30 minute read
NO AND LOW ONWARDS & UPWARDS
NO AND LOW
TIME TO SHINE In findings from the IWSR, the broader no/low alcohol category reached close to $10 Billion in value in 2021, up from $7.8bn in 2018. And late last year, NielsenIQ reported that the non-alcoholic spirits category soared 113.4% versus a year ago, while non-alcoholic beer in-TRENDING T he global non-alcoholic beer market is expected to reach $23.27 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 8.7%. This is according to the “Non-Alcoholic Beer Global Market Report 2021: COVID-19 Growth and Change” report from Research and Markets. BEERS IN THE NO AND LOW CATEGORIES ARE NO LONGER ON THE SIDELINES, NO LONGER A NICHE, NO LONGER THE UNEXPECTED. AND WHICHEVER WAY YOU CUT IT, GROWTH IN THIS PART OF THE INDUSTRY IS ONLY GOING ONE WAY AND THAT’S UP. HERE, WE CHAT TO SOME OF THE SECTOR’S LEADING LIGHTS ABOUT INNOVATION AND THE ROAD AHEAD. 44 | SUMMER 2022 creased 31.7%, and wine sales were up 39.4% during a 52-week period between 2020 and 2021. These figures are, of course, open for further assessment and review with countless research bodies, reports and overviews using varying ways to analyze the market(s). But one thing is clear, and that’s the appetite for beers with no- or low-alcohol is showing no sign of abating. Quite the opposite, in fact. We recently caught up with Mitch Cobb, the CEO and co-founder of Upstreet Collective (responsible for Libra), Lane Matkovich, co-founder at Nonny, and Anika Sawni, co-founder of Grüvi, to share their experiences of this buoyant sector, as well as where the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA
Ongoing growth is forecast in the NA beer market, but do we maintain that growth - especially from competing alcohol-free beverages?
Lane Matkovich, Nonny: “The larger players like Budweiser, and Heineken are spending a lot on bringing awareness to their non-alcoholic products, which we believe is great for the category. We think this helps fuel awareness of the NA category as a whole, and those who don’t necessarily identify with those brand names might just start looking for other products that fit their taste.”
“We love seeing new products popping up, and are always excited to give them a try. Our hope is that new brands speak to a new consumer that typically wouldn’t consider NA as an option previously. Just like we buy craft beer from different breweries, we also buy from a variety of NA beer brands, and we hope to see more quality options in NA to bring that same buying experience to new NA drinkers.”
“Our feeling is that NA isn’t a trend, and the category has a lot of growth ahead. We’re seeing more and more people who initially miss “the point” of NA beer, come around to the idea once they give new options a try. The quality has improved over time, and people are starting to embrace NA rather than reject it. With most consumers of NA beer not being completely sober, and focusing on the health benefits, I think the growth of the category will be in changing the minds and perception of NA. Our hope is that the “Nonny (non-alc)” category will move to become a part of the “great beer” category in time.”
Mitch Cobb, Upstreet Collective: “The NA beer market is anticipated to continue to grow at an 8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the next 10 years globally. I don’t see any signs of it slowing down, as it really is just starting to pick up momentum as people realize the many occasions in their lives where NA beers just make sense. While we are also seeing growth in NA spirits, RTDs and wines, I think that having more options to appeal to different tastes, only helps to strengthen the adult non-alcoholic beverage market in general rather than deter from NA beers.”
“In the coming year we will see a lot of growth for Grüvi, as well as the category as a whole. We’re seeing key retailers focused on building larger NA sets as the consumer demands more options. Since Grüvi is unique in being the only NA brand to offer both beers and wines, we have the opportunity to work strategically with retailers who envision offering an entire alc-free set.“
“Although we are seeing an increased rate of new entrants to the category daily, Grüvi is strategically positioned to break down the barriers to entry for the consumer. We are highly focused on bringing the best tasting beverages to market, and, having just won “Best Non-Alcoholic Beer In The World” at the World Beer Cup, and both a Silver and Bronze medal for our wines at the IWSC last month, we’re extremely confident in our ability to maintain this momentum.“
“While we’re seeing a lot of premium sophisticated brands enter the space, Grüvi speaks to a different consumer. We want alc-free options to be accessible for everyday sipping, which we’re achieving with a down-to-earth brand and competitive pricing given the quality of our products.”
