As I mentioned recently, on my CBC column I have been doing something of a series on the smaller, rural breweries in Alberta and their impact on the overall beer scene in the province. I started with the rural breweries of central Alberta (which you can read here).

My most recent CBC column offered Part Two, focusing on the breweries in the north of the province, which I define (rightly or wrongly) as the locations geographically north of Edmonton. In practical terms this excludes the breweries west and east of the city near Highway 16. They may require their own profile (to come). You can listen to the CBC column here.

Instead I talked about the eight breweries located in the towns and cities in the province’s far north – Grande Prairie, St. Paul, Cold Lake, and so on.

If we go first to Grande Prairie we are in a place where you can ALMOST do a brewery tour. Grain Bin Brewing has been open since late 2015, making them almost a veteran in this burgeoning scene (you can read my original profile here). They started as a small, locally focused brewery. In many ways things haven’t changed at Grain Bin, but in many ways they have. They have moved into a much bigger space, are doing a wider range of one-offs and seasonals, and are generally edging themselves into the provincial beer scene.

The other Grande Prairie brewery is a bit of a mystery because they choose to be. GP Brewing is quite large and distributes relatively low cost beer across the province. They don’t focus on craft and, generally, don’t seem interested in talking with the likes of me.

A couple hours north you will find Peace River Brewing, which opened about 18 months ago. I haven’t been there yet, but I am told the view of the river is unparalleled. In the region in nearby Fairview there is Heilan House which has a sizeable restaurant space and brewery. They opened less than a year ago and I have to admit I have not yet been able to try their offerings (Fairview is really kinda out of the way!!), but others vouch for the quality.

Moving eastward we stumble across Fat Unicorn (which I profiled here), which is a bit of mystery in the Alberta beer scene. Their beer drift into Edmonton and Calgary from time to time, but mostly seem to remain up in the Lac La Biche area. I can’t speak much about the brewery as they do seem to keep to themselves in many ways.

One of the more well known northern breweries is Dog Island Brewing out of Slave Lake (read my profile of them here). It is not that they are particularly large, it is more that they be the most province-focused brewery in the region, meaning folks in the bigger centres can find their beer. They have a standard range in their core line-up and bring out regular seasonals. But don’t think they are only what you find in cans on the liquor store shelf. The tap room in Slave Lake is committed to 20 beer on tap at anytime (usually brewed on their pilot system), meaning you will always find something unique if you make the trek north.

We chose their Old Towne Porter to try on the CBC column, which has some great chocolate and light roast notes and hides its alcohol well.

Then there is Lakeland Brewing in St. Paul (which I originally profiled here) which opened in 2016. It is entirely a retirement project of Colin Porozni, a former pharmacist in town. And as a result it is 100% locally focused. Porozni is making beer for St. Paul residents and St. Paul residents only. Which is cool.

Finally we find Cold Lake Brewing and Distilling. Opened in 2017 they are a distillery first, but felt if they had the equipment they might as well also produce some beer for local consumption. As is the theme for this part of the province, they are local focused and you are not going to find their beer outside of Cold Lake.

At the moment, Alberta’s north is under-developed in terms of the number of breweries it houses, mostly because of lack of population density. But I think that will change. The key for this region is to stay local. Small breweries with a tap room or small restaurant can serve the town they are in without the pressure of distributing across the province.

There are a number of towns currently without a brewery that could support a small operation. In that list I include Whitecourt, Wainwright, Barrhead, Gibbons and Athabasca.

And, of course, there is the special case of Fort McMurray, up until recently home of Wood Buffalo Brewing, which succumbed to the post-fire and economic downturn doldrums that inflicted that city. I don’t think we will see anything in the next couple years, despite its population, but eventually Fort Mac will get its craft beer groove back.

Northern Alberta is a special place. Sparse, scattered populations that care deeply about their local community. Sounds exactly like a place you want to open a brewery.