Smooth beer honours owners

The Calgary Herald reviewed Great Western's Original 16. Food stuff

BY JASON VAN RASSEL AND GWENDOLYN RICHARDS

Smooth beer honours owners

Review . These days, a brew doesn't impress the beer snobs unless it's aged in 300-year-old bourbon barrels or is bitter enough to shred your palate.

On that basis, Original 16 Canadian Pale Ale likely won't impress the elitists -but it's a smooth, refreshing beer for the rest of us.

Great Western Brewing Company in Saskatoon created and named the beer in honour of its original 16 employees, who worked in the city's Carling-O'Keefe brewery when the company merged with Molson. The new owners were going to shut down the plant, but the small group of employees bought it instead, and the Great Western Brewing Company was born in 1991.

The company says Original 16 is meant to appeal to western Canadian palates. It's an easy-drinking beer with mild hop bitterness and a crisp finish.

It's not unlike Molson Export -which isn't a backhanded compliment: Molson Ex won a gold medal in the North American Blonde/Golden Ale category at the 2010 Canadian Brewing Awards.

Original 16 is available in liquor stores and select pubs and restaurants in Western Canada.