The 1000 Best Beers In The World (and where to find them in Calgary)

[Table 5]

I'm really looking forward to going home for Christmas and having a Grasshopper.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I'm really looking forward to going home for Christmas and having a Grasshopper.

I'm not a Canadian drinker because every so often, one of them in a case will just taste rancid. I find consistency with Bud, so that's what I usually buy. But I'll tell you, one of the tastiest beers I ever had was a bottle of Canadian. I found a little hole-in-the-wall pub in St. Gallen, Switzerland that boasted beer from around the world.
After a year of drinking Euro beer, that bottle of Canadian was so good, I followed it up with a few more.

And yeah, there's a difference between a person that likes to try different things (like beer), and finds something they like, and seeks it out after that - and a person that refuses to drink anything local because "it's all crap".

I just roll my eyes at the dude at the party that's drinking some obscure brand of beer and comes along and starts going on about how Bud/Canadian/Kokanee is so nasty and that his Smorganheiden is the greatest thing ever. Ok guy. Thanks for the details on what you think tastes good. Did you also stop eating hamburgers when you discovered that steak is delicious?

[Phaneuf3]

Originally Posted by V

That beer store in Kensington by the Safeway stocks it. Also the Liquor Store in the plaza with the Burger King at Memorial and 52 ST in the SE. Those are the only places I've seen them so far.

Every co-op I've been to stocks them. Highlander on 16th Ave. Willow Park.

[Berger_4_]

I cannot understand why people have such a hard on for La Fin du Monde...it tasted absolutely awful to me.

[Cactus Jack]

Willow Park on Bonaventure Dr. off of MacLeod and Anderson stocks a ton of the good stuff from Canada. You can find many Unibroue brews, although I think there are many you can't in Western Canada. They also have lots of varities of Dieu de Ciel and St. Ambroise.

Originally Posted by Berger_4_

I cannot understand why people have such a hard on for La Fin du Monde...it tasted absolutely awful to me.

Mmmm, Fin du Monde! One of my favourites. You must not like white/wheat beers.

[Berger_4_]

Originally Posted by Cactus Jack

Willow Park on Bonaventure Dr. off of MacLeod and Anderson stocks a ton of the good stuff from Canada. You can find many Unibroue brews, although I think there are many you can't in Western Canada. They also have lots of varities of Dieu de Ciel and St. Ambroise.



Mmmm, Fin du Monde! One of my favourites. You must not like white/wheat beers.

Yeah not particularly...they're alright once in a while, but I'll take a solid ale or a Vitamin P any day of the week. And yes, I realize that drinking the Pil gives me no right to complain about other people's beer choice

[Red_Baron]

I'll take an MGD or a Corona over any of the 1000 any day. I'd rather sit back and watch the game rather than discuss the "hint of ....blah, blah blah," while enjoying a cold one.
I'm usually a quality over quantity guy but beer is my one exception to that rule.

[cmyden]

Spreadsheet updated.

Of the Top 100 beers on the list, 29 of them are available in Calgary liquor stores, more than I thought there would be actually.

Here's my unofficial ranking of the liquor stores in Calgary, as far as beer selection goes, based on what I've seen so far...

Co-Op Dalhousie (24)
Kensington Wine (24)
Willow Park (23)
Zyn The Wine Market (19)
Centre St North (15)
Co-Op Creekside (14)
Kawa Espresso Bar (13)
Cellar (11)
Co-Op Hamptons (11)
Crowfoot Liquor (11)
Co-Op Beddington (9)
Co-Op Macleod (9)
Co-Op Oakridge (9)
Cork Fine Wine (8)
Inglewood Wine (8)
Liquor Depot Edmonton Trail (8)
Liquor Depot Mount Royal (8)
Britannia (7)
Buzzards (7)
Co-Op Midtown (7)
Eau Claire Wine (7)
Highlander Liquor (7)
J Webb (7)
Co-Op Rocky Ridge (6)
Metro Vino (6)
Varsity Wine Merchants (6)
Willow Park Wines (6)
Wine Cellar Vineyard South (6)
Co-Op Richmond (5)
Co-Op South Trail (4)
Co-Op West (4)
Highlander Richmond (4)
Liquor Depot Brentwood (4)
Liquor Depot Midlake (4)
Silver Springs Liquor (4)
Beyond Liquor (3)
Co-Op Centre 70 (3)
Co-Op Forest Lawn (3)
Co-Op Heritage (3)
Eastport Liquor (3)
Franklin Mall Liquor (3)
Liquor Depot Altadore (3)
Liquor Depot Coach Hill (3)
Liquor Depot Dalhousie (3)
Sally's Spirits (3)
4th St Market (2)
Bedford Liquor (2)
BK Liquor Bridgeland (2)
Crowfoot Beddington (2)
Fairmont Paliser (2)
Lakeside (2)
Mega Liquor (2)
MJ's (2)
Wine Cottage (2)
BK Liquor (1)
Bow Liquor (1)
Chinook Liquor (1)
City Limits (1)
Coach & Horses (1)
Crowfoot Hidden Valley (1)
Daily Liquor (1)
Ferocious Grape (1)
Global Liquor (1)
Grape Wine (1)
Grapes & Grains (1)
Hawkwood Fine (1)
KJ Wines (1)
Liquor Box (1)
Liquor Depot Acadia (1)
Liquor Depot Country Hills (1)
Liquor Depot Glamorgan (1)
Liquor Depot London Town (1)
Liquor Depot Mckenzie Town (1)
Liquor Depot Petro Memorial (1)
Liquor Depot Woodbine (1)
Liquor Palace #3 (1)
Liquor Plus (1)
Northmount (1)
OK Liquor (1)
Olympia (1)
Olympia Chinook (1)
Payless Liquor (1)
Piazza Wine (1)
Real Canadian Liquor (1)
Royal Liquor (1)
Safeway @ Crowfoot (1)
Safeway @ Garrison (1)
Sobey's Bridlewood (1)
Solo Liquor Panorama (1)
Spirits Of Edgemont (1)
Spirits Of Kensington (1)
Spirits Of Sundance (1)
Sunnyside Liquor (1)
Vic's Liquor (1)
Woodbine BK (1)