Anika Sawni, Grüvi: “In the coming year we will see a lot of growth for Grüvi, as well as the category as a whole. We’re seeing key retailers focused on building larger NA sets as the consumer demands more options. Since Grüvi is unique in being the only NA brand to offer both beers and wines, we have the opportunity to work strategically with retailers who envision offering an entire alc-free set.”
“Although we are seeing an increased rate of new entrants to the category daily, Grüvi is strategically positioned to break down the barriers to entry for the consumer. We are highly focused on bringing the best tasting beverages to market, and, having just won “Best Non-Alcoholic Beer In The World” at the World Beer Cup, and both a Silver and Bronze medal for our wines at the IWSC last month, we’re extremely confident in our ability to maintain this momentum.”
“While we’re seeing a lot of premium sophisticated brands enter the space, Grüvi speaks to a different consumer. We want alc-free options to be accessible for everyday sipping, which we’re achieving with a down-to-earth brand and competitive pricing given the quality of our products.”
Why have NA beers moved from, almost being stigmatised, to an accepted part of the beer family?
Mitch Cobb, Upstreet Collective: “I think there are several main reasons. One, with an increased focus on health and wellness, especially among younger people, and sober curious movements like Dry January and Sober October, choosing not to drink is cool - whether its for a night, week, month or a lifetime. There is almost a sense of rebellion around choosing not to drink that is a far cry from previous perceptions that you needed to drink to fit in.”
Anika Sawni, Grüvi: “There are a few key factors that are contributing to the normalization and acceptance of NA beers. As a society, we are becoming increasingly aware of what we are putting in our bodies and that extends to what we choose to drink as well. We’ve also seen an increase in mental health awareness, arising from an emphasis on self care and a global pandemic that caused many to reevaluate their relationship with alcohol.”
“Outside of general lifestyle changes, we’ve seen the rise of the “sober curious” community — people who don’t necessarily identify with the term “sober,” for many reasons, but have realized they don’t feel their best when alcohol is a part of their life.“
“Lastly, I think the key factor is the growth in our category over the last 2 years. When we launched Grüvi 3 years ago, the options were few and far between — and frankly, nothing tasted very good. We’ve built our company on breaking down these barriers to entry: focusing on high quality taste, unparalleled variety and constant innovation. Now when someone is reaching for an alc-free option, it no longer feels like a “less than” option.”
Lane Matkovich, Nonny: “As a society, we’re starting to pay a lot more attention to our health and mental well-being. With most people starting to understand that health should be a priority, it’s becoming less stigmatized to take care of yourself. Leigh and I have thoroughly enjoyed the rise of craft beer, but now realize that that enjoyment doesn’t always align with the balanced lifestyle we aspire to have.”
“A day snowboarding doesn’t always need to end in apres beers, or a hard day’s work shouldn’t always mean that you need that hard earned beer. With new quality products being brought to market, it’s starting to become a lot easier to make the switch to an NA option. We’d love to see the shift from making the choice not to drink become celebrated as a strength rather than a weakness. We have a lot of work to do to get to that point, but we can see it coming.”
How important is innovation in the No and Low space?
Anika Sawni, Grüvi: “Innovation is crucial for the success of the category as a whole. The biggest barriers to entry for the alcfree category are taste, variety and the associated stigma. In order to truly bring NA beer mainstream, brands need to be constantly innovating, improving the taste to reduce these hesitations.”
“At Grüvi we recently launched our “Discovery Series” which is a community collaboration that feeds our pipeline of new innovations. All new releases have a QR code on the front of the can that allows our customers to give direct feedback on their experience. We’re then able to rapidly take action according to consumer feedback and perfect our recipes. This is something that many bigger companies won’t spend the time to do but has tremendous value in bringing only the best products to market and creating products that are exactly what the consumers want.” oped to help move the category forward so it’s really important to stay on top of these innovations and to always be focused on continually improving our existing SKUs . But also, much like craft beer fans, NA beer consumers are also looking to try new styles and new brands and are looking for variety so we are always trying to push the limits of what we can create for NA Beer.”
