Does anyone remember Uncle Ben’s beer?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/06/2016 (3594 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The small white building with the broken window and peeling paint is still standing on Regent Avenue.  

I drive by it daily and think about when it used to be a bustling business where beer drinkers from Transcona would go to buy a case of unique Uncle Ben’s Malt Liquor.

Uncle Ben, a.k.a. Ben Ginter, was born in  Poland in 1923 and raised on a farm near Swan River, Man. When he was 13 years old he left home to become a labourer and worked in Ontario, Alberta in Manitoba. In 1945, he started his own heavy equipment construction company and began working across Western Canada.  

In 1949 he moved to Prince George, B.C. with his wife Grace and in 1962, he purchased the Caribou Brewing Company so he could use the yard for equipment storage, changing the name to Tartyn Industry Ltd.  

Ben was approached with the idea of re-establishing the brewery and thus began his 15-year foray into the beer industry. He also acquired the Mission Hills Winery in 1970, and tried to compete with the likes of Baby Duck by producing wines with names such as Fuddle Duck. He even bottled soft drinks in brown and green stubby bottles with screw-off caps and names such as Canuck Cola.  

Over time, Ben built up the largest independent brewery in B.C., was the first to offer canned beer in B.C. and was the first brew to offer refunds for returning empty cans.  

Ben would butt heads with the large breweries and the Alberta Liquor Commission because he wanted to set lower prices for his product. His solution was to tape a dime under every can. He also offered customers one share in his company if they sent in 12 Uncle Ben’s beer bottle caps.

The Uncle’s Ben’s Brewery in Transcona closed in the early 1970s and the company went under when the Imperial Bank of Commerce called its loans in 1976. In press reports at the time, Ben blamed the three large breweries for influencing the bank, as he was seen as a threat to their business. At the time the loans were called, his assets were worth around $40 million.  
Ben resided in an expansive mountainside ranch outside of Prince George that had a stream running through the living room year-round. He died of a heart attack at just 59 years of age in 1982 in Richmond, B.C.

Although he is gone, Ben is definitely not forgotten.

While camping in Minnesota recently, someone at a campground, upon hearing we were from Transcona, said: “Oh, that’s the place my dad would go to buy Uncle Ben’s beer.”

So there you go, Transcona is also famous for a beer that is considered one of the best ever made.

If you would like to hear Uncle Ben himself, this CBC Radio interview is a great listen:
http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/uncle-bens-could-be-best-beer  

Louise Hedman is a community correspondent for Transcona.