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Location:
#102, 552 - 18 Street SW
Medicine Hat, AB T1A 8A7
403.487.0489
Hours: Mon - Sat 12PM to 9PM; Sun 1PM to 5PM
Tours: Weekdays at 5PM; Weekends at 3PM. Book ahead
Website: hellsbasement.com
Facebook: /hellsbasementbrewery
Twitter: @HellsBasementMH
Instagram: hellsbasement
Products: All Hops for a Basement, Paddle Wheel, Boxcar Comforts, Polly’s Pale Ale, Ryes Against the Machine, Mo’s Better Blue Blueberry Ale, Black Wolf Cascadian Dark, Chinook Wind Session Ale.
Availability: At the brewery, and in select restaurants and liquor retailers across Alberta.
Search for products on Liquor Connect.
Check out Hell’s Basement Brewery on the #SippinAlberta Craft Beverage Trail.
Hell’s Basement Brewery is a locally owned and operated community brewery, founded by six like-minded beer lovers in the Southern Alberta City of Medicine Hat. Back in 2010 in Medicine Hat, four local home brewers began to talk seriously about the idea of opening a taphouse in town. Having been fans of craft beer for years, they recognized the lack of local selection in town. Of course, provincial liquor laws prohibited smaller craft breweries from becoming a reality. That is until those laws were changed in 2013. Suddenly, the dream of a local craft brewery became a real possibility.
They set to work, building a world-class brewing facility in the industrial district of the city. This included installing a high tech 2 vessel 20bbl stainless steel steam jacketed brewhouse. Finally, the brewery opened its doors in the Summer of 2016, and has never looked back.
The brewery’s name actually comes from a quote by Rudyard Kipling. On his travels across Canada in 1907, Kipling described Southern Alberta as having “all Hell for a Basement”, with the only “trapdoor” out of it being the town of Medicine Hat.
Brewmaster Mike Gripp and his team produce four core brands, as well as a number of seasonal brews that reflect local ingredients that become available through out the Southern Alberta growing season. They are proud to work with local farmers, growers, suppliers and artists to produce their high-quality beer. Each beer tells a local story as well. The Paddle Wheel is inspired by the ships that once navigated the South Saskatchewan River in the early 1900s. Polly’s Pale Ale is an homage to Frank Pollinger, a legendary stagecoach driver from Medicine Hat’s colourful past. Even the company’s logo, the world’s largest tee-pee, is a local icon. The brewery believes strongly in sustainability. Solar panels on the roof provide a lot of the energy they use to operate. They also compost their spent grain and provide it to the city of Medicine Hat for municipal landscaping programs.
The brewery’s tap room is a bright and lively place, fitted with locally sourced materials, including repurposed brick, and barn and granary wood salvaged from an old farm in Oyen, Alberta. Patrons can sit at the bar and sample a beer flight of the brewery’s core brews as they marvel at the hand peeled beer label collage on the wall. In the warmer months the spacious patio is opened for visitors. They also operate a growler/crowler store where folks can purchase and take home the brewery’s fine product. Tours are available year round for those wanting to learn more about brewing in Hell’s Basement.