Lane Matkovich, Nonny: “We think innovation has a ton of importance right now. There are a lot of different approaches on creating non-alc beer, and the processes and technologies are being improved all the time. If we want to create experiences that rival traditional beer, we need to step up on innovation and get creative just as the craft beer industry has.”
“There is a lot to look forward to in the next few years in this space, and we think the future of NA beer, and non-alcoholic options as a whole will rely on a lot of trial and error to bring high end products to market.”
What should we look out for (in as much as you can disclose) in 2022 and beyond?
Lane Matkovich, Nonny: “We would love to continue focusing on adding Nonny to the
“Additionally, consumers want and crave variety, the same as they do in the alcoholic space. If we look at the craft beer space there are countless options to choose from. Whether it’s unique styles of beer or wines or spirits, people want an alc-free option for it.”
Mitch Cobb, Upstreet Collective: “It is incredibly important. Every week, it seems there is new technology or ingredient being develmenu within the bar/restaurant and brewery industry in BC, and other major cities across Canada. Our hope is to help reduce the current stigma around non-alc beer by partnering with businesses we’re excited about, and help them celebrate non-alcoholic options in settings that have historically hidden these options off menu.”
“By focusing on this we’re hoping to help businesses become more inclusive, bring in more customers they wouldn’t otherwise, and be a part of a cultural shift that seems inevitable. “Beyond that, we’re excited to keep working on potential new brews, and a special launch we have planned for later this year!”
Anika Sawni, Grüvi: “We have some exciting innovations on the horizon for Grüvi in the coming year. As we come off the pandemic, we have been heavily focused on building our brand awareness and getting Grüvi on the shelves of our favorite stores. We are quickly expanding to new states and working with key retailers who want to grow their alc-free portfolios, as we’ve quickly realized consumers want to be able to pick up bevs locally versus online.”
“Innovation and variety are integral to who we are here at Grüvi so you can expect to see some new releases coming soon, including our Weekday Wit, which will be joining our Discovery Series towards the end of August, as well as some new releases on the wine side. You can also expect to see a brand refresh for our packaging as we scale up in the coming months.”
Mitch Cobb, Upstreet Collective: “For Libra, In addition to expanding our distribution of Libra across Canada and the US, we will also be releasing some really interesting new styles of NA beers. In terms of the category in general, I think we will see some more entrants into the market, and again, a push to innovate in the space and develop new styles of NA beers.”
HALF HITCH BREWING COMPANY
PERFECT PARTNERS
BEER AND PIZZA. FOR MANY, IT’S THE PERFECT MARRIAGE. JUST ASK THE TEAM AT HALF HITCH BREWING COMPANY. A BUSINESS THAT STARTED OUT AS A BREWERY, AND ONE THAT HAS EVOLVED AND GROWN THROUGH ITS CRAFT BEER AND PIZZA OPERATION THE MASH. WITH CLOSE TO TEN SITES OPEN BY THE END OF 2022, THAT’S JUST THE START.
Change can, often, be for the better. And frequently in the world of beer, change has enabled more breweries to open. And that has subsequently meant more choice for the consumer. At the tail-end of 2013, Alberta’s
Liquor & Gaming Commission took the decision to remove the restriction on the minimum brewery capacity.
This was previously 2,500 hectolitres, roughly equal to 66,000 US gallons or some 2,100 barrels of beer. By law, you needed to have capacity to brew 5000 hectolitres and in practice, brew a minimum of 2,500 hectolitres.
And over in the UK, back in 2002, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, introduced a progressive beer duty that cut taxes by 50% on the first 5,000 hectolitres brewed per year. This duty was only for brewing businesses that produced less than 30,000 hectolitres per annum. This saved small breweries about £45 per barrel ($70CAD).
Both of these measures resulted in a boon in the world of craft beer, spawning business openings that simply wouldn’t have happened otherwise. In Alberta, there were approximately 300 province-brewed beers in 2016. This swelled to almost 1400 in 2018.
