Happy hour not over for Alberta's craft beer boom

When Mike Tymchuk broke into Alberta'scraft beer business more than two decades ago, not everyone in the province wastaken with the nascent industryand some weren't polite in saying so.

"I remember reference to: 'Oh, crap beer? Yeah, I've tried that before,'" saidTymchuk, who co-founded Calgary's Wild Rose Brewery in 1996.

Such skepticism aside, the craft beer movementwas already on its way, he said.

Though it may have taken some time, the number of craft breweries in the province hasexploded, and the sectorno longer struggles as hard for the respect ofbeer drinkers, or even itslargerpeers.

Today, shareholders in Wild Rose, a staple of the Alberta scene, will vote on whether to accept a takeover bid from SleemanBreweries, Canada's third-largest brewing company.

Sleemanisowned by Japanesebeer giantSapporo.

If approved, Wild Rosewill follow in the footsteps of otherCanadian craft breweries snapped up in recent years by larger beverage companies, such asLabatt and Molson.

It will, however, be a first for Alberta's craft beer industry and it's something Tymchuksupports.

"I'm just really thrilled that my friends thatI talked into helping support the effort in the early days are finally going toget a return on their investment," said Tymchuk, who parted ways with Wild Rose in 2010and livesin Cumberland, B.C.

Sleeman's bid may alsodemonstratethe potential others see in Alberta.

"I think that Sleemansees, or Sapporo sees, quite a bit of opportunity here," Alberta beer writer and consultant Don Tsesaid in a recent interview.

"No business acquires another business without thinking they can grow it or make it more profitable."

Certainly, the growth in the province'scraft beer sector has been significant.

As of this week, there are 115 licensed breweries, both large and small,in Alberta, with another 13 pending.

Before Alberta lifted its minimum production guidelines in 2013 making it easier for smaller players to enter the marketthere were fewerthan a dozen.

Mike McNeil, executive director of theAlbertaSmallBrewersAssociation, said consumer demand is driving the growth, aided in part by the increased interest people have in theingredients that go into food.

"I think that naturally favours craft beer," he said.

Where McNeil sees challenges is in howAlberta still has the only privatized liquor store model in the country.

"Anybody across Canada, or even outside Canada, can sell their beer in Alberta if a liquor store decides to order it," he said.

"But if you look at other provinces, they have a government-run liquor model. And so they can be very preferential when it comes to what types of craft beer, or beer, they carry in general.

McNeilsays this means other provinces are more likely to carry products grown in their own backyards.

The process of getting listed in thoseprovinces is so arduous, he said,it really isn't economical for Alberta brewers to pursue.McNeilhopes to work with Alberta's new United Conservative Partygovernment tolowerbarriers between provinces.

For ages now, people have been [saying], 'Oh there's a bubble;it's a bubble.'- Peter Johnston-Berresford, OldsCollege

In an e-mailed statement to CBC News, Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews said he wants toworkwith small brewers and distillers to learnabouttheir challenges accessing other markets.

The former NDP government also fought barriers between provinces,and launched a trade challenge against Ontario over policies that it, and the industry, arguediscriminate against Alberta's small brewers.

It also created a small-brewers grant program, but a national internal trade panel ruled last year it put beer producers from other provinces at a disadvantage.

But trade hurdles aren't the only challenges people see for the sector. All that growth may bringits own headaches.

Tymchuk, who sits on the board of Cumberland Brewing Co.and still does consulting workin Alberta, believes there's limited space on the province's shelvesfor all the beer that Alberta breweries can produce.

"There are some big operations in Calgary that don't appear to have obvious sales outlets for their liquid," he said.

Tymchuk's advice to operators is to open a taproom model, as Wild Rose did, which bringsconsumers right tothe brewery door.

"I worry about some of these big ones," he said."I think there's going to be some corrections on the landscape."

He expects smaller operations with less overhead to do fine.

Peter Johnston-Berresford, an instructor in brewery operations and management at Olds College in Olds, Alta., about 100 kilometres north of Calgary, also sees a lotof opportunity forsmaller craft breweries, particularly those outside major centres.

"For ages now, people have been [saying], 'Oh there's a bubble;it's a bubble,'[and] 'When are breweriesgoing to start going bankrupt? Because they can't allsurvive,'" he said.

"I think there's probably some element of truth to that. But ...I think if everybody was just chucking breweries into Alberta's two major cities, that would be more of an issue. But that's not what's happening."

Instead, Johnston-Berresfordsaid breweries are setting up outside of major metropolitan centres, and they're carving out their own niche, includingin rural Alberta.

"I think that's where the perpetuation of growth will continue," he said. "Whether Calgary in particular can support another 100 breweries is highly debatable,I would say."