In the dying days of 2016 (you know, so late last week), I did a province-wide beer column looking at the year in beer. We talk about a few things, but mostly it is about the unbelievable year in Alberta beer that 2016 was.

You can listen to the full column here – and you should because it nicely summarizes the year.

My highlight of the year was the stunning growth in the number of Alberta breweries. We exactly doubled the number of breweries in the province – from 21 to 42 (by my calculations – others might differ in total number). The bulk of those new breweries opened in the last half of the year.

There is no other word for that fact than “wow!” Alberta is finally starting to join the big boys in terms of beer.

The column gave me an excuse to remind people of Troubled Monk’s big win at the World Beer Cup with their American Road Brown Ale, plus I also tossed in a mention for Ribstone’s Old Man Winter Ale and its win at the Canadian Brewing Awards. Plus I toss in a mention of Blindman’s sour ale series.

After we did a side-by-side tasting of the Bench Creek/Ribstone Creek collaboration The Hermit (which continue to amaze in their differences), I also talked about some import beer  highlights. For me that included Beau’s All Natural, Firestone Walker and Logsdon Farmhouse Ales.

Plus, of course, I couldn’t ignore the other big beer stories of the year, including the ABInbev-SABMiller merger, creating a behemoth none of us can actually imagine. And then there was the entertaining spat between Premiers Notley and Wall around beer mark-ups.

2016 was a good year for beer (not so much for celebrities we grew up with).

Let’s hope 2017 is up to the challenge.