United Nations of Beer

Bottlescrew Bills

by Trevor Prosser
(Beer Delegate, AB, Canada)

Bottlescrew Bills
Calgary, AB, Canada

Most restaurants in Calgary will serve a few different kinds of beer, including Canadian, some local brews and a few American selections.

The good pubs will offer tens of kinds of beer, such as Guinness, Kilkenny, Stella and the like.

But where, oh where, can you go when you want to go off the beaten path? You go downtown, of course, to Bottlescrew Bills.

Once the press club for Calgary media, this thriving bar features over 200 varieties of beer from around the world, which admittedly, is a little daunting. Where do you start?

Ahh, but they're clever. Long ago, a program was started called the Around the World in 80 Beers Club. Originally requiring participants to quaff eighty brews in as many days, the tamer current version allows a full year to down the prescribed list of brew.

Anyone with hardy enough of a constitution to finish is immortalized on a plaque, hung on the walls for all to see.

So, if you're tired of the usual fare and you want to try a Windhoek Lager from Africa, a terrifying 10% ABV Crest Super Lager from the UK, or the delightful but confusingly-named McGregor Whisky from Belgium, go to Bottlescrew Bills at 140-10 Ave SW in Calgary and sign up for a passport.

The lines are shorter than the regular passport office and, by the end of it, you'll have seen the world!