Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
Attendees sampled a variety of craft beers and spirits during the Jasper Beer and Spirits Festival at Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge last weekend.
Mark Kondrat, CEO of Alberta Beer Festivals, co-founded what is now Alberta Beer Festivals with Bill Robinson in 2002 and began hosting festivals across Alberta in 2005.
鈥淲e kind of lucked out, because we started our festivals really before there was the craft beer boom,鈥� Kondrat said.
鈥淥ur first beer festival was called Calgary International Beer Fest, because most of the beers coming were from other countries. We didn鈥檛 have a beer culture per say in Alberta, and so over the last 20 years, we鈥檝e just seen that just build. And truly, Alberta is making some of the best beers in the world now.鈥�
The Alberta Beer Festivals has organized its Jasper festival since 2016, which has been hosted at Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge every year.
While the festival in Jasper wasn鈥檛 able to go forward in 2021 due to COVID, this year鈥檚 festival managed to sell out both tickets online and packages available at the lodge.
Kondrat said the popularity was likely due to people looking for something to do after two years of lockdown and a lack of other festivals to compete against.
鈥淭hroughout COVID, we always wanted to make sure that we were continuing to work on our festivals, so that when the opportunity came to do them again, we were ready.鈥�
The main highlight of the festival was the Grand Tasting Event, which occurred on Friday and Saturday evening and featured 30 different vendors, including local ones.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always important for us to showcase local,鈥� Kondrat said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not support local even though it鈥檚 inferior. It鈥檚 support local because your local producers are making a world-class product, so we get to connect people to those.鈥�
The festival also allows people to meet the brewers and owners in person, which allows for an emotional connection to be established with the producers.
This year, the Grand Tasting Event was hosted in two separate ballrooms instead of one in order to reduce the density of attendees and vendors.
Attendees were required to wear a mask unless they were taking a drink.
Proof of vaccination would have also been required, but the Government of Alberta had ended the Restriction Exemption Program several days prior.
Among other events, the festival hosted the Iron Brewer Competition, Beer and Yoga, Cooking with Bear and Spirits and a variety of outdoor activities.
鈥淪o many of these people, they enjoy having a beer or having a cocktail, but they live very active lives,鈥� Kondrat said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in the mountains. Let鈥檚 get them (to) go for a hike, let鈥檚 go for a snowshoe, let鈥檚 go skiing and then let鈥檚 enjoy a beer.鈥�
The Iron Brewer Competition, meanwhile, featured 16 competitors that were given the same ingredients and asked to brew up their best drink.
People鈥檚 Choice Award
- SYC Brewing - Edmonton
- The Dandy Breweing Company - Calgary
- 3 Bears Brewery and Restaurant - Banff
Official Iron Brewers Award
- Gold: Fahr Beer 鈥� Turner Valley
- Silver: SYC Brewing - Edmonton
- Bronze: Brewsters Brewing Company 鈥� Calgary