While for the consumer more breweries equals more choice, it also inevitably results in increased competition for the breweries themselves. So ensuring you do your bit to stand out from that competition is imperative. And in the years since starting out, Half Hitch Brewing Company of Cochrane, Alberta, have learned to do just that.
Half Hitch Brewing Company was one of those first breweries to come to market during the craft brew explosion in Alberta. It was founded by homebrewer Chris Heier, his father Mike Heier, brother Kyle Heier, step-siblings Brittany Kozloski and Chace Kozloski, as well as other relatives acting as shareholders. They started out formulating a concept way back in 2011, when those countless restrictions that prohibited companies to enter in the market still existed.
“It all started around the dinner table. One of our weekly family dinners in 2011 turned into an evening of “what ifs”. What if we got into business together? What would it be?
What makes sense for all of us? Our ideas ranged from cheese makers to a bakery, but it wasn’t until Kyle (Heier, co-founder and CEO) mentioned brewery that all of our ears perked up,” explains Brittany Kozloski, vice president of marketing and restaurant operations.
“As exciting as the proposition was, there was one honest truth we all had to face; we had no idea how to brew beer. We all knew how to drink it, but that’s about it. That didn’t stop our enthusiasm, however, as a week later Chris (Heier, co-founder and president) was attempting his first home brew.
“He quickly made home brewing a passion, creating his own unique recipes and learning the ins and outs of the brewing process. Fast forward a few years, a business plan and a chunk of land later, and we were ready to start construction. Since we were doing this as a family, we found ourselves in roles we never expected, and looking back on that time, it’s surprising to say we made it out alive.”
When the team behind Half Hitch Brewing Company announced revealed their intentions to open a brewing business, Alberta boasted a modest 10 microbreweries within the province. And nearly 10 years on, that figure has grown by at least ten-fold.
The brewery would officially open its doors in the summer of 2016. “June 2016 was a monumental month for us, as we were finally able to brew our first batch of beer,” says Kozloski. “All of a sudden we found ourselves playing in the big league, with a solid product and the drive to succeed. From brewing, packaging, selling and sampling, we were all busy making sure we could get our beer into the hands of Albertans, while still working around the clock to get the restaurant up and running.”
And once they started running, they’ve not stopped. Speaking last year, CEO and co-founder Kyle Heier outlined how Alberta went from roughly 300 Alberta brewed beers in 2016 to almost 1,400 in 2018. “The shelf and draft space did not grow at the same rate, so being able to adapt is important. When you are surrounded by a hundred people in a space built for fifty, you need to make your own space,” he added.
Enter The Mash. A restaurant business serving the brewery’s craft beers alongside pizza’s created using upcycled spent grain from the Half Hitch brewing operation. In 2019, both Heier and his father Michael had begun planning as to what The Mash had to look like, with the first location within Airdrie, Alberta opening without a drop of marketing but swamped with orders.
“We sold roughly 350 pizzas by 3pm on opening day. The experience had us running to every supermarket to purchase ingredients to keep up. We didn’t see it coming, but it was an extremely humbling experience,” he recalls. Since then, The Mash has opened additional locations within Calgary within the community of Kensington, within Calgary within the community of Mahogany, and also Legacy. Expansion in Edmonton also continues apace with six sites now open, and nine anticipated before the year is out.
“I feel that The Mash has given us an opportunity to take control of our future a little bit,” says Kozloski. “When we started out, we had direct lines to restaurants and retail.
We love doing beers of different styles, but running these type of business teaches you that you also need to ensure you are meeting the demands of your demographic, too,” Brittany Kozloski, Half Hitch
They were coming to us, wanting our beer. But the market has grown a lot. We still have a great presence in those places, but it’s far more competitive than it was early on. So being able to create this vertical integration between brewery and restaurant made complete sense.”
Those Half Hitch beers are produced on the company’s kit from DME Process Systems in Canada. A manually operated 2-vessel brewhouse, its designed for 20BBL batches. The team generally brew 24HL at a time into double sized fermenters, so brew days are always double batched.
While there is currently an even split between the volumes that go to trade, and those channeled via The Mash, the latter has helped catalyse increased sales in areas the brewery has less of a presence.
