Today is Wild Rose Brewery’s 16th birthday. Okay, maybe not today exactly, but this is the day that Wild Rose has chosen to celebrate their 16th anniversary. And, given the rocky terrain the prairies have been for craft beer, 16 in human years is like 50 in brewery years!

And so like any good middle-aged birthday boy/girl, Wild Rose is celebrating with a big bash. Today starting at 4:00 at the Brewery Taproom, they will be offering free brewery tours, many a beer on tap and good times by all.

Oh, yeah, and also they are launching their latest seasonal today as well: Rye Saison. There are two cool things about this beer. First, that it is a RYE saison, which is pretty intriguing to me. Second, it is a collaboration with the homebrewers of the Cowtown Yeast Wranglers, which is something I would like to see more of. It is one thing to have professional brewers collaborate (an idea I quite enjoy and appreciate), but pairing up with amateur brewers I think has the potential to encourage professional brewers to push a boundary or two and play a bit more, all the while increasing amateur brewers’ understanding of the complexities of large scale brewing (AND making beer you have to find a way to sell to a skeptical market).

In other Wild Rose  news, the Calgary Herald reported last week that the brewery has hired a new CEO (Bill McKenzie, former President of Big Rock) and that they have big expansion plans. Over the winter they will be building a second brewing facility in southeast Calgary which will significantly increase their space and  double their brewing capacity. They plan on keeping the Currie Barracks location – meaning, in effect, they will have 2 breweries. No word on whether the second location will also have a tap room.

So, if you are in Calgary, pop by for a birthday pint. As for the rest of us, all we can say is happy birthday and save some Rye Saison for us!