Alberta has had more craft breweries start up in the last two years than any other province, and a new Calgary bylaw and provincial incentives are expected to increase the industry buzz.
Calgary’s bylaw zoning change has expanded where craft breweries can set up in the city and eased restrictions on tours, sampling and retail sales from the sites, according to a Colliers International report.
A new provincial government incentive provides grants to craft brewers who produce less than 300,000 hectolitres per year. (One hectolitre is the equivalent of a dozen 24-bottle cases of beer.)
Currently, Alberta has approximately 36 small breweries compared to 13 three years ago. There is certainly no lack of demand for the product: per-capita beer consumption in Alberta is 85.7 litres annually, the highest amount of consumption in the western provinces.
