The Common: Streetcar party event offers incredible, beer, food, and views
If watching the sunset atop the High Level Bridge with a beer in hand sounds like your idea of a good time, you need to check out The Common’s streetcar party.
The event, which runs each Thursday evening until October 26, allows you to experience the incredible views of Edmonton’s river valley in a unique way, with cask brews made exclusively for the event.
We went to the event last night and absolutely think it’s worth checking out. One ticket gets you a ride on the streetcar, plus two beers, two snacks, and a drink ticket to use at The Common after the event. We met our group at the streetcar stop behind the bar, which was easy to find thanks to the email instructions.
Friendly staff greeted and checked us in. We were preparing for the streetcar to arrive when we were told the car typically used for the event had mechanical issues and that there would be a delay. No worries, we were able to walk back to The Common and have a drink while waiting for the car to arrive.
Staff were equally as lovely inside the bar and helped us discover a vodka soda on tap that The Common created in partnership with ‘88 Brewing out of Calgary. We enjoyed our drinks, and at the same time, the Edmonton Radial Railway Society worked to get a second trolley up and running for our party.
We finished our drinks and returned to the streetcar stop, where the streetcar was just about to pull in. Great timing.
Allison Stephen/Daily Hive
Our streetcar was smaller than the usual one used, so we got pretty cozy with our neighbours. Thankfully, some cool people sitting across from us didn’t mind bumping knees occasionally. We left for our destination, and once the jitters of being so high up passed, we could take in those fantastic views.
Then, it was time for beer and snacks. Each streetcar party comes with two casks from Blindman, SYC, Sea Change, Bent Stick, ’88, Alley Kat, Town Square, Blind Enthusiasm, Annex, Analog, Cold Garden and many more. Each beer is unique and only available to try on each trip.
Allison Stephen/Daily Hive
Representatives from each brewery introduced their beer, highlighting the inspiration and brewing methods used to make them. For this event, we had the Grizzly Paw Brewery’s Beaver Tail Raspberry Ale infused with blackberries. The beer was delicious, fruity, and refreshing.
Allison Stephen/Daily Hive
The second brewery to be featured, Edmonton-based Asymmetrical, brought with it a delicious and fun Berliner Weisse Wheat Sour beer with hibiscus, ginger and thyme.
As a tradition with Berliner Weisse beer, raspberry and blackberry syrups were available to add some sweetness to the beverage. The flavours of thyme and ginger were notable, and this one totally knocked it out of the park.
The food was equally as delicious and the perfect snack-sized amount for the hour-long event. If you haven’t had dinner yet, don’t expect this to fill you up! Our snacks on this trip included hand-popped white truffle popcorn and mini falafel with house pickles, za’atar, tzatziki, and hot sauce.
The atmosphere aboard the streetcar was also infectious, but it’s pretty easy to be in a great mood when surrounded by all the amazing beer, food, and views. We got a 10-minute warning that we would be heading back to our stop and finished our drinks before getting off the streetcar.
It was a quick walk back to The Common, where bands were setting up for an evening of wicked music with local darlings Denim Daddies as the night’s headliner.
All in all, it was a fantastic adventure and well worth the ticket price. It’s a unique experience, with creative brews and upbeat staff that make the event fun. Even with the delay, it worked out in our favour because we caught the beginning of the sunset, which we wouldn’t have experienced otherwise.
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