The Pulse: Dec. 13, 2023

Bent Stick Brewing has gathered women and non-binary industry mates together to brew a new ale that celebrates gender diversity outside the confines of International Women's Day in March.

Mel Willerth, a certified beer judge and server at Bent Stick's taproom, said they had an idea to brew a Pink Boots brew for International Women's Day, but that Bent Stick was busy then. They shared the idea with Lisa Davis, a brewer and Bent Stick co-owner. "Lisa had the brilliant thought that we shouldn't only be brewing beer by women and for women around International Women's Day — it should be done year round," Willerth told Taproot. "So why don't we change up and do it in the fall instead?"

Davis revisited the idea with Willerth and head brewer Quinn Recknagle before creating a limited-edition beer called Ryes of the Matriarchy, which launched Nov. 30.

"In our brewery half of our production team, which is only four people, is female, which is pretty unusual for this industry," Davis said. "Myself and our other female brewer, Quinn, we were just sitting around having a beer after work one day … and we were like, 'We should kick all the guys out of the brewery for a day and make a beer, and invite some of the other women and non-binary people in the neighbourhood to make beer with us.'"

The result is a rye ale brewed by Bent Stick and peers from locals Ale Architect and Omen Brewing, plus Calgary's Cabin Brewing Company and Best of Kin Brewing.

"The beer is really complex, but also easy to drink and interesting," Willerth, who suggested the beer be a rye ale, said. "It's like a light beer that has a lot of malt character, a lot of really interesting spicy and complex-yeast character. It has classic Belgian flavours with really deep malt richness, because it's also a dark beer. But then it's low alcohol, so it's really easy to drink and really friendly." (The beer has a 3.73/5 score on Untappd.)

The conversation Bent Stick and its brew mates are sparking is one that can happen year round, said Erin McQuitty, a founder and co-chair of the board for Hop Forward Society. The group is a Calgary based non-profit that works to improve diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in Alberta's craft-beer industry, and has held one event so far in Edmonton. (No one interviewed for this story could point to an Edmonton-based organization doing the same work.)

"It's no different for Hop Forward," McQuitty, who also co-founded Calgary's Born Brewing Co. and runs its sales and marketing, said. "We try and host events, and we encourage our members and membership base to create fundraising brews for us, all throughout the year."

McQuitty and the Bent Stick team are on the same page. Both referenced the Canadian chapter of international non-profit Pink Boots Society as a positive force for women and non-binary people in the booze industry, but they think there's more to be done. (In fairness to Pink Boots, it's a misconception that its fundraising brews only come out around International Women's Day.)

