The second edition of Savour the Southeast on Saturday night was a big success. Affinity Place was filled with people enjoying food from various restaurants, and beverages from the breweries, wineries and distilleries that have been popping up in the province in recent years.
It was great to see so many people sampling the different foods available at local restaurants, and discovering some new alcoholic beverages.
It’s no secret that I am a self-professed beer geek. I enjoy drinking a variety of beers, and I enjoying talking about beer. Thanks to Savour the Southeast, I added a couple more beers to my list.
I hope Savour the Southeast won over a few converts to the Craft Beer Revolution.
The local beer geek community has known about the great beers being brewed in Saskatchewan for a few years. We all have a favourite Saskatchewan beer and a favourite Saskatchewan brewery, but our love for Saskatchewan beer doesn’t end with just one or two brands.
As you would expect, there are multiple breweries to be found in Regina and Saskatoon, but who would have thought there would be a brewery in Nokomis? The village has a population of less than 500 people, but they also have a really good brewery, Nokomis Craft Ales, that appeals to a variety of tastes.
For much of this country’s history, beer could be safely defined by such words as bland, boring and inoffensive. In a few instances, it would be called disgusting. But Canadian beer was generally brewed with little imagination or innovation.
The trend started to change in the last 20 or 30 years, and areas like Vancouver and Victoria are now home to thriving beer scenes.
Saskatchewan has been a little behind the rest of the country when it comes to adapting our beer tastes. This has been a Pilsner and a light beer area. For too long, Great Western Brewing was our only microbrewery.
It has been gradually changing in the last few years, as new breweries are opening, and people’s tastes are changing.
The days of people saying “I drink this beer, because it’s what my father drank and my grandfather drank,” are mercifully coming to an end.
Now, this is not to say if you’re a fool, or that you have poor taste buds if you still prefer a macro-brewery product, brewed in another province or country, such as Molson Canadian, Pilsner or Bud Light. Lots of people still prefer big beer to craft beer. Just like there are people who prefer bologna to prime rib.
We should also be proud to see the wonderful wineries and distilleries popping up around the province. I have written about my love for the Cypress Hills Vineyard and Winery, and their selection, in the past. It’s great to see the demand for their product is high enough that they’re now able to focus on manufacturing and producing their product, although this shift means I won’t get to spend an afternoon on their patio this summer.
The provincial government has done a good job of easing up restrictions on Saskatchewan-based liquor companies, allowing new companies to open and existing companies to flourish. This trend needs to continue, and it would be wise to follow the lead of jurisdictions that have simple restrictions.
Like any other form of alcohol, though, please enjoy craft alcohol responsibly. And keep in mind, when drinking your favourite craft beer, that many are far more potent that a standard lager, pilsner or light beer. A double India pale ale or a scotch ale might be more than nine per cent alcohol.
So you might have to include the cost of a taxi ride for a safe ride home when calculating the cost of your evening.
