Endeavour Brewing Co. won silver at the Canadian Brewing Awards held May 14 in Calgary. The femme fatale who seduced the judges’ palates is named Evelyn, a barrel-aged Belgian blonde. 

“We were quite excited. This was the first time we won for our mixed fermentation program,” said brewer Matthew Atkins, who along with wife Georgia, also owns Endeavour. 

The base beer was brewed in early February 2021 and spent nine months maturing in oak wine barrels where Brettanomyces yeast performed its magic. It was entered in the Belgian-Style Brett Beer category. There were 57 categories in total and several thousand entries. 

“Evelyn comes across tasting as stone fruit, like an apricot. It’s lightly acidic, which makes it easy to drink. There are citrusy and baking-spice tastes from the yeast. And you also get the oak flavour from the wine barrel on your palate,” Atkins said. 

Endeavour won its first accolade in 2019 for the Sudden Draft IPA, a combination of British malts and yeast blended with American hops. 

The taproom is located at 215 Carnegie Dr., #4A. 

Birdhouse a Painting Company has been a St. Albert staple since 2004. But during COVID the phone stopped ringing. 

The home-based business is back and is attempting to shift from residential house painting to cabinetry, bookshelves, stools, and portable home objects owner Mike Skuba can restore in his garage. 

Skuba adheres to an old-fashioned work ethic that promotes quality over quantity. 

“A lot of people I come across want something done as cheaply as possible. I am not expensive, but I try to do as good a job as possible, and that’s not necessarily cheap,” Skuba said.  

His creative juices start pumping when he encounters a challenge. Over the years he has painted stripes and ribbons on feature walls, restored and repainted a broken guitar neck, as well as painted a fire hydrant. 

The painting service can be reached at 780-970-1472 or by email at [email protected] . 

Forest Convenience Store, formerly known as Yakky’s, reopened its doors to a sleek, revamped interior. New owners Dinesh Ralhan and son Vishna took over the lease April 22 and reopened May 2 with a more polished look and more stock on shelves. 

Although the Ralhan family is Edmonton-based, the quiet, leafy community of Forest Lawn fit into their business plan. 

“It was a good deal, rent wise, and the neighbourhood is good,” said Dinesh. 

In addition to traditional quick pickups of milk, ice cream, slushies, candy, chocolate, chips, and energy drinks, the convenience story has upped their game. It now features a hot breakfast and lunch menu, including bagels, hash browns, fried chicken, samosas, and chicken strips. 

For the barbecue season, the convenience store is stocked with firewood, propane tanks, water, and assorted items such as environmental boxes, vape products, and hookah pipes. Under Yakky's management, the convenience store expanded to renting U-Haul trucks and trailers. Rentals are still available under the new management. 

“When customers come in, we want to have everything under one roof.” 

Forest Convenience Store is located at 131 Forest Dr. 

If you know of a St. Albert and area business that has recently arrived, moved, or shut its doors, let us know by email at [email protected]  with “Business Buzz” as the subject line. 

— By Anna Borowiecki, Staff Writer

About the Author: Anna Borowiecki