This blog led to a book. Sort of. Check out “Tapping the West”
So, it sure isn’t 2016 anymore. A lot has happened since! Like the installation of strange(r) leaders. An extraordinary reckoning with racism. A global pandemic. And it’s all still happening with no sign of letting up.
Utterly insignificant in comparison, but nevertheless in the midst of it all, came this, my first book - Tapping the West: How Alberta’s Craft Beer Industry Bubbled out of an Economy Gone Flat.
I’m writing about it here, in what I promise will be the last post of One Year of Alberta Beer, because this blog is what inspired it. If you read any of the posts below, you’ll know that I spent Jan.1 to Dec. 31 of 2016 just trying to get to know Alberta craft beer. What a lovely, overwhelming introduction it was.
When it was all over (the year, not the beer), and the industry would go on to double in size in 2017 then continue to grow beyond that, I decided that I needed to know more. No - I decided that the world needed to know more.
How was it possible that this industry was taking off in this way?
What factors were conspiring to make every trip to the liquor store an hour-long exercise in indecision?
What did the rapid growth say about and mean to Alberta?
Happily, a publisher called Touchwood Editions also felt the world should know. So there you go: Tapping the West, which I never imagined would ever exist back in that very innocent time of early 2016, is now available for your enjoyment and edification. (Get yours today!)
How about my timing, huh? When this book came out in May, we were in lockdown, scrubbing our hands raw and scrolling endlessly through Netflix. What a world. Alberta beer isn’t going to be the thing that saves it, but I can’t help but think the fact that there’s a lot more of the stuff around right now is good thing.
And that’s not just because the beer is so great. It’s bigger than the beer. It’s the spirit of it all. If only we could tap that.
I hope you enjoy the book. Thanks for reading my blog. The end.
