Call it a six-pack if you will. The sixth year for the Edmonton Craft Beer Festival – set to take place this Friday and Saturday – is not just another excuse to ‘crack open a cold one’ at the end of a hot workweek. For Bill Robinson, it marks another milestone of success along a long road that started way before even the Calgary International Beer Festival kicked off in 2005. Things were simpler back then, and definitely smaller too.
“When we started, there were only four breweries in the province. There were a couple of brew pubs as well. The concept of a beer festival was pretty foreign to a lot. We had a few great local breweries too,” the president of organizing body Alberta Beer Festivals explained. “But for the most part, you didn't really have a whole lot going on in the province.”
Times have sure changed. When the Edmonton fest started in 2014, there were 15 breweries across the province and that number has since risen to nearly 140, including contract breweries. On top of all that, there are 22 craft distilleries that are either open or close to it, he said, with another 20 or so applications for new ones on the AGLC’s desk.
“So what you're seeing is that we still have an amazing international import beer selection but you're seeing Alberta actually compete on the world stage, which is kind of nice. It's nice to see that balance. We have some of the best water in the world. We grow some of the best two-row malt barley in the world. Having access to that kind of stuff in such a fresh way means we should have a pretty good advantage. It's just one of the things that the industry is slowly is just catching up now.”
This weekend’s two-day craft beer fest is not just a salute to that industry – it’s also a tribute to the independent and entrepreneurial spirits of the people who have started their own breweries and are trying to establish firm roots amid a market filled with multinational competitors.
Robinson said the growth has been so healthy that he has even heard some concern about market saturation.
“I don't think that's really an issue. There's a lot of beer drinkers. I think you're seeing a shift in terms of quantity to quality.”
There will still be an abundant quantity of beers from ales to stouts and everything in between during the two-day event. The Edmonton EXPO Centre will see more than 500 beers, ciders and spirits from 100 breweries and distilleries for the discerning and sophisticated sippers. If sampling such a wide variety of potent craft potables isn’t enough, attendees can take in Brew Master Seminars featuring brewmasters from Alberta’s vast and expanding craft beer and distillery family.
You can also attend seminars to learn to cook with beer. It being barbecue season, there’s probably no need to learn how to drink beer while cooking. More details on the fest can be found at www.albertabeerfestivals.com.
