brewing in this province. In October 2015, the government announced a markup to the price of all craft beers. This was followed in August 2016 with the introduction of the Alberta Small Brewers Development Program.
The markup was initially designed to prevent breweries from other provinces dumping their beer in Alberta, where the market is not regulated like in other provinces, and selling it for a low price. This made it difficult for local breweries to compete since the same opportunity was not available in reverse. The government initially brought in a differentiated markup that saw B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan paying a lower markup than the rest of the country. This has been challenged as unconstitutional in the courts, resulting in a standardized markup and the creation of the Alberta Small Brewers Development Program. This grant program helps to offset the costs of the markup for local brewers, giving them a price advantage over brewers from other provinces.
The markup is expected to bring the government $36 million annually, of which $20 million will be given out each year in grants to breweries that produce fewer than 300,000 hectolitres annually. (Both breweries in Medicine Hat expect to brew 290,000 hL this year.) The program is scheduled to last for 10 years.
“The program gives Alberta’s small brewers the flexibility to invest in their businesses, enabling them to increase production capacity, launch new products, develop new markets and make important capital improvements,” says Mike Berezowski, Director, Communication, Alberta Treasury Board and Finance
Paul Parks, one of the founders of Hell’s Basement Brewery, says the program has played a big role in the startup of their business.
“Craft brewing uses more ingredients, is more expensive to make, and has higher startup costs. It’s hard because you are competing against all the big breweries. Because the startup costs are so high, to be competitive, craft breweries absolutely need something like the Small Brewers Development Program. That small amount of tax incentive really helps that we can invest back in the brewery and get it going. The thing that they did that was really clever is that it is on a sliding scale so as craft breweries get bigger they get less support and then once they get to a certain point they get no support. It’s actually been very critical for us from a small craft brewery’s point of view.”
Brewing in Medicine Hat
It’s been nearly 80 years since beer was last brewed in Medicine Hat, home of the province’s first brewing company, Saskatchewan Brewery, in 1882. Now, the city is home to two craft breweries: Hell’s Basement Brewery on the south side and Medicine Hat Brewing Co. in the north.
Hell’s Basement Brewery is the result of six men’s passion for beer. Michael Patriquin (general manager), Mike Gripp (brewmaster), Paul Parks, Tony Carlsson, Mark Gripp and Faysal Dliken have been considering the possibility of opening a craft brewery in Medicine Hat for at least five years. They knew there was a niche market that was not being tapped. Then, when Mike Gripp, who has been brewing beer at home for 20 years, decided to formally train as a brewmaster at Olds College, the group had the final piece of the puzzle. Things shifted into high gear and in less than a year, Hell’s Basement Brewery was up and running.
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Hell’s Basement Brewery
Hell’s Basement Brewery produces four regular beers — Polly’s Pale Ale, Boxcar Comforts (Blonde Ale), All Hops for a Basement (IPA), Paddle Wheel (Pilsner) — plus limited time seasonal ales. The beer is available in cans, 4-oz tasting glasses, 16-oz pints, 14-oz glasses, 64-oz growlers and 32-oz crowlers. It is also used to make snacks which can be purchased from Mike’s Meats Inc. and Station Coffee Company.
Everything is brewed in their 20-barrel brewhouse which is equipped with four 20BBL and two 40BBL fermenters and two tanks. They have an agreement with the city to compost their spent grain.
“We’ve been very blessed to have Medicine Hat, the town and area, welcome us with open arms and support us,” says Parks. “The feedback we’ve been getting is that we’ve been putting out a very good product which is good but, as well, putting that local flavour and style to it has really been embraced. We’ve been trying to increase production. Our first goal is to meet the local market and keep everyone happy locally. Then, we’re starting to branch out. We’ve got our product in Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton. We want to slowly branch out into all of Alberta.”
Medicine Hat Brewing Co.
Located in Brier Park, Medicine Hat Brewing Co. is the realization of one family’s dream. Warren Vancuren, wife Kathy and sons Kaiden and Brennan had been talking about opening up a brewery in the city for about four years. Then, the economic downturn in the oil and gas industry occurred, and Warren and his partner decided to sell their oil and gas company in February 2016. If the family was going to pursue their dream, now was the time to do it, so they did.
They purchased equipment from Specific Mechanical in Victoria, BC, and hired Mitch Dalrymple, a brewmaster who has won numerous Canadian Brewing Awards. Son Kaiden works as the general manager with his brother Brennan as his assistant and cook and their mother Kathy as the bookkeeper.
Medicine Hat Brewing Co. brews nine beers, a large number for a new company – Saamis Sessional, Boomtown Lager, Twin City Lager, Gentlemen’s Stout, Hatfield Blonde Ale, Burnside Blood Orange Ale, Sin Bin Red Ale, Industrial Avenue IPA and Aberdeen Pale Ale. Their mission is ‘to provide a good quality beer with local products to good hard- working people.’
“So far, business has been really great, a lot of challenges and speed bumps but overall really good,” says Kaiden. “There has been tons of local support which is really nice to see.”
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