Best Beer in Alberta 2026: Alberta Beer Awards Results and Brewery Rankings
Updated: 5 days ago
After a wonderful evening celebrating the province's craft beer culture on October 9 at the Westin Calgary downtown, the 2026 Alberta Beer Awards are in, and once again, there are some interesting results for beer fans to discuss. Have Calgary breweries made a stronger showing than in years past? Has Edmonton continued to provide some serious competition? And are a few familiar names adding to their already impressive collections of awards?
If you've followed our annual Alberta brewery rankings over the years, you'll know that we like to look beyond the winners and examine how breweries are performing over time. Which breweries, and which beers, are consistently winning? Are certain regions gaining ground? And how are the breweries we've highlighted in previous years doing today?
This year, we also have the results of the 2026 Canada Beer Cup to consider, which was held in Calgary the night before, on October 8. That gives us an opportunity to see how some of Alberta's breweries performed on both the provincial and national stages.
We should also thank Blair, Laura and Chris of the Alberta Small Brewers Assocaition, along with Jason, Shane G and the countless volunteers and judges who all make this event possible.
For the purposes of this breakdown, we'll focus primarily on the 2026 Alberta Beer Awards, but we'll also highlight some noteworthy results from the Canada Beer Cup where they add to the story.
Let's start with the biggest award of the night and a brewery that has become very familiar with the top spot in Alberta.
Alberta Brewery of the Year 2026:
The Establishment Brewing Company, the best brewery in Alberta
For the fourth time in six years, Calgary's The Establishment Brewing Company has been named Alberta Brewery of the Year, adding 2026 to its previous wins in 2021, 2023 and 2024. Not bad for a brewery that only opened in 2019!
The Establishment, which also won Canadian Brewery of the Year at the 2021 Canadian Brewing Awards, brought home six medals at this year's Alberta Beer Awards, including two Gold, three Silver and one Bronze across several different beer styles. It's this ability to consistently produce award-winning beers in multiple categories that has made The Establishment such a dominant force in Alberta's brewing industry.
The night before, the brewery also earned four medals at the 2026 Canada Beer Cup, including Silver for Chaise Longue, which won national Gold in 2025. Perhaps more interesting was Gold for its yet-to-be-released beer, Time Spent, which finished ahead of Blindman Brewing's Dwarf Sour Cherry Fruited Saison in the Mixed Fermentation Ale category. Considering Blindman's beer previously won Best of Show Silver at the 2025 Canada Beer Cup, that's quite an accomplishment for a beer the public hasn't even had a chance to try yet!
We regularly try to include The Establishment on our educational Calgary brewery tours, and there's a reason for that beyond the trophies. The staff are knowledgeable, welcoming and genuinely interested in talking about beer. We've always appreciated how willing they are to share their knowledge with our guests.
For a brewery with this many awards, there's certainly no shortage of reasons to be proud. Fortunately, none of that success seems to have gone to anyone's head.
Best Beer in Alberta 2026: Best of Show
The Alberta Beer Awards recognize individual beer styles through Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in each category, but the Best of Show awards are where things get particularly interesting.
Once the category winners have been determined, all the Gold medal-winning beers, whether they're Pilsners, Pale Ales, Stouts, Mixed Fermentation beers or any other style, are brought together for a final round of judging. A panel of highly qualified judges, including National and Grand Master level beer judges, evaluates these beers against one another to determine the overall Gold, Silver and Bronze Best of Show winners.
It's an impressive achievement when you consider that these beers have already won their respective categories and must now compete against the very best from completely different beer styles.
For a complete behind the scenes look at how these awards work, check out our article here.
Now for the three beers that rose to the top in 2026.
Gold: Going to the Meadow Oktoberfest Lager — Burn Block Social Club, Calgary
If there's one result we're particularly happy about this year, it's this one.
In our 2025 Alberta Beer Awards article, we highlighted Burn Block Social Club, the small brewery operating out of a basement in Calgary's Inglewood neighbourhood.
We talked about the limited brewing space and the work Jason was doing there. At the time, Burn Block had earned three medals, including Bronze for Going to the Meadow Oktoberfest Lager.
Well, that same beer has now earned Gold in the All-Alberta Malt Beer category and even bigger was named Alberta Best of Show Gold for 2026.
That's a pretty remarkable progression in one year.
And Burn Block wasn't finished.