“We don’t have a sales rep in Edmonton, so we tell people the best option is to visit The Mash!” Kozloski smiles. “We’ve had people go on to reach out to us because they’ve had our beer alongside their pizza. They end up stocking it in their stores on on tap, which is really rewarding. The two blend seamlessly together.”
And as The Mash continues to expand, so does the team’s knowledge and expertise about catering for their audience.
“When we first opened up the restaurant here in Cochrane, which is a nice rancher town, our lightest option was a Pale Ale called Farmer’s Daughter. I would describe it as moderately hoppy but the nice constructive criticism we received from the town was that we needed to brew something their parents could drink otherwise they can’t come,” she recalls. “So with that in mind we create Papa Bear. A beer that anyone could drink as an introduction to what we do.”
Papa Bear is a Canadian Cereal Ale brewed with a grain backbone of locally-sourced barley, wheat, rye & oats. Featuring Azacca and Summit hops, it’s described as bready with a hint of spice. “At 5%, it has a lower hop profile than some of our other beers, and easily sells 2:1 compared to anything else we do,” says Kozloski. “We love doing beers of different styles, but running these type of business teaches you that you also need to ensure you are meeting the demands of your demographic, too.”
In addition to Farmer’s Daughter and Papa Bear, other staples include Fire N’ Fury, a Red Ale brewed with Caramel Munich malt
I feel that The Mash has given us an opportunity to take control of our future a little bit,”Brittany Kozloski, Half Hitch
6 TIPS FOR SUCCESS AND SANITY WHEN WORKING WITH FAMILY
WORK WITH FAMILY? I COULD NEVER DO THAT. IF YOU’VE EVER THOUGHT THIS, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT THE DYNAMICS OF THEIR FAMILY COULD NOT TRANSFER TO THE WORK PLACE, BUT HERE, BRITTANY KOZLOSKI TELLS YOU THAT IS POSSIBLE. THEY ARE SOME SIX YEARS INTO THIS BUSINESS, AND ALTHOUGH WORKING WITH FAMILY HAS ITS CHALLENGES, SHE SAYS IT ALSO EXTREMELY FULFILLING TO BE ABLE TO CREATE AND BUILD SOMETHING MEANINGFUL TOGETHER.
1. RESPECT ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
We recognize who has the decision-making power over certain areas in our company and we support that family member. It wasn’t like that at the beginning, which caused a large amount of confusion and frustration. However, once we defined the roles of each member of our family it became easy to not step on each other’s toes and allowed everyone to focus on what they need to complete in order to make this company a success.
2. ADDRESS ANY ISSUES AS THEY SURFACE RATHER THAN
LETTING THEM BUILD UP I know a lot about my family coworkers, including what makes them happy and what irritates them. By knowing my coworkers on such a personal level, it can make it difficult to always be rational or fair with my own thoughts and feelings. The biggest issues we have always had have been down to communication, specifically with letting issues (and personal feelings) sit and fester as opposed to addressing them early on. When working with your family communication is key, and constantly needs to be evaluated to assure that everyone is effectively and respectfully addressing one another and the problems that arise.
3. KEEP BUSINESS TALK AT A MINIMUM WHEN OUTSIDE OF
THE BUSINESS We have a family rule that when we are together for family time, the conversation of business needs to be checked at the door. We want to nurture our family relationships and make sure they are not just built on a business interaction. Funny work stories are always welcome and encouraged, but nothing critical or sensitive is mentioned.
4. GAUGE YOUR OVERALL JOB SATISFACTION AND MAKE AD-
JUSTMENTS AS NECESSARY This is a tough one, as we all wear so many hats as owners of our own business, but it is still important to address. When looking at your responsibilities as well as the responsibilities of the members of your family, are you happy with your job description? Is everyone playing their part to accomplish the company’s goals? If there are issues here- try to set a meeting with the appropriate parties to discuss your feelings, as it can be emotionally draining and difficult to balance working with your family, and tensions and familial tendencies can quickly arise.
