This Pint Has 20 Ounces

This week Josh & Jonathan are joined by Alex & Pat from Yama Nomad, a Calgary based company that outfits “badass mountain adventure vans.” They give us the rundown on their van rentals and custom conversions, as well as teaching us that the #vanlife isn’t just for Chris Farley. Yama Nomad started out as a simple desire Pat & Alex had to do their own mega-road-trip in a sweet van. However the timing for a massive trip wasn’t right for Alex’s job so they built out their first van just to rent it out, and today they’re doing custom conversions for clients across North America. Of course outfitting vans for other people can lead to some wild requests which includes a lot of people wanting TV’s, microwaves, and even porcelain toilets, but surprisingly very few requests for wall-to-wall shag carpet. As we roll into 2020 Yama Nomad has big goals ahead of them including a crowd-funding campaign for a demo van they can take to trade shows, as well as an upcoming collaboration with Wild Rose and previous gu

Graham Matheos drops by the taproom this week to tell us about One For The Road, the local non-alcoholic craft brewing company that’s making Alberta’s amazing craft beer community inclusive to everyone, even those who don’t drink. After quitting drinking for a year in solidarity with a close friend, Graham would discover a number of positive benefits in his own life and health as a result. In the 14 years since then Graham found himself drawn to Alberta’s booming craft beer culture, but the limited selection of non-alcoholic beers on the market made it tough for him to participate. So Graham thought “I’m just going to do it myself and make it… worst case scenario I’ve got a garage full of beer!” Having been put in touch with the team at Calgary contract brewers Last Spike, Graham and his business partner would work with Last Spike to create a unique approach to non-alcoholic craft beer. Rather than de-alcolizing beer after the brewing process, they’re monitoring sugar and alcohol content and only brewing to 0

Ashley Hartley joins us this episode to tell us about her role Director of Marketing with the Panel One Comics Society, and how this Calgary based not for profit that was founded over a tweet celebrates Canadian comic creators and graphic storytellers. Panel One started in Calgary five years ago, but today has 175 members spanning across Canada. What began with a single tweet suggesting the idea of hosting a festival for Canadian comic creators has become a resource for support, networking, and professional development for colonists, letterers, artists, cartoonists, and writers. Some of those roles involved in creating comics are obvious, but some others were a bit of a mystery, so as a letterer herself she gives us an inside peek at a process that can range from just one person sitting down to create a comic by hand to entire teams of people, each contributing at a different step of the process. Ashley believes that comics are for everyone, and this storytelling medium isn’t just engaging for readers, but fo

This week’s episode is a meeting of Alberta beer originals when Brett Ireland of Last Best, Jasper Brewing, Banff Ave Brewing, AND Campio Brewing joins us at the Wild Rose Taproom. While Alberta’s beer industry is 120 breweries strong today, both Wild Rose and Jasper brewing were among the first ten brewers in the province. Brett clears up the legend behind their brands, clarifying that one of his business partners did indeed win the lottery but that it’s not quite the story that many people tell. We also learn about some of the challenges of selling craft beer to bars and restaurants in Calgary who know you’ll soon be opening your doors with a taproom and restaurant of your own, as it turns out that restaurants are competitive and don’t quite follow the same rising-tide-raises-all-boats philosophy that’s common in craft beer. We take some time to remember the many fine and not-so-fine establishments that used to occupy the building where Last Best now resides, including an embarrassing story about Josh and h

This episode Jonathan and Nick are joined by self-proclaimed Theatrical Ambassador Jason Mehmel! Jason is the Artistic Director for Sage Theatre and the mastermind behind the local comic anthology series FIGHT COMICS. Sage Theatre is a local theatre production company that just had it’s 20th birthday. Sage’s style is described by Jason as “tightly focused, highly dramatic, intimate theatre” that tells stories about “what it means to be human here and now.” Or for those of us less acquainted with the theatre world: “kind of like an HBO mini series!” Working primarily out of Calgary’s Pumphouse Theatre, Jason tells us about the infamous ghost that inhabits the theatre. He reassures us that this presence is a friendly one, and that they don’t mind the supernatural audience member not paying for a ticket since they don’t take up a seat. We get a proverbial peek behind the curtain at Jason’s process in selecting plays and auditioning actors, as well as his advice for people who think they may want to get into acti

