Wild Rose Brewery, established in 1996 as an independent craft brewery in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, is now a part of

Sapporo Breweries is a Japanese beer brewing company founded in 1876. Sapporo is the oldest brand of beer in Japan. It was first brewed in Sapporo, Japan, in 1876 by brewer Seibei Nakagawa. The world headquarters of Sapporo Breweries is in Ebisu, Shibuya, Toky ...

of Japan.

History

Wild Rose Brewery was founded in 1996 by Mike Tymchuk and Alan Yule. The brewery was initially located in Foothills Industrial Park, and only produced

draught beer Draught beer, also spelt draft, is beer served from a cask or keg rather than from a bottle or can. Draught beer served from a pressurised keg is also known as Name Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served dire ...

for sale in bars. In 2002 the brewery began bottling beer in 1 L

flip-top A flip-top, swing-top, lightning toggle, or Quillfeldt stopper (after the inventor, Charles de Quillfeldt) is a type of closure frequently used for bottles containing carbonated beverages, such as beer or mineral water. The mouth of the bottle i ...

bottles. In 2006 the brewery moved to Building AF23 at

Currie Barracks Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: �kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...

. The building, a

Quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semi cylindrical cross-section. The design was developed in the United States, based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War I ...

originally built as a clothing supply store, was renovated to include not only the brewery but also the ''Taproom''—an on-site pub. Upon having moved to the new location the brewery also expanded their business into bottling their products in 341 mL bottles. The brewery's increased popularity and doubts whether their lease at Currie Barracks would be renewed prompted the company to relocate the bulk of their production to a new location in Foothills Industrial Park (less than 1 km from

Big Rock Brewery Big Rock Brewery is a Canadian public company and the largest brewery that is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Additional brewing operations are located in Vancouver, British Columbia; Etobicoke, Ontario; and Liberty Village in Toronto, Ontario. ...

) in 2013. Their most popular beers are produced at the new facility, while certain seasonal and limited edition beers are still produced in small batches at the Currie Barracks facility, and rotating "Tap Room Cask" and "Brewers Tap" beers are available on tap only at the ''Taproom''. In the spring of 2015 Wild Rose began packaging their beers in cans for the first time. In 2019, shareholders of Wild Rose Brewery voted to accept a takeover offer from

Sleeman Breweries Sleeman Breweries is a Japanese-owned Canadian brewery founded by John Warren Sleeman in 1988 in Guelph, Ontario. The company is the third-largest brewing company in Canada. Along with its own Sleeman brands, the company produces under licence the ...

, which is itself owned by

of Japan. Due to its loss of independent ownership, Wild Rose was immediately removed from the Alberta Small Brewers Association.

Beer

Wild Rose brews a set of 'core' beers, which are widely distributed on-tap in bars and available in

liquor stores A liquor store is a retail shop that predominantly sells prepackaged liquors – typically in bottles – usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom, they may also be called an off-licence ( ...

throughout Alberta: *''IPA -'' an India Pale Ale; formerly known as ''Industrial Pale Ale'' *''Velvet Fog -'' an unfiltered pale

wheat ale Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The two main varieties are German ''Weizenbier'' and Belgian ''witbier''; other types include Lambic (made with wild y ...

*''WRaspberry Ale -'' a wheat ale infused with real raspberries *''Electric Avenue -'' a

pale lager Pale lager is a very pale-to-golden-colored lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid-19th century, when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing ...

*''Barracks Brown -'' a

brown ale Brown ale is a style of beer with a dark amber or brown colour. The term was first used by London brewers in the late 17th century to describe their products, such as mild ale, though the term has a rather different meaning today. 18th century br ...

*''Cowbell -'' a

sour ale Sour beer, also known as Sours, is beer which has an intentionally acidic, tart, or sour taste. Traditional sour beer styles include Belgian lambics, gueuze and Flanders red ale, and German gose and Berliner Weisse. Brewing Unlike modern brewin ...

made using the kettle souring technique Other Wild Rose beers are only available on-tap: *''Alberta Crude -'' an

oatmeal stout Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout. The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscri ...

*''WRed Wheat -'' a North American-style dark wheat ale *''S.O.B. -'' "Special Old Bitter", a pale

bitter Bitter may refer to: Common uses * Resentment, negative emotion or attitude, similar to being jaded, cynical or otherwise negatively affected by experience * Bitter (taste), one of the five basic tastes Books * '' Bitter (novel)'', a 2022 nove ...

A wide variety of seasonal and limited edition beers are also produced. Some of these include: * ''Ponderosa Gose'' - Only available in summer; A tropical wheat beer with passion fruit, salt and coriander * ''Cherry Porter'' - Only available in winter; An American-style

porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

brewed with BC cherries

Accolades

Wild Rose's Cherry Porter has been recognized as a top beer by several books including ''1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die'' and ''World's Best Beers: One Thousand Craft Brews from Cask to Glass.'' It was also the only Alberta brewery to be recognized at the 2008 Canadian Brewing Awards, winner of two silver medals for its wheat beer (Velvet Fog) and its barley wine. The brewery also received two bronze medals at the 2015 Canadian Brewing Awards for Electric Avenue lager and Natural Born Keller

kellerbier Kellerbier is a type of German beer, a lager, which is typically neither clarified nor pasteurised. The term Kellerbier literally translates as "cellar beer", referring to its cool lagering temperatures. Its recipe probably dates to the Middle ...

. The Taproom was voted Best Brew Pub, Best Local Brew many times since 2007 by the now-defunct ''FFWD Weekly''..

References

External links

* {{coord, 51.014600, -114.122895, type:landmark_region:CA, display=title Beer brewing companies based in Alberta Companies based in Calgary

History

Beer

Accolades

See also

References

External links