The current issue of Vue Weekly in Edmonton is their “Beer Issue” where beer gets its special place in the sun. I can’t take credit for this wonderful turn of events – it was the editors’ idea. But Vue had (in my opinion) the wise forethought to talk with me before planning the issue. As their beer columnist they wanted me to anchor the beer section, which makes sense. But they had more. They also offered, if I wanted it, that I could anchor the whole section. And really, was my answer EVERY in doubt?

The result is that four of the five beer related pieces in the issue are written by me. A homebrewing friend emailed me after it came out commenting that I had “taken over” the magazine. Not quite, but it was very fun to know that the content of multiple pages could be determined by me. So, naturally, I took them up on it.

It is all posted on line, so let me give you a run down of what is there:

1. The Edmonton Beer Scene. This is the anchor piece. I take a long look at where Edmonton is at in terms of beer – the positives and the negatives. The value of this piece may be the effort to specifiy the dimensions on which cities should be measured for their “beerness”. I highlight five dimensions that, I believe, can describe a beer city. They are the number of craft breweries, the availability of l0cal beer in pubs, the number of beer-specialty pubs/restaurants, the number of brewpubs, and the quality of beer-focused events (and let’s be clear when I say number, I include quality and vice versa). In hindsight I might add a sixth dimension – quality of beer retail locations (of which I am talking about Sherbrooke and Keg and Cork here).

2. A short historical note teaching readers about Thomas Ireland, Alberta’s first brewer. Who, in my opinion doesn’t get nearly enough credit.

3. A basic education piece explaining the difference between ale and lager. I find I can never repeat this lesson enough. It is truly the starting place for any beer education regime. It is the single  most useful teaching point I have ever found in my years of beer education. Hence I replicate it in the Beer Issue.

4. An opinion piece ranting about stupid, insulting beer marketing to women. I set my sights on Coors Light Iced Tea (I will let you work out the acronym on our own) and Minhas Uptown Girl. Not because they are especially deserving of derision (although they are), but simply because they are the latest in sexist advertising aimed at women. The piece tries to end positively by offering some suggestions that can cross the divide, as it were – beer that might appeal to a beer-reluctant woman but still appeal to a beer geek.

There is a fifth beer-themed piece in the issue. But I want to make VERY clear, I did not write it. It is a series of factoids about beer. A good idea, but not written by me. Did I mention it wasn’t written by me? The reason I am somewhat defensive about that piece is that it contains a couple of factual errors – the kind of errors I wouldn’t make. Now, I am not trashing the piece – it is still a nice quirky exposition of beer trivia. The mistakes are understandable and common. So, don’t fire bomb the author – because they did nothing wrong. I just hold myself to a higher standard. And so I want my loyal readers to know that wasn’t me. For the average reader it will still be a very helpful bit of information if they want to pick someone up who is into beer. And I support that kind of activity.

So, this week is clearly unofficial beer week in Edmonton. If only we could have 51 more of them a year.