Village Bobby Northern English Ale

Village Bobby Northern English Ale

This winter our seasonal ale pays homage to a good friend and a Calgary Craft beer pioneer.

The Village Bobby - every English Village had one, a dependable, trustworthy, friendly face always there in your time of need, almost a fixture like the Village square, the pub or the church. This winter, we welcome the Bobby to our Village.

The Village Bobby is a Northern English brown ale, featuring six malts that contribute notes of toasted nuts, plums, and toffee. The Bobby also includes a light profile of English hops - East Kent Goldings and Fuggles. 

Creating a new seasonal at Village Brewery is a personal process for us. Each of our beers reminds us of family, friends, and neighbours in the Village. For this years winter seasonal, we wanted to craft an ale that reminds us of a good friend and celebrates one of the fathers of craft beer in Alberta.

When you look at the 6-pack case of Village Bobby, you will see a police officer directing traffic. This policeman is a young Alastair Smart on the streets of London, years before he made it to Calgary and eventually become the first salesperson for Big Rock Brewery in 1985. Alastair worked as a sales representative at Big Rock Brewery for 30 years in which time he saw and contributed to, the growth of craft beer in Alberta, made friends with the majority of Calgary, and shared a pint or two with most of them. Overall, if you know Alastair, then you know this is the kind of man you want watching out for your Village.

“I was a metropolitan police officer AKA a “Bobby” and coming from the south side of London I was partial to a brown ale. In a changing world and with a curious mind I emigrated to Canada in 1966. In 1985, I joined Berndt Pieper and Ed McNally at Big Rock Brewery as their first salesman to help in their dream to bring craft beer to Alberta.”  - Alastair

The official release of the Village Bobby will be on October 4th at Village Brewery’s  hump day social. You can find this Northern English ale in 6-packs and featured in our Village Square Winter Variety pack until Spring 2018.

We hope you enjoy this Northern English ale this winter and if you happen to see Alastair, remember to be on your best behavior - he's a Bobby after all.

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