Yukon Brewing – Award Winning Craft Beer from Canada's Yukon

Our Yukon Red has won numerous awards – it has kind of become our poster child for award winners. So, when our brewers decided, ‘lets see if we can change it’, our first thought was “what a bunch of megalomaniacs, why would you think you should take our biggest award winner and change it – even just as a one-off?”. But, then again, nothing ventured, nothing gained. So they created the sort of self-titled Megalomaniac Imperial Red. It is built much like the Yukon Red in terms of the malt bill and hopping, except moreso. It has almost 60% more grain per litre of beer (and Yukon Red is pretty malty on its own) and nearly double the hops, including a dry-hopping that the Yukon Red does not get. We describe the result as Yukon Red on steroids, and is available at the brewery in growlers. And, in case we are confusing anyone, we are NOT changing the Yukon Red, this is just a one-off for fun.

In that well known and oft quoted Scottish language, “yer gallus” means, “you’re daring, rash, wild, or cheeky”. Kind of describes most of the folks here at the brewery on their best days, let alone after a couple o’ gigots of this Scottish ale! Of course, in that fine language, a gigot is a pint, and yer growler holds a couple o’ those, so come on in and fill ‘er up.  

Scottish ales were traditionally defined by the tax that was levied on them – Back in the day, the amount of tax varied by alcohol content, so the lightest ales (under 3.5% alcohol) were 60 schilling ales, while the strongest (over 6.0% alcohol) were 90 schilling ales. Our Yer Gallus is 5.2% alcohol, and hence falls into the group of export Scottish ales, or an 80 schilling ale. In deference to the style, this beer is very malt forward, with a nearly indistinguishable hop finish. It’s mahogany in colour, ever so creamy on the tongue, and finishes with a hint of smoke, as we used a wee bit of peated malt in the recipe.  Robbie Burns would be proud.

…this might just be it. And just to make sure you have enough winter fuel, we called it Yukon Crude. Now, with the variety of stouts out there – from American, to Foreign Extra, to Sweet, to Russian Imperial – you might ponder, “What exactly is Yukon Crude”? Yukon Crude falls into the category of Dry Stout, although the alcohol content is most definitely (!) at the high end of the range. We used a bit of oatmeal for body building (yes, beer requires body building, too), but not nearly enough to be an Oatmeal Stout. True to the style, we used a portion of roasted, unmalted barley, which accounts for a good deal of the dryness. The use of Chocolate and Black malts delivers a secondary note of cocoa, which lasts into the finish. The word that best describes this beer, we think, is sumptuous. Makes -40 a bit more tolerable. Get it in a growler, that is if your vehicle is still running.

Technically speaking, (and by that we mean “beerspeak”), an English Mild belongs to the family of English Brown Ales.  There are Northern English Brown Ales, Southern English Brown Ales, and the English Mild, which we suppose, comes right up the middle. We once read a statement that the English Mild is “readily suited to drinking in quantity”- While we always encourage responsible use, we get where the author was coming from! This beer is a rich brown in colour, but light in body with a slight malt accent, and only enough bitterness to provide a bit of balance. If a darker beer scares you, try this one…it will cure your fears and might even turn you into an advocate. Now on the growlers, till it’s gone.

…is on the growler system. In fact, it has been on the growler system for about a month now…which means it is almost gone!

Longest Night is dark and malty, due to the generous use of both chocolate malt and black malt. And, let’s talk hops. Longest Night contains plenty of Millenium, Cascade, and Glacier hops used during the kettle boil. But, it also is dry-hopped with both Cascade and Millenium. Coming in at 6.0% abv, full of both malt and hop flavours, and with plenty of  hop bitterness, this is not the beer for the faint of heart. Nor is it a beer for procrastinators, as it will likely be gone by New Years. Come fill your growler…now!  Before it really is the longest night.

…so we got to work brewing up another batch of Spiced Winter Ale. After all, winter must have its upside.

Never had it before? Or, can’t remember a thing from last winter because it is one white blur? Well, Spiced Winter Ale is a rich, bronze colour, and is spiced with freshly broken cinnamon sticks, dried orange peel, cardamom, and star anise.

Our Spiced Winter Ale was launched in 2008, in time for the holidays, and was an instant hit. Sold only through growlers in our store, the entire supply (expected to last two months) sold out in three weeks. Suffice it to say that we have increased our batch size!

This year we have decided to add one litre flip-top bottles to the mix, only available in our store. They are decked out in “his” and “hers” clothing – pair them up to suit your persuasion. Don’t worry, though, it is still available in growlers as well.

Unlike our winter, this beer won’t last long….

Fall must be here. We know that not because of the calendar, and not because of the snow on the mountains . . . we know it’s Fall because Peter Peter Pumpkin Beer is now on our growler system!

The golds, reds, and ambers of fall are mimicked in the vivid hue of this ale. But its the flavours that really differentiate this unique beer. We add pureed pumpkin into the mash, then follow that up with molasses, Demerara sugar, cinnamon sticks (whole, but broken into bits with a food processor on brewing day), pureed ginger, crushed whole nutmeg, and whole cloves into the brew kettle. Believe it when we say, everyone in the brewery knows it is Pumpkin Beer day from the aromas wafting through the building.

We love this time of year, as friends and family reacquaint after the long lazy days of summer. For the gang here at the brewery, Peter Peter Pumpkin beer is a key element to that process. Try some now – last year it was gone by Halloween . . . Scary!

Our newest beer to hit the growler system is off and running, Razz-a-ma-Tazz Raspberry Wheat Ale. Many of you know our Grizzly Ale, which is a North American Style unfiltered wheat beer. And, our Deadman Creek, an unfiltered wheat ale made with natural cranberry. This newest variation on our wheat ales is Razz-a-ma-Tazz Raspberry Wheat Ale. This beer is different in a few ways…first of all, we used some unmalted toasted wheat in the grain bill, which is more typical of a white (or ‘wit’) beer. This carries a bit of doughy flavour into the final product. Then, we added the raspberry (100% raspberry puree) during the fermentation, allowing some of the raspberry sugars to ferment. Finally, we filtered the final product to release a bit more of the raspberry flavour to the palate. But, make no mistake, this is a beer first, with the raspberry complementing rather than dominating the flavours. It is light, it is clean, it is perfect for sunny summer days…so with any luck, the weatherman will not let it last too long.

Our world famous (okay, maybe Yukon famous) birch beer has been on the growler system since June 22, and is movin’ fast. As of July 11, we are over half gone, you might not be able to get yours come August. But, like we said, every year is slightly different from the year before, because the birch syrup is slightly different every year…and this year’s batch is simply amazing. Come in and fill your growler up, or at least have sample on us… just because you can.

And a big pat on the back to Berwyn for all the work he does, tapping those trees. Check him out at www.yukonbirch.ca