At the 2026 Canada Beer Cup, its Lavender Haze Lavender Guava Sour also earned Gold.
So, in the space of two days, this little Calgary brewery collected a national Gold medal and won Alberta's top Best of Show award, with two completely different beers.
We've gotten to know Jason through the brewery scene, and he's a genuinely nice guy. Seeing someone producing this quality of beer in such a small operation makes the result even more impressive.
It's also a good reminder that brewery size and beer quality don't necessarily have much to do with one another.
Silver: Spontaneous Manifesto 2025 — Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company, Edmonton
Edmonton's Blind Enthusiasm earned Best of Show Silver with Spontaneous Manifesto 2025, which also won Gold in the Mixed Fermentation Beer category. In fact, Blind Enthusiasm swept the entire category, taking Gold, Silver and Bronze. We will mention that the The Silver went to Fruitful Pursuits: Plum 2024, because happens to be one of our absolute favourite beers in the country.
For those unfamiliar with Blind Enthusiasm, this isn't your typical craft brewery. Its facility, The Monolith, specializes in spontaneous and mixed-fermentation beers inspired by traditional Belgian brewing methods. Some of these beers spend years fermenting and aging in wooden barrels before they're ready for release.
There's another aspect of Blind Enthusiasm's story that we've always found interesting. Founder Greg Zeschuk had already enjoyed financial success in another industry before entering the brewing space. However, instead of retiring somewhere warm and spending his days on a beach, he chose to invest in building one of the most ambitious brewing operations in the country, producing beers that can take years before they're ready to drink.
Some might whine and point to the financial resources behind The Monolith success, but money alone doesn't produce world-class beer. It takes knowledge, patience, talented people and a genuine passion for what you're doing. And judging by the numerous provincial, national and international awards Blind Enthusiasm continues to collect, that investment in Alberta's brewing industry has certainly paid off.
At the 2026 World Beer Awards, Blind Enthusiasm won two world titles: World's Best Gueuze for Grand Manifesto and World's Best Kriek for Fruitful Pursuits: Cherry. Remarkably, it was the second consecutive year that Fruitful Pursuits: Cherry earned the world's best title in its category.
The brewery has also enjoyed considerable success at the World Beer Cup, one of the most prestigious international brewing competitions. Different vintages of Spontaneous Manifesto have earned medals in 2024, 2025 and 2026, including Bronze at the 2026 competition.
That's a remarkable collection of international awards for a brewery operating out of Edmonton, particularly when you consider that its beers are competing against producers from countries with centuries of experience making these styles.
We've highlighted Blind Enthusiasm in our previous Alberta brewery rankings as one of Edmonton's breweries to watch. Looking at its achievements today, it's fair to say that prediction has worked out rather well.
With three provincial medals, a Best of Show Silver and two world titles in 2026, Blind Enthusiasm has certainly earned its place among Alberta's most accomplished breweries.
Bronze: Perepllut Barley Wine — Blindman Brewing, Lacombe
Blindman Brewing earned Best of Show Bronze with Perepllut Barley Wine, which also won Gold in the Imperial Strength Beer category. And if the name sounds familiar, there's a good reason for that. Perepllut has been collecting awards for years.
This rich, complex Barley Wine has an impressive history on the national stage, including Gold at the 2023 Canadian Brewing Awards and Silver at the Canada Beer Cup in both 2023 and 2025. It also earned Silver at the 2025 Alberta Beer Awards. Now, with a provincial category Gold and Best of Show Bronze in 2026, Perepllut continues to prove that its success is anything but a one-time achievement.
Blindman itself is no stranger to these rankings. In fact, it topped our national brewery rankings in 2023 and was named Alberta Brewery of the Year in 2022. For a brewery operating out of the small city of Lacombe, that's a pretty remarkable record.
And Perepllut isn't the only Blindman beer with a serious collection of awards. Its Dwarf Sour Cherry Fruited Saison earned Silver at the 2026 Canada Beer Cup, following category Gold and Best of Show Silver at the same competition in 2025. That beer was also a major reason Blindman topped our national rankings back in 2023.
What's particularly impressive about Blindman is that these awards aren't all coming from one beer or even one style. From a big, complex Barley Wine to a fruit-forward mixed-fermentation Saison, the brewery has demonstrated an ability to produce exceptional beers across very different categories.
