Mayor Don Iveson toasts Alley Kat’s 20th Anniversary, with a beer in hand appropriately. (Photo courtesy Greg Zeschuk as I stupidly forgot my camera)

Under mostly sunny skies (plus a short hailstorm) on Saturday afternoon, 350 of Alley Kat Brewing’s closest friends celebrated the 20th Anniversary of Edmonton’s longest standing craft brewer. The Alley Kat folks turned their light industrial area parking lot into a party site, complete with food trucks, festival tents, a band and a series of carnival games (including a test your strength hammer station, whose bangs constantly unnerved me…). The crowd was wonderfully eclectic. Some old-timers who have been drinking Alley Kat since near the beginning. Lots of young families for whom local is an important consumer choice. Plus a veritable who’s who of the Edmonton Homebrewers’ Guild (I counted four past presidents of the club in attendance). Fun and beer was had by all.

I report on the event, in part because I was there, and in part because it is an historic moment worth marking. Twenty years of brewing craft beer in Alberta is no small feat. It might be hard to imagine for those younger/newer to the scene, but in 1995 there simply wasn’t much to offer for beer. Other than Big Rock, who had made a dent by that time, there simply were no local beer options. Even the imports Edmonton received were the standard multi-national fare – Boddington’s, Bass, Warsteiner, Grolsch, etc.

They chose a rough road, one requiring patience, determination and just a little bit of stubbornness. I think one of the core reasons for their success has been their business model. Alley Kat has long had, in my opinion, a “slow and steady” business approach (they may disagree with this analysis). They avoided making a big jump when demand started to climb and decided to restrict their geographic reach rather than get stretched too thin. Their beer is available all across the province these days, although their presence is much deeper in Edmonton and area, but not anywhere else (aside from a curious South Korea deal that doesn’t offer much volume).

I know they have been “near capacity” for much of the last decade, adding a fermenter or bright tank or two when needed to stretch out another couple years. They work their original 25HL brewhouse hard, brewing twice a day five or six days a week. I used to think that one day they would have to bite the bullet and engage in a more significant expansion. They have proven me wrong so many times I have stopped predicting it, although I still ponder it. Rumours tell me they are thinking of an enhanced packaging line to help alleviate their current pressure point. But who knows?

I am not saying all the new players entering our market have it easy. It is still a rough road to brew beer on the prairies. But there simply is greater consumer openness than there was 20 years ago. The path has been trampled a few times, making those first few steps, if not easy, but at least less slogging. Alley Kat was one of those first trekkers.

I think it was appropriate that the Anniversary party coincided with the Alberta Small Brewers Association AGM, meaning representatives for most of Alberta’s breweries, operating and planned, were in attendance. I will have more on the AGM and its outcomes later this week. But it was cool that breweries young and old came out to celebrate the milestone of 20 years scratching out a way to sell beer in a small-c conservative province (although not so big-c Conservative these days).

I can’t end this post with out a comment on some of the beer. In addition to pouring all of their current line-up Alley Kat did up a few one-time casks for the event. I got to sample the first two before heading off to another event. The first, an Earl Grey IPA, was quite the amazing beer. Using Full Moon as a base, they added an unstated amount of earl grey tea to the cask. It had a lovely bergamot and tannin aroma and flavour, accented by the fresh citrusy base beer. Notably, the tea really seemed to cut the perception of bitterness. The IBUs were all, obviously, still there but somehow the beer tasted like it had 25 IBUs less than normal. It was balanced, refreshing and enticing. It was good enough that has me contemplating my own homebrewed version sometime soon.

The second cask was a bit more disappointing, to my mind. They started with a wheat ale base (un-fruited Aprikat wort) and dry hopped it with some American-style hops (I was told which, but I forget and being a lousy reporter had forgot to bring my notebook and camera – duh!). I found the hop character didn’t really shine through and so the beer lacked something. I heard there were others after that as the day went along.

So, happy birthday, Alley Kat. Hats off to all the good folks who toil there proffering craft beer for thirsty Alberta consumers. Looking foward to the 40th anniversary.