The 2024 Alberta Beer Awards, the seventh edition, are now officially in the books with the release of the winners at a gala event last night. My biggest observation this year was how many breweries took home a medal. Of the 72 breweries that entered, 50 took home at least one medal. I think this really speaks to how deep the Alberta beer industry has become. There a dozens of small breweries quietly producing high quality beer around the province. Of course, we also saw once again the cream rise to the top. There are clearly a handful of breweries in the province that have things dialed in and prove it year after year by climbing onto the medal podium.

This year’s version of Alberta’s premier commercial competition saw 503 entries from those 72 breweries, a touch smaller than last year (see here). As usual judging was performed by certified BJCP judges or experienced brewing professionals and was done using a blind process. This year we were fortunate to be joined by a judge from Mexico and no less than the President of the BJCP, along with a handful of others from out of province.

Okay, so on to the winners. For the second year in the row, Calgary’s The Establishment Brewing Company took home top honours as Brewery of the Year on the strength of six medals in total. Edmonton’s veteran Alley Kat Brewing proved it still has chops by scooping up Best of Show for Pollinator, a dopplebock braggot (a beer-mead hybrid made with 50% honey) done in collaboration with Fallen Timber Meadery. They also picked up two other medals to round out their collection. Unfortunately we did not award New Brewery of the Year as no breweries who met the criteria won a medal (to be eligible a brewery had to have opened after January 1, 2023 and not previously entered the competition).

Silver in BOS went to Calgary’s Marda Loop Brewing for their High Tackle Golden Ale, while Bronze went to Edmonton’s Bent Stick Brewing for Hay Maker wheated pilsner.

The big winners of the night, in addition to Establishment and Alley Kat, included a trio from Edmonton: Ale Architect (3 medals), Campio Brewing (3), Polyrhythm Brewing (3); a quartet from Calgary: Ol’ Beautiful Brewing (4), Tool Shed Brewing (4), Trolley 5 Brewing (3), Two Pillars Brewing (4). Medicine Hat Brewing also scooped up three medals. Seeing Ol’ Beautiful’s success is a nice story given their taproom was destroyed by fire in the summer.

You can find the full list of winners below.

Calgary-area breweries once again won the most hardware, with 39 in total (42% of medals awarded) and 9 Gold. However, Edmonton made things close and even won more golds this year (29 total – 32% – and 14 gold). It was a bit of a down year, I think, for breweries from smaller centres. Southern breweries picked up 11 medals (4 gold), central region breweries earned 10 (4 gold), and northern breweries won 4 (no golds).

Twenty medal winners from the 2023 were able to repeat in this year’s version. Of particular note, both versions of Tool Shed’s Red Rage (it has a regular version and a no alcohol version called Zero Red Rage) hit the podium this year, meaning their streak of a beer called Red Rage winning medals in every single Alberta Beer Awards continues. Cabin Brewing’s Sunshine Rain IPA also medaled again this year, making it to the podium in five of the last six years. I also noticed that Blindman’s Dwarf Cherry Fruited Saison has now won a medal in four consecutive years. I will have a more complete analysis of multiple-year winners in the near future.

Looking back at the results and the process this year, I am led to think that both the industry and the competition itself are entering a mature phase. The period of rapid growth of the industry has most definitely come to an end. We are seeing far fewer new entrants and there are more closures. Breweries that had just opened their doors when the Alberta Beer Awards began in 2018 are now established players. The kinks and challenges that come with being a new brewery have been ironed out, and they have a sense of who they are, who they serve and what they need to do to succeed. And that confidence is showing up in the beer.

The same is true of the competition. With seven years under our belts, the judging weekend runs very smoothly. I am particularly pleased we are able to attract highly ranked judges from out of province to lend a hand and to strengthen the credibility of the judging. I sense that the ABA’s are seen by brewery people as credible and reliable and, hopefully, a valuable addition to the industry.

Time to put the 2024 edition of the Alberta Beer Awards behind us and start planning the 2025 edition. Get brewing those beer, breweries!