Tasting: High Line Brewing
July 28th, 2017 - We stop by HLB in Inglewood
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| Our destination |
The Boring Stuff
Address: #113, 1318 9th Avenue SE, Calgary AB T2E 0T3
How to get there: Street parking in the surrounding neighbourhood, lots of bike racks, #1 bus stops at 9th Ave & 12 Street SE
Location: Behind Minh Chau Vietnamese restaurant on the main drag, access through alley
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| The HLB facade as it greeted us from the alley |
First Impressions
We walked down the alley, after parking on 9th ave, unsure of exactly where we were headed. But, luckily, it didn't take us too long to find the warehouse-turned-brewery. You can see from the picture above that High Line Brewing's facade is clean, minimalist and unassuming, an aesthetic we found reflected in the interior and in their brews- in the best way. Unfortunately overlooking a convoy of parked foodtrucks and a couple of dumpsters, you forget all that as soon as you step into the tap and tasting room. |
| The menu |
The inside is small but welcoming. It has kind of cozy hipster industrial look- if that's a thing. We think it is. The only staff member there, a bartender who's name we didn't get, was quite nice, if a little hesitant to engage in chit chat with us at first. But don't worry, he came around and even took down the name of our blog! The prices are comparable to other tasting rooms ($2 tasters, $6 pints), and if you're used to paying an arm and a leg for a pint of the good stuff at a regular bar, you will be pleasantly surprised how much cheaper it is to get it from the source. A "flight" isn't listed on the menu, but 5 oz tasters of all seven of their bevvies will run you $14. We grabbed one of each, took a seat next to the open bay door and got to sippin'.
What's the vibe?
When we arrived (around 7:30 pm on a Friday) we were alone save for another young couple and two old guys we would later find out are named Tim and Dave, craft beer enthusiasts who had just stumbled over from High Line's neighbour, Cold Garden Beverage Company.
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| "I've never met a beer I didn't like- well, a craft beer." Tim or maybe Dave. Who knows? |
Throughout the night, we saw plenty of different people roll up. That is to say, a good majority of patrons took advantage of the bike racks outside- so literally. Just rolled right on up. While the clientele was indeed predominantly 20-somethings on bikes, there was a great variety in groups and types of people. It's clear that good beer appeals to all. We had a low-key, chill time. It was busy, but not bursting, as I have seen happen at other tasting rooms on the weekends.
We agreed that this would be a great place to cap off a date night, or a place to take a couple of friends who are legitimately looking to "just grab a drink." We wouldn't recommend having a high school reunion or something here is all we're saying. Low-key and small. Which suited us just fine.
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| We consulted these conveniently placed descriptions a lot |
There are six beers and one alcoholic tea (their alternative to cider) on offer when we stopped in. Let's talk about them.
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| Foreground: Megan with beers. Background: Tim/Dave |
You'll notice a lot of their selection leans towards the pale ale variety. This was slightly worrisome for Megan, as she tends to prefer a less hoppy beer, but an immediate plus for Hans- a hopportunist if there ever was one. Luckily, the beers were very different in profile and we all found something we liked. "We all" being us and the patrons Megan harassed. Both of us had our top picks and when polled, every beer on offer was someone's top choice. So that's neat! Here's the summary pulled right off the High Line Brewing website:
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| Why write it out ourselves when someone else already did? |
HighPA - Double IPA
Can you really go wrong with 8% alcohol? I mean, a lot can go wrong, but not when it comes to taste. Slightly fruity with a real punch of flavour, but nothing that lingers too heavily. You'll wanna have another one. Megan did.
Inglewood - IPA
Here we find a straight forward IPA. A good one, to be sure. The description says "resinous and spicy" and while we don't really know what that means, we'd guess that is "beerspeak" for the characteristics of a typical IPA. Hoppy, obv.
Alberta Plains- APA
Described as "easy drinking" and "clean and crisp" and we decided that that was pretty damn accurate. We are not professional beer people, so don't really know what makes an "APA" different from an "IPA" but this drank more like a lager to us.
Smokes - Scotch Ale
Super tasty, the Smokes was the darkest of beers they had on offer (think Guiness in colour) We decided that this is the kind of beer you drink when you want ONE really good one. This is not a six pack beer, at least not for us. It's heavy, but delicious and would be kind to you if you were nursing it.
Club Maté - Alcoholic "Tea"
This was a surprise! Instead of a gluten-free beer, which let's face it, is usually terrible, they had an alcoholic "tea." (Megan insisted on quotes around it because she's a snob and maté is not technically tea, but an herbal infusion. She's the worst.) But whatever you call it, it was pretty yummy. Definitely similar in flavour to a cider, but the addition of hops gives it a more complex flavour. You should definitely try it, just to say you did.
Heartless Romantic - Sour
Total honesty here, neither of us are crazy about the whole sour trend that's been popping up recently. It's definitely sour. Megan said: "I don't hate it as much as other sours." One of our fellow patrons made it his top pick, so clearly it's good! Just not our thing.
Kent- ESB
Definitely reminiscent of the United Kingdom. We felt that this would be a great accompaniment to a good meal- fish and chips, perhaps? A nice change of pace from the North American hop flavour. Kind of amber-y in colour. It's good, y'all.
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| Our weird friend Kate. |
Hey look, our friend Kate stopped by to drink beers with us. After hearing our very thorough and professional opinions, let's find out what she grabbed a nice frosty pint of...
Top Picks
Our top picks were chosen using very simple criteria: "Want another? Which one?"
The Inglewood
"It good."
Megan's Pick
HighPA
"8%? I'm in."
Kate's Pick
Club Maté
"Yup. That's what I want."
Bartender's Pick
HighPA
"If I had to drink one right now?"
Party Pick
Alberta Plain
What we would fill our growler with for a party. The crowd pleaser.
Fun(ish) Facts
- Small selection of old board games that still seem to have most of their pieces. We jenga'd.
- Bartender is also DJ, playing records on turntable behind the bar.
- You can bring in outside food! Banh-mi from the Vietnamese place out front anyone?
Where can you get it?
Best to get it right from the source, kiddos. While High Line is on tap at a few growler bars in Calgary, it is not currently widely available and nothing bottled/canned.
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| Looking off into a bright brew-ture. Get it? |
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