Alberta Distilleries Get Crafty

BY DAVID NUTTALL

From left to right: Last Best Brewing and Distilling, Lone Pine Distilling Inc., Two Rivers Distillery

f you have spent any time in a liquor store or bar in Alberta in the past couple of years, you should have noticed a whole array of new local spirits available. Much like the craft brewing scene, the artisanal distilling landscape is changing too. While not growing at quite the same rate as the breweries have been, there are now a significant number of new craft distilleries, all less than a decade old, located throughout the province.

To be honest, Alberta has never been a bastion of distilling in its almost 120 years, due to several factors. It started with a small population that grew as World War I began, followed by provincial prohibition (1916-23), the Great Depression through the 1930s, World War II, and a ruling Social Credit government (1935-71) who cared very little for the promotion of alcohol during their reign. So it fell to the major distilleries of Ontario and Quebec to keep Albertans supplied with all the liquor they needed that wasn’t coming out of illegal stills somewhere out there on the back forty.

While Alberta had supported numerous breweries since the 1890s, it wasn’t until 1946 that Alberta Distillers (ADL) opened in Calgary. It took almost another 30 years before Palliser (now Black Velvet) Distillery was established in Lethbridge in 1973, and Sunnyvale (now Highwood) Distillers opened the following year in High River. While ADL and Black Velvet are now part of multinational conglomerates, Highwood continues to be privately owned.

Four more decades passed before Alberta saw its first craft distilleries, made possible when the provincial government dropped the minimum production requirement in December 2013. Once green lit, numerous breweries and distilleries made applications. While breweries began operating almost immediately, distilleries needed a little more time. Because a distillery produces alcohol at a higher proof than a brewery, they have a few added licensing requirements and different guidelines for construction, fire codes, and safety, which add time and additional costs. First out of the gate was Eau Claire Distillery, opening in a former theatre in Turner Valley in 2014. It began, as do almost all distilleries, with gin and

Ivodka, but with an effort to use as many local ingredients as possible. As brewers already knew, Alberta is a treasure trove of natural resources for alcohol. World class grains such as barley, rye, oats, wheat, and corn are all around. Botanicals, honey, fruit, and the whatnots needed for spirits are mostly locally grown. Eau Claire also started exploring how terroir affected flavour, and consulted with local farmers directly. Since 2014 over 50 new distilleries have popped up in communities of all sizes. When Strathcona Spirits opened in Edmonton in 2016, they became the city’s first, and therefore the oldest, distillery. They also advertise as being the smallest producer in North America, operating out of a 740 square-foot facility just south of Whyte Avenue. The advantage of being a small producer is you can make multiple varieties of products; the disadvantage being, of course, is that it is only a small amount of each. However, since today’s consumer seems to demand variety and loves experimentation and shopping local, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Variety was taken to the extreme by Calgary’s Last Best Brewing and Distilling

in 2018, when distiller Bryce Parsons created a different gin each week of the year under the company's #gincrazeyyc banner. Producing 52 gins is certainly not the norm for any distillery, but it shows craft producers will experiment, create, and develop special editions, seasonal offerings, collaborations, small batches, or simply whatever strikes their fancy.

Since proper whisky must be aged three years in Canada, new companies need other products to sell while waiting. Vodka, gin, moonshine, liqueurs, and unaged whisky and rum are the norm, but different distilleries will play to their strengths, so you will also find absinthe, brandy, amaro, aperitifs, grappa, and yes, even hand sanitizer, being produced. Now, with premixed cocktails, coolers of all kinds, and hard iced teas becoming trendy, many distillers are developing their own versions.

So where do Alberta craft distillers go from here? There is so much potential that there is no single answer. All these craft distilleries are in their infancy and haven’t even had time to develop all their planned products. While breweries can make beer in about a month, many spirits take months or even years to mature. Add in an unexpected pandemic that has affected every aspect of their existence, from the supply of ingredients, to packaging and shipping, to their customer base, and most craft distilleries will tell you they don’t even know what normal is yet.

However, with the continued growth of the cocktail culture, the return of tourism, the reopening of their tasting rooms to full capacity, and the consumer’s continued desire for quality regional products, the future looks bright. Alberta distilleries are already winning international awards, so soon they won’t be just a local secret. As public tastings return, expect to see these distilleries at everything from festivals and farmer’s markets to your local liquor stores. Search them out and pay them a visit for a tasting and a tour. You’ll be impressed with what you find.

