Strong, Dark and Handsome

Story by Teri McKinnon

Edmonton owner and webmaster of Amber’s Brewing Company, Jim Gibbon, seeks to offer deliciously unique beers that appeal to malt mavens. His company is the culmination of his travels, history, food and drink. A virtual trunk full of black and white pictures, www.ambersbrewing.com is a brilliant album of nostalgia, news and information that defines the brewery. As much care and history goes into the brew, too.

For spring, Amber’s is launching two new beer flavours: a robust stout and a wheat beer. Gibbon’s Stout, is a dark beer with black malt and roasted barley, giving a caramel flavour up front with a distinctive dry-roasted bitterness in the finish. The word “stout” means “strong” or “brave,” positive associations for this strong, dark and delicious beer. 

Wheat beers are also known as “white beers” or weissbeir, because before the invention of pale lagers and pale ales, most beers were dark. Wheat beers were the exception, as the wheat content lightened the colour of the beer. Amber’s wheat beer is light and crisp with citral and clove aromas. The name of the wheat beer, not yet released, is still a mystery, but in keeping with the history and personalities involved in the brewing company, it will most likely reflect the Newfoundland roots of brewer Joe Parrell.

Amber’s Brewing Company uses water from the North Saskatchewan River and purchases as many of its ingredients as possible in Alberta. “We are trying to strengthen our Alberta relationships and get an even higher percentage of local products in our ingredients,” says Gibbon. “This is all about Alberta and our partnerships.”