grizzly paw tour

7 Things We Learned on the Grizzly Paw Brewery Tour

With the opening of canmore brewing co , raw distillery and wild life distillery , canmore’s craft beer and local liquor is flowing..

As the trend to make alcohol in-house grows in the Bow Valley, we decided to go back to the first of their kind, the Grizzly Paw Brewing Co , to see what they’ve done in 21 years of business, beers and brewing. The best way to learn, of course, is to do. So we took one of their brewery tours to gain hard-earned knowledge of the beverage, aided by samples.

1. First and Foremost

The Grizzly Paw is the oldest brewery in Canmore. Established as a brew pub in 1996, the Grizzly Paw initially only made enough beer to keep their taps in the pub flowing. It didn’t take long for their product to tickle the fancy of their patrons, and a year later, they expanded to become a microbrewery. Small batch beers and seasonal lagers are still brewed in the original pub, where you can also tuck into a warm meal.

2. Brew with a View

In 2011, the Grizzly Paw started building their new brewing facility, where we took the tour. The building is influenced by the Sydney Opera House (an ode to the area’s many Australian residents?) and the surrounding mountains.

3.  Sustainable Suds

Besides being a beautiful structure, the brewing facility is also eco-friendly. The Grizzly Paw sourced the wood from the most sustainably logged forest in North America, and the roof was made with recycled rubber. With Bullfrog Energy, all the energy they use to power the brewery is matched with energy from renewable resources, making them a carbon-neutral facility – one of three in Canada.

4.  Award-winning Ale

On the tour, we sampled four beers. The first was the Powderhound Blonde Ale. It started its life as a pilsner, but the recipe was altered slightly to make it a blonde ale. And the revision snagged a gold award at the 2016 Canadian Brewers Awards for best in class for North American blonde or amber style beer. It’s very light, a little hoppy, and the closest beer to a lager you can get at Grizzly Paw (outside of Octoberfest).

5.  Worth the Wait

The Grizzly Paw doesn’t just brew beer. It ages beer. Depending on what kind of flavour they are going for and the barrels they use, the pub and brewery can make a bourbon-aged barrel, a scotch-aged, a gin-aged, and a rum-aged beer. Their barley wine beer in particular can take two years to age properly. It’s still a beer, but at the strength of a wine at an alcohol level of 10 per cent, it really packs a punch.

6.  Non-alcoholic

They also make soda. In fact, they have a brewer of soda. Made with cane sugar, this fizzy beverage comes in many flavours – which the staff like to mix. They’re a great option for kids and anyone who doesn’t drink beer.

7.  Only in Alberta

Unless you have an unusually generous friend delivering you a boozy care package, you can only get Grizzly Paw beer in Alberta — all the more reason to stop by the pub and brewery while you’re in the area.

Since we don’t want to give too much away (and sampling beer might have made our memory of the tour a bit fuzzy), don’t be afraid to take a tour for yourself!

And don’t underestimate those sample sizes! Make sure you have a safe plan to get to your next destination. You can blame this one on the altitude.

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The Grizzly Paw Brewery Taproom

Review Highlights

“ Enjoyed an afternoon at The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company over Remembrance Day long weekend. ” in 2 reviews

“ Saying that it was still very good, with plenty of samples and good humour from the tour guide who was from out East. ” in 2 reviews

“ It's an easy walking distance from downtown Canmore . ” in 2 reviews

Location & Hours

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310 Old Canmore Road

Canmore, AB T1W 2X2

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• 1 star rating Not good
• 2 star rating Could’ve been better
• 3 star rating OK
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Overall rating

Arrived early on a Friday night (430/5pm), which I was glad we did because shortly after we got there it really started to get busy. If you look at their website, there are 3 different locations that reside at this address - Tank310, the taproom, and grizzly BBQ. To make things more complex/confusing they have different menus depending on which one you go to. We wanted the BBQ menu which meant we were eating at the taproom, which was fulfilled by the grizzly bbq food truck. The taproom is the 2 tables right when you walk in, and then a couple additional high top tables tucked around the corner. Tank310 is the upstairs and is apparently the main attraction. We were seated right next to the hostess stand/entrance so it was quite noisy and just felt like people were on top of us the whole time. They have a good variety of beer, but nothing special in my opinion. I was pleased to see jackfruit on the menu and the sandwich was decent. My recommendation is to just have the downstairs be like bar seating, or first come first serve. And then have the upstairs be where you get seated. And serve just one menu!! Having different menus is so confusing and doesn't make much sense logistically.

BBQ jackfruit

For being such a large presence in the area, my experience was very under whelming. They have multiple locations. The main location has 3 different areas you can dine and drink at, but all with different offerings and it makes things very confusing. We chose the taproom out of convenience. The bbq jackfruit sandwich I had was just kind of okay. Other people I were with had other items off the menu such as the brisket sandwich and they were not impressed. Out of all the beers and drinks they offer, I wouldn't reach for any of them again. I think this place has a lot of potential, but for how long they've been around, I don't see a way of it getting any better than it currently is.

