GrainsWest Winter 2021

Winter 2021 grainswest.com 33 Pictured here with his Wicked Wine colleagues, Staffan Pettersson (front row, second from left) said the craft beer importation company believes consumption of Canadian beer will increase in Sweden. "Swedish customers are looking for new beers all the time," he said. importation. “Swedish customers are looking for new beers all the time,” said Staffan Pettersson, Wicked Wine product manager. “If Systembolaget continues to ask for Canadian craft beer, I’m sure the Canadian craft beer volume will increase.” “We’re super excited about this opportunity,” said Doug Hamilton, co-founder and CEO of Inner City. Having commenced operation only recently in August 2018, the brewery won three Canadian Brewing Awards in 2020. Inner City employs Red Shed and Canada Malting products to produce 500,000 litres of beer annually. Its downtown taproom and brewery is configured to triple output on the fly. Inner City staff were researching beer exportation when Hamilton contacted Far Out. “Now we’re able to bid on other contracts that come through Far Out. We’re looking for a great future for collaborations and sales abroad.” With 20 beers available in its taproom, Inner City regularly produces seasonal and experimental brews. Importing the occasional specialty malt fromGermany, the brewer typically employs malt by Canada Malting and Origin Malting & Brewing. Inner City also recently contracted Red Shed to produce a batch of AAC Connect malt to gauge its performance. This reflects the growing interest among brewers in utilizing new craft beer friendly varieties such as CDC Bow, CDC Fraser, Connect and Lowe to differentiate their products and strengthen sales. Of note to farmers, these varieties tend to yield more than four per cent higher than established varieties and exhibit improved disease resistance. Head brewer Eli Horne said brewers, maltsters and farmers are naturally attuned to the differences between varieties, but craft beer consumers are also interested in barley varieties as well as malting and brewing techniques. “More and more, people want to know what type of malts were used and appreciate the flavours they impart.” Launched in 1993, Edmonton’s Alley Kat Brewing Company is the fourth-oldest active brewery in Alberta and its many accolades include the 2019 Alberta Beer Awards brewery of the year. Alley Kat produces between 90,000 and 100,000 hectolitres of beer annually including six core beers, three seasonal brews, regular small-batch experiments and one-offs. The brewer purchases malt from Rahr, Country Malting and Red Shed. “This is the first deal we’ve done with Far Out,” said general manager Kent Kirkland. We hope to do further business with them and grow that export business.” Like Inner City, Alley Kat is prepared to expand production. “The craft beer market is increasing in Alberta. We can see growth from that, but we’re looking at other growth opportunities and exporting is one of them.” Rodgers said Australian craft beer consumers have made importation lucrative with their willingness to pay a little more for imports. Pettersson also said though the transport cost, which is shared between all parties, is high, the beer will sell at a reasonable price and a tidy profit in Sweden. Both emphasized the value of maintaining portfolios of interesting, well-curated craft beers. It is just such Canadian craft beer gems the Tses will continue to introduce to global buyers. “Obviously, we’re hoping to make money with this,” said Don. “Genuinely, though, we think the industry will benefit for it.” Photo:Courtesyof WickedWine