David has worked in liquor since the late 1980s. He is a freelance writer, beer judge, speaker, and since 2014, has run Brew Ed monthly beer education classes in Calgary. Follow @abfbrewed. Here is a list of distilleries operating in Alberta with their location and website. Most have tasting rooms and many offer tours. As always, check beforehand for opening hours and availability. Visit them if possible, and see what an incredible selection of sprits are produced in this province. Many of their products are available in liquor stores, but some are only offered online or at the distillery.

57 North Kitchen Brewery Distillery

Fort McMurray, 57north.ca

Alberta Distillers Limited

Calgary, albertadistillers.com

Back 40 Distillery Inc.,

Camrose, back40distillery.com

Birds & Bees Organic Winery

Meadery and Distillery, Brosseau, birdsandbeesalcohol.com Black Diamond Distillery, St. Albert blackdiamonddistillery.com Black Velvet Distilling Company, Lethbridge blackvelvetwhisky.com

Bragg Creek Distillers, Bragg Creek and

Firehall Distillers, Okotoks twopineventures.com Bridgeland Distillery, Calgary bridgelanddistillery.com Broken Oak Distilling Co., Grand Prairie brokenoak.ca Broken Spirits Distillery, Calgary brokenspirits.ca Burwood Distillery, Calgary burwooddistillery.ca

Canadian Beaver Brewing & Distilling

Company Ltd. Brooks, on Facebook

Cold Lake Brewing & Distilling Co.

Cold Lake, coldlakebrewingdistilling.com Confluence Distilling, Calgary confluencedistilling.ca Copper Cork Distillery, Vermilion coppercorkdistillery.ca Crabbie Goat Distillery, Valleyview thecrabbiegoat.com Dark Sky Distillery, Sturgeon County darkskydistillery.ca Delta Brewstillery, Calgary deltabrewstillery.ca District Distillery Ltd., St. Albert Doege Company Ltd., Edmonton, doege.ca Eau Claire Distillery, Turner Valley eauclairedistillery.ca Elk Island Spirits Co., Sherwood Park elkislandspirits.com Fort Distillery, Fort Saskatchewan thefortdistillery.com Gnu Craft Spirits, Calgary gnucraftspirits.com Great Plains Craft Spirits, Calgary greatplainscraftspirits.com Greenwood Distillers, Sundre greenwooddistillers.ca Grit City Distillery, Medicine Hat, gritcity.ca Hansen Distillery, Edmonton hansendistillery.com

Hawke Prohibition Distilleries

Sherwood Park, hawkeprohibition.com Highwood Distillers Ltd., High River highwood-distillers.com Krang Spirits Inc., Cochrane, on Facebook Last Best Brewing and Distilling, Calgary lastbestbrewing.com Latitude 55, Grande Prairie, latitude55.ca Lone Pine Distilling Inc., Edmonton lonepinedistilling.ca M D Distillery, St. Albert, mddistillery.com Park Distillery Restaurant & Bar, Banff parkdistillery.com Pivot Spirits Ltd., Rolling Hills pivotspirits.com Red Cup Distillery, Edmonton redcupdistillery.ca Rig Hand Craft Distillery, Nisku righanddistillery.com

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Distillery

Yellowhead County rockymountainbighorn.ca Romero Distilling Company, Calgary romerodistilling.com Royce Distilleries, Slave Lake, on Facebook Secret Barrel Distillery, Spruce Grove secretbarreldistillery.com Section 35 Farm Distillery, Viking sec35.com Skunkworks Distillery, Calgary skunkworksdistillery.com Stone Heart Distillery, Innisfail stoneheartdistillery.com Strathcona Spirits, Edmonton strathconaspirits.ca

Summer Love Vodka/ Starr Distilling

Calgary, summerlovevodka.com Tippa Inc., Okotoks, tippa.ca T-Rex Distillery, St. Albert, trexdistillery.ca Troubled Monk, Red Deer troubledmonk.com Two Rivers Distillery, Calgary tworiversdistillery.com West Of The 5th Distillery, Barrhead westofthe5th.com Whispering Dutchman Distillery, Cochrane whisperingdutchmandistillery.com White Lightning Distillery Inc., Barrhead County, whitelightningdistillery.com Wild Life Distillery, Canmore wildlifedistillery.ca