A follow up post, as promised, to Saturday’s news on the new AGLC rule. After some digging and a conversation with an AGLC spokesperson I can offer more information to all of you, which may or may not affect your response.

The Offending Beer?

First, some people have requested to see the actual memo as evidence of the new policy. I have scanned the copy I received, with names and numbers blacked out to protect privacy (if I were in the U.S. government, I would call it redacted). If you are so inclined you can see it here.

Second, the AGLC says the ban is temporary, to allow for time for AGLC staff to conduct research and run a consultation with industry stakeholders around how to handle the issue of high alcohol beer. Once that is complete a new policy will replace the ban. They say it was sparked by a request for two new products at 18% and 32% alcohol. They didn’t name the brewery, but I am pretty convinced the offending beer are BrewDog‘s Tokyo and Tactical Nuclear Penguin. The Scottish brewery has gotten itself in trouble many times for its high octane beer, including its latest 55% The End of History, which comes in a stuffed squirrel (yuck!). It may have found more difficulties here on the prairies.

The AGLC says the policy is a matter of “social responsibility”. The spokesperson acknowledged that their concern is not the craft beer drinker looking for what they call “specialty product”. They note that the price point on that kind of beer makes it less of a concern. They then made mention of some lower-priced high alcohol beer – again unnamed – marketed toward a younger crowd more likely to binge drink as the source of their concern. I have no clue to what they are referring there, so if anyone knows of a cheap 12%+ beer being sold in the U.S. or Europe, please forward that information on to me.

Third, they report only 2 products (again unnamed – see a trend?) currently listed in their system would be affected by the ban, suggesting the impact on consumers is negligible. However others have already found at least 9 different beer over 12% recently or currently available in Alberta, including de Struise Black Albert, He’Brew Jewbelation 13, Dogfish Head Palo Santo and three from Mikkeller. Not sure why the discrepancy – I imagine it is a computer thing.

So, what does this mean? It depends on your viewpoint. If you trust the government, then a new policy will come a few months from now, one that will likely distinguish between challenging craft beer and the nameless shoddy beer designed to destroy the livers of Alberta youth. At a minimum the industry players who are angry this week will get their kick at the cat (brewdog?) during the consultation. If you don’t trust them, then I imagine this will do little to mollify you.

What I don’t get is why a blanket ban? Why not just use their authority to deny the applications of the offending beer, at least temporarily? That would seem to offer a more reasonable response to what are, at this point, un-evaluated concerns. And if the offending beer applications were BrewDog products, then I worry they are following the lead of Scottish governments, whose response to BrewDog seemed over the top. In my opinion BrewDog is doing no one any favours with their increasingly carnival sideshow approach to their, normally, very good beer. However, Tactical Nuclear Penguin is not going to end up as part of a frat party chugging contest.

For me there are still more questions than answers in this story. I will keep watching. And until then, you may want to stock up on your favourite beer on the targeted list as it may be awhile before re-inforcements arrive.

Back to the regular business of beer reviews and views tomorrow.