Since 2014, Calgarians have enjoyed beer in the taproom of Tool Shed Brewing Company. The brewery first started brewing in 2012, one of the first in a new wave of about 40 craft breweries to open in Calgary in the last 15 years. Two years later, the Tool Shed taproom started offering its beers fresh from the source, with a spacious taproom and sunny patio.

The inaugural Alberta Beer Awards in 2018 proved what beer lovers already knew—that Tool Shed made some of the best beer in Alberta. The Alberta Beer Awards awarded the young brewery with multiple medals across multiple categories. Tool Shed would go on to prove itself on the national stage, winning awards at the Canadian Brewing Awards and the Canada Beer Cup, the nation's two largest beer competitions.

In 2020, Tool Shed Brewing started offering a full menu of in-house barbecue items. President and founder of the brewery, Graham Sherman would then lead a team to win a gold medal in barbecue at the 2022 World Food Championships.

Beer and barbecue is a classic pairing and at the Tool Shed taproom, customers can enjoy world-class versions of both.

But July 15, 2026, is when the Tool Shed Brewing taproom experience really took off.

It is on that date that Tool Shed become the exclusive beer supplier to WestJet, one of Canada's two national airlines. Not only can WestJet passengers enjoy Tool Shed beer on flights to almost 40 Canadian destinations, about 20 United States destinations and 20 other countries, but those same passengers can now enjoy discounts on Canada's best beer and barbecue. By showing a WestJet boarding pass the day before, the day of or the day after their flight, visitors to the Tool Shed taproom get 15% off their entire bill—that includes beverages, food and merchandise. Conveniently, the Tool Shed taproom is just a 15-minute ride share away from Calgary International Airport.

"Tool Shed started as a small backyard project," says Sherman. Tool Shed is so named because Sherman homebrewed in the tool shed at his Calgary home. "Now our beer is on one of Canada's national airlines, flying to 22 different countries. This is one of those few moments in life when you get to sit back and ask yourself, ‘Is this real life?’"

The three Tool Shed beers offered on WestJet flights are People Skills, a lightly-hopped, quaffable golden ale; Golden Hour, a hazy pale ale; and Local Legend, a 3.5% ABV light lager. But the taproom offers a full suite of beers from a berry sour to a malty red ale, right on through to a bitter west coast IPA. The taproom also offers one-time brews made on the brewery's pilot brewery.

The brewery also makes award-winning non-alcoholic beer: Zero People Skills, Zero Golden Hour and Zero Red Rage. Notably, the "Zero" versions of Tool Shed beers are fully-brewed versions of the beer with the alcohol removed, so they have the flavour of their alcoholic counterparts and do not taste like non-alcoholic beers. The taproom also offers a selection of non-beer beverages.

The Tool Shed Brewing taproom is at #9, 801 30 Street NE, Calgary. Open Sunday and Monday: 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. and Tuesday through Saturday: 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Don Tse