We've had the opportunity to get to know the people at Blindman, and they're another group that makes Alberta's craft beer industry so enjoyable to be part of. Friendly, approachable and always happy to talk beer, regardless of how many awards they've collected.
Alberta's Top Three Most Awarded Breweries in 2026
As we've done in previous years, we're looking at the number of category medals earned by each brewery. Best of Show awards are not counted again because those beers have already received category medals.
For these rankings, we're including all categories in the official Alberta Beer Awards results, including non-alcoholic and other craft beverage categories.
Brewery | Location | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
The Establishment Brewing Company | Calgary | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
Ol' Beautiful Brewing Company | Calgary | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
Ale Architect | Edmonton | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Cabin Brewing Company | Calgary | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
Eighty-Eight Brewing Company | Calgary | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
Annex | Calgary | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
Tool Shed Brewing Company | Calgary | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
Note: Collaborative beers and non-beer categories can affect medal totals depending on how results are attributed. These rankings should be checked against the official results before publication
Alberta's Best Breweries. Ol' Beautiful: Still Producing Award-Winning Beer
Ol' Beautiful Brewing Company earned six medals in 2026, including Gold for Abrazo Mexican Lager and Dark Arts Dry Hopped Sour. Last year, they also won 6 and were named as co-brewery of the year with Cabin who won 5.
These results are particularly meaningful considering what the brewery has been through.
In June 2024, a devastating fire destroyed Ol' Beautiful's original Inglewood taproom and small-batch brewing facility. Fortunately, its main production facility allows the brewery to continue producing beer even though its original taproom is gone.
We covered the aftermath in our earlier article, Ol' Beautiful Brewing: Rising from the Ashes.
It's easy to focus on the awards, but continuing to operate after losing such an important part of the business deserves recognition of its own.
And judging by this year's results, the quality of the beer certainly hasn't suffered.
Ale Architect: One of Our Earlier Predictions
Back in our 2023 Alberta brewery rankings, we mentioned Edmonton's Ale Architect as one of the breweries we expected to hear more about in years to come. At the time, it had collected two Bronze medals at the Alberta Beer Awards.
In 2024, that number increased to three medals, and in 2026, Ale Architect brought home five, including two Golds. That's quite a progression for a brewery we've been following since its earlier days.
Its 2026 winners were:
Gold: Balsam
Gold: Dream Work
Silver: Out & About
Bronze: West Ritchie Original
Bronze: Day Drift
What's particularly interesting is that Balsam, which earned Bronze back in 2023, took home Gold this year. It's always nice to see a beer we've been following for several years continue to earn recognition.
Even though we're based in Calgary, Ale Architect is one of the first places we head to when visiting Edmonton. We really enjoy the taproom atmosphere and its location along Happy Beer Street. We've also had the opportunity to get to work with Ryan Stang, who brought Ale Architect into the BeerQuest Game. Ryan's a great guy, and it's always nice to see someone supportive to the community enjoying this kind of well deserved success.
And looking back at our 2023 prediction, we'd say Ale Architect has given us plenty of reasons to feel pretty good about that one!
Cabin and Eighty-Eight Continue to Perform
Cabin Brewing Company and Eighty-Eight Brewing Company each earned five medals this year.
Cabin's results included Gold for Super Saturation and Chapter 7, along with two Silver medals and a Bronze.
What's interesting about Cabin's results is the range. While many people associate the brewery with hop-forward beers, two of its medals came from the Wood-Aged Beer category.
Eighty-Eight also demonstrated some variety, winning Gold for Midnight Downtown in the Light Lager category and earning additional medals in low-alcohol beer, imperial IPA, wood-aged beer and hazy IPA.
Both breweries have become familiar names in Calgary's craft beer scene, and their continued success helps explain why Calgary remains such a strong brewing market.
Two Pillars Brewing: A Belgian Beer Powerhouse in Calgary
If you've followed our beer awards coverage over the years, you'll know that Two Pillars Brewing is one of our favourite little Calgary breweries. With a brewing operation that could practically fit in your kitchen, these folks continue to punch well above their weight, particularly when it comes to Belgian-style beer.
At the 2026 Alberta Beer Awards, Two Pillars picked up Silver for Two Pillars Wit and Bronze for Two Pillars Dark Strong. They also made their mark nationally at the Canada Beer Cup, earning Gold for Two Pillars Pale and Silver for Pillar Time Lager.