5. REWORK THE OFFICE SPACE
Initially, we all spent almost every second of every day together, and sometimes we wanted to kill each other! Since we spend time together from a business standpoint and a familial one, it has done us a great service to mix things up. Some of us work remotely, others on different floors of the brewery, and some us of come and go throughout the week. This really helps us so that it doesn’t become too much, and allows us to let those small annoyances (like Kyle constantly clearing his throat while he’s working) go.
6. MAINTAIN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE TO KEEP A WORK-LIFE
BALANCE To have a healthy working relationship it is imperative to make sure the boundary is set between your work and personal time. Your identity can quickly be overtaken by the demands of family and work, especially when these aspects are intertwined. We all make sure that we allot time outside of work for our own social circles and personal interests, and don’t criticize one another for the much needed “me” time.
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST KEY TO WORKING WITH FAMILY?
Everything on this list has one common thread: intentional choice. As a family, we choose to be respectful, choose to communicate, choose to work together, and it paying out for us. Whether you are considering working with family or you are already in business with them, your thoughtful choices can greatly influence how the experience is shaped.
My family members and I enjoy each other’s company (for the most part), and we are blessed to watch this company grow and to share in the rewards of this experience. It isn’t always easy, but the good far outweighs the bad in our opinion.
and Cascade hops, while Shotgun Wedding is a Brown Ale boasting British chocolate, crystal and caramel malt and Summit, Simcoe, Amarillo and Azacca hops.
And the story of the delicious grains used in the production of these beers doesn’t end there, quite the opposite. A portion of the three metric tonnes the brewery ends up with each week forms part of the base for the pizzas served at The Mash.
“It has become something of a focal point, and that’s great,” says Kozloski. “We are tweaking the recipe all the time but continue to find it fascinating that we can incorporate this part of the brewing process into another part of the business.” And it doesn’t stop there, with the flour itself available to purchase alongside dog treats and the like. “We’ve always worked with local farmers supplying our spent grain, so it’s great we can now use it in additional ways, too.”
With imminent openings of new locations for The Mash, Kozloski says 2022 has proven to be the year the team have taken a step back and assess.
“For the first time we have asked ‘what are we doing’,” she laughs. “Everything so far has been done in-house which has meant I’ve had 65 different hats on, the same as other members of the family!”
She adds: “But we’re at the point we need fresh experience, excellent additions to the team across marketing, restaurant management and beyond. We are bringing in really strong team players, which has been a godsend that really allowed us to move forward.”
That doesn’t mean the Kozloski and Heier’s are playing any less of a role in the business, though.
“Every Monday we have meetings that go on for two- to three-hours. Then numerous message chains follow,” she says. “We’re something of a blended family unit but we still hang out away from work. But sometimes it blows my mind that we still want to do that!”
THE ULTIMATE COLLAB THE STORY OF...54 | SUMMER 2022 A HELPING HAND BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA
WHEN AN EF-2 TORNADO HIT UXBRIDGE, ONTARIO IN LATE MAY 2022, A LOCAL STATE OF EMERGENCY WAS DECLARED. THE TORNADO CAUSED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE INCLUDING DOWNED POWER LINES, UPROOTED TREES, AND EXTENSIVE PROPERTY DAMAGE. AMONG THOSE HIT WERE THE SECOND WEDGE BREWING CO. BUT THANKS TO LOCAL SUPPORT AND A HUGE HELPING HAND FROM MARKET BREWING IN NEARBY NEWMARKET, THE BREWERY IS SLOWLY GETTING BACK ON ITS FEET.
One of craft beer’s finest qualities is the camaraderie that exists within it. From knowledge-sharing to collaborations, people coming together for the greater good has long been a calling card for craft.
And after an EF2 tornado touched down in Uxbridge, Ontario on Saturday 21st May, The Second Wedge Brewing Co would soon be needing some of that famed companionship. Thanks to Market Brewing of Newmarket, they got just that.
According to the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP), which surveyed a long, narrow path of damage in the city, they estimated that the path of damage measured 4.26 kilometres in length with a maximum width of 260 metres. The tornado, they said, likely occurred around 1:15 EDT with a maximum speed of 195 km/h. Unfortunately The Second Wedge Brewing Co would not escape its path.
