Beer fans have long understood the world of the Pale Ale. On one hand there is British Pale Ale – sometimes known as Strong Bitter (or Extra Special Bitter, a name the BJCP has done away with) – which offers… Continue Reading →
This coming weekend will be the first where Alberta beer and spirits producers are eligible to hawk their wares at local farmers’ markets. The Alberta government announced the change a couple weeks back (when I was on holidays, damn them!),… Continue Reading →
On Friday, a panel convened to hear a complaint against Alberta’s new mark-up policy rendered its decision (read the Journal story on the decision). In a split 2-1 decision, they ruled in favour of the complaint by importer Artisan Ales… Continue Reading →
One of the cool things about how Alberta’s craft beer scene is expanding is that the growth isn’t just in the big cities. New operations in small centres are popping up across the province. And for some strange reason, many… Continue Reading →
Most Alberta beer fans already know that Biera by Blind Enthusiasm started its soft launch this past weekend – Thursday to be specific. Biera is Blind Enthusiasm’s brewpub located at the Market at Ritchie. The spontaneous fermentation brewery is still… Continue Reading →
Yesterday in the Globe and Mail, Ontario-based beer writer Ben Johnson wrote a piece exploring whether contract brewing helped or hindered the growth of craft beer. You can read the original article here. Johnson offers a very balanced and fair… Continue Reading →
Vue Weekly’s annual Beer Issue is out, available at racks around town and online. The venerable alt-weekly in Edmonton has offered a corner of its magazine to my beer column for over a decade now, but I always get excited… Continue Reading →
The last couple years I I have run a bunch of stats on the number of breweries in each of Canada’s provinces and published a kind of informal state of the beer union in Canada. You can find the previous… Continue Reading →
Manitoba’s rapidly expanding beer scene is about to be one more brewery richer. Stone Angel Brewing aims to officially open its doors in August. But as of this month you can get an advance taste of their first flagship beer… Continue Reading →
The long awaited hearing of the lawsuit launched by Steam Whistle and Great Western Brewing finally takes place tomorrow and Friday (June 22 & 23). The case, over the Alberta government’s changes to mark-up policy and implementation of a grant… Continue Reading →