But this is hardly a one-year success story.
In 2025, Two Pillars earned four medals across the Canadian Brewing Awards and Canada Beer Cup, tying with Blindman Brewing, Blind Enthusiasm and 70 Acres among Alberta's leading performers at those national competitions. They also collected two provincial medals, with Tiny Monastery taking Silver and Two Pillars Blonde earning Bronze in the Belgian & Farmhouse Ales category.
Go back another year to 2024, and the results are just as impressive. Two Pillars collected four Alberta Beer Awards medals, including Gold for Two Pillars Blonde, two Silvers for Two Pillars Wit and Two Pillars Pale, and Bronze for Two Pillars Dark Strong. They also earned a national Silver at the Canadian Brewing Awards for Two Pillars Dark Strong.
That's an impressive record for a brewery of any size, let alone one of Calgary's smallest. Year after year, Two Pillars continues to demonstrate why it deserves recognition among Canada's standout producers of Belgian-inspired beer.
If you haven't visited their little brewery on Centre Street North, you're missing out on some exceptionally well-crafted Calgary beer.
Calgary vs. Edmonton: A Reversal From 2025?
In our 2024 Alberta Beer Awards article, we suggested that breweries outside Calgary were becoming increasingly competitive.
The following year, Calgary's share of the medals dropped considerably, while Edmonton and breweries elsewhere in Alberta made strong gains.
This year, Calgary appears to have made a substantial comeback.
The Establishment, Ol' Beautiful, Cabin, Eighty-Eight and Annex all earned at least five medals, while Burn Block took Best of Show Gold.
Edmonton, however, continues to produce impressive results.
Ale Architect collected five medals, Blind Enthusiasm swept the Mixed Fermentation Beer category, and Sea Change, Irrational, Polyrhythm and several others earned recognition.
We wouldn't interpret Calgary's strong showing as a setback for Edmonton.
If anything, it demonstrates how competitive Alberta's brewing industry has become. A few years ago, it was relatively easy to identify a handful of breweries that dominated the results. Today, there are excellent producers throughout the province, and the competition is getting stronger.
A Look Back at Our Previous Predictions
One of the benefits of writing these articles every year is being able to revisit some of our earlier observations. And we've had a few interesting ones.
Edmonton's Emerging Breweries
In 2023, we specifically identified Ale Architect and Blind Enthusiasm as breweries worth watching.
Ale Architect has now earned five medals in 2026, while Blind Enthusiasm won Best of Show Silver and swept its category.
Not bad!
Blindman's Return
In our 2024 article, we predicted Blindman would bounce back.
The brewery went on to have a strong 2025 and has now earned another Best of Show award in 2026, along with national recognition at the Canada Beer Cup.
Stonyslope's Historical Beer Styles
We also highlighted Stonyslope Brewing Company in 2023, particularly its interest in historical and unusual beer styles.
This year, Stonyslope earned Silver for Aldona Keptinis in the All-Alberta Malt Beer category and Silver for Ukrainian Kvass in the Non-Alcoholic Beer category.
Those aren't exactly the beers most people expect to find on a typical brewery menu.
It's encouraging to see these less common styles receiving recognition.
Burn Block's Progress
And, of course, there's Burn Block.
Last year, we celebrated its medal-winning beers and the work being done in its tiny brewing space.
This year, one of those same beers became Alberta's Best of Show Gold winner.
That might be our favourite follow-up story of the year.
Alberta Breweries at the 2026 Canada Beer Cup
With the Canada Beer Cup awards held in Calgary this year, it seems appropriate to look at how Alberta breweries performed nationally.
The Establishment added four Canada Beer Cup medals to its six provincial awards.
Burn Block Social Club earned national Gold for Lavender Haze Lavender Guava Sour, complementing its provincial Best of Show Gold for Going to the Meadow Oktoberfest Lager.
Blindman Brewing's Dwarf Sour Cherry Fruited Saison returned to the national podium with another Silver.
And Polyrhythm Brewing earned national Gold for both LP Imperial Stout and Pyrophone Quad Hazy IPA.
Interestingly, those same two Polyrhythm beers also earned medals at the Alberta Beer Awards.
These results are worth highlighting because provincial and national competitions involve different judging panels and different fields of competitors.
A beer performing well at both levels is certainly something to celebrate.
The People Behind the Beer
There's one observation we'd like to make before getting to the complete results.
