It has been a great year for beer in Alberta and the rumours of what is to come in 2010 have got me so excited I may have over-foamed my pint. So, with apologies to David Letterman, start the drum roll, my Top 10 list of this year’s beer happenings.

10. First a note of sadness: after 15 glorious years we lose one of Calgary’s only two brewpubs — Wildwood closed its doors in December. To its brewers over the years — Shaggy, Jim and Brian — you guys entertained me with great brews and I hope you find a new location soon.

9. More beer education around town: with places like Kawa Espresso Bar, Kensington Wine Market, Willow Park Wines & Spirits, Zyn and Calgary Co-op all running beer evenings, there is no excuse for not learning more about this dynamic beverage.

8. Biggest surprise of the year: adventurous high-end restaurants with great beer menus. Bears Den, Belgo Brasserie, Teatro and Divino Wine & Cheese Bistro are all giving their beer lists the same love they show to their wine lists. I think I might cry.

7. Best blip on the radar that didn’t get written about: Hebrew’s Jewbelation. This New York beer company celebrated its 13th anniversary, or Bar Mitzvah, in style with a beer using 13 grains and 13 hops, and is 13 per cent. In the Jewish faith, turning 13 makes you a man, but a couple of bottles of this sipper by yourself and you may not feel like a man the next morning.

6. Hail to Alberta’s private liquor system: Alberta has the best selection of all spirits in Canada due to a streamlined private, agent friendly system. This year, an amazing array of global brewing stars were added to our already bursting shelves: Delaware’s Dog Fish Head, Japan’s Hitachino Nest, Denmark’s Mikkeller and Quebec’s Dieu du Ciel. Surprisingly, we received almost 100 new beers this year and rumours of new suds for next year are running crazy.

5. Things that make you say “Mmmm:” Rogue’s Maierfest. Rogue specializes in big, palate-bruising, extreme beers, but it pitched a curve ball in 2009 with a wonderfully balanced Oktoberfest beer at 4.2 per cent. Mmmm, maybe balanced is the new extreme.

4. Best beer brewed in Alberta this year: Alley Kat Olde Deuteronomy — a world-class barley wine that was recently exported to the U.S. This brewery and this beer are two of Alberta’s hidden gems.

3. Beer I drank the most of this year: Dernière Volonté. Forgive me Indica and Tree Hop Head, I have found a new beer to groove on and it’s not an IPA. This Quebec blond is hoppy, crisp and a solid cross between a snappy pilsner and dynamic pale ale. The jury is still out on whether I’m a hop head, though — Laguntias Hop Stoopid, an IPA, was a close runner up.

2. Best new beer to Alberta this year: Dupont’s Avec Les Bon Voeux. Everybody sing, “Bring us the funk, we want the funk.” This is a super funky saison, brewed as a special New Year’s beer. It was originally crafted as a gift for the brewery’s best customers. The name means “with best wishes,” a sentiment I want to send out to all the readers of this column.

And No. 1 one: not having one single sip of any brewery’s lime beer this year.