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Question #62439 (2009-09-15) 

  In the late 1980's or early 90's, the production of
Calgary Beer was discontinued at the Calgary Brewery. This
happened BEFORE the brewery was shut down in 1994.
Apparently there was a ceremony conducted by the brewery
where Mary Cross, a daughter of A.E. Cross, was in
attendance. Carling O'Keefe owned the brewery until 1989,
when Molson, through its aquisition of Carling, took it
over. I am trying to find out whether the ceremony was held
while Carling still owned the brewery, or whether the beer
was dropped after Molson had acquired it. I beleive there
was a contractual agreement between the parties involved
when the brewery was first sold in 1961, that the Calgary
brand was never to be dropped. It did of course disappear
from the Alberta market, but strangely enough, it has been
available in Saskatchewan ever since. Again, could you
please help me in determining which brewer ceased producing
the Calgary brand here in town. Thank you. [name deleted]

Answer(s):

Hello and thank you for your question about Calgary Brewing and Malting and the last production of Calgary beer.

According to the research done for the "Historical Impact Assessment" done in 1997 after the closure of the brewery, the brewing of Calgary beer was discontinued in 1985 while the plant was owned by Carling O'Keefe. We were able to find an article from the Montreal Gazette reporting the announcement by Arnold FitzGerald, the local vp for Carling-O'Keefe.

The brand was resurrected for Stampede in 1987 through to the Olympics in Calgary in 1988, and in 1992 Molson's brewed 10,000 bottles of Calgary All Malt beer based on A.E. Cross's 1892 recipe for the brewery's 100th anniversary.

The papers from Calgary Brewing and Malting are held by the archives at the Glenbow Museum. The papers seem to include legal documents relating to the sale of the company to Canadian Breweries. If there was a clause about the continuation of the Calgary brand, it may be found in there. The finding aid to the Calgary Brewing and Malting Collection can be viewed at this url:

http://www.glenbow.org/collections/search/findingAids/archhtm/molson.cfm

You can contact the Glenbow Archives at 403-268-4204 or by email at archives@glenbow.org

I hope this information is helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact us again if we can be of further assistance.