Nick and Jonathan are joined today by returning guest Mark Kondrat! We chat with Mark about his podcast, Let’s Meet For A Beer, and dive into the history of the Alberta Beer Festivals team and how many of their current festivals came about. Mark claims to be a on trick pony with everything he does revolving around beer and his podcast is no exception. Meeting for a beer is the best way to take time out of your day and get to know someone, and Mark uses the Let’s Meet For A Beer podcast to interview people who’ve inspired him personally. His first interview took place in June of 2018 with Jim Button of Village Brewing who surprised him at the last minute with an extra guest - the President of Beer Canada! Since then Mark has released more than 30 episodes, pumping out a new release every single week, and many of his episodes have focused on destigmatizing mental health by talking with men and women willing to open up about their own struggles and sharing how they tackle those issues. We also take some time to

With Josh away Jonathan is joined by former guest, current co-host, and Wild Rose team member Nick McMorrow. Jonathan and Nick sit down for a chat with Connor Curran to talk about his business Local Laundry - a Canadian made clothing company aiming to build community in everything they do. Connor says that he and his partner don’t seem themselves as part of the fashion industry - “We’re not selling clothes, we build community” although Jonathan is quick to challenge him - anyone who helps him not be naked is part of the fashion industry. Local Laundry began with a simple story: “I did what any idiot millennial does, I googled ‘how to make a t-shirt company' and when that got too hard I watched a youtube video and within a couple days I had a t-shirt company.” What started as a standard Shopify+Printful t-shirt company would quickly evolve to a high quality Canadian-made garment company that has giving 10% of their profits back to the community baked in to everything they do. We talk about Local Laundry’s proc

This episode Josh is away and Jonathan is flying solo for a double DJ set. We open the episode with Sabo Forte, Calgary’s #1 open format DJ, and after Mama T shares some embarrassing stories we chat with Noodles, the DJ spinning every Sunday afternoon at the Taproom. Sabo Forte joins us to discuss his brand new album, The Most Obvious Loophole, what makes an open format DJ, and MCA Day YYC. Sabo began working on The Most Obvious Loophole during a trip to Europe, and just after returning to Canada Donald Trump was elected in the US and Leonard Cohen died in the same weekend. This led to noticeable mood change in the material, and Sabo tells us that he has a renewed appreciation for the importance of being a Canadian writer on the modern global stage. We also talk about MCA Day YYC, an offshoot of the core MCA Day NYC event which was organized as a tribute to the late MCA of the Beastie Boys. Wanting to help recreate a feeling of community and camaraderie that he remembered during the Beastie Boys heyday he org

We’re getting raw this episode when Josh goes solo with Brad Conrad, General Manager of Rodney’s Oyster House in Calgary, and that rawness continues when Jonathan and Mama T get into it over their childhood celebrity crushes. After the sage wisdom from T, Jonathan fans out over our interview with Calgary Flames Alumni and 1989 Stanley Cup winner Dana Murzyn. Our first interview this episode is with Brad Conrad, a man who’s been known to shuck a few oysters and General Manager of the Calgary location of Canadian seafood institution, Rodney’s Oyster House. We discuss Brad’s start the restaurant industry, lying about his age to work in a dish pit, and later the start 18 year long history with Rodney’s. Brad spent 13 years at the original Rodney’s before being asked to come out west to help open the Calgary location. He spent just a month here before moving back home and then being asked to come back out for another three months to help out. Those three months turned into four, four became six, and now five years

This time on This Pint Has 20 Ounces we raise a glass with the Brad Smylie, owner/operator of the recently expanded RAW Distillery, and with Alison Planche from the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s community engagement team. During the break we’re sitting down with Mama T again to get to know her and ourselves a bit better. Our first guest is Brad Smylie, owner/operator of Canmore's RAW Distillery, is outrageously modest for the huge things he’s achieved. Their unique spirits just recently won a silver medal in San Francisco’s World Spirits Competition. Looking at their product line it is undeniable that RAW is breaking the mould, include their Best in Class White Rye and their legendary Peppercorn Gin. Their rye is made with 100% real rye grain (no corn here!) and their beers are made with 100% unmalted barley. Their spirits can be found on the shelves of many Co-op and Sobeys wine & spirits stores, and they can regularly be found at farmer’s markets around the province. But if you’d like to drink their bee

