CALGARY, AB – Village Brewery has announced this year’s edition of an annual beer that is “a nod to all those that get their hands dirty to make their community a better place.”
Village Gardener is brewed each September using hops from Calgary community gardens, as well as Alberta grown and malted barley.
For 2021, the brewery revived an obscure Dutch beer style to create Village Gardener Kuit Harvest Ale (5.2% abv):
The Dutch Kuit is traditionally a malt-forward beer, brewed with fresh local hops and top-fermenting yeast. It consists of 45% oat malt, 20% wheat malt and 35% pale barley malt. We used locally grown hop cones from Calgary Community Gardens for our bittering addition. These provide notes of pineapple, tropical fruit, pear, watermelon, and stone fruit for an overall medium bitterness and hop aroma. While not traditional for a Dutch Kuit, we wanted to add a twist to the style.
The oat malt and wheat malt came from our friends at Red Shed Malting, providing the haziness in the beer. The oat malt provides a rich oat flavour, toasty granola, velvety, creamy, silky smooth body and great head retention. The Penhold wheat provides a soft, crisp, flavour while enhancing the body of the beer. The 2-Row from our friends at Rahr provides a clean, smooth, grainy characteristic. The appearance is hazy, deep harvest gold. Last, but definitely not least, we used Escarpment Labs Lærdal Kveik top-fermenting yeast. This yeast pairs perfectly with our hops complimenting them with pineapple and orchard fruit esters.
Village Gardener is available now at the Village Brewery retail store and online shop.
Source & Photo: Village Brewery