What is craft beer?

This seems to be a common question among Calgary residents. While most people are familiar with the word beer and what it is, some of them become confused when “craft” is added in front of it.

The truth is that most people can go years, if not decades, if not their entire lifetime not knowing about craft beer and what it is. A shame? We think so too.

While here at the Minhas Micro Brewery we aren’t exactly fans of using the term “craft beer” (mostly we think it’s too general), most people can agree on how craft beer can be labelled as craft beer… but now on what exactly craft beer is.

Confused yet? You don’t have to be.

Quite simply, for a type of beer to be considered a craft beer it has to meet certain standards. Generally speaking, it has to be produced in what is known as a micro-brewery in Alberta. In return, for a micro-brewery to be considered a micro-brewery it has to meet certain standards as well. (But that’s another story.)

Basically, if a beer is hand-crafted in a itty bitty local brewery, chances are that it can easily be (and probably is) considered a craft beer. On the other hand, if a beer is produced by the thousands in a commercially owned brewery, then it’s most likely not considered a craft beer. (We’re talking about most beers that can be purchased from your local liqueur store.)

With that being said, remember that labels are labels, and that at the end of the day, what matters most is the enjoyment that you get from drinking beer. So keep drinking, keep sampling and of course keep having fun! Happy (and safe) drinking.