(gentle music)
- We were wandering through
a discount liquidation center
and there was a home brew
kit that they had for sale
so I kinda asked my
brothers if we should buy it
and we thought you know why not it's $13.
We took it back to my place,
mixed the ingredients,
put it in the bathtub so it wouldn't
overflow all over my kitchen floor,
and in a couple weeks it was ready to go.
So we bottled it and it wasn't half bad.
- I saw all these breweries
and all these places
and I saw a lot of stuff
that was extremely cool
and wasn't in Edmonton.
And I thought there's
no reason why you know,
I couldn't come back to
Edmonton and bring it back.
- If five years ago someone told me
in Edmonton we would have, you know,
just the amount of local
breweries that we have here
I would have said no way.
But here we are.
Like many cities in western Canada
Edmonton is undergoing
its own craft beer boom.
With a number of micro and nano breweries
opening every year.
What is it about Edmonton?
When we started up small breweries
paid the same amount as large breweries.
Or at least the markup
was the same amount.
So we lobbied hard with a
few other local breweries
to try to get that changed.
- [Dave] The changes in the
tax structure for breweries
have allowed a lot of
new breweries to open up
and be experimental and
try different things.
And not be worried about having
to brew these huge batches.
- And we were just listening to the radio
and they said that Alberta is now relaxing
the laws on the minimum
requirements for breweries.
And we both looked at each other and said,
"Let's start up a brewery."
This can be done.
(upbeat music)
And we started looking
more and more into it,
and the more and more we researched it
we saw that it was
actually feasible to do.
And so here we are.
- The community itself
is really beneficial
and helped us a huge amount.
And, you know, it has made
this a really great success.
- [Greg] As a small business it's tough
for these small breweries
to have the marketing muscle
necessary to compete with the big players.
- This entire brewery's entirely funded
by friends and family.
It's not any big investors.
- [Greg] What does that mean
for competition among these craft brewers?
Surprisingly, less than you'd think.
- I've got some great stories about that.
Just yesterday Town Square came by
borrowing a bag of malt just
because they needed some.
We're a very close community.
For a while my brewer and
the brewer from Town Square
lived together in the same apartment.
- You know what I don't, I
haven't seen a saturation yet.
I had this conversation
last night with a customer,
we were talking about
how many more breweries
can Edmonton possibly sustain.
And one of the interesting
things that I've seen
is that every time a new brewery opens up
there's a new group of people
who become craft beer fans.
And one of the nice things
with the craft beer community in Edmonton
is that they really are a group of people
that want to try different things.
And so yes, we do get
our regulars who come in
every Thursday, every
Friday, every Saturday.
We do get our regulars that
are here sitting at the bar
and we know them and we
love having them in here.
But we also have a lot
of people who come in
who it's their first time.
Who they say, "You know I was
just over at another brewery,
"and I asked them where we should try next
"and they recommended you guys."
So every time a new brewery opens up
they get their own circle of influence,
their own family and friends,
you know, their own people
that want to try them
that then start going
hey there's a lot more
to this craft brewery
thing than just beer,
the beer that I'm used to drinking.
It's different flavors, there's more of a
there's a higher quality to it,
there's more to experience
as opposed to just sitting
down and having a cold one.
And so those people then
become craft beer fans
and start checking out the
other breweries in Edmonton.
So every time one opens
the number of breweries grows
but so do the number
of craft beer drinkers.
- And we couldn't have opened this brewery
without the assistance of the great people
over at Alley Cat.
We originally when we were
ordering our equipment
we found out that our boiler
wasn't going to be CSA certifiable,
so we were panicking
looking for another boiler.
It was gonna coast us $60000,
money we didn't have.
So we were really in a panic.
And Neil overheard about this
and he offered to sell us his old boiler
for a song and a dance.
If it wasn't for this community
we wouldn't be open today.
I mean he could have as
easily just said nothing
and watched us die
before we were even born,
but people like that step up,
and they make this community worthwhile.
- I'm very proud of all the folks
that have come through here
and have gone on to do their own thing.
There've been some very
successful breweries set up
that I think it's been great.
And it's nice to see that
they're, you know, doing well.
- A rising tide floats all boats,
is a feeling throughout the industry.
There's no competition between breweries
on the consumer's plate
because they like to sample
from a bunch of different places.
- I think Edmonton has
a craft beer community.
I feel like we have a more of a tendency
towards the craft beer community as well.
We have people here who are
a little more open minded
to locally sourced product,
people who are a little bit more
looking for that craft
beer style and quality.
That makes it a lot easier for us
to come into the city and
kind of help move it along
because we do have that
desire here at Edmonton
that a lot of places may not.
