Sep. 11, 2007 - Issue #621: Sex in The City 07
Great Head
The best beer selection in town is an Original
The décor wasn’t my style—the High Street location’s cavernous warehouse feels dark, even in the middle of a sunny summer afternoon. The clientele seems young and professional, and most seem to be regulars.
Otherwise, I was so wrong. What I found was Edmonton’s best selection of beers on tap. Out of 16, not one was Molson or Labatt. Most are products from western Canadian microbreweries. They also had three house beers on draught. There was sufficient range to satisfy everyone, from lager lout to dedicated hophead. Another 45 bottled beers sat in the cooler, 30 of which were imports.
“It’s intentional,” says Chris Stone, an area partner for the two Edmonton locations. “Offering unique, high-quality beer is a way to build a creative niche for our restaurant.
“We carried Alexander Keith’s at first, and it was our biggest selling brand. We took it off anyway—it was just too big,” notes Stone. “Molson and Labatt have given up on us, and we like it that way.”
There was a discernable pattern in their draughts: Alley Kat Full Moon Pale Ale and Aprikat, Wildrose Velvet Fog and Wraspberry, Yukon Gold and Chilkoot Lager. Joe’s paired a more accessible beer with a more adventurous beer from each brewery. They also have Tree Kelowna Pilsner and other BC regionals, plus a couple of Big Rock brews. I finally sampled all three of the house beers—a blonde lager, a honey brown and a red. The lager was pale yellow with a delicate grainy aroma and flavour. It was sweet, gentle and well-suited to summer quaffing.
The honey brown was less impressive. It had a light, nutty flavour up front with only a subtle honey note, but it finished far too sweet. It needed more balance.
The red was solid, if straight ahead. A light caramel malt aroma and tantalizing sweetness built up front, with just enough hop coming up at the end to balance the finish. It could have done with a more robust presentation, as it seemed a bit timid on both the malt and hops. That said, it was well crafted.
The staff at Original Joe’s seemed both beer knowledgeable and eager to help customers find the right beer. They were also liberal with free samples to allow for a better decision. They even offered cute mixtures of beers for a completely original beer drinking experience: try a TraddyKat, which blends Big Rock Traditional Ale and Alley Kat Aprikat.
As I lingered over the three house beers, I had pangs of familiarity. All seemed strangely known to me, despite never having tried Joe’s house beers before.
The mystery was solved when Stone admitted the house beers were really just rebranded beers made by breweries in the area. The red was Yukon’s Arctic Red, the blonde was Alley Kat’s Charlie Flint and the honey brown was Big Rock’s Honey Brown. No wonder they seemed familiar!
The house beers may have been more marketing than reality, but there was no mistaking this pub’s commitment to local brewers and to quality beer offerings. V
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