Arrived in Canmore early for checking in at our resort. So we decided to go to town and grab bite. We found this Grizzly Paw Brewery, must say it was very well attended. Came through the door a was greeted by a hostess and to our surprise was seated immediately at a bar table and was give menus to look over. We were a little put back, thought for sure we had to wait for how busy it was! The waiter came over and took our drink order (beer) as well as food order. Ordered The Boss Burger, Smokey Beef Burger with fries and gravy. The meal came out hot which is a good sign considering how busy this restaurant was. The burger was very moist full of flavour,the bun held very well together. Fries were doubled fried which kept the crispness, so yummy. The interior was very rustic mountain atmosphere. Overall we enjoyed our experience there from the great service to the food. There is a store connected we're you van buy their crafted beer and bear collectables. Yes we bought beer! Canmore is becoming a very touristy destination, very busy with traffic and pedestrians. Parking is at a premium pay parking in town.

See all photos from Darlene R. for The Grizzly Paw Brewery Taproom

Tank 310 has an incredible view and is a beautiful restaurant overlooking the brewery and 360 degree view of the mountains. When we showed up on Monday though we found out that tank 310 restaurant is not open on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays so you can only eat at the patio on the bottom level and only from a small menu. It was still fine and good though. I got the gentle lentil burger again which is what I got last time and last time I ordered it I got it on the lettuce bun and I will say it's much better on the lettuce bun but still good on a regular bun.

Great White North Burger

Gentle Lentil Burger

I have been on a brewery tor here before and I loved it because it was so cheap and I got sufficently drunk! None the less, when you leave you get to take a 6 pack with you which is nice! This year they also had a booth at "Taste of Calgary" where I tried all their drinks again including: - Grassi Lakes Heffeweizen - Grumpy Bear Honey Wheat Ale - Beavertail Raspberry - Rundlestone Session I.S.A - Evoution I.P.A All these are listed as being vegetarian which is interesting and it is delicious!

Loved the atmosphere as this place so much!! It was too dark to capture it well, but the surrounding scenery is all mountains and the outdoor seating has low lighting that makes it perfect to watch the sun set behind the mountains around you. Food was great, really flavorful and well cooked. Beer flight impressed me even more since there was none I wouldn't enjoy ordering again and typically with a flight there's one or two I don't love as much. Our server was great, managing a lot of tables very seamlessly. Only reason for for not five stars was that when you walk in there's a sign nothing to see the host for a table. So we approached the indoor bar top and the service staff were very busy but no one said anything to us for about 8 minutes while we stood there about 2 feet from them. Then we noticed others were going to a different stand outside and getting seated so we went there and were seated but it was awkward and disjointed between the two stands and we still aren't sure if we were in the wrong spot or the staff had just been too busy inside to seat anyone from that counter. A little more signage and acknowledgement from staff of our presence/direction of where to go would put this place at a 5 for sure!

Founders flight

Pulled pork sandwich

Excellent spot for a drink, a view, a meal or all the above! Check out the bar on the ground patio area or head on upstairs to the restaurant or upstairs patio! Views are beautiful. Beers refreshing and local and food generous and tasty. This deserves a 5* since everything about it was top notch! Enjoy the Canadian Rockies and the hospitality of the Canadians. Enjoy!

See all photos from Therese A. for The Grizzly Paw Brewery Taproom

Incredible food. Diverse menu. Great beer and good service. You can't visit Canmore without stopping at the grizzly paw. This is the most underrated spot in Canmore.

We were fortunate enough to be seated in Tank310 without a reservation...best views ever. We ordered the Evolution IPA, and it was the perfect blend of hops and citrus. I had the Alberta Brisket sandwich, recommended by our waitress. I had the butternut squash and blueberry salad as a side. The two paired perfectly. My husband and daughter both ordered pizzas, which had amazing wood-fired crusts, and my other daughter had a plate of wings. We all left stuffed and totally satisfied. We met the manager, Brandy, who was helping on the floor. She was so lovely and gave us a few recommendations for places to visit around the area. Between the incredible views, the amazing service, and the phenomenal food, five stars just doesn't feel like enough. We had an awesome experience and would love to return!

We only had drinks here but we loved sitting on the patio and enjoying our beers after a long day of hiking! Our server was so friendly and helpful and suggested the flight when my husband couldn't decide between beers. So perfect!

Nine lives citrus sour

Lemon pepper wings were sooo good and crispy! Service was great too. Definitely one of my favorite wings on the trip to Banff.

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The Grizzly Paw Brewing Company Taproom - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

• (0.05 km) Relaxing Mtn View Escape Condo w/ King Size Bed- National Park Pass Included!
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