A lovely day getting soaked with glacier water on a float trip and then drinking water straight from the Athabasca Glacier led nicely to an evening at the warm Jasper Brewing Company. This is where the beer flows freely and the female staff all seem to have blond hair and eyes the colour of an ice blue glacier.
The fact that it’s a brewing company in a national park (which also uses the glacier water for its brews) is not the remarkable thing. The story behind it is.
Alex, Socrates and Brett, owners of the Jasper Brewing Company in Alberta, Canada.
Socrates Korogonas won a lottery of $2 million. So what does a young man do with that kind of money? He invests it in his friends.
The idea was to start a pizza parlour but the success turned that simple idea into the dream of a restaurant and brewpub. With the help of two of his friends, Alex and Brett, they consulted the right people and Jasper Brewing Company was born. Just like the rest of the story, the restaurant and pub has been successful ever since.
After the group of us ladies has a nice meal (a delicious salmon burger and sweet potato fries for me, and much beer sampling by the others), we were about to leave when one of the writers says she needs a photo of the beer tanks.
So I join her to see what kind of shot she can get and, as she’s trying to manoeuvre around a group of friends at a table, someone asks her what she’s trying to do. It turns out that Alex, one of the owners, is celebrating his 29th birthday and both Brett and Socrates are also sitting at the table!
Brett graciously takes us on a tour of the place and makes sure we sample more brews (blueberry vanilla beer anyone?). These guys are super nice: I love it when good things happen to good people.
A "holdup" at Whistlers Inn in Jasper National Park, Alberta (Canada).
What I Liked:
- The Jasper Brewing Company is right in the heart of Jasper’s main street and is a casual place to gather with friends, watch the game and try some new beer. (It’s also a block away from Whistlers Inn, where I was staying, which is always convenient. Unfortunately, my lovely street-facing room got a lot less enticing when I realized that it was rodeo weekend and street noise would be at an unusual high.)
- Whistlers Inn was in the running for best decorated establishment (western-style for the rodeo, of course), decked out with saloon doors, cowboy notices and dressed up staff. They won first place!
Copyright 2009 Lori Henry
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