Last night was the awards ceremony for the first annual Alberta Beer Awards. And what a night it was! The Alberta Small Brewers Association really went all out, turning the event into an Oscars-style gala. The venue, the historic and… Continue Reading →
Judging has wrapped up for the first annual Alberta Beer Awards. Over two weekends some of Alberta’s most experienced judges and industry representatives judged over 300 Alberta craft beer from 57 breweries. I couldn’t participate every day due to life,… Continue Reading →
It’s funny, when you tell people you are going to Anaheim their first question is always “are you going to Disneyland?” That question makes sense to me if I said we were taking the kids to Anaheim. But in my… Continue Reading →
A CBC news article posted yesterday (read it here) looking at Alberta’s booming craft beer industry offers the take that Canada might be reaching the limits to its market reach. It quotes a business professor, Dr. Larry Plummer, who hints… Continue Reading →
My CBC column last Friday deviated from the usual and looked at the odd beverage that is Gruit. You can listen to the column here. Today we generally know Gruit as a beer made with a mixture of herbs and… Continue Reading →
I made my first kit beer in years this past weekend. And it got me thinking. As many readers know, I have been a homebrewer for 26 years, 23 of those as an all-grain brewer. Like most homebrewers of my… Continue Reading →
It is well-known that the Alberta beer industry is in the midst of a huge explosion. We now have over 60 breweries (almost 70 licenses, but I count independent operations, not AGLC licenses). Of which 46 have opened their doors… Continue Reading →
My last Vue Weekly column offered up a theoretical beer trip down Highway 2 (which you can read here). In an afternoon you could hit a half a dozen or so breweries without really venturing off Alberta’s busiest highway –… Continue Reading →
On Saturday afternoon Alberta witnessed the creation of something that I am pretty sure almost none of us coming a few years ago. I had the privilege to attend the launch of the Alberta Hop Producers Association. The group has… Continue Reading →
A new seasonal from Medicine Hat’s Hell’s Basement is creating quite a stir, for the backstory, the label and the beer.With that combination how could I not write about it? The beer, The Temptress (de verleidster),is the product of a… Continue Reading →