Drumheller’s only craft brewery was recently voted the best out of nearly 40 India Pale Ales at a Calgary brewery’s beer awards last week.
Valley Brewing’s Namesake IPA was deemed the best by a panel of beer judges at the Last Best Brewery’s IPA Tap Takeover on October 24. It’s the first accolade from the Alberta craft beer industry for the Drumheller brewers.
Brewmaster Nick Patterson says the Namesake beer is a hazy style IPA which has tropical, citrusy flavours that aren’t as bitter as other IPAs. The beer is thick looking due to the type of yeast used and “dry hopping,” where they add hops to the beer at different points during the fermentation process that increases its turbidity.
“There is a tonne of aromas and flavours, mostly tropical flavours like pineapple and mango,” Patterson says. “That version of the beer was the first batch of beer we brewed here, so ideally for us the recipe should only get better as we continue to tweak it.”
The recognition is a first for the brewery, which only opened this year, and it was a chance for them to get other brewers in the Alberta craft beer industry to see what Drumheller has on tap.
“That’s the first time we’ve ever taken a beer to an invite, which is cool… it’s kind of nice to get something for Drumheller,” says Patterson. “A lot of people at that event had either never heard of us, or had heard of us and hadn’t had a chance to try any of our products. We got a good response.”
Although it’s a first for Valley Brewing, it isn’t the first industry award for Patterson, who taught himself the art of brewing and took his first step into the craft beer market with Strathmore brewery Origin.
Valley Brewing has enjoyed a successful inaugural season, but as the tourist season winds down and they get less foot traffic in their doors, Valley Brewing hopes to start selling more beer across the province. They’ll be sending a few pallets of beer to an Edmonton distributor this week.
“We’re busy enough during the tourist season that we don’t have to sell beer outside of this area, but now that we’re coming into the wintertime we’re going to be trying to pick up a few places outside of town.”
Valley Brewing is located on the corner of Highway 56 and 3rd Avenue W downtown.
