Chorney-Booth: Dandy Brewing Company celebrates 10 years of beer with a new taproom chef

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Craft breweries and their adjacent taprooms have become such an integral part of Calgary’s culture, it’s hard to believe that they’ve only existed for a decade. It’s been a little over 10 years since the ALGC began granting licences to small production breweries and the Dandy Brewing Company represents one of the first groups of Calgary brewers to snag one of those, launching a revolution in our local food and drink landscape.

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Many breweries and tasting rooms have come since Dandy started – and many have also since disappeared. Dandy has not only prevailed but has also grown and strengthened itself in the face of an arguable over-saturation of the local craft market and, of course, the pandemic and tough economic factors. The brewery introduced many Calgarians raised on Budweiser and Molson (maybe Big Rock if they were lucky) to their first fragrant sour beers, oyster stouts, and proper lagers, opening the door to the many other experimental breweries that sprouted out of the ground it was able to break.

In 2018, the brewery opened its tasting room in Ramsay, creating not just a cool place to hang out and drink beer along with an excellent music playlist, but also a food program headed by chef Merritt Gordon that was so deliciously ambitious it was named best restaurant of the year in this column. The move toward producing food matching the quality of the beer was natural for Dandy – co-founder Dylan Nosal comes from a culinary background and Dandy’s beer has always been as much about flavour as it is about refreshment or alcohol buzz.

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“Pairing our beer with food was big for us from the start,” says Benjamin Leon, Dandy’s co-founder and CEO. “If you’re going to eat here the food has to come from the same values that our beer comes from.”

Ten years means change though, especially when a good handful of those years saw the world being thrown into pandemic-related turmoil, and Dandy has evolved with panache. On the beer side, earlier this year Dandy partnered with Lacombe’s Blindman Brewing in a deal that sees that larger brewery brewing and distributing Dandy’s approachable core beers while the Dandy team focuses on running the taproom, special events, and experimenting with fun limited run beers here in Calgary.

After Gordon left as chef in 2021 the taproom kitchen quietly pivoted to pizza – beer’s most natural food pairing – with Nosal initially steering the ship. Dandy recently brought on chef Ryan Baker, formerly of Clos de la Oyster Barre, as its new full-time chef. Baker will continue with the New York-style pizzas Nosal developed, keeping favourites like the Pickle and Garlic Clove pies on the menu, but he’s already shaking things up by sourcing more premium ingredients and adding his special touch to weekly feature pizzas. Having a new chef also creates the potential for creative and even higher-end events and special dinners in the future.

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The Dandy Brewing Company is located at 2003 11th St. S.E. and can be reached at 587-956-8836 or through thedandybrewingcompany.com. In addition to its regular beer and pizza service, the brewery will be hosting an Oktoberfest celebration from Oct. 4 to 6, featuring its new anniversary FestBier lager, Bavarian food, and much more.

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Dandy is a pioneer of Calgary’s beer ’n’ food renaissance, but it’s not the only player in town putting out great eats. Here are a few other brewery taprooms to hit up for dinner and a drink:

Citizen Brewery
Featuring an epic dog-friendly patio, Citizen makes a fantastic burger and one of Calgary’s best Nashville chicken sandwiches, as well as a Doritos-topped mac ’n’ cheese. Head chef Brian Diamond has some serious chef chops, with previous experience at Blink and Rouge. 227 35th Ave. N.E., citizenbrewingcompany.com

Annex Ales
A veteran of Calgary’s craft beer community, Annex shares a space with the original Lil’ Empire, which opened in 2019. Annex’s beers and signature sodas pair beautifully with a perfectly sloppy burger or a plate of chili cheese fries. 4323 1st St. S.E., annexales.com

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Eighty-Eight Brewing
Dandy isn’t the only pizza-centric taproom near the Ramsay area. Eighty-eight famously was the launching pad for the now stand-alone Noble Pie as a pop-up in 2018 and now has its own pizza brand with Portland Street Pizza. Portland’s pies are closer to the Detroit style of pizza, with thick square slices topped with rich and luxurious ingredients. #1070, 2600 Portland St. S.E., eightyeightbrewing.ca

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Finally, a couple of years ago Modern Steak started the tradition of holding month-long pop-up dinners in October and this year they’re adopting a Spanish theme. For the entire month, the second floor of the restaurant’s Stephen Avenue location will transform into Fuego Y Carne, a Spanish steakhouse featuring multi-course meals created by chef Jose Lemus. Expect dishes like clams and chorizo, patatas bravas, pimientos de padrón, and leche frita (fried milk) for dessert. Of course, there will also be steak, cooked up with some Spanish flair. Reservations are required for this limited-time experience and can be made through modernsteak.ca.

Elizabeth Chorney-Booth can be reached at elizabooth@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram at @elizabooth or sign up for her newsletter at hungrycalgary.substack.com.

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