Winnipeg is hopping

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/10/2017 (3115 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The influx of new breweries and brew pubs in Winnipeg over the last few years — post-Farmery, Half Pints and Fort Garry — can be roughly divided into waves of three. The first wave featured Peg Beer Co., Barn Hammer and Torque Brewing, while the second saw Brazen Hall, One Great City and Little Brown Jug come online.

It appears we’re now entering a third wave of new brews in the city. Here’s some info on the next trio of breweries making their way into our burgeoning beer scene:

Stone Angel Brewing Co. — 1875 Pembina Hwy.

You may not have noticed when Stone Angel Brewing Co., opened its doors late last month. The Pembina Highway brewery ran into a couple of snags en route to getting signage installed, and quietly opened under the existing “Vodka Rocks” sign, where the former nightclub once stood.

That’s been rectified, and the 5,000-square-foot brewery (and adjacent tap room) is plugging away, serving up its European-style brews — at least a few of them.

On tap at the brewery so far is the Nocturne English dark mild ale, the Redhanded Irish red ale and the Oktober Blond ale. There is a fourth — Luther’s Folly Kolschist blond ale — that has been poured for the public a couple of times this year, but because the beer was made at Brazen Hall prior to Stone Angel’s own system getting up and running, regulations prevent Stone Angel from serving the beer in its tap room. It’s available from growler systems at beer vendors at the Quality Inn (635 Pembina Hwy.), and the St. Norbert Hotel (3540 Pembina Hwy.).

“We’re brewing another batch on our equipment right now, and it should be ready soon,” Paul McMullan, president and director of operations, said during the opening weekend.

Stone Angel’s plans are to establish its three core beers — Luther’s Folly, Redhanded Irish red ale and a forthcoming India pale ale — as well as a stout (for cooler months) and a witbier (for summer). The rest will be smaller-batch offerings, such as the forthcoming smoked porter. “It’s like a Halloween beer for us,” McMullan said, “although it’s not a pumpkin beer.” The products will be available on tap at Stone Angel and will roll out to taps across the city, as well as growler bars.

Those looking for a high-octane IPA or bigger, more intense beverages ought to look elsewhere. Rather, the trio at Stone Angel — McMullan and partners Paul Clerkin and James DeFehr — prefer to go the route of more restrained, Old World brews.

“Our style is generally more European, beer that we like to drink ourselves,” McMullan said. “Collectively, the deal is there has to be at least one beer on tap that each of us like. But after that we’re here for the public, so we’re making beers that are approachable.”

The brewery’s tap room can seat 50 — no more, as per provincial regulations — but McMullan said they’re hoping things on the regulatory front will change. And like most other tap rooms in the city, customers can bring food with them or order in, if they’re so inclined. “Not only that,” adds McMullan, “the Persian restaurant next door is fantastic. They’re bringing in full plates of food for people who order from them. We’re thrilled because it’s real food with real plates and knives and forks.”

 

Trans Canada Brewing Co. — 1290 Kenaston Blvd.

Prior to opening, many new local breweries (such as Stone Angel) have partnered with competitors, using their equipment to brew something for thirsty Winnipeggers to sip on at events such as Flatlander’s Beer Festival in June or the more recent Brew at the Zoo.

A notable exception to that is Trans Canada Brewing Co. As other breweries and brew pubs have crept into the market with small offerings to generate buzz and improve cash flow, Trans Canada has stayed pretty much under the radar.

“We made the decision a while back that we wanted to wait until we were able to brew beer in our facility,” said Trans Canada president Matt Tallman. “We wanted the first beers in the market to be ones that were made at the brewery.”

The 15,000-plus-square-foot brewery and tap room/restaurant is set to make a significant splash in the beer scene when it opens to the public Oct. 14.

The brewery component of Trans Canada falls under the guidance of Morgan Wielgosz, formerly of Amsterdam Brewing in Ontario (and the first woman to hold a head brewer position in Manitoba), and Josh Adler, who heads up quality control.

And what a brewery it is. Trans Canada is equipped to make any kind of beer its owners’ hoppy hearts desire. Their massive main tanks will handle the core beers, while a smaller brewing system will be used for more seasonal/one-off brews. (There’s another even smaller brewing line for really quirky test batches.) A separate room contains six foeders, pricey oak vats from French cooper Seguin Moreau that can be used for aging more “serious” beer.

In terms of packaging, Trans Canada will distribute core beers in six-packs of 355-ml bottles, as well as more limited-production brews in 650-ml bottles (often called “bombers”) and 750-ml cork-and-cage beers (similar to Unibroue’s packaging and some sparkling wine bottles). The brewery will start with beer in the tap room only, and hope to have packaged products ready to go by year’s end.

“We want to make sure we have enough beer for our tap room,” Tallman said. “As soon as we start brewing some of the larger batches we’ll be doing growler fills. When we first open we’re going to have a diverse list of different styles. We’ll expand as we’re able to meet capacity.”

Trans Canada’s massive tap room is licensed to seat about 120, plus another 50 in a private meeting room on the mezzanine level. Obtaining a dining-room licence — thanks to Timmy Tom’s Pizzeria and its full kitchen — was the way to work around the 50-person maximum at brewery tap rooms. It also means Trans Canada isn’t limited to pouring its own beer, although the plan is to have up to a dozen of its own brews available on tap at any given time. For now, the brewery is exploring options for adding cider for the no-gluten crowd.

In addition to the brewery, tap/dining room and licensed mezzanine-level meeting room, there’s a gift-shop area already stocked with Trans Canada shirts, hats, tuques, jackets, custom soaps and more. A long line of fridges will eventually be filled with packaged product thirsty Winnipeggers can take away to enjoy at home.

 

Oxus Brewing Co. — 1180 Sanford St.

On the other end of the spectrum size-wise is Oxus Brewing Co., located at the south end of Westview Park, near Polo Park. Sean Shoyoqubov has been slowly plugging away at setting up his small brewery (which was originally to be called Aurora) over many months, doing much of the work himself.

“I started with no financing at all, and I still don’t have any loans — nothing major,” Shoyoqubov said. “I’m trying to start as small and as simple as I can be.”

Originally from Tajikistan, Shoyoqubov came to Canada in 2010 and began home-brewing in earnest in 2012 before taking the plunge to start his own brewery. “In the last few years it has become an obsession,” he said, adding that he has enjoyed most of the local breweries’ beers and is planning a “fact-finding” trip to Germany in the new year.

While the 3,100-square-foot brewery and adjacent tap room isn’t yet set up and ready for brewing, the public had the chance to taste two Oxus beers — the blond ale and IPA — at Brew at the Zoo. Shoyoqubov made those batches at Barn Hammer’s facility on Wall Street, and judging by the long lineups, they seem to be well-received.

Shoyoqubov hopes to start brewing onsite in the next month or so, and to send kegs of his beer out to pubs and growler-filling stations thereafter.

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A postscript: the gang at Nonsuch Brewing Co. is continuing to produce beer at Barn Hammer (calling the partnership “nothing but an exceptionally positive experience” in a recent email). Nonsuch isn’t yet ready to announce a bricks-and-mortar location of its own, but the group’s saison has already been poured at The Common at The Forks Market (although at the time of this article wasn’t listed among the available pours there).

And Sabourin is sounding optimistic about having more product available soon. “We are a few big batches in and things are going well. We will soon be shifting our focus to a mix of kegging and bottles… we hope to have something available to the public in a limited number of locations before Christmas.”

uncorked@mts.netTwitter: @bensigurdson