[CMPunk]

http://www.alberta-liquor-guide.com/...n?OpenFrameset

Use this to find out where theyare

[Stumptown]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Well, the best beer in the world does come from certain countries (Belgium, Germany, etc). Here are some that made the list that come from countries normally not known for making great beer...

Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout Japan Stout 3.786 (11)
Hitachino Nest Celebration Ale Japan Spiced Ale 3.785 (10)
Hitachino Nest White Ale Japan Witbier 3.521 (21)

I missed the Hitachino Nest brews on my first scan. They're all available at our local high-brow Japanese grocery (Uwajimaya), and may be available from an asian market as opposed to a regular liquor store. I've had the White, but my favorite is the Red Rice Ale, which didn't seem to make the list. They also have the cutest labels I've ever seen, mostly why I bought it in the first place.

[JohnnyB]

This thread is making me really look forward to getting back to Canada for Christmas and being able to have some good beers with my wife. There isn't much to drink here, and it is nearly all the same.

[ResAlien]

I'll throw in a vote for Lion Stout. Been drinking that for a while, good stuff definitely worth a buy.

[BlackEleven]

Lot of good Quebec breweries on the list -- St. Ambroise, Dieu du Ciel and Unibroue.

[604flames]

I wish they sold New Belgium brews up here... made a roadie to Minnesota over the summer and subsisted on Fat Tire and Big Sky's Moose Drool..

[Esoteric]

Great list!

I was really hoping that I could find Arrogant B___stard in Calgary after seeing this list, but I guess I'll have to wait

[Montana Moe]

Originally Posted by 604flames

I wish they sold New Belgium brews up here... made a roadie to Minnesota over the summer and subsisted on Fat Tire and Big Sky's Moose Drool..

When my Sister in law comes down to visit, she never leaves without a case of one or the other.

I just spent a week at the Texas A&M fire academy, and I'm pretty sure the group of us took a chunk out of available supply of Shiner Bock.

[cmyden]

Spreadsheet updated.

51 of the Top 200 World Beers are available in Calgary.

[NiklasSundblad]

Originally Posted by Table 5

There must be a lot of American reviewers on that site. While there are some great little microbrews in the states, there's no way that so many of those beers actually stack up against what you have in Europe.

I disagree, the US is the best beer country in the world, not tied down by tradition, brewers are free to do whatever crazy thing they want. You can get the best of almost any style in the States.

And yes, beer snobs are as bad as indy rock snobs. I'm one of each, I'd know. I still understand the appeal of a nice cold "normal" beer

[Cactus Jack]

Originally Posted by NiklasSundblad

I disagree, the US is the best beer country in the world, not tied down by tradition, brewers are free to do whatever crazy thing they want. You can get the best of almost any style in the States.

And yes, beer snobs are as bad as indy rock snobs. I'm one of each, I'd know. I still understand the appeal of a nice cold "normal" beer

I disagree wholeheartedly. There are many prominent US micros that define their style as Belgian. And just because they can try something unconventional doesn't mean it's good. Like I said before, for every good micro like Lagunitas there are bad/mediocre ones like Rogue, Brooklyn brewery, Moose Drool, etc. There beer is overrated, it's definitely inferior to Canadian beer because quantity doesn't equal quality. The world's best beer is from Europe.

[Komskies]

This thread got me excited because I love beer and I love trying new beers.

I took a trip to Willow Park on Friday and picked up 3 of the top 10 beers.

Rochefort Trappistes 10 (going off memory, think it was about $6.50/bottle)
St. Bernardus Abt 12 (~18.50 for a 4-pack)
Chimay Grand Reserve (Blue) (~$6/bottle)

I've only tried the Rochefort and the St. Bernardus so far, but these are literally the best beers I've ever tasted. The Rochefort is 11.3% alc/vol and the St. Bernardus is 10% alc/vol, but they just taste so smooth and amazing. I highly recommend these beers for anybody looking to try something new or are looking for a special treat. They taste so damn good. Going to try the Chimay on Tuesday while watching the Flames game.

Edit: I talked to one of the employees there for a few minutes, and he was telling me all about how he gets to go on multiple trips to Europe every year to sample beers and to find new beers to import. Talk about an awesome job.