StatsCan released a report last week that described just how much booze is being consumed across our fair land, and Alberta is on top!
Yes, gentle reader, I say that Toronto can keep their Ford Nation, as our fair province has just been crowned as Wine Nation.
Beer is still the national tipple of choice, but Albertans are drinking it like it is going out of style! Nationwide beer sales actually fell slightly last year, but we tried to pick up the slack here in Alberta, with our local consumption increasing by 4.5%.
The big shift in consumer preferences is away from beer, towards wine and spirits. Wine is the big winner here in Alberta, up 11% last year, more than twice the rate that the rest of the country is turning to wine.
Hard liquors like rum and whisky were up nearly 8% in Alberta, while the rest of the country was closer to 3%.
Much of the increase here in Alberta can be attributed to our booming economy, as well as our privatized liquor industry, which is the envy of the rest of Canada.
For those readers who do not remember the dark days of government liquor in this province, King Ralph got the bureaucrats out of the booze distribution business way back in 1993, and since then our fair province has had a variety and selection of booze that other provinces can only dream of.
To use Onterrible as an example, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) doesn’t like to do business with any winery that cannot supply a minimum of 3000 cases per year. This means that you tend to see the products of huge commercial wineries on the store shelves in Onterrible, but not the small craft producers.
To contrast that to Alberta’s privatized system, any tiny little winery can get a listing if they want to, even if it just for a single case of wine. Of course, here in Alberta, that little winery still needs to convince a zillion independent liquor stores to make shelf space for their wine, which our local booze merchants have been more than happy to accommodate.
The end result is that we get way more selection in Alberta than in any other province. To continue using Onterrible as an example, we have more than triple the SKUs available on the shelves in Alberta, despite Onterrible having a much larger population.
Spirits are in the same boat as wine, so you tend to see much more of the small-production runs of artisan gins or single malt whiskies here in Alberta than the rest of the country. In fact, there are many small Scottish distilleries who think Alberta must be a country in its own right, as that is where all their Canadian exports are shipped to.
Look no further than the explosion of beer parlours that have sprung up over the past few years in Southern Alberta. The popular National Beer Hall in Calgary came out of nowhere, and has already grown to 3 locations, with who knows how many more on the way.
The Craft Beer Market started in Calgary a few years ago, and has already grown to Edmonton and Vancouver.
Beer Revolution is owned by the Brewsters chain of brew pubs, and has sprung up in both Calgary and Edmonton.
Even the giant megabar on MacLeod Trail in Calgary, known as Denny Andrews American Bar back in the 1980’s, then the Back Alley in the 90’s and beyond. That, gentle reader, is where your humble narrator saw Quiet Riot perform back in the heydey of hair-metal bands, but it has recently been rebranded as the Marquee Beer Market.
Wine bars have also been springing up like weeds, offering 2.5oz pours of dozens of different wines. These are especially popular with the ladies, who can’t seem to get enough of the girls night out, accompanied by tapas and wine. Sometimes your intrepid liquor reporter even hangs out solo in the wine bars, just to chat up all the single ladies! My favourites are the Vin Room in Calgary’s hip Mission District, as well as Wine Bar Kensington, also in the big city to the west.
So, it’s time to do your part to keep Alberta on the top of the charts. Get out there any buy yourself some fine Alberta beer!
