EDMONTON — When Shane Groendahl goes to a party, he likes to slap down a growler of his Blindman Brewing beer and announce that it is what beer should taste like.
It’s that passion for brewing beer, as well as the taste of craft beer, that has Albertans switching from drinking traditional beers to craft beer, said Groendahl, one of the five owners of Blindman Brewing in Lacombe, Alta.
“We have had a profound re-sponse from the community,” he said during FarmTech.
Blindman Brewing began brewing in September, opened in Dec-ember and is already thinking of expanding to meet the need.
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Alberta now has 20 craft breweries, and another eight will be opening soon.
Ribstone Creek Brewery in Edgerton, Alta., started in 2012 with four friends, but expanded to 80 investors.
It was a way to boost the tax base in the small village and have fun brewing beer.
“We are not going to brew beers that are boring and bland. We wanted to brew something that push people’s palette,” said Hogarth, who is the company’s head brewer.
Its beers are pure barley beers and use 50 to 200 percent more barley per litre than typical beer brands. Most of the beer is from Alberta.
Graham Sherman of Tool Shed Brewing Company of Calgary and his partner, Jeff Orr, were technology geeks with a love of good food and beer before they opened their brewery.
“Making beer is one of the most incredibly fun, pleasing things ever,” said Sherman.
The rules have changed dramatically since Tool Shed began brewing its beer. Until 2013, breweries in Alberta had to produce at least 500,000 litres of beer. To get around the rules, Tool Shed brewed its beer in British Columbia and imported it back to Alberta.
However, Alberta dropped the minimum litre rule in December 2013, and craft breweries took off in Alberta.
Sherman believes Alberta is one of the best place to brew beer in Canada with its fresh water, plentiful barley and world-class malt-sters.
Competing against giants such as Molson and Labatt’s isn’t easy, but Sherman leaves a lot of the marketing to his customers, who demand that their local bars and liquor stores stock Tool Shed beer.
Groendahl said recent changes to taxes and the pricing structure that favour local beers have also helped get their beer into liquor stores and bars.
Enthusiasm for good beer can launch a product, but it takes cash to keep it going.
“It’s not insurmountable,” said Groendahl.
The partners took out a government loan to buy their equipment, but water, natural gas, electricity and other expenses add up.
“It’s a very viable business and now doable without the minimum production cap,” he said.
Tool Shed paid $40,000 to buy canning machine, and with both credit cards maxed out and money from family, the partners launched the brewery with $300,000. They now have $4 million invested.
Eighty investors allowed Ribstone to start its brewery debt free, which has helped keep costs low.
The potential for craft breweries across the province is “mind blowing,” said Hogarth.
“I can’t wait to see where we are in two or three years. I hope to see local brewers across every town in Alberta.”
