REVIEW: Cold Garden, Cool Runnings Stradler
“Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme get on up” it’s delicious beer time! COOL RUNNINGS!
By Shira Kogut on Aug. 22, 2017
I’d heard that cucumber beer is an upcoming trend, so when I ran into the Cool Runnings beer on tap at CRAFT, brewed by one of my favourite Calgary Breweries, Cold Garden, it was a no brainer.
I was not disappointed. It was incredible, but just to make sure my love of everything pineapple and the movie Cool Runnings wasn’t clouding my judgement, I brought two different sets of friends there to try it. After the initial reaction of
“What?! You want me to try a beer with cucumber!”
All attempts were greeted with an “OMG! That’s awesome!” The official description of the beer is:
“Pineapple, mango, and cucumber infused together with a light-bodied crisp ale base. Sweet, citrusy, cool and refreshing flavors dance across your tongue like they’re moving to the gentle rhythm of the steel drum. A touch of tropical hops linger on the finale playing out each sip like the setting of the Caribbean sun. The perfect potion to bring island vibes to chill sunny days and cool sensations to the hot summer nights. Feel Cool Runnings.”
I had to find out more, so I reached out to Jenn Chandler, Sales and Events Manager at CRAFT Beer Market and Blake Belding, The Brewmeister at Cold Garden to get the info. The story goes like this… Jenn and Taylor Kenny, Senior Day Manager at CRAFT Beer Market, approached the boys from Cold Garden, Blake Belding and Dan Allard, to put their heads together and make a great summer Radler. Blake recalls:
“We all got together at the brewery and Jenn and Taylor brought a juicer and about 15 different fruits. We spent the night mixing various concoctions until we nailed what we wanted. Those were the fun parts. Juicing 400 cucumbers and dumping 240 litres of pinepple juice, 1 litre at a time, into the Brite tank were not the fun parts.”
Well the process may not have been 100% fun, but the product certainly is.
A little cucumber Q & A with Jenn Chandler
Why a cucumber beer?
We knew we wanted to keep it tropical to match the brewery’s style. Cucumber is not used very often and we wanted it to be a unique and refreshing taste.
I’ve heard of a radler, but never a stradler. Is that something you guys invented or an industry term?
To actually be called a radler you need to come in at a certain ABV. We knew we were going to come in higher so we could not call it a radler….. which is how the name Stradler happened. Strong Radler. Started as more of a joke, but then we went with it.
What was the inspiration?
We wanted to create an easy drinking summer beer that hadn’t been done before in YYC. We are both two upbeat eccentric girls which is why we chose Cold Garden – we love their brand and they are two good friends of ours. The four us of got together and created the amazing tropical beer that we called Cool Runnings. Seemed fitting for being tropical and Calgary based.
So that’s the story of this incredible Stradler! It’s already gone from the Cold Garden Taproom, but if you hurry you can still try it at CRAFT Beer Market before they change over to their fall taps. So, go now! What are you waiting for?!
This Sunday you can also check out Cold Garden for yourself at the YYC Barley Belt Tap Tour.
If I B U I’d Seriously Read More
Celebrate National Radler Day!
Beers to Drink While Naked Gardening