This episode the Don of Beer is back. Don Tse updates us on his legendary beer counter and his recent trips to craft breweries outside of Canada. During the break we get serious with Mama T, and afterwards Josh and Jonathan write a love letter to their ideal guests on the show. Returning guest Don Tse, The Don of Beer, fills us in on his recent trip to Iceland, where beer was illegal until March of 1989, but tells us that for an industry that has only been around 30 years their craft beer scene is booming! Later we channel Don’s love of beer as art, when we match styles of music with their perfect beer pairing. In this episode’s chat with Mama T things get a little heavy, so if you tuned in for the usual boner jokes, you might be in for a surprise! Josh, Jonathan and T have some ideas on how to solve the world’s problems and we get brainstorming. In the back half of the show we’ve got a special one to one with our co-hosts Josh and Jonathan. We hear all about their storied history of shared special occasions,

This episode we sit down with Spencer Hilton of Hilton Family Farms to discuss the world class Alberta barley they produce. After the break we chat with Derek Skaggs, a member of the Calgary Fire Department and owner of Skaggs Design Co. For longtime listeners of This Pint Has 20 Ounces Hilton Farms may already be a familiar name. Spencer’s son in law Kyle Geeraert has previously appeared on the podcast to discuss Origin Malting & Brewing, which is the other half of their seed to glass beer operation. The Hilton farm was founded just outside of Strathmore in 1910 and has been growing barley for over 40 years. Growing barley before 2012 looked a lot different than it does today, when the Canadian Wheat Board was still a mandatory part of the sales process rather than the option it is today. When the Canadian government finally opened up the wheat market in 2012 Hilton Farms and 5 other Alberta farms became the first startup suppliers of barley to craft beer giant Lagunitas. Another 5 years later they decid

This episode we’re joined by Mike McNeil from the Alberta Small Brewer’s Association, Mama T tells us about her most prized possession, and later we sit down with the co-founder of motorcycle self-maintenance school Dirty Jeans DIY Trevor Prior. Alberta’s craft beer industry is currently 117 breweries strong and growing, and the Alberta Small Brewer’s Association (also known as ASBA) was formed to make sure those breweries are able to be represented just as well as large brewers. By supporting small brewers ASBA taps into the Alberta brewing spirit of collabo-tition, helping to increase consumer exposure to our local brewers, since as Jonathan puts it: “a rising tide raises all boats.” If you’ve had a craft beer at the Calgary Stampede or seen the yearly beer map from Tourism Calgary then you’ve already a cold pint of ASBA’s hard work. We also hear about where Mike sees the craft industry going as well as ASBA’s plans for the future , including an upcoming “Made in Alberta” campaign with the Alberta Liquor St

This week we’re joined by Drumheller radio personality and Dinosaur Downs spokesperson Ashley Hanson, Mama T is back with the hard truth about what discerning women look for in a man, and after the break we speak with Laura Bechard of Green Gram Botanicals about how her family’s century old farm is moving into the future with a medicinal cannabis facility. Dinosaur Downs isn’t just the only dirt stock car racing track in southern Alberta, it’s also been the subject of songs written by former Drumheller penitentiary residents, it’s got free camping with admission, AND a great way to win some awesome prizes just by showing up and drinking a Wild Rose beer. Dinosaur Downs previously held the record for the largest demolition derby in all of Canada, and they’re considering bringing back the derby… as long as Jonathan agrees to play the part of rodeo clown for the event. Of course a trip to Drumheller wouldn’t be complete without tuning in to hear Ashley on Drum FM. Good sound advice is important, and T is back ag

Our first guest this episode is Greta Bar’s Kacey Foore. She and Josh recount the recent Calgary Beer Fest, and Kacey’s important job on the Greta team of shaking hands and kissing babies. We get the drop on Geta: Calgary’s go-to spot for beer, arcade games, and street food, or what Jonathan describes as “an adult fun-house.” If you drop by Greta Bar on a Sunday, Kacey guarantees it’ll be “coco-bananas!” Sunday is re-greta night, where things get a little wild and you just might re-greta it the next morning. Of course, Josh and Jonathan don’t turn down an opportunity to share some of their most embarrassing moments, and you can have yours read aloud on the show as well by emailing canfessionals@wildrosebrewery.com This episode’s advice from Mama T is about the people you love, and the simple things that put a smile on their face. We learn that T doesn’t buy gifts for people for specific days like birthdays or holidays, and believes the best day to give a gift to someone you card about is any day. Bringing up

