Pints in a Pandemic: Beer Guy

“People like drinking beer. People are still drinking beer. It’s just where and how they’re drinking it that is very different.” –Hayden Dewes, Cabin Brewing

by Peter Bailey

Hayden is right—beer drinking during a pandemic is certainly different. With bars, pubs and taprooms closed up, beer drinking has moved into our homes. Certainly, it’s convenient and cheap to walk a few steps to your own fridge for a great craft beer. But drinking beer isn’t just about the beer—it’s about people. It’s about conversations. It’s about community. Sure, drinking a pint with friends by video conference was fun once or twice, but it’s a poor replacement.

Tough times spark new ideas. And beer people are creative souls who are open to new things, including ways to (safely) share a beer with friends during a pandemic. I saw this the first warmish afternoon in April, when I was out walking my dog Pippin. Coaxed by the sun, Pip urged us on further than usual, towards Edmonton’s Brewery District. Within sight of the old brick Molson tower, we came across two gentlemen on the winter-brown grass just off the walking path. They stood the pandemic-appropriate two metres apart, each with a pint glass full of beer. On the ground was a big bottle of Jester King Provenance lemon and lime Belgian-style saison, a rare and unique beer from Austin, Texas. I knew I had found my people.

Both men are brewers, meeting in open space to celebrate a birthday and to mourn the cancellation of the Craft Brewers Conference in San Antonio, which is where both were scheduled to be that day, pre-Covid. Matthew Cockle is head brewer for The Growlery, a new craft brewery located just outside the Blatchford development in northwest Edmonton. Matt told me the pandemic had been tough on the Growlery but he was looking forward to adding canned beer to their product line via the purchase of the Two Sergeants canning line.

Like many other craft breweries, The Growlery’s business model relied on people coming to them for beer. With taprooms and bars closed they’ve had to turn on a dime to survive. The Growlery co-owner Kevin Danard told me “it was extremely difficult for us at the beginning. We were about 40 percent taproom and 60 percent keg sales before this happened and we essentially lost that business.” What do you do when 100 per cent of your revenue disappears overnight? You scramble, you hustle, you get serious and you get creative. Local breweries quickly built online systems and began home delivery of beer. “We’re trying all we can to get beer into people’s hands,” says Danard.

One positive from the pandemic is people embracing local. Danard says “support throughout the city has been exceptional.” Beer builds community and now, during a crisis, that community is giving back, supporting their local breweries. Let’s hope this continues post-pandemic, when breweries are going to have to survive through the tough economic times to come. Not every brewery will make it through to the other side. But like many Albertans, Alberta brewers are resourceful, resilient and tough. Beer drinkers, beer makers, beer suppliers, beer workers–—we’re in this together, and together we’ll make it through.

Pandemic Pack
Six local favourites to get you through the tough times, all winners at the Alberta Beer Awards, held online on April 7. Pick them up at the breweries or have them delivered!

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Campio All-Malt Lager, Edmonton Alberta Beer Awards: Silver, Brewery of the Year: Bronze, All Alberta Malt Beer. Like Biera, Town Square and Situation, Campio is a brewpub, so hit especially hard by the pandemic-forced closure. But you can buy this delicious, malty lager, made with Olli heritage barley farmed by the Kozak family in Clear Hills, Alberta, through local liquor stores.

Bent Stick BS Wit, Edmonton Alberta Beer Awards: Bronze, German and Belgian-Style Wheat Beer. A refreshing, tasty witbier that pairs nicely with spring sun. Soft yet crisp, this unfiltered wheat beer is lightly spiced with citrus peel and coriander.

Sea Change The Wolf, Edmonton Alberta Beer Awards: Gold, Hoppy Sessionable Beer. Sessionable? More like crushable! An easy-drinking hazy pale ale made from Alberta barley, white wheat and flaked oats. The Wolf and other core brands sold out within 24 hours of Sea Change offering delivery service early in the crisis.

Endeavour Sudden Draft IPA, St. Albert Alberta Beer Awards: Bronze, IPA. Co-owners Matt and Georgia Atkins have created a real community-oriented brewery in a nondescript industrial area of St. Albert. It’s great to see one of their core beers getting recognition. Sudden Draft is a balanced mid-Atlantic IPA, made with British malts and yeast and American hops.

Siding 14 Coal Pusher Stout, Ponoka Alberta Beer Awards: Silver, Stout. An early adopter of the field-to-glass concept, Siding 14 makes use of barley grown just north of Ponoka. Their coal-black stout has hints of coffee, molasses and chocolate. Siding 14 is delivering into Edmonton.

Alley Kat Olde Deuteronomy, Edmonton Alberta Beer Awards: Best in Show, Beer of the Year, Alberta Beer Awards. As Alley Kat founder Neil Herbst helps new owners transition in, it must be gratifying to see one of Alley Kat’s originals be awarded Best Alberta Beer. Olde Deuteronomy is a Canadian classic, a rich, full-bodied barley wine with aromas of dried fruits, toffee and brown sugar.