• The city is projecting a year-end budget deficit of $52 million, which is an improvement from the previously projected deficit of $73.8 million, but still risks depleting the city's financial stabilization reserve below the minimum balance. In an update to council on Dec. 12, administration mainly attributed the deficit to salary settlements, decreased transit revenue, and wildfire costs, but said it found savings through unfilled city job vacancies and increased revenue from recreational facilities. To address the shortfall, the city is considering a multi-year tax levy that would result in a 0.48% tax increase in 2025, on top of previously proposed increases.
• The province followed through on an $8.3-million funding promise for the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) to recruit, train, and deploy 50 additional officers in Edmonton, including transit centres and the downtown core. In a release, the province said the funding will cover officer salaries, benefits, equipment, and technology costs. Meanwhile, city council heard an update on the city's transit safety plan on Dec. 12. EPS has assigned 21 officers to patrol LRT stations, while the city has 93 transit peace officers patrolling stations.
• City council designated five historic structures within William Hawrelak Park as Municipal Historic Resources to recognize their significance and ensure their preservation. These structures, which include the Main Pavilion, Boat House, and picnic shelters 1, 2, and 3, are notable examples of the Organic Modern/International Style of architecture, featuring parallel concrete columns and cedar shake roofs with distinctive acrylic domed skylights. The park remains closed for rehabilitation work and is expected to reopen in winter 2025/26.
• A pedestrian was hit by a Valley Line Southeast LRT train near the Bonnie Doon Stop just after 11am on Dec. 12, causing a temporary delay in service. One person was taken to hospital in stable condition, and transit service resumed around 12:30pm. Edmonton Transit Service and TransEd are investigating the incident, which is the latest in a series of collisions involving the new low-floor trains on the LRT line. In a separate incident, an Edmonton Transit Service bus collided with a dump truck at the overpass of 170 Street and Yellowhead Trail on Dec. 12, sending six people to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The Edmonton Police Service is investigating the crash, which happened around 10:15am when the dump truck made a left turn in front of the bus.
• Council has ratified a new collective agreement between the city and the union representing about 150 DATS workers. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 569 DATS members voted to accept the terms of the new agreement on Dec. 5. The two-year agreement includes a 1% wage increase for 2022 and a 2% cent increase in 2023. The city and union have also agreed to merge DATS members into the union's main agreement as of Jan. 1. Union president Steve Bradshaw called it the "beginning of a new era of recognition of the value of workers who serve the disabled population."
• Public school teachers represented by Edmonton Public Teachers Local 37 are preparing for a strike vote in January after rejecting a settlement offer from Edmonton Public Schools. The Alberta Teachers' Association has requested the government-appointed mediator conclude its involvement, which is required before a strike vote can happen. The teachers' grievances include issues with calendar development, compensation, and working conditions, particularly for online teachers. Public school teachers in Edmonton haven't had a finalized contract agreement since September 2020.
• SkipTheDepot, an Alberta-based recycling app, is partnering with The Mustard Seed to launch a province-wide bottle drive for the holidays. Users can donate the 100% of the value of bottles, electronics, and clothing donations made through the app using a special promo code. App users can also support the Mustard Seed's 12 Days of Giving by leaving specific donations out with their pickup until Dec. 26. Acceptable items include winter gear, new men's and women's underwear, and personal care items.
• The province has authorized the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission to borrow up to $2.9 billion for the North West Redwater Sturgeon Refinery to support the project's financing and operations. The refinery, which converts raw bitumen into diesel and other products, has faced financial challenges, prompting the government to step in to ensure it can meet its contractual obligations and continue operations.
• The federal government recently tabled a management plan for Elk Island National Park in an effort to protect the park's ecological integrity, strengthen relationships with Indigenous Peoples, and respond to climate change. The plan was developed with input from Indigenous partners, local stakeholders, and visitors, with a focus on preserving the park's natural heritage and providing educational opportunities. The park has an average of more than 400,000 visitors annually.
• The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation is hosting the Holiday Homestand 50/50 raffle until Dec. 16 in support of local charities, including 630 CHED Santas Anonymous, the Christmas Bureau, Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada, Hope Mission, and Kids Kottage. The raffle includes 20 early bird prizes and incentives for ticket purchases, such as vouchers for JW Marriott and Century Casino. Tickets are available online.

On this day in 1961, the University of Alberta's Golden Bears hockey team was getting pumped for its game against the Edmonton Oil Kings.

The Golden Bears players in this photo weren't leaving much to chance as they prepared for the match-up. Accused of "lacking conditioning" in previous exhibition games, the team was focusing on its workouts.

The Golden Bears have a strong claim to being Edmonton's most successful sports team, with a history that stretches back 115 years. The varsity hockey team was organized in the fall of 1908 by the first cohort of University of Alberta students. The team was known as the school's Varsity Ice Hockey team then, and it joined teams from Alberta College and Edmonton high schools to form the Twin City Intercollegiate Hockey League. McKernan's Lake, which used to exist south of the U of A campus, hosted home games in this period.

Despite their eventual dominance, the varsity team's opening season wasn't exactly a success — it lost all six of its games. The varsity team fared better in their first game against another university in 1911, which they won 16-0 in Saskatoon.

The First World War saw hockey suspended, along with other university sports. After the war, the U of A banded together with other institutions in B.C. and the Prairies to form the Western Canadian Inter-Collegiate Athletic Union (WCIAU) league in 1919. A little less than a decade later, the U of A built its first indoor rink for the team.

The mid-1930s was a golden era in the team's history. In 1934, the varsity team won the WCIAU championship, a feat they repeated for the next dozen seasons. In fact, between 1934 year and the league's reorganization in 1962, the U of A team only failed to win the championship in eight years. Five of those years were due to hockey being suspended during the Second World War.

The 1930s were also the period that the varsity team became the Golden Bears. The university's football team picked up the name in 1935, and the rest of the school's teams followed suit.

The Golden Bears hockey team had success through the latter half of the century, much of it under the stewardship of head coach Clare Drake. Drake spent three years as assistant coach of the team, until taking over as head coach in 1958. He would lead the Golden Bears to 17 conference championships, as well as six Canadian championships. (He is also the only person in Canadian university sports to coach two championship-winning teams in the same year, as coach of both the hockey and football teams in 1967.) After 679 career wins, Drake retired from coaching in 1989. The next year, the university named the Clare Drake Arena in his honour, where the Golden Bears and the Pandas play to this day.

The Golden Bears last won a national championship in 2018. But the team keeps coming tantalizingly close. They ended their last season in second place overall, with a 3-0 loss to the University of New Brunswick in March. It's the third year in a row the Bears have ended up losing in the final championship game.

This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist @revRecluse of @VintageEdmonton.

Correction: This file has been updated to correct the name of the team the Golden Bears were gearing up to face.