One Year of Alberta Beer

Throughout 2016, I bought nothing but Alberta beer — and blogged about it

In 2016, I issued myself a challenge: to buy only beer made by Alberta brewers for the entire year.

Just as it is now, the industry was on a tear back then, thanks to recent government legislation allowing the craft beer business to take hold in the province.

From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, I recorded my experiences of tasting each one — along with other thoughts about the rapidly emerging industry — on a Tumblr site. People noticed and, for the most part, seemed to enjoy it. Metro Edmonton kindly and unexpectedly put me on their front page one day over the summer and I appeared twice on CBC Radio’s Edmonton AM to talk about my progress.

I failed. To my delight, there was simply too much beer. Even after surpassing 40 breweries, for reasons of geography, time and concern for my own health, some remained out of reach.

Why did I do this? No. 1: I love craft beer.

But I also wanted to learn more about blogging and improve my social media game. Drinking great beer (in moderation – people frequently asked me if I drank a beer every day, which I did not) was a great way to do that.

In the end, some 50 posts later, I arrived at a deeper understanding of not just the depth and variety of craft beer but at a sincere appreciation for the drive and initiative for brewers — entrepreneurs, really — in Alberta.