“Immediately after the tornado struck, dozens of people from the community came out to the brewery to see how they could help – moving away debris, rescuing things from the building, helping with our dog or just offering our staff a shoulder to cry on,” recalls Joanne Richter, the brewery’s co-founder and owner.
“For at least the first two weeks we received non-stop phone calls and messages from our Uxbridge community, our restaurant and retail customers, and breweries across Ontario, offering help, meals, temporary jobs for our staff, cash donations, storage space, production space, pop-up events and on and on,” she explains.
“Those first few weeks, emotions were very intense – we were coping with the destruction of our brewery, while also feeling so grateful that no one was badly hurt, and being absolutely flooded with love and support.”
At Market Brewing, based some 28km west of the brewery, they knew they needed to help.
Piers Simpkin, general manager, explains: “When I saw the initial aftermath we reached out immediately to see if there was anything we would be able to help with as I couldn’t imagine this happening to Market right after all the pandemic struggles and just when it’s looking to be the first ‘normal’ summer in two years.
“Fast forward a couple weeks when we started talking about helping with a couple brews to at least keep beer in production seeing as it didn’t look like Second Wedge would be back up and running in a couple months.
“From some conversations and brainstorming it brought in the thoughts of ‘well you need to store tanks, so we have the room here for most of them, why not set them up and brew here with us as well?’ It seemed like a wild idea however our main mentality at Market is ‘we’ll figure it out’, and here we are right now with GF piping finished, tanks installed and Joanne telling us ‘we’re soon to be roommates, and hopefully we aren’t the roommates that you can’t wait to get out of the house’.” Market Brewing typically brew 1-3 days a week, leaving 2-4 available for Second Wedge’s brewers to use the equipment, says head brewer Josh Uttley. “We are able to brew twice or more in one day if a specific schedule is needed, and we can work around each other, for example one of us would come in earlier in the morning, or later in the evening. Weekends are also available if necessary,” he adds.
Uttley explains: “Second Wedge will monitor their own inventory, including ingredients and finished products. If possible and convenient, we will either place an order for combined malt, or place two separate orders, and coordinate a freight shipment with all malt together. The same is possible for things like empty cans, which are sleeved at the same place for both of us.”
During the brewery’s residency at Market Brewing, Joanne Richter says she expects her brewery to somewhat streamline
We can’t say enough about the kindness and generosity that Piers and Josh and their whole team have shown us,” Joanne Richter, The Second Wedge Brewing Co
its range in the short term – with the first course of action being to get its year-round, core beers back into production (3 Rocks IPA, Elgin Blonde blonde ale, Monday Night Piper Scottish-style ale and Rain Maker porter) plus its current LCBO summer seasonal (High Grass lemongrass ginger saison).
“This all worked when we were contract brewing on a big 60 HL system, but now we’re looking forward to getting back to our usual size batches (15-30 HL) at Market. Once we’re comfortably ensconced, we hope to be able to work in a few seasonals. We have an ambitious project of a holiday mix pack for LCBO that we’re putting together this fall,” she explains.
Looking ahead, Richter says the best estimate they have for the building to be reopened is around February.
“We’d love to say sooner, but we’re at the mercy of construction timelines. Roof trusses are a hot commodity, it seems. In the meantime, we’re holding weekend pop-ups in our beer garden during the nice weather, and we’d love to see our fans stop in and pick up some beer to go or enjoy a pint “by the ruins.” We have a lot of work ahead of Up until that point, she is understandably grateful for the support her brewery has received from Market Brewing.
“We can’t speak enough about the kindness and generosity that Piers, Josh and their whole team have shown us. They were among the first to get in touch when the tornado struck, and they’ve been nothing but good to us from the get-go,” she says.
Richter adds: ”Our head brewer Mike Lounds and assistant brewer Jamie Akselsen have been over there working with them for a few weeks now, and it’s a very warm and supportive relationship. Camaraderie in the industry can sometimes be superficial, but Market is putting out the welcome mat and really committing to helping us in a concrete way. We’re endlessly grateful, and aim to be the best possible roomies.”
“This really is the ultimate collaboration,” says Simpkin. “Hopefully we are reminding our industry why we all got into craft... not just for the beer, That’s the added perk!”
