While the actual weather today might be unseasonably warm, all of us on the prairies know full well that the frigid temperatures are soon on their way. January on the prairies. Makes me both proud at how hardy we all are and bewildered at why we live here in the first place.

Since the pre-Xmas rush, the pace of new beer happenings in the region has slowed somewhat. Yet, there are still a few things accumulating that I thought I should talk about.

I want to start with the announcement earlier this week that the Saskatchewan government is launching a full-scale policy review of what it calls the “craft alcohol industry” (see the press release here). The review, to be conducted by a third-party, appears to be rather broad in scope, including “the mark-up structure applied to craft alcohol, production thresholds, direct shipping of craft alcohol to retailers, the ability for growler fills to be done by retailers such as taverns and restaurants and the overall impact of the industry on Saskatchewan’s economy”.

Yup, that is pretty broad. Of course at this stage is it impossible to know what changes will happen, but with its sister review of liquor retail in the province, we can safely assume some significant changes are coming to Saskatchewan in the next couple years.

What with the ongoing controversies with Ontario’s The Beer Store and Manitoba’s policy review, I suspect 2015 might have plenty of fodder for guys like me. Stay tuned.

In other news, there is a smattering of new beer releases and other tidbits (as usual in no particular order).

• Yukon Brewing has a lot on the go right now. They are re-releasing later this month their occasional Imperial Red as part of their bomber series. The beer is a bigger version of their popular Yukon Red. Following the Imperial Red, they are slating a Roggen Bock for the bombers (date: TBA). A Saskatoon Berry Kolsch will be available at the Whitehorse tap room (only) soon.

• In other Yukon news (but deserving of its own bullet point) they are edging ever closer to releasing their craft whiskey. It now has a name – Two Brewers Yukon Single Malt Whiskey, and should be hitting the market later this year. Yeah, I know it is not beer but scotch really is just distilled beer, right?

• Edmonton’s Alley Kat has a couple of new things coming. Already out is a draught-only version of their seasonal beer Three Bears Oatmeal Stout. On February 19, the latest in the Dragon Series will be released. This time it will be Red Dragon, using Simcoe hops exclusively.

• Half Pints, over in Winnipeg, have a few announcements. First, one of their long-standing year-round offerings, Stir Stick Stout, is being phased out. It will soon be draught-only and after that eliminated. Declining sales are the single reason. However, in good news the annual release of Saison De Ceinture Flechee is slated for mid-February. They are also experimenting more – which allows for their weekly Test Batch Tuesday at the brewery – and in the coming weeks you will see a handful of one-time creations (if you live in Winnipeg, that is). Grand Slam Breakfast Stout (made with locally grown oats) is being released January 24 for growlers and may also make its way into bottles. A currently “un-named” amber ale with tons of Galaxy hops is in the fermenter and will be released next month.

• A teaser from Paddock Wood. Steve Cavan tells me they are currently barrel-aging a batch of 1000 Monkeys that has been dosed with Brettanomyces. Look forward to that in the coming months!

• Finally, I normally don’t report unconfirmed reports, but I have two separate sources telling me that Swift Current’s Bin Brewing has gone bankrupt. If anyone has information otherwise, let me know. Opening just over a year ago, its fast demise is a bit of surprise, but a number of people have told me they started off too big and couldn’t create the sales necessary to support the operation. Too bad. I always hate to see the loss of a craft brewery. Just another reminder that this is a hard business to get into.

That is all I have for now. I fully suspect Big Rock will have some news in the coming days, but I couldn’t pry any info out of them this week.