This afternoon I received a copy of a memo sent to Alberta breweries and liquor agents from the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC), informing them of new rules, effective immediately, that no beer with an alcohol content over 11.9% will be sold in Alberta. This is the first time a provincial regulator in Canada has imposed a maximum limit on alcohol content.

Agents are furious, brewers perplexed. The new rule comes out of nowhere, with no consultation and with no justification for the reason. As it is the weekend, I have been unable to contact anyone from AGLC to explain the new rule (but I will try on Monday, I promise).

The rule does not affect a great many beer – since 99% of beer is far less than this limit. However, it does ban a handful of high quality products and potential products that appeal to the beer geek crowd. More importantly it short circuits any creativity among Alberta brewers. As one example, Glen Sherbrooke, which was aged in single malt whiskey barrels from Glen Breton, exceeds 11.9%. It is being grandfathered (I am told), but a great beer such as it will not be possible in the future.

And there is a principle involved as well. Why are they singling out beer? Most red wines are above 12%, and you can purchase spirits as high as 60% alcohol. If the goal is to encourage “responsible” drinking, they have the wrong target. If you want to cut down on destructive beer consumption, go after “malt liquor” which offers 6-8% beer that tastes horrible but sells for peanuts.

I think I can say with confidence that the kind of consumer who is willing to fork out the money for a challenging 12%+ craft beer is not the person who will chug three of them and drive home. Most beer in that alcohol range are rare, well-crafted and not for the faint of palate. They are the kind of beer that guys like me cellar for a couple of years to see how they age. AND I certainly will drink them responsibly – meaning slowly to appreciate the complex flavours and at home (or ensure my spouse drives home).

So what do they think they are achieving with this new rule? Some research I did today revealed two things. First, some U.S. states limit alcohol content in beer, mostly due to vestigal prohibition uptightness. Plus there is a growing concern about high alcohol caffeinated beverages south of the border, but I am sceptical that that is the rationale here. No other Canadian province limits alcohol content. Second, the federal government has talked about switching its taxation structure to greatly increases taxes at 11.9%. The latter point doesn’t help justify the new rule, but it does potentially explain the apparent randomness of the number.

I suspect in their minds beer is a beverage of quantity drinking. Many people have a few beer at an event, and the AGLC people are worried these drinkers will have the same number of 13% bottles of beer as 5% bottles of beer, which admittedly would be problematic. Or maybe they think they are nipping the caffeinated thing in the bud.

Just yesterday I spend an hour at the Spirit of Edmonton party for the Grey Cup (to do my CBC column). The VERY drunk people at that party (many of whom had been drinking since 6 a.m.) are not the kind of people who would enjoy a bottle of Brew Dog Sink the Bismark, Samichlaus, or Glen Sherbrooke. In fact, I suspect they would spit that beer out.

The problem of excessive drinking deserves attention. And I would support reasonable rules to curb it. But this new rule doesn’t achieve that. All it will do is punish fans of good beer who, for the most part, know how to drink responsibly.

I plan on following this up, so more later. Stay tuned.