If you’re going to drink, go craft beer all the way! It’s often exotic (shout out, Holland!) or made locally, sometimes in a room right next to where you’re downing a pint. These Edmonton pubs pour some of the best craft beer around.
This downtown craft beer joint has a heavy focus on Canadian craft beers, including Mill Street Organic from Toronto and Ally Kat Scona Gold Kolsch from Edmonton. There are 72 microbrews on tap, with many beers rotating regularly. The beer list has a heavy focus on pale ales and IPAs, but there are also plenty of fruit beers, stouts and lagers. Plus, they have two ciders on tap, including my favourite, Angry Orchard.
Don’t expect to find a bottle of domestic beer here. They only have draught, all the better to show off their 104 tap lines, my dear. If you’re really determined to show off your mad beer drinking skills, don’t turn to a keg stand; simply join the pub’s Craft Club. If you try 100 different beers and have tracked it on your club card, Craft Beer Market will put your name on their alumni wall (which is, of course, made of kegs).
My first time at Yellowhead Brewery was for a friend’s wedding. The exposed brick walls, romantic lights and charming staff made it a beautiful spot to watch my friend get hitched. When it’s not acting as an event space, the cozy pub room is a good place to grab a pint of this locally-made craft beer – it’s big enough to hold 60 of your closest friends but not so large that it will get overcrowded.
The smiling staff at the Sugarbowl pour 160 craft beers, including different varieties of the locally-made Alley Kat beer, gluten-free beer, stout, lager, IPA, Pilsner and ginger beer. The 15 draught taps rotate regularly, meaning there is always a surprise waiting behind the bar for you. Come for the huge selection of beers you’ve been dying to try, stay for the fun atmosphere and yummy food.
I feel bad for the serving staff at MKT – with 60 beers on tap, they must hate answering the question, “so, what do you have on tap?” True, they do display every brand they carry on their keg wall, but drinkers aren’t the best readers (or retainers of information). But the guests at MKT always have an absolute blast, whether it’s on the energetic first floor, at a booth upstairs or at a table on the relaxed patio.
There are 24 taps constantly being changed here, and the pub boasts about its meticulously clean beer lines. I’ve always thought of beer, and by extension, pubs, to be a little bit grungy (which is kind of the point – living on the edge with a pint in my hand, yo!) but the neat freak in me appreciates their dedication to cleanliness. It’s also a cool place to hang out, with info about the beer you’re enjoying constantly being displayed. Learn while you drink? Score!