The simple answer is because the craft brewing scene is booming on the prairies right now, and the exciting developments are being covered in dribs & drabs in traditional media (for example, via Cody Lobreau‘s column in the Brandon Sun) and on social media… and this is great – but the Ontario, Quebec & BC craft beer scene seems to overwhelm the conversation (for good reason – these provinces have well established craft industries).

The fact is Alberta’s craft brewers are quite mature; Saskatchewan has a couple well-established brewers (Bushwakker & Paddock Wood); Manitoba, Yukon & NWT are still quite young. Along with youth comes innovations – and this is what excites me. Not taking anything away from Alberta’s brewers (we have a lot to learn from them), but the growth potential in Saskatchewan, Manitoba & the Territories is huge. In 2013 alone, Saskatchewan saw 3 new breweries (District Brewing; Prairie Sun Brewery; and Bin Brewing), with 2 more (Black Bridge Brewing, and Rebellion Brewing Company) in the works for Spring & Fall 2014 (respectively). Rumours of additional entrants to the Sask market are making the rounds (such as Temperance Brewing Co-operative Ltd. – a co-op brewery (how stereotypically Saskatchewan, eh?))

I don’t know where this blog will go, but I hope to use it as a platform to explore & expose some of the exciting activity currently taking place on the Canadian Prairies & Territories.

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