- Yeah, I mean I think Edmonton
is definitely a beer drinking city.
I think some of our pubs,
brew pubs are really good.
They're a reflection of that sort of
community minded atmosphere
that we have here.
And that is happening
more and more I think.
Where your bars, restaurants
are sort of getting behind it,
putting interesting things on tap
because consumers are demanding it.
So I mean even at sports bars
you'll find a handful of local options
which is really great.
I think you're seeing that in general
kind of across the board but
yeah I think Edmonton
is coming around to supporting
some of these breweries.
- People have really come around
to craft beer in the city.
So it's been good.
- And this, its just
I think that you know,
the interesting thing with Edmonton
is as soon as you make something good
people come and rain or shine
I mean we're hardy,
we're not fair weather.
Like there's people on the patio
when it's not a lovely day.
The support from the city is more like
in a sense support from the community.
Like the community itself
is really beneficial
and helped us a huge amount.
And you know it has made
this a really great success.
The response has been fabulous,
we've had lots of locals
and lots of people.
One of my favorite
things is I'll see people
kind of the same people
over and over again.
And as soon as you have a restaurant
or brewery where that's happening
you know you're doing something right.
People want to come back
and particularly when they're
from the neighborhood as well.
And you know, just there's
ongoing opportunities
to engage with them so we actually try
and do neighborhood stuff
whenever we can as well,
try and support them and they support us.
So really, really wonderful place to be.
(upbeat music)
- So with one of Alberta's biggest
and Canada's largest beer
producer's located in Edmonton,
it can be tough to get beer
on shelves in liquor stores.
There are however retailers
that talk exclusively to
the craft beer market.
And these shops are key
players in the growth of craft.
- My name's Steven Bezan,
and I'm the beer department
manager at Sherbrooke Liquor.
We definitely pride ourselves
on being a destination store
where people will come from all over.
We do focus on, you know, local craft beer
and supporting that community.
Like we want to be a place
that everyone feels welcome
and everyone could find
something they like.
Right from the start that
was one of our mandates
was to have the widest
breadth of selection
you could possibly get.
So when we first started
it was a lot of the European imports,
all the Belgian trappist
ales, and German hefeweizens,
all those world class beers.
But definitely the past
like three or four years
we just, that's completely
changed our business
seeing this influx of new
Alberta craft breweries
that seems to be like not only
what's taking up most of the
shelf space in the store now
but that's just what
customers are looking for.
So we've seen definitely a shift towards
like local craft beer is
kind of the standard now
I would say.
So if you're doing like a special event
for like weddings and that sort of thing
people are moving more
towards from the macro brands
to some of these local
breweries are just kind of
the standard go-to's now.
So it's definitely, like we
still want to be the store
that provides, you know,
everything so we haven't lost
the focus on all the
international type beers,
but definitely we love to
support those local guys
and it's part of our sort of,
our identity and stuff too is just to help
that local scene and help grow.
'Cause we're a small
local business as well
so we know what it's like.
So to be a part of that has
just been really rewarding
and yeah, huge part of our business.
- I think right now the challenge is
for breweries to actually
produce enough beer
that they can supply the stores.
That's been the biggest challenge so far
because for us really the
delivery hasn't been a problem
it's been more a matter
of just the breweries
making sure they can supply
enough for the demand.
So a good problem to have, I guess.
- We moved up here after university
for work and fell in love with the city
and it's just where we wanted to be.
So we looked around and then thought
there was room for a brewery in Edmonton,
or need for a brewery and
so that's where we put it.
- I don't understand people
saying Deadmonton at all.
We're a city with so many festivals,
so much energy, and so much culture
that it oozes from everywhere you go.
- I'm a proud supporter of the city.
I grew up here, I'll be
here probably forever.
- Edmonton is the largest small town.
Everyone here kind of knows somebody
or always willing to support local
and then hyper local.
I wouldn't live anywhere else.
(bright music)
- I don't think there's
gonna be any shortage
of high quality beer or
enthusiastic brewers any time soon.
In a city that is as
supportive of local production
and entrepreneurship as Edmonton
I think there's still room
for a few more beards.
- Until I see braids like a viking
we have not seen peak beard.
I say that my favorite stories
are old brewer Dave running.
He had a beard down to here
and when he ran it went
both directions like that.
- Big beard?
Oh there's lots of room for more beards.
(laughing)
- Peak beard.
For me this is my peak beard,
I can't get much longer than this.
I was looking at the mirror and I go,
"It's time for a trim."
So yeah, I'm at peak beard.
- [Greg] And now you're wearing a beard
so clearly they have not reached.
- No, that's true.
