A year ago, I tried my first Tool Shed beers: Star Cheek IPA, Red Rage Ale, and People Skills Cream Ale. I was immediately enamoured with the Star Cheek IPA which was a far more local, affordable, and high quality IPA compared to the west coast American IPAs I have learned to appreciate.
Graham and Jeff started out as home brewers and decided to take the plunge and start a brewery. They had to begin brewing in BC by renting Dead Frog’s brewery because of the archaic brewing laws in Alberta. This year, the laws changed and they secured a spot in NE Calgary and have built a magnificent brewery.
To help raise capital and extend their appreciation to their original backers, they offer 100 Golden Growlers: Beer for life for $5,000. If you’re interested in the terms of the agreement, you can contact them. Graham responded very quickly to my clarifying questions and invited me to come and meet him to chat about it.
The beer maxes out to 200L each year. They are happy to provide the beer in growlers, cans, kegs, etc. You can have several people attached to a single Golden Growler subscription and each will be able to access the benefits (sharing the 200L – about 600 beer – of course). Another benefit is exclusive access to test batches.
So, on October 23, Amber and I went on a date to visit the new brewery and get a tour by Jeff. He spent 45 minutes with us showing us the new digs and telling us about the plans. They had brewed their first batch that day, but he was happy to take the time. I signed up and handed over the money that would give me and 2 friends the benefit of beer for life.
The 100 Golden Growler members’ photos will be featured on a wall. Each will be given a special 1.89 L growler and be invited to exclusive events. I’m excited for the first one where we will get to try the test batch of the Eggnog Milk Stout.
