Dandy Brewing Company 
Calgary Brewery Reviews 
November, 2023

In 2013 when the A.G.L.C (Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission) lowered production limits, opening the door for the craft boom in Alberta, Dandy Brewing was one of the first on the scene (if not the first) when they began operations in 2014. Their original location was closer to the Calgary airport and had only about 10 seats inside. Although Dandy started by brewing small batch beers, one of their first beers paved the way, and set the stage for what Albertan’s had to look forward to with craft beer, the famous Dandy Oyster Stout. Fast forward nearly a decade and now Dandy Brewing Company and Dandy Pizza is located in Ramsey, next to the Alyth / BonnyBrook and Inglewood districts. A move they made in 2018. 

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Annually, Dandy hosts a mini-festival called ‘Dandyfest’ which sees local bands and breweries from all over the world come together to celebrate all things beer. Brewing industry heavy-weights Dieu Du Ciel from Montreal and Evil Twin from New York were featured at the 2023 Dandy Fest. 

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As Dandy was one of the first to make craft beer in YYC, for many years we considered them the ‘Godfathers’ of the local craft beer scene. We remember when T2G IPA came out and we thought, wow these people are setting the bar high in Calgary.  Since that time, several new breweries have opened in Calgary and YYC is leading the way when it comes to provincial beer awards. 

 

Our most recent visit took place on a Sunday. Although the taproom wasn't overly busy,  the music was rocking. Two families combined tables with their kids and were having a pizza party. As we sat, another large group of friends came in and ordered a few pizzas. Seeing this, we decided we would try some out as it is also offered by the slice. Our pepperoni triangle was fresh and tasty.

 

For our flight of three, we know that Dandy is very well known for their IPA’s and Stouts which we have had and enjoyed, but we saw some rare and classic historical styles on the menu and decided to go with those. 

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The Dandy Dang American Wheat Ale is made with tangerines which we picked up in the aroma. However, the beer itself had an very overall acidic and sour quality to it, which is not standard for American Wheat Ale. Although wheat can contain slightly higher levels of acid than other malts, any sourness with an acid may have been created by mashing for too long at temperatures that were too low. But, that is what is great about craft beer in small batches, you can always play around with recipes and get creative to come up with your own take on a style and maybe that is what Dandy was going for here. 

 

Next was the Congratulator Doppelbock. We covered Doppelbocks in one of our pieces here, and it is currently one of our favourite styles to enjoy. First brewed by monks in the 1700’s and made famous by Paulaner whose version was called Salvator. After a 19th century court ruling that only Paulaner could use the name Salvator, breweries started adding “Ator” on the end of the beer names to label it as a Doppelbock without getting sued. Here, Dandy has done the same thing with their Congratulator. 

 

Lastly, we ordered the Belgian Tripel. This style of beer which was first brewed by Westmalle, one of the only remaining Trappist breweries in the world, is generally a complex but seamless blend of moderate to significant spiciness, moderate fruity esters, low alcohol, low hops, and light malt. Generous, spicy, peppery, sometimes clove-like phenols are present and esters often reminiscent of citrus fruit, like oranges or lemons, but may have a slightly ripe banana character. Here at Dandy, we found the beer with an heavy amount of banana character, possibly an intentional play with the ester isoamyl acetate. Traditionally with Belgian Tripels, the alcohol should be hidden and very deceptive, however here it was heavy and in the front. Again, this could be the brewer's attempt at putting their own spin on the style as not every beer has to follow the 2021 BJCP Guidelines.

 

Like with all of our reviews, we only drink beer. We do not know everything about it, and we only follow what is put forward in the guidelines and beer judging scoring processes. We certainly do not own our own brewery, so really, what do we know and who are we to judge?

 

If you like rock and roll, pizza and beer, stop into Dandy.