Stores let customers make booze on-site

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This article was published 22/05/2015 (4046 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The next time you go to a dinner party, don’t be surprised if your hosts serve you a glass or two of Suzy’s Sauvignon or Larry’s Lager.

Thanks to new provincial legislation that comes into effect today, retailers of home-brewing and winemaking kits can apply to offer their customers in-store brewing.

Here’s how it works. Customers can walk into a retailer, buy a wine- or beer-making kit, mix up their concoctions, let them ferment in a storage area for four or more weeks, then come back and bottle it, label it and take it home.

The service is targeted at newcomers to the do-it-yourself liquor scene and people who don’t have the room but like to produce their own beer and wine.

Craig Swanston, owner of Wine Sense — which has five stores in Winnipeg and a sixth in Brandon — said he expects to see some new business as a result of the province modernizing the liquor laws.

“Manitoba is a little late to the party on this. The only provinces where you couldn’t do it were Manitoba and Alberta. It’s quite popular in other provinces. It opens up (wine- and beer-making) to a new market,” he said.

Wine Sense will also have a bottle washer and a corking machine available to its customers.

“This is winery-grade equipment,” he said.

Renovations are nearly complete on its Southdale store to accommodate the extra space requirements, and work will begin on two more next week.

“It’s good for the industry. We’ll be hiring more people,” he said.

Sandro Foianesi, owner of Brewers Direct, is making some investments, too. He has added 1,500 square feet to its 4,000-square-foot Sargent Avenue location.

“We’re going to do a pilot here, see the response and take it from there (before expanding his other three stores). We’ve spoken to companies in Ontario and B.C., and they’ve all given us positive feedback,” he said.

While it’s a little more work than going to the liquor store, there’s no argument about the lower cost.

Swanston said a $60 wine kit plus a $40 storage fee will result in 30 bottles, or a little more than $3 each.

‘Manitoba is a little late to the party on this. The only provinces where you couldn’t do it were Manitoba and Alberta’

Beer is a little cheaper with a total cost of $80 for 65 bottles, or a little more than a loonie each.

When the liquid is close to being ready, there will be some opportunity to do some quality-control tasting, said Rob Patchell, manager of communications and research for the Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba, but no other on-site consumption will be allowed.

“You couldn’t bottle it there and then kick back and have a few drinks on the premises,” he said.

Patchell said customers can’t buy the kit and expect staff members to do all the work for them.

They will, however, be there to pass on advice.

“You have to be involved from the beginning of the fermentation process,” he said.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca