First Annual Banff Craft Beer Festival

Last month, Alberta Beer Festivals kicked off the first annual Banff Craft Beer Festival against a backdrop that could rival any other beer festival on earth.

The Banff festival is the newest event to be added to ABF’s full lineup, which includes the Calgary and Edmonton Oktoberfest, The Calgary International Beerfest and the Edmonton Craft Beer festival. The reputation of these events definitely supported this Banff festival as tickets for the weekend sold out in a matter of days.

Against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, sponsors and attendees came from around the globe to check out what Alberta craft brewers have to offer.  “We felt Banff was the best place to showcase the best craft beer Alberta has to offer,” said Bill Robinson, Co-Founder of Alberta Beer Festivals. “After all, Banff is the most beautiful place in the province.”

But aside from all the natural beauty, there was plenty of beer to be had. Our top four beers included:

1. Blindman Brewing: Robust Porter. Coming out of Lacombe, this porter was easy and light to drink which is rare for a porter.  A good entry point for those venturing into the darker side of beers. (6.5% ABV, 35 IBU)
2. Last Best Brewery Banff Avenue Brewing & Dead Rabbit Brewing: Cranberry Sour. This Calgary brewer collaboration featured an experimental and limited batch cranberry sour, promising enough that they should feature it more. (5% ABV, ?? IBU)
3. Six Corners Brew Works: Triple Summit IPA. From the small town of Okotoks, this IPA doesn’t mess around. Packed full of  citrus notes prominently featuring grapefruit and pepper, this surprisingly comes in at upwards of 10.7%ABV. This was one of the first beers to tap out (10.7% ABV, 100 IBU)
4. Bench Creek Brewing: Belgian IPA. Yellowhead country makes a soft and smooth Belgian IPA with a nice fruity hop aroma. Bench Creek know their beer, and have the 2015 peoples choice award to prove it. (7% ABV, 70 IBU)

Expect to see more great things come out of the Banff Festival as it returns next year.

Photo credits: David Claveau