The appeal of craft brewing
In New Brunswick, the selection of small size breweries have increased over past few years. In Fredericton alone, there is around eleven small size breweries and with a high number of bars and pubs offering beers from craft brewers around the province. The latest example is the PEI Gahan House that is opening with a restaurant and five barrels of brewing in the old Vault 29 locales on Queen street, downtown Fredericton.
This booming market is not only limited to New Brunswick. All over North America and Europe have the amount of small size breweries more than doubled in only a few years and the trend doesn’t seem to be stopping soon. While some argue that the market is getting over saturated, Graystone Brewing owner Wes Ward thinks there is still market shares out there for craft brewers to take.
The competition between the Fredericton brewers is very sportsmanship-like. The breweries frequently visit each other, some tap houses offer other breweries products and they also encourage the customers to visit the other breweries. Considering that all the downtown breweries in Fredericton are withing close vicinity it is also easy for the consumers to visit all the breweries within an afternoon.
A micro-brewery, or craft brewery, is a kind of brewery that produces a small amount of mostly (but not limited to) alcoholic beverages like beer and cider. They are independently owned and most of the time operated by enthusiasts and/or entrepreneurs.
The downside of the small size is obviously the limited amount of produce there is limited distribution. Ward estimates that all breweries are brewing on full potential and he has plans to expand the potential at Graystone with additional tanks and volume after expanding the floor space. For the summer he is hoping that he will be able to sell his products in Moncton and Saint John.
Small size breweries are often dependent on local customers and tourists that either are on a trip to try new breweries or that pop in for a drink after a day of traveling. A small size brewery is also different from the bigger corporate owned producers in that their small size and independence allows for experimentation in their production.
Experimentation and variety according to the brewing manager at Graystone Ryan Placktis is what a craft beer person is looking for. “They wanna come in and have six different beers, six different styles, six things that they have never tried before.”
The success of these small breweries can be traced to the consumer that have increasingly started to look for distinct and local products instead of commercial and widespread products. The government of New Brunswick also seem to be helpful for brewers that want to start up, at least according to Graystone’s owner Ward. “That part, the government actually is pretty good to work with. I think they have seen the potential in the industry and have sort of stepped out the help the industry grow.” – “It’s pretty straight forward here. You just apply for a brewer’s license through public safety an
To fund Graystone, Ward went out to search for investors and eventually funding from Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), one bank and some private investors. According to the Economist, starting a microbrewery is relatively cheap but it still requires some big cash to set up all the proper equipment, prepare the facilities for production and also paying for the facility itself. The Nerdwallet estimates that one million US dollars will give thirty barrels for production capacity but the price can easily rise higher than that.
The success of these small breweries can be traced to the consumer that have increasingly started to look for distinct and local products instead of commercial and widespread products. The government of New Brunswick also seem to be helpful for brewers that want to start up, at least according to Graystone’s owner Ward. “That part, the government actually is pretty good to work with. I think they have seen the potential in the industry and have sort of stepped out the help the industry grow.” – “It’s pretty straight forward here. You just apply for a brewer’s license through public safety and then you get a liquor license from public safety aswell.”
To fund Graystone, Ward went out to search for investors and eventually funding from Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), one bank and some private investors. According to the Economist, starting a microbrewery is relatively cheap but it still requires some big cash to set up all the proper equipment, prepare the facilities for production and also paying for the facility itself. The Nerdwallet estimates that one million US dollars will give thirty barrels for production capacity but the price can easily rise higher than that.
Breweries stimulate the job market with many needing construction to build their production floors, tap houses and eventually also expansions. This offers carpenters and building companies chances to gain contracts and work. They also stimulate the transportation market with transports needed for brewing equipment and ingredients. They even help out other local companies that produce food items to use in either the brewing itself or for the food if they happen to serve any. Obviously also the tap houses and breweries don’t run themselves so they need to hire employees.
The trend doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon and with people thirsty for more craft brewing. We will probably see the market expand some more and offer more variety and experiences at the taps. Cheers!