ASBA logoIt has been common knowledge in beer circles for a while

In one of the worst kept secrets in the beer world, the Alberta Small Brewers’ Association (ASBA) officially announced it formation last week (first revealed here a few months ago). They also announced that former BioWare founder, beer videographer and all-around man-about-town, Greg Zeschuk, has been named its first Executive Director. Now, I realize this came out more than a week ago, so it hardly ranks as breaking news, but since most people in the Alberta beer world have known about Zeschuk’s appointment for a while, I felt in no particular rush to post it up.

However, I do want to comment on the potential of the ASBA as a player in the industry. I have highlighted before that the ASBA is a byproduct of the recent, and now probably shelved, AGLC policy review – in particular mark-up rates. For the moment, much like the industry itself, it is rather small – 14 breweries (although the 4 Bear Hill brewpubs are listed separately for some reason – likely due to separate licenses – while Brewsters comes in as a single entity. Odd.). Their membership criteria are rather strict – Alberta-based, 90% of Alberta sales brewed in Alberta, less than 25% owned by non-Alberta liquor company, and smaller than 700,000 hectolitres production – but reflective of the nature of the industry in the province today.

The organization is, for the moment, mostly a political lobbying tool, but their mission does include promotion of Alberta-made beer. My hope is that as it grows and matures, it adopts a more active promotional role for Alberta craft beer, more akin to the Ontario Craft Brewers, who do lots of joint marketing, promotion of individual members and generally developing the craft brand. They organize an annual craft beer week, facilitate seasonal exploration mixed packs and have talked Ontario legislators into serving only craft beer at their members’ restaurant (Alberta, the puritans that we are, don’t have beer in the leg cafeteria).

In particular I would like to see an annual craft beer week and cross-promotion of breweries’ products. It is far too early at this stage, so I will sit patiently. However the timing couldn’t be better. There will be a handful of new breweries opening in the province soon and with greater numbers more things are possible.

In Other News…

The beer news just keeps rolling in. Here is the latest:

  • The most breaking news might be the upcoming founding meeting of CAMRA Alberta (as of the day of posting the site wasn’t populated yet). A group of Calgary beer aficionados and industry types are organizing the inaugural meeting on Monday June 16 at Midtown Kitchen & Bar (302 10th Street NW) in Calgary. Details on the group are still sparse, but it hopes to model itself after other Canadian CAMRA chapters with a clear mission to promote craft beer in the province. Now, as an Edmonton-based writer, I do find the name CAMRA Alberta, organized by a bunch of Calgarians, a bit presumptuous (but that may just be old rivalries flaring up…). Still, an interesting development.
  • Wild Rose has partnered up with the historic Fairmont Palliser Hotel to celebrate the latter’s 100th anniversary. Palliser Centennial Ale is an English-style pale ale and will be available exclusively on tap at the Palliser Hotel for the rest of the year.
  • Alley Kat’s latest Dragon Series beer is being officially released tomorrow (June 5). Rainbow Dragon blows away the single-hop nature of this series by having FIVE  hops in it (Cascade, Chinook, Centennial, Columbus and Simcoe). Last year’s Plaid Dragon similarly diverged from the single-hop commitment, so this isn’t the first time they have tried something a little different with the series.
  • Village Father GrowlerIn time for Father’s Day, Village Brewing is releasing its latest seasonal, Village Father Imperial Red Ale. At 7.2% this is clearly Village’s biggest beer yet and suggests the young Calgary brewery is beginning to stretch their legs a little bit with their seasonals.
  • As usual, the folks at Yukon are unbelievably busy. Bottles of Holiday Kolsch have started reaching Alberta shelves. They also have limited quantities of a Roggenbier (found only on the Keg and Cork growler station), an Imperial IPA and a Pilsner to be served at the Edmonton Craft Beer Festival. The lesson here is that if you want a steady supply of Yukon’s one-time and special releases, you need to move to Whitehorse.
  • Speaking of the Edmonton Craft Beer Festival, this is a reminder that it revs up this coming weekend (June 6 & 7). The second installment of the sister-fest of the Calgary Craft Beer Festival, it boasts more than 100 breweries, along with some interesting programming. Tickets are still available.
  • And finally (for now) Fort Garry is throwing out a quartet of summer seasonals. Evil Goat Doppelbock and Raspberry Quencher are both first-time releases and occupy opposite ends of the beer spectrum. Returning for another engagment are Angry Fish Pilsner, released for the Winnipeg Goldeyes baseball club, and Lime Lager about which enough is said.

As usual when the list of new and interesting beer news items piles up again, I will offer another round-up for you.