Edmontonians have cause for celebration, as their oldest local brewery is turning 15 this year! And better still, the co-owners of the Alley Kat Brewing Company, Neil and Lavonne Herbst, have decided to celebrate with not one, but a series of limited edition anniversary beers, beginning with a Smoked Porter, to be released at the brewery tomorrow, March 12.

As much as I appreciate it when Canada’s craft breweries celebrate important anniversaries, I can’t help but feel a little old when they do. After all, when I wrote the first Great Canadian beer Guide, Alley Kat did not even exist, and their groundbreaking Old Deuteronomy Barley wine was not even a glimmer in the eye of founding brewer Neil Herbst. (Okay, maybe it was, but I’m betting he was thinking more about his soon-to-be-born breweries initial two offerings, a soon-to-be-discontinued amber lager and wheat ale, than he was about a 10% alcohol barley wine.)

Congratulations Neil and Lavonne. I won’t be in your area tomorrow, but will lift a glass in Toronto in honour of your birthday.