With so many new facilities opening
up, the question of “what is craft?” is
more and more common, but in my
eyes, craft is just that – a craft. It’s
about individuals coming together to
create something delicious, something
different. It’s about the people who put
a whole lot of work and thought into it.
It’s about the use of quality ingredients,
the absence of preservatives, and the
inclusion of locally-sourced elements
whenever possible.
I don’t think it can be determined by
specific numbers, or a set definition.
That said, I do work at a brewery, so
my opinion has been altered by having
an inside look at what goes into the
craft that is brewing.
Perhaps “altered” isn’t the right choice
of word. Enlightened, informed, and
educated may be more accurate.
Here at Calgary’s Big Rock Brewery,
where I spend the majority of my days
as the resident social media ninja,
photographer, and cookie-maker, I’ve
learned what it really means to make
beer. Yes, it’s a large facility – there’s
no doubting that – but it’s also made
up of a tight-knit group of people who
run the show, and many of them have
been around the brewhouse practically
since the company’s inception back in
the eighties.
Case in point: Brewmaster Paul
Gautreau. His creativity and passion
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show through his projects; like the
spontaneously fermented sour beer
(flavoured with Evans cherries grown in
the garden at the brewery) that is
curr [