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The day the beer cooler fried: Craft brewer closes due to suddenly exploding suds

The Alberta Beer Exchange (CTV News Calgary/Darren Wright). The Alberta Beer Exchange (CTV News Calgary/Darren Wright).
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A Calgary craft beer store experienced its worst-case scenario Saturday night.

The Alberta Beer Exchange, which specializes in craft beer, natural wine and cocktails, announced it was closed for an indeterminate period of time because a bunch of its fresh, chilled craft beer blew up.

"Sorry folks, we had a major incident last night with our beer fridge," the store posted on its Instagram page.

"It froze and exploded nearly every beer on the shelf," it added.

A sign on the front doors to the Alberta Beer Exchange as seen on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023 (CTV News Calgary/Darren Wright).

"We got a call from one of our employees opening our store today that several beers had exploded," Corey Baier, store COO and co-founder, told CTV News Calgary.

The cooler was full of craft and artisanal beers from both local producers and others around the globe.

"It was pretty disappointing," Baier added.

The same issue happened around three weeks ago, he said.

"Luckily at that point we were able to catch it before it froze," Baier said. "This time, it happened in the evening."

He believes a faulty part is to blame. All the frozen beer is a complete loss for the store, which was closed Sunday as employees cleaned the mess and worked to re-curate the collection.

"We will be closed for now," the store said on social media. "Thank you for your patience as we figure this one out and get you some fresh beer back on the shelf."

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