I’ve had the pleasure of sampling many local brews in my year-long cross-country journey, but it’s the beers of the cleverly named (note the sarcasm) Yukon Brewing Company that have succeeded in ‘wowing’ me the most by surpassing the excellent offerings from Quebec’s Unibroue (located in the town where I grew up!).

The Yukon Brewing Company has seven beers, of which I’ve tried four (so far!). They are:

• Chilkoot: this is a lager, quite acidic with a spicy finish. I don’t care much for it for sipping on its own, but it’s fantastic when paired with food, from simple burgers or pizza to salmon and rice. Appropriately enough, it is the beer I’ll always associate with my Klondike summer. Ordering it with dinner has become such a habit that I ordered it without thinking the night we came off the Chilkoot trail!
• Espresso Stout: this is a dark ale and my best beer discovery ever! It matches two of my favourite things; a dark ale and coffee! It has replaced Guiness as my beer of choice for pairing with fish ‘n chips or just for sipping on a lazy Sunday afternoon while curled up with a good book. It is incredibly smooth and creamy.
• Yukon Gold: this is a pale ale that is perfect for sipping on a patio. It pairs itself well with Yukon Jack whisky, another find this summer. This smooth ale is slightly spicy, but does not have the palate cleansing acidity of the Chilkoot. The finish is rather ‘hoppy’, which in my beer world is a good thing!
• Yukon Red: this is an amber ale and my least favourite of the four as I find the finish too bitter. Ambers are usually my go-to beer when I’m not feeling too adventurous, but my two consumptions of this one have left me disappointed.

Still left to try are:

• Cranberry Wheat Ale: someone would have to buy me this beer for me to try it as I have yet to find a wheat beer I like. The cranberries in this one do make me optimistic about it…
• Discovery Ale: this honey-brown ale is made with honey from Yukon’s territorial flower, the fireweed. I’m looking forward to trying this one seeing as I recently discovered just how much I enjoy honey-brown ales… especially in beer bread!
• Lead Dog Ale: this is another stout, which I’m sure I would enjoy. I’ve just been lured away from plain old stout since discovering stout with coffee!The inside of the bottles isn’t the only great thing about Yukon beers. Some of the labels are also works of art! Check them out, as well as the story behind each beer, on the Yukon Brewing Company’s website.(no, this post was not a paid advertisement for the YBC :D)