Barley, hops, coffee beans: St. Albert, Alta., brewery brews more than just beer

In a unique blend, a St. Albert, Alta., brewery is diversifying from hops and barley to coffee beans.

Endeavour Brewing opened five years ago and there was some space to expand the business. Owners Matthew and Georgia Atkins said it wasn’t a difficult choice.

“We sat down and we (asked ourselves) what else are we passionate about?” Georgia said. “We are not really into spirits or sodas… but we are huge coffee lovers.”

Two years ago they got set up to roast their coffee beans. After making beer, it was a learning curve.

“There’s more flavour compounds in coffee than there is in beer, so it’s even a little more complicated,” Matthew said.

Matthew said they have now found a “rocky groove.”

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“We are now getting things moving, but we have lots of room for growth and we are still trying to figure out things,” he said.

At first, the couple didn’t realize how unique brewing beer and roasting coffee under one roof is. There are only a few places in all of Canada that do it, including a brewery in Innisfail, Alta.

Georgia said it works because there are some similarities.

“Coffee and beer go together so well,” she said.

“People want to know about the process, as well as the origin… They also want to taste different things.

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“The different flavours of coffee are just as important as they are in beer and we can get different flavours just depending on how you roast the coffee. You can pull out different bean characteristics that exist.”

The flavours can also go well with each other. Right now, the brewery has a coffee brown ale on tap.

“We tasted all the coffee with it to see which one would meld really and (Matthew) put it into the fermenter,” Georgia said.

“The customers are always asking, ‘What’s the next thing? What’s the new one? What’s new?’ So we have to keep doing new things and keep going,” Matthew said.

Since starting in the coffee business, the Atkins expanded their hours so they can benefit from the morning coffee rush and the afternoon beer crowd.

“Some people come in at 11 a.m. and have a coffee, lunch and have a beer,” Matthew said.

“We have found that a lot of the beer fans are also coffee enthusiasts.”

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