The Food Issue
2015
grainswest.com
39
looking to get their foot in the door. The Alberta Gaming and
Liquor Commission’s (AGLC) minimum production capacity
requirements of 5,000 hectolitres (500,000 litres, or about
1.4 million bottles) per year ensured only a select few brewers
could secure the necessary financing and facilities to open their
own operations in the province. Small breweries flourished in
other parts of the country, while Alberta lagged behind. To
get around the rules, Sherman and Orr
were forced to contract-brew their beer
on weekends at Dead Frog Brewery in
Aldergrove, B.C., then import it back to
Alberta for sale.
Everything changed in late 2013,
when the AGLC eliminated the
capacity requirements. Suddenly,
one of the largest barriers to starting
a microbrewery in the province was
gone, and several brewers were quick
to take advantage of the new situation.
Sherman and Orr were the first to apply
for a brewer’s licence when the changes took effect, but they
have since been joined by several other Calgary-area startups,
including Half Hitch Brewing Company and Dandy Brewing
Company.
While Tool Shed evolved from Sherman and Orr’s beer-
making hobby, the founders of Half Hitch Brewing Company
in Cochrane took a different approach.
“We wanted to try and start our operation as a family
business,” said Half Hitch president Chris Heier. “So [a] brewery
wasn’t necessarily the first idea that was put on the table.”
Once the Heiers decided that a brewery would make a fine
family venture, they immediately ran into a serious obstacle—
they didn’t know how to make beer.
“I personally dove in to home brewing
to figure out how beer is actually made,”
Heier said. “I was brewing a batch of beer
almost every week, sometimes twice a
week, just to experiment and play around
with different ingredients.”
Once Heier had learned the ins and
outs of beer making, the family secured a
development permit and started building
their brewery from scratch. They hope to
release their first batch of beers in fall 2015.
Among the new entrants to the Alberta
brewery scene, Dandy Brewing Company stands out because
of its small production volume—it currently holds the distinction
of being the only nano-brewery in the province. With a brew
house that produces only 3.5 hectolitres (350 litres) of beer at a
time, Dandy’s founding trio of Ben Leon, Dylan Nosal and Derek
“When you see that
you can actually have
that effect on people
around you with the beer
that you’re making, it’s
addictive.”
–Graham Sherman
Tool Shed produces three core beers for sale throughout Alberta: Red Rage red ale, Star Cheek IPA and People Skills cream ale.
Photo:ToolShed
