Walk into Village Brewery, and you’ll quickly realize that you haven’t simply arrived somewhere to grab a drink. You’ve arrived somewhere designed for conversation, connection, and community.
That’s been the idea behind Village Brewery since opening its doors in 2011. While Calgary has changed dramatically in the last 15 years, the heart of Village remains consistent: bringing people together.
“Beer is really an excuse to get together, to share a story, to support a cause,” says Village Brewery’s marketing director, Jackson Stuart. “If we have learned anything, we’ve learned that good things happen over beer.”
For those looking for an outing, that philosophy is exactly what makes Village worth a visit. Whether you’re meeting friends after work, checking out live music, attending a community event, or simply exploring local craft beer, the experience is about much more than what is poured into your glass.
Calgary’s craft beer landscape has grown enormously since Village opened. New breweries, new styles, and new ways of enjoying locally made beverages have been on-trend for years. With more than a hundred breweries and brew pubs now part of Alberta’s beer culture, standing out requires more than creating a great product.
Village’s answer has always been people. From the beginning, the brewery looked for ways to celebrate the individuals who make Calgary vibrant.
That philosophy extends to its beer packaging. When the brewery celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2021, the team reflected on how much the surrounding community had grown. “We decided to shift away from family members and expand into current community members, making a difference every day,” Stuart says. “Village has always been about the people that make up our communities, and this was a fun way to highlight and honour those individuals.”
Now, you will find slam poet and former Calgary Poet Laureate Wakefield Brewster on the White Wheat Ale can, and mixed-media and welded-steel artist Sinéad Ludwig-Burgess — who created the art in front of the Green Building Technologies building at SAIT — gracing Village Blacksmith, to name two of several featured artists. It’s a creative way of telling Calgary’s story, one person at a time.
Village has also found innovative ways to celebrate local history and partnerships, including reviving the original Calgary Beer and featuring the classic buffalo-head-and-horseshoe logo on the can. “This beer was originally founded in 1893, a year before Calgary became a city, and was retired in the ‘80s,” says Stuart. “We collaborated with Molson Coors to bring back a reinvigorated version [which is] now available in liquor stores, bars and restaurants across Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is such an important project for us to be able to work on an iconic piece of Calgary’s history.”
The brewery’s collaborations extend beyond beer. A recent partnership with Bridgeland Distillery and the Ship & Anchor created Barnacle Whiskey, a small-batch whiskey distilled from the Ship & Anchor’s Barnacle Pilsner.
The taproom has become a destination for people who want their evenings to include a little more than sitting at a table with a drink. The space features 16 draft lines, including Village favourites and taproom exclusives, along with a full food menu, private event space, live programming, and community events. The red and yellow highlights mesh well with the wooden surfaces, making you feel at ease from the moment you walk in.
The brewery hosts approximately 300 community events, festivals, fundraisers, and taproom events each year. For art lovers, Village’s rotating artist residency program provides another reason to visit, with proceeds going directly to featured artists. And the ongoing “Cask Sessions” feature live music and one-of-a-kind casks of beer created with the artists themselves.
In a city filled with possibilities for getting out and exploring, Village Brewery offers something uniquely Calgary: a place where local beer, music, art, history, and community all share the same table.
It was never only about brewing beer for this company; it was about building a Village.
Learn more about Village Brewery at villagebrewery.com.
VILLAGE AT A GLANCE
Address: 5000 12a St. S.E.
Hours: Tuesdays and Sundays, 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and closed on Mondays.
Vibe: Like stepping into a clubhouse where everyone is two sips away from becoming lifelong friends. Great for a third date.
Drink recc: The Village Squeeze kegs are often empty for a reason. It’s light, citrusy, and perfect for the patio.
Upcoming events: July 4 – Calgary Beer Party
July 24 – Cask Sessions, featuring Joshua Beebe & The Forest Orchestra w/ Devin Foster
