They say it takes a village, and Calgary’s Village Brewery has brought back to life a historic beer as a modern craft lager.

Brewed 129 years ago by the Calgary Brewing & Malting Company, the traditional Calgary Export Lager is back in the hands of patrons under the new name, Calgary Beer Craft Lager.

“It’s pretty exciting for me,” says Jeremy McLaughlin, head brewer at Village Brewery. “This is such a huge brand in Calgary’s history. “We decided to go with something more contemporary and a craft lager is what we stuck with,” said McLaughlin.

The new version will feature a lightly hopped lager with a twist. “We’ve used Alberta-grown barley from Rahr. We’ve used a ton of hops that have gone through hybridization programs that has made them more modernized,” said McLaughlin. “And then we’ve used a special kind of yeast from a Norwegian family. “It’s special to us because we were given a really awesome opportunity to modernize the label and the recipe for our more modern craft drinkers.”

The beer will feature four unique can designs which will convey how the labels have evolved over time and every four-pack includes one that pays homage to the historic Calgary Brewing & Malting Company.

The four designs featured are:

•  A matte black label with an imposing buffalo;
•  The classic ‘Calgary Export Lager’ design;
•  A red label with a modernized horseshoe and wordmark and;
•  A cream label with a minimalistic take on the classic logo.

The brewery hopes to give a new experience to those that are familiar with the beer whilst giving those who have never tried it, a new experience. 

The Calgary Beer Craft Lager can be purchased at Village Brewery or from their online store. It will be hitting the shelves of other retailers shortly as a limited-edition beer. 

Image courtesy of Village Brewery