Calgary

A beer made with bull testicles? Village Brewery serves up ballsy brew for charity event

CBC house wine columnist and sommelier Laurie MacKay is sharing the stories behind Calgary's craft breweries, starting with Village Brewery and its Prairie Oyster Ale.

Buy a pint of Village Brewery's Prairie Oyster Ale to raise funds to fight prostate cancer

Jim Button (left) is the co-founder of Village Brewery and Brad Goddard (right) is the southern Alberta sales manager of Big Rock Brewery. (Danielle Nerman/CBC)

When it comes to refreshing summer drinks, there's nothing like a cold beer on a hot day.

And while a beer made with bull testicles might not be the first thing you reach for when trying to cool down, Village Brewery has crafted precisely that for its fifth annual fundraiser for prostate cancer research.

As part of her new column exploring Calgary's many craft breweries, CBC Calgary's regular house wine sommelier Laurie MacKay spoke with Jim Button, co-founder of Village Brewery, to get to the bottom of the Prairie Oyster Ale.

"Tomorrow, we have beer with bull's testicles," Button told the Calgary Homestretch. "It's a Prairie Oyster Ale. Its a fundraiser, we call it the NUTRaiser."

The fundraiser will feature appearances by Calgary wrestling legend Bret (The Hitman) Hart as well as businessman and Dragons' Den star Brett Wilson.

Button said Village Brewery has brewed three casks of Prairie Oyster Ale, each dressed up with a distinctly Canadian theme.

"One's a Coffee Crisp, one's a Mr. Big and the other one's a Maple Ball. But these beers are being sold for $100. We've raised $40,000 so far for prostate cancer." Button said. "So a purist — actually, almost anybody — would say 'that's just wrong.' But it's all about having fun, and the world is way too serious these days."

The fundraiser kicks off on Thursday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Bottlescrew Bill's, 140 10th Ave. S.W. The Prairie Oyster Ale casks will be tapped at 5 p.m. and cost $100 a glass.