Over the years, we've had the pleasure of meeting many of the people behind Alberta's award-winning breweries.
Jason at Burn Block, Ryan at Ale Architect, the teams at Blindman and The Establishment, and many others.
Something they seem to have in common is that the awards haven't gone to their heads.
They're still approachable, happy to answer questions and genuinely enthusiastic about sharing what they know.
That's important to us because our brewery tours are educational. We want guests to learn something about the beer they're drinking and the people who make it.
A knowledgeable, welcoming brewery team can make that experience just as memorable as the beer itself.
And Alberta has plenty of both.
Complete 2026 Alberta Beer Awards Results
The following are the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners from the official 2026 Alberta Beer Awards.
Light Lager
Gold: Midnight Downtown — Eighty-Eight Brewing Company
Silver: Crisp Lite — Jasper Brewing Co.
Bronze: Loose Plans — Ol' Beautiful Brewing Company
Amber & Dark Lager
Gold: Low Tide — Born Brewing Co.
Silver: Conductor Amber Lager — Trolley 5
Bronze: Eternal Twilight — Ol' Beautiful Brewing Company
American Pale Lager
Gold: Abrazo Mexican Lager — Ol' Beautiful Brewing Company
Silver: Scud — Sea Change Brewing Co.
Bronze: Cerveza Serpiente — Snake Lake Brewing Company
Brown Ale & English Bitter
Gold: Balsam — Ale Architect
Silver: Whiskey Jack Scottish — Spectrum Ale Works
Bronze: West Ritchie Original — Ale Architect
European Pale Lager
Gold: Czech Pale Lager — Marda Loop Brewing Company
Silver: The Fohn — Wild Winds Brewery
Bronze: Folding Mountain Lager — Folding Mountain Brewing
Porter & Stout
Gold: Gentlemen's Stout — Medicine Hat Brewing Company
Silver: Dry Irish Stout — Odd Company Brewing
Bronze: Heart of Darkness — Tool Shed Brewing Company
Light Bodied & American Wheat Ale
Gold: Jasper the Bear — Jasper Brewing Co.
Silver: My Best Friend's Girl — The Establishment Brewing Company
Bronze: Connemara Cream Ale — Nine in a Line Brewing Co.
American and Hazy Pale Ale
Gold: Dream Work — Ale Architect
Silver: Out & About — Ale Architect
Bronze: Street Cred — Troubled Monk
Session Hop Forward
Gold: Long Hop Tropical Pale Ale — Long Hop Brewing
Silver: Trail Session — Jasper Brewing Co.
Bronze: Day Drift — Ale Architect
IPA
Gold: Tide to the Oceans — The Establishment Brewing Company
Silver: Dirtbag — Irrational Brewing Company
Bronze: Sunshine Rain — Cabin Brewing Company
Pilsner
Gold: Gateway No. 1 New Zealand Pilsner — Sea Change Brewing Company, collaboration with Brewsmith Brewing
Silver: Idle Hands — Annex
Bronze: Ocean View — The Establishment Brewing Company
Hazy IPA
Gold: Super Saturation — Cabin Brewing Company
Silver: Something You Can't See — The Establishment Brewing Company
Bronze: Like Minds — Eighty-Eight Brewing Company, collaboration with Ol' Beautiful Brewing Company
German & Belgian-Style Wheat Beer
Gold: Wild Mountain Hefe — Folding Mountain Brewing
Silver: Two Pillars Wit — Two Pillars Brewery
Bronze: Doppelganger — Annex
Specialty IPA
Gold: Belgian IPA — Blindman Brewing
Silver: Northern Grace — Apex Brewing
Bronze: The Rye Who Loved Me — Tool Shed Brewing Company
Amber Ale
Gold: Crybaby California Common — Sea Change Brewing Co.
Silver: Lorem Ipsum — Annex
Bronze: Red Rage — Tool Shed Brewing Company
Double/Imperial IPA
Gold: Pyrophone Quad Hazy IPA — Polyrhythm Brewing
Silver: Peripheral Vision — The Establishment Brewing Company
Bronze: Party All the Time — Eighty-Eight Brewing Company
Belgian & Farmhouse Ales
Gold: Ryed Your Bike — Campio Brewing Co.
Silver: Lil Biere de Garde — Brewsmith Brewing, collaboration with Cold Bear Brewing Company
Bronze: Construction Saison — Campio Brewing Co.