This Pint Has 20 Ounces is back with an episode packed full of Calgary celebrities! We kick things off with Abbie Thurgood, vocalist for stellar prog-rock band Gone Cosmic, then during the break we get some tips from Mama T on how to travel on a budget. After our trip with Mama T we’re joined by a man with a job title that makes everyone jealous, Willow Park’s Dave The Beer Guy. Just what does it take for the stars to align and make a band like Gone Cosmic possible? Vocalist Abbie Thurgood reveals the strange circumstances of her joining the band, including the otherworldly discovery that she already had connections with other band members through family friends and former jobs. We get an inside look on the band’s creative process, as well as their recent tour of Western Canada. If you didn’t catch Gone Cosmic at Sled Island this week, be sure to check out their brand new album, Sideways In Time on Bandcamp This episode Josh is in a predicament: a big holiday on a small budget. When we’re faced with problems

This episode kicks off with Zac Hartley of Burgundy Oak, to tell us about how wanting some ribs at the cabin led to a thriving Calgary business, and later we speak with architect and real estate developer Kate MacGregor about her firm, XYC Design, and her contribution to Calgary’s East Village. During the break we’re back with another Canfessional! It all started when Zac attended the Penticton Rib Festival. Later at family cabin Zac wanted to recreate a great recipe he’d tried, so he picked up a used wine barrel, sliced off the top, and built his own smoker at the cabin. Wanting to share his project he posted a few photos online, and soon after they were contacted by CTV news. What took place afterwards they hadn’t expected: people wanted to get wine barrel smokers of their own. Zac and his partner Nick made a trip out to the Okanagan where they put $1500 worth of barrels on their credit cards so they could fulfill their first order, which was built in mom’s garage. Today Burgundy Oak is well known for their

"I don't care how great your beer is, if you don't have great employees representing your brand it's hard to win." In this extra special episode of This Pint Has 20 Ounces we're joined by Wild Rose CEO Bill Mckenzie to discuss the recent acquisition of Wild Rose Brewery by Sleeman, as well why the Wild Rose team describes their culture as a reverse mullet. This episode we bust out our journalistic chops for a hard-hitting interview with our boss, Bill McKenzie. In this interview get the news on the recent acquisition straight from the man himself. We discuss the amazing track record Sleeman has for lifting up craft brewers without interfering with what makes them unique, and learn what Sleeman had to say about Wild Rose: "We love your brand, don't change it!" Bill says "We're not for sale, we were never for sale, however, we wanted to make sure we were protecting our brand and our people and to make sure that we have a legacy as wild rose. So what can we do to solidify that legacy?&qu

This episode we're joined by Brent from Boogie's Burgers to flip our perception of Calgary's burger scene, Mamma T gives us the heartfelt truth about loving people for who they are, and Strongman Nick McMorrow lifts up our understanding of the Strongman sport both here in Alberta and nationally. Boogie's isn't just Josh's favourite burger joint, it's a way of life and a Calgary institution. With Brent form their Marda Loop location in the guest seat the boys get the scoop on their upcoming 50th anniversary and the party to come with it. Boogie's first opened in 1969 and as the story goes, was named after the original owners' dog! Today they're Calgary's hippest spot for a burger, which Brent explains played a big part in Netflix reaching out to Boogie's to play a part in the promotion of Riverdale, the dramatic new take on the classic Archie comics. Mamma T is back again to answer your questions! This time we dive into T's history and she gives us some tough love on love. How many Joshes can you carry for 10

This episode we're joined by Mitch Belot, local purveyor of good old fun Saturday night music, Mamma T returns to answer your questions, and our second guest is Kyle Geeraert from Origin Malting & Brewing, the source of Wild Rose Brewery's barley malt. Our first guest this week is Mitch Belot, joining us to plug the band's upcoming album. Josh confesses his fandom for the swampy blues-rock band, and gushes over their performance at a recent show here at the Wild Rose Taproom. Later, the guys try out some soon-to-be rejected catchphrases for the brewery, and each of their experiences having a couple too many pints and getting a little too before playing a show. When Mamma T makes her return to the show she helps Josh re-establish his confidence, and talks with Jonathan about dressing for the job you want, not the job you have. In this episode's second half we're joined by Kyle Geeraert of Origin Malting & Brewing. Origin is not only the suppier of malt barley for Wild Rose Brewing, but also for US-base