Prairie Dog Brewing

Beer and BBQ is the name of the game here and this family owned Brewery and BBQ restaurant does it right all day long. It’s rare to find a spot that offers it all but Prairie Dog seems to do just that. Their mission is to offer great beer and good food using quality ingredients at a fair price with friendly service included (tips are not required). The atmosphere is open and inviting and you feel instantly welcome and right at home.

Sourcing locally as much as possible, everything is made in house and from scratch. Their classically trained French pastry chef arrives early in the morning to craft the breads and buns and fires up “Clifford” to get the meats going, which is the core of their BBQ strategy.

Clifford is their big red BBQ pit and smoker imported straight from Mesquite Texas where BBQ is synonymous with big, and he’s about the biggest around weighing in at over 6700 lbs. Clifford can cook up to 1800 lbs. of BBQ at one time and is fired with BC Birchwood and Applewood.

They offer 20 beers on tap and while they feature a number of “guest taps,” their goal is to have at least 10 rotating house taps of their own that are high quality and easy on the palate. Some will be available seasonally while others may be for a just week or two, while still supporting other local brewers with their guest taps.

Although their core beers are The Hopped Wheat and IPA they are extremely excited to show off their more complex recipes such as the Oatmeal Stout, which offers a silky feel from the oats, is fairly roasty and finishes dry, the background smokey complexity is derived from portions of the oats that are smoked in Clifford.

The Coconut Brown Ale, with a focus on Alberta malts, is a little sweet and chocolatey with a slightly nutty flavour. Over that base brown ale recipe they then add 30 kilos of in house toasted coconut in a batch the flavours interplay nicely.

For starters we decided on the Corn Balls, simple deep fried morsels of cornbread batter, crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside complemented with honey butter, sweet and creamy, you can’t go wrong here. And the Poutine, thinly sliced house cut fries, deep fried cheese curds and rich beef gravy. Top yours off with brisket, pulled pork or hop-smoked bacon strips.

The brisket was amazing. Executive Chef Jay Potter (a Red Seal Certified Chef) uses only salt and pepper, just like they do in Texas which is one of the primary distinctions of their BBQ style. It’s a simple rub designed to amplify the smokey, meaty flavours without complicating them. Throughout the cooking process, the meat is moisturized with their secret spritz achieving a tender, moist product with a delicious crisp bark. The 4 Hour Alberta Pork Ribs and the Pulled Pork have a slightly more complex rub, still in the traditional Texas fashion but with more complex spices including their own house made aged hops salts. We enjoy the natural flavours of the meat but the house made sauces are so good we had to try them all, the Alberta Red Hot sauce was a favourite offering a little sweetness and a nice tang.

Don’t forget the burgers! As with everything else here all the components for the Prairie Dog are made in house. A half pound, 50/50 brisket and pork patty is topped with hop smoked thick sliced bacon, aged white cheddar, Alberta red BBQ sauce, caramelized onions, Romaine lettuce and smoked tomato jam all sandwiched between the spent grain brioche bun (gluten free buns are available free of charge).

Prairie Dog is the kind of place where you see the brewers walking around, chatting with customers, asking for feedback and sharing their knowledge of beer, brewing and BBQ with anyone who asks. There’s lots of vegetarian and gluten free options and their goal is to accommodate and welcome everyone.

Prairie Dog Brewing

105D 58 Ave. SE

403.407.2448

www.prairiedogbrewing.ca

Sun, Tu-Thu 11 am – 10 pm

F-Sat 11 am – Midnight

Closed Mondays