For the eighth straight year, Hell’s Basement is represented by sales associate Trevor Freeman showing off its creatively brewed beers at the Alberta Food and Beverage Expo on Saturday, Jan. 25. Hell’s Basement brought most of the same beers as last year, but added a 473 ml can for the first time in the brewery’s existence.

The smell of freshly cooked appetizers and creatively brewed beers wash over you as you walk into the hall. You grab your tickets and the night of eating mini burgers and drinking fruit-infused beers begins.

This has been the scene for the past eight years, as hundreds of local, big-chain restaurants and liquor companies have been showing off their products at Exhibition Park in Lethbridge.

Among the crowd this year was small local brewery Hell’s Basement, returning for the seventh straight year.

Last year, Hell’s Basement showcased its award-winning beers, whereas, this year they focused on their first-ever 473 ml can of beer.

“We love it. These are some of the best-run shows we do, so that’s why we keep coming back. We get treated well and we get a chance to meet a lot of local vendors and the sort of thing, so it’s nice to be able to have that interaction,” said Trevor Freeman Sales Associate for Hells Basement, in regard to returning to the expo for another year. “It tends to be more meaningful when you have the industry hour to get new ideas too.”

For some companies, this Food and Beverage Expo is just an annual event, but for others, it was the first time they have brought their product to the expo. This was the case for an Edmonton-based brewery known as, the Corkbeard Wine Company. 

Corkbeard’s booth consisted of samples of their product, as well as the amusement of seeing the female workers with drawn-on mustaches and beards.

“Our beards are what we call a cork beard, which is our family tradition. So my brother-in-law growing up, his parents would have dinner and on special occasions, they would take the cork and burn it and draw a little charcoal beard,” said co-owner of Corkbeard, Lisa Cunningham, in response to the drawn-on mustaches.

With another year down and the number of venders exceeding last year, the Alberta Food and Beverage expo will remain an annual event according to Chris Meilleur, owner and operator of the expo.