beer and serve it up from a pillar in the middle of the taproom floor. This creative barless concept is something we have never seen before and is proof that the Calgary brewery scene is not only leading the way nationally in award winning beer production, but also through innovation.

Currie Barracks

Ok, this one is a little bit of a stretch as Buffalo 9 Brewing while still walkable, is a bit further away. Currie Barracks offers easily walkable access to two breweries, a distillery and a restaurant. The Currie Barracks, a former military base, is located a few minutes drive South-west from Calgary's downtown core and off of Crowchild Trail near Mount Royal University.

Vaycay Brewing / Burwood Distilling / Veranda restaurant

This large former military horse stable has been converted into a brewery and distillery that both share a restaurant called Veranda. Having recently opened in spring of 2023, the venue boasts a large amount of seating and a full sun patio. Vaycay brewing pumps out a series of core beers and are slowly introducing new styles to the mix. Burwood Distilling crafts a wide array of spirits and RTD’s (ready-to-drink) canned cocktails.

Wild Rose Brewery

Wild Rose is an institution when it comes to Calgary craft beer. They opened prior to the 2013 craft beer boom and quickly gained a reputation as an excellent craft beer producer with a cool quonset hut style brewery that serves really good food. Wild Rose always seems to have people in it, but with ample seating inside and out, there is always room for more.

Buffalo 9

One of Calgary's newest breweries having opened in spring of 2024, B9 is a large space with some outdoor seating. It quickly became a popular spot for those living in Killarney where nothing else existed when looking for a beer. Their German Pils is one of our favourite beers in the city right now and worth a trip to try it out.

If you would like to visit more than one brewery district in a day, be sure to sign up for a Calgary Brewery Tour where you not only sample great beer, you also get to learn how it is made with a behind-the-scenes brewery tour.

Foothills Industrial

This district houses four breweries that are close enough together to walk to, but may be reached quicker by bicycle. The only problem is, this area is in the far SE corner of Calgary making it a little more difficult to get to than others in our list of walkable brewery districts in Calgary.

Good Mood Brewery.

Good mood has been in the scene for a while, but they have just opened a new taproom.

Boiling Oar Brewery

Another new Calgary brewery. Review coming soon.

Big Rock Brewery

Big Rock is an institution in Alberta. Big Sky BBQ has also recently moved in, so if you like BBQ and beer. Head on up.

Brewsters.

Similar to Big Rock, Brewsters has been around since the 80's. It is a family business with locations all across Alberta. Much of tehir beer is brewed here at this location. They have a huge menu and lots of TVs.