Imperial Strength Beer
Gold: Perepllut Barley Wine — Blindman Brewing
Silver: LP Imperial Stout — Polyrhythm Brewing
Bronze: Two Pillars Dark Strong — Two Pillars Brewery
Fruit Beer
Gold: Berry Manly — Hub Town Brewing
Silver: Summer Saturation — Cabin Brewing Company
Bronze: Punchline Pineapple Coconut Ale — Alley Kat Brewing Co.
Sour Beer & Sour Beer With Fruit
Gold: Dark Arts Dry Hopped Sour — Ol' Beautiful Brewing Company
Silver: Bownesian Rhapsody Watermelon Sour — Brewsmith Brewing
Bronze: Key Lime Pie Sour — Marda Loop Brewing Company
Wood-Aged Beer
Gold: Chapter 7 — Cabin Brewing Company
Silver: Luna & Fuego — Cabin Brewing Company
Bronze: Light Hands Stout — Eighty-Eight Brewing Company
Alternative Ingredients & Experimental Beer
Gold: Left My Wallet in El Segundo — The Establishment Brewing Company
Silver: Parabolic 2026 — Irrational Brewing Company
Bronze: Gaslight Anthem Maple Cream Pastry Stout — Medicine Hat Brewing Company, collaboration with Polyrhythm Brewing
All-Alberta Malt Beer
Gold: Going to the Meadow Oktoberfest Lager — Burn Block Social Club
Silver: Aldona Keptinis — Stonyslope Brewing Company
Bronze: Forever Canadian Pale Ale — Red Hart Brewing
Low-Alcohol Beer
Gold: Sportsman's Lager — Odd Company Brewing
Silver: Fast Times — Eighty-Eight Brewing Company
Bronze: Lemon Larry — The Pass Beer Co.
Non-Alcoholic Beer
Gold: Zero Golden Hour — Tool Shed Brewing Company
Silver: Ukrainian Kvass — Stonyslope Brewing Company
Bronze: Phantom Buzz Pale Ale — SYC Brewing Co.
Seltzer and Ready-to-Drink Beverages
Gold: Ginger Beer with Vodka — Annex
Silver: Hey Hunni Hard Pink Lemonade — Rival Trade Brewing Co.
Bronze: Aprikat Vodka Soda — Alley Kat Brewing Co.
Craft Soda and Lemonade
Gold: Craft Cola — Annex
Silver: Root Beer — Annex
Bronze: Saskatoon Soda — Troubled Monk
Mixed Fermentation Beer
Gold: Spontaneous Manifesto 2025 — Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company
Silver: Fruitful Pursuits: Plum 2024 — Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company
Bronze: Shout Out Out Out Out 20th Anniversary Blend — Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company
Hard Iced Tea
Gold: White Peaks Pink Lemonade Hard Tea — Big Rock Brewery
Silver: Blueberry Lemon Honeybush Hard Iced Tea — Ol' Beautiful Brewing Company
Bronze: Honeybush Hard Iced Tea — Ol' Beautiful Brewing Company
Spiced and Vegetable Beer
Gold: Karoshi — Irrational Brewing Company
Silver: Hygge Øl Spiced Amber Lager — Burn Block Social Club
Bronze: Founders Winter Ale — Nodding Donkey Brewing
Final Thoughts
The 2026 Alberta Beer Awards have once again demonstrated the depth of talent in this province.
The Establishment continues an extraordinary run of success, Burn Block has gone from a small brewery collecting a few medals to producing Alberta's Best of Show Gold winner, and breweries across Calgary, Edmonton and the rest of Alberta are producing beers that can compete nationally.
But awards are only part of the story.
Not every brewery enters competitions, and there are plenty of excellent Alberta beers that will never appear on an awards list.
Our advice remains the same as always. Get out, visit a few breweries, try something new and talk to the people making the beer.
You might discover your next favourite before it ever wins a medal.
And if you'd like to explore Calgary's craft beer scene without worrying about transportation, YYCTOURS offers educational brewery tours featuring some of the city's most interesting breweries.
Congratulations to all the 2026 Alberta Beer Awards winners!
Cheers!
Official Results
2026 Alberta Beer Awards: https://www.albertabeerawards.ca
2026 Canada Beer Cup: https://canadabeercup.com/2026-results/
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