BREWERY TOUR: Tool Shed Brewery – Calgary, Alberta
Dan Crocker A.K.A. booze reviews, took a brewery tour of Tool Shed Brewery and wanted to share it with you. Saturday afternoon + beer + Graham’s great stories = Tour of Tool Shed Brewery!
By Dan Crocker on Jun. 05, 2016
Dan Crocker’s Tool Shed Brewery Tour:
This weekend I got a chance to go to Tool Shed Brewery in Calgary, AB, and I have to say it was long over due.
This tour was a really great one! I got to crash a tour that was put on by Calgary Brewery Tours. When I arrived at Tool Shed Brewing, there there was also a Canadian AeroPress Competition in their other room so it was quite busy in there.
Tool Shed Brewing’s Tasting Room:
The Tasting Room was a small little area but had another area out back that was being used for the Championships, but it still was great to see all of it. With a “Wood Shed style” this room felt like it was home.
Tool Shed Brewing’s Front of House:
Brewery Tour of Tool Shed Brewing Company:
Graham, the owner and founder of Tool Shed, finally was able to get away from all the running around he’s been doing (he never was in one spot for more than 2 minutes) and he got the tour started when the bus pulled up. Graham has tons of amazing stories to tell from how he started this brewery with his friend Jeff, his time over in Afghanistan as an IT guru (As a fellow IT geek I can call him that.. he knows his stuff!) to how they thought of their beer names. There was a couple of samples of beers handed out with the stories that went with the beers of course!
Here is the first sample I had during my Tool Shed Brewery tour… Star Cheek IPA:
Tool Shed Brewery Back of House:
Since there was a competition going on, Graham had to lead us to the back via a “race track of Tool Shed Barrels” but after a few twists and turns we finally made it. We got to the back and we had to go a little further to actually hear him, (Graham couldn’t compete with the speaker system the coffee competition had) but we got to hang out at the canning line while he got to explain some more things to us. We got to find out about the canning system, why Tool Shed uses it, and approximately how much it is for each vat they get into the building. Tool Shed Brewery sells a lot of beers and each time they make more it seems they sell out of that quickly so they are ALWAYS making more. The freshness of the beers is usually pretty fresh.
After that, sadly it was time to go. I did talk to Graham a bit and he introduced me to a fellow beer drinker, it was really awesome to be a part of the tour.
So folks, if you are ever in the area or wanting to do a tour.. do one at Tool Shed! You will get a full understanding on how dedicated they are to this brewery and how much blood, sweat, and tears the brewers put in to make some damn good beers for you guys!
Thanks Tool Shed Brewery!
Again, I want to thank Tool Shed for inviting me for a tour of their wonderful brewery! I had a great time learning about the passion and pride that goes into all of their beers. This is a must-see on your list of breweries!
Interested in reading more brewery tours? Check out these articles below:
Big Rock Brewery Tour by Sondra Baker
Common Crown Brewery Tour by Tracy-Lynne MacLellan