“The pursuit of quality and consistency as well as being innovative and doing a good job of pushing the envelope over the years.” Alley Kat has had many firsts in the industry. Not only were they the first craft brewery in Edmonton, but the first brewery to brew several styles of beer including fruit beers, saisons, and other cut- ting-edge flavours.
Festival Society and sponsoring the Multiple Scle- rosis Society. As a leader in the industry, other breweries have learned a lot from Neil and Lavonne, who have collaborated with and educated new businesses entering the market. Teaching has always been a hobby for Neil, who taught classes early on when he was home brewing. Herbst was also instrumen- tal in founding the Alberta Small Brewers Asso- ciation, a not-for-profit organization, incorporated in 2013, that is committed to promoting indepen- dent Alberta-made beer. After 13 years, he has just stepped down as chair of the organization.
Alley Kat was also the first brewery in Alberta to have a lab. Herbst explains, “Our quality control and attention to detail is second to none. We are very scientific about everything we do and want to ensure that we are creating a high-quality product that we are proud to serve.” In addition, beer stores didn’t used to have refrigeration, so it was imperative that beers were stable. “Our quality control and attention to detail is second to none.”
Over the years, competi- tiveness in the craft beer industry has grown, but what has come from that is “a fair bit of synergy” amongst a group of people with a shared passion for craft beer. Herbst says, “There is always the danger of becoming irrelevant, but that’s what keeps us sharp.” “There is always the danger of becoming irrele- vant, but that’s what keeps us sharp.”
No more evident is this synergy than at a craft beer festival. These festivals are integral to rolling out new products and showing off the latest seasonal beers. Herbst shares, “Beer festivals are a great celebration of local beer. It is nice to see people trying beers from all the great Alberta breweries and discovering all the excellent beers that are made in the province.” Alley Kat is proud to brew six core craft beers year- round. They include: Aprikat Apricot Ale, Buena Vista Brown Ale, Full Moon Pale Ale, Main Squeeze Grapefruit Ale, Scona Gold Kolsch, and Fish Bone New England IPA. A fan favourite is Alley Kat’s
What also makes Alley Kat unique is that these kats are committed to the environment and to giving back to the local community. Best environmen- tal practices include limiting water usage, giving a local farmer spent grain to feed to his animals, using bullfrog energy, and recycling all cardboard, paper and plastic stretch wrap. Local community involvement includes partici- pation in fundraising efforts for the highly antic- ipated Fort Edmonton expansion project, being the official beer sponsor for the Edmonton Pride
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2020
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