Our First-ever Inter-Provincial Beer-Off

My sister-in-law Vera and her fella Neil came out for a visit this weekend. Neil, having been reliably informed of our shared interest in craft beers, sent me an email with an intriguing proposal about a month beforehand: why not pick some of our preferred styles of beer and each of us present a provincial representative of that style in a head-to-head match-up?

As much as beer drinking is a dodgy enough hobby without bringing competition into the mix, I found this notion too compelling to resist and agreed to it right away. A few emails later and we had agreed on our categories:

• India Pale Ale
• Brown Ale
• Red Ale
• Stout 
• Novelty

(Sours had been included initially but sadly, Neil's failed to join him on the train ride out west.)

Joined by Vera and my nephew Mark on Saturday night, we proceeded to sample some of the favourite beers that our respective provinces had to offer.

Round 1: India Pale Ale

Canmore Brewing - Railway Avenue Rye IPA (AB)

Vs.

Cowbell Brewing -  Doc Perdue's Boxing Bruin IPA (ON)

I went out in the weeds a bit on this one, selecting an award-winning IPA brewed with rye as opposed to barley. This gives Railway Avenue a distinct tang and earthiness, but at the cost of some smoothness. The hoppy freshness was there, but Boxing Bruin had an irresistible fruitiness about it that made it the clear winner amongst the four of us.

WINNER: ON

Round 2: Brown Ale

Troubled Monk Brewing - Open Road (AB)

Vs.

Neustadt Brewing - 10W30 (ON)

Like Neil, I initially read the tin on 10W30 as being "multi-grain", not a "malty grain" ale. Both of these were delightful, with Neustadt having a wonderful roasted nuttiness in its flavour, but Open Road's tremendous smoothness gave it the edge here.

WINNER: AB

Round 3: Red Ale

Cowbell Brewing - Doc Perdue's Bobcat West Coast Red Ale (ON)

Vs.

Canmore Brewing - Rutting Elk Red (AB)

Rutting Elk is one of my go-to beers with a meal when I come across it on tap in a restaurant; nothing spectacular, but a solid representative of the style. Doc Perdue's Bobcat was another solid entry, but more of us found the "quaffable" characteristic of the Canmore beer sufficient to tip the balance in its favour.

Winner: AB

Round 4: Stout

Railyard Brewing - Nitro Stout (AB)
Vs.
Killanan Brewing - Men Who Stare At Oats (ON)

My initial impulse for this category was to dive into the deep end with Elbeck Brewing's KGB, a brilliant Russian Imperial Stout, but knowing the number of beers we had to get through in a single night (even in sample sizes) persuaded me to grab the Nitro Stout instead. The lads and I came across this at last year's beer fest and loved its silky-smooth texture and innate maltiness. MWSAO is almost as creamy but uses oatmeal instead of nitrogen to gain that effect. Plus I love how sketchy the plain can with a mailing label looks, and this is also a beer from Neil's hometown of Owen Sound. In the end, we could not reach a consensus on this one and scored it as a draw.

Winner: Draw

Round 5: Novelty

New Level Brewing - Wizard's Revenge Strawberry Milkshake IPA (AB)

Vs.

Spearhead Brewing - Moroccan Brown Ale (ON)

The final round was both hard-fought and surprising. The idea of an IPA with added lactose to smooth it out and with added fruit flavour was a surprise to some on our panel, but a delightful one. The Spearhead offering, however, brought cinnamon and figs to the table in a bold attempt to convey the tastes of North Africa's Maghreb region in a brown ale and was a real delight. Ordinarily I would prefer the brown to the IPA, but having only recently embraced the milkshake IPA as a style (and the kitchen being warm, and this being the dessert beer of the evening), my vote went to Wizard's Revenge. The rest of the panel preferred the Moroccan Brown, giving it the victory.

Winner: ON


Overall, our first Inter-Provincial Beer-Off ended in an overall tie, with one draw and two wins for each province. This suited Neil and I just fine, since the objective was less about establishing regional deer beer dominance (especially with Ontario having a bit of a leg-up with triple the number of craft breweries compared to Alberta), and more about discovering new beers we might not come across otherwise.

Even more importantly, it was a wonderful way to spend the first Saturday evening of summer, with friends and family in attendance and a number of tabletop games getting played to boot. I'm tremendously grateful to Neil for suggesting it, and to Vera and Mark for participating. Hopefully we can arrange a re-match in Ontario before too long!