Western Canada’s beer industry is about to be dominated by whine.

And what’s so far been a lot of cross-border bellyaching about imminent changes to Alberta’s brewing markup rate could quickly turn into a full-on provincial liquor war, with the Saskatchewan government now making threats about imposing a retaliatory increase on Alberta products.

“We will have to explore all our options, including potentially re-examining the mark-ups on Alberta beer and other liquor products sold in Saskatchewan,” said Don McMorris, minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA), on Monday.

It might be a menacing flex of Saskatchewan muscle, if it actually meant anything.

But if Saskatchewan’s booze minister had bothered to check the local inventory he’d realize there’s very little Alberta beer on his shelves to back the bluff, heading into a meeting of the provinces’ two premiers on Tuesday.

That dearth of Alberta beer is the point for producers on this side of the border.

Alberta’s brewers are finally getting support from their own government, with a new flat-fee of $1.25 per litre for all beer sold here regardless of origin, and a grant system that will return some of that cash to local producers to help keep their prices low.

The new mark-up is pure government meddling, but hopefully it’s for the good of one of the few Alberta industries that’s thriving these days.

“It’s an open market right now in Alberta, and all others are closed, and that leaves us cornered,” said Jim Button, spokesman for Calgary’s Village Brewery.

“I’m putting my faith in our province that they are trying to do something here that will help us grow.”

For years, Alberta has allowed any brewer in Canada open access to its market, under the same tax incentives offered to local craft brewers — and the result for consumers has been the best selection of beer in Canada.

But it doesn’t work both ways, and Canada’s overwhelmingly protectionist system is stacked against Alberta, which doesn’t have the same government-run liquor system that serves as a shield for producers elsewhere.

To reach other markets, Alberta’s craft breweries have to overcome judging panels, limited shelf space, and financial/tax incentives for local producers, and that’s why you barely find any Alberta beer outside the province, while shelves here are flooded with brews from across Canada.

The difference is night and day — or stout and lager, if you prefer.

“We’ll probably never even try B.C., it’s just too hard to get in,” said Button.

In Alberta, you can buy products from half of Saskatchewan’s eight craft breweries, as well as beer from larger independents like Great Western, while just two of the 30 Alberta Small Brewers Association brands are stocked in Saskatchewan government stores, including Big Rock and Wild Rose.

In British Columbia, only Calgary-based Big Rock is available in provincial stores, compared to more than 30 B.C. craft beers currently stocked in Alberta.

And that’s just in Western Canada — the situation in Ontario, Canada’s most lucrative beer market, is even more of a David vs. Goliath battle for Alberta.

“Alberta currently has the most fair system in the country, but we’re alone — other provinces need to look at their own practices,” said Terry Rock, executive director of the Alberta Small Brewers Association.

The new mark-up system has some, including the B.C. Craft Brewers Guild, accusing Alberta of “building a wall,” but in reality, Alberta is just finishing its small portion of a long-standing nation-wide barrier to open trade.

Some have said Alberta’s new system is offside because it violates the New West Partnership agreement, a free-trade deal among the three western-most provinces, but Rock points out the new system just mirrors what the rest of Canada already accepts as fair business.

“When Saskatchewan says something like that it means they are singling out Alberta, and I don’t see how anyone can say it’s a problem,” he said.

“It’s only a problem when compared to what we were doing before.”

mplatt@postmedia.com