Despite their rampant success south of the border, few brew pub chains have lasted beyond a handful of years in Canada, with the notable exception of the Brewsters Brewing Company and Restaurant in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Founded and still run by the Lanigan family, the 11 Brewsters locations are not big on aesthetics, but in a region where craft-brewed beer can still be hard to find, the chain is an oasis in a desert of bland beer.

The somewhat cavernous flagship Calgary location, for example, offers the chain’s signature selection of up to a dozen ales and lagers, including the toasty Flying Frog Lager and raisiny Hammerhead Red. Relative to what’s available elsewhere on the city’s old Electric Avenue strip, that lineup of taps can seem like a beer aficionado’s salvation.