Sherbrooke Liquor Store named Alberta's best bottle shop

Gone, for the most part, are the days where a six pack of swill would cut it.

Beer drinkers are thirsty for something different, and an Edmonton liquor store is quenching that demand.

Sherbrooke Liquor Store has been chosen as Alberta's "best bottle shop" at the annual RateBeer awards show, held in California last month.

"We're super-excited and honoured," said beer department manager Stephen Bezan.

"Everyone in the community has been super supportive and there's a lot of new breweries in Alberta that are excited for us, and excited to have their beer in our store."

Sherbrooke is a far cry from your grandfather's beer store.

The shop carries almost 2,000 different kinds of beer, sourced from across Alberta and around the world.

Stored in a massive, maze-like, walk-in freezer, the brews are organized in a rainbow of pilsners, amber ales, hearty reds, and powerful porters.

"It's definitely the breadth of our beer selection that sets us apart," said Bezan, who notes that among their selection of craft batches and specialty suds are some strange concoctions.

A stellar choice for the curious is Ground Control, a brew that is (literally!) out of this world.

Ninkasi Brewing Company, based in Eugene, Ore., founded the Ninkasi Space Program in 2014 in an effort to push the limits of brewing. The brewmasters sent some yeast into outer space, just so they could use it to brew some delicious beer.

"They're kind of amateur rocketeers, that were successful in sending a rocket to space. They thought, why don't we throw some vials of yeast on there and see what kind of beer we can make out of it."

And if space brew isn't your scene, maybe you could go for something a little more pedestrian: Beard Beer by Rogue Brewery in Newport came from a most unlikely place.

"They actually took yeast cultures of the brewmaster's beard and developed a beer from that yeast." said Bezan.

"That kind of unique crazy stuff, we have that all the time."