Balzac Craft Brewing Sea Buckthorn English IPA

Reviewed July 28, 2023

Balzac Craft Brewing Company started off in Balzac but is now located in Airdrie at 401 Coopers Blvd. The owners are Stewart and Nola Ward. Some people slow down when they retire, Stewart isn’t one of them. He opted for the “never retire just do something else” philosophy.  When Stewart was ready to wrap up his career in the oil patch and begin a new one, Balzac Craft Brewing was born.

At Balzac Craft Brewing they specialize in English style ales. Stewart’s aim is to be the purveyors of the best English Style Ales this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Westcoast IPAs are bold and hop forward, whereas English ales are tend to be very balanced when it comes to hops and malt.

Their signature beer is the Sea Buckthorn Indian Pale Ale. It is the first time I’ve seen Sea Buckthorn berries used in a beer and it piqued my curiosity. The Sea Buckthorn IPA is a creation of one of their brewers, Brad Youngs, who decided to substitute Sea Buckthorn berries for the hops. It worked so well that they now need to import berries from Quebec. They also make Sea Buckthorn cider in collaboration with Sunny Cider. (see Tasting Note below)