tanKS: JoHn Heim
Sampling
One Great
City suds
their house-made
brews, including
a saison, stout and
red rye pale ale.
Peg’s brew house delay
meant that Barn Hammer Brewing
was officially the first of the new
breweries to serve its own beer—an
oatmeal stout, Belgian wit and double
IPA among them. Brewmaster Brian
Westcott worked for several years at
Edmonton’s Alley Kat Brewing before
moving to his wife’s home province to
help open Barn Hammer’s West End
operation. Its welcoming taproom is resplendently rustic, with lots of reclaimed
A smooth pour at The Forks’
wood, while maintaining a modern vibe.
Common beer kiosk
Four more Winnipeg breweries, each
led by locally trained beer
makers, are slated to open by
year’s end. Torque Brewing’s
large facility produces autoinspired offerings—like
Redline IPA and Diesel
Fitter Stout—by Matt Wolff,
who learned his craft at Fort
Garry Brewing. Bernhard
Wieland is also an alumnus
of Fort Garry (among othTorque
Brewing’s
ers), though he first studnew tanks
ied brewing as a side project
while playing rugby in South
Africa. His inaugural beer for Little
Brewing Co. Named for the ship whose
1668 voyage into Hudson Bay effectively
Brown Jug Brewing Company, a Bellaunched the Hudson’s Bay Company,
gian pale ale, can be quaffed in a centuNonsuch grew out of a local homery-old building near Red River College.
brewing club. Its partners plan to offer
And Jeremy Wells is putting his eight
premium European-style beers with an
years of Half Pints experience into ales
emphasis on Belgian ales. Beyond that,
for Brazen Hall Kitchen and Brewery,
look for Oxus, Stone Angel and Transwhich has taken over a space previCanada brewing companies to enter the
ously occupied by The Round Table,
fray in the future. And though the Forks
a steakhouse on Pembina Highway.
Market’s on-site brewery project seems
One Great City Brewing Company
to have stalled, its Common craft beer
is a slight outlier: Its owners haven’t
and wine kiosk opened earlier in 2016
toiled at local breweries. Instead they’re
with 20 Canadian and international
local boys—lawyer Tim Hudek and chef
brews on tap.
Jon Burge—who built their careers elseA number of Winnipeg restaurants
where before returning home. Expect
and pubs have also made craft beer the
Burge to plate farm-to-fork fare for
focus of their menus. With the city’s
OGC’s restaurant, while brewmaster
brewing scene on the upswing, awareJosh Berscheid, who trained at Alberta’s
ness and interest will further feed a
Olds College, handles the suds, includManitoban craft beer revolution that’s
ing a pale ale and milk stout.
only just begun.
In the works for 2017 is Nonsuch
Heady
History
manitoba brewing
through the years
1694 beer is brewed
at York Factory
1846 Stone Fort
brewery operates
in Lower Fort Garry
1870s breweries are
opened near winnipeg
1916-23 Provincial
Prohibition leads to
draconian liquor laws
1950s Carling o’Keefe,
Labatt’s and molson
start brewing in the ‘Peg
1984 Fridays brewpub
opens at the niakwa
travelodge Hotel but
closes in less than a year
1989 Carling o’Keefe
merges with molson
1995 Fort Garry
brewing opens
1996-97 Labatt’s and
molson shutter their
winnipeg operations
1998-2003 winnipeg
sees a few more craft
brewers open—then
eventually close
2006 Half Pints
brewing opens
Source: 300 Years of Beer
by bill wright and Dave Craig
impaired driving is against the law. Caa manitoba does not condone driving after consuming alcohol.
CAA manitoba
winter 2016
59