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Dawn Ryan's Bison. 2 Day smoke. Calgary 2016
Brewery and the Beast Smoked Bison

Brewery and The Beast draws 1,200 participants for showcase of locally sourced meats

As the gates opened Sunday afternoon for the sold-out event, event creator Scott Gurney explained the premise of Brewery & The Beast is to highlight chefs who are committed to serving locally and regionally sourced meats that were ethically and responsibly raised.

"We created the event so that they had an opportunity to showcase that in front of an audience of people who are also conscious of what they eat and where their food is coming from," he said.

Ryan O'Flynn, executive chef at The Guild Restaurant, spent two days roasting a 600-pound bison in preparation for the event.

"We've been smoking and slow cooking the bison with birch and basting it in birch syrup, so this is Alberta culture right here," he said.

Accompanying the bison was toasted bannock made with red fife flour. But not just any bannock, O'Flynn added — an IPA bannock.

"We get the spent grains from Big Rock, and then we put the IPA spent grains from Big Rock into the bannock and it works as a moistening and leavening agent," he explained.

The process wasn't done there. O'Flynn then went to local brewery, Last Best, and used a barrel of their Dirty Bird Black Lager to make mustard.

Served up Sunday, the bison and bannock was accompanied by pickled cabbage, and smoked sour cream.

"A lot of time, a lot of love went into that," said O'Flynn. "And it's absolutely perfect."

The 1,200 ticket holders at the event also got a chance to talk to local chefs and sample beer, cider, and wine, along with their meat-based dishes.

Acknowledgement: The Calgary Herald