Vancouver’s famed Gastown neighbourhood is where the city was founded. From there, it has grown into one of Canada’s largest metropolitan areas and became an international tourist destination, making it a fitting home for the original Steamworks Brewing brewpub. From the original Gastown pub, Steamworks has grown into a national craft beer brand with occasional forays into international markets.
Steamworks’ story begins in 1994. Eli Gershkovitch had travelled throughout Europe and observed the beer culture there. Gershkovitch saw that this beer culture was different from Canada’s and he knew it could be successfully brought to the country. When he saw the waterfront location in Gastown, which would become Steamworks Brewpub, he fell in love with its industrial charm and got to work.
Steamworks Brewpub opened its doors to an eager audience in 1995, and remains at 375 Water Street. As the street name implies, the brewpub features stunning waterfront views of Vancouver Harbour, but the beauty outside is surpassed only by the culinary delights inside. Twenty taps of Steamworks beer, brewed in the 15-hectolitre brewhouse, are served to accompany food that ranges from pub classics like burgers and pizzas to international dishes like butter chicken and risotto; fresh Pacific Ocean seafood also features heavily throughout the menu.
While founded as a beer-focused brewpub, Steamworks has garnered so much acclaim for its food that the Steamworks group now includes two restaurants under the Rogue Kitchen & Wetbar brand. The first Rogue location opened in 2010, just across the parking lot from the original Steamworks brewpub, and a second Rogue location at 602 W. Broadway opened in 2012. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which severely restricted indoor dining, Steamworks added two food trucks, one in 2020, and a second in 2021. It’s a rare feat for a brewery to be known as much for its food as its beer.
It’s a rare feat for a brewery to be known as much for its food as its beer.
However, make no mistake, people love Steamworks beer, too. The beer at the brewpub became so popular that, in 2013, Steamworks christened a 50-hectolitre brewhouse in Burnaby, B.C. Although the brewery was built to put Steamworks beer into packaging that could be sold across Canada (and abroad) and supplement the small brewery in Gastown, the Burnaby location features its own large taproom where locals can enjoy fresh tank-to-tap beer. The brewery’s core lineup features about a dozen beers ranging in style from light lager to hazy IPA. The seasonal lineup includes the usual suspects like fruit sours and stouts, but also extends to beautifully packaged wine-inspired beers co-fermented with grapes and interesting microbes.
“The brand is [Gershkovitch’s] baby,” said Katherine Hahn, business development manager at Steamworks. “Steamworks is a privately held, single-owner company. And [Gershkovitch], who just turned 60, remains very involved in the business.”
Gershkovitch’s continued presence ensures a consistent culture among the brewery’s approximately 80 employees and the hundreds more at the company’s restaurants. In an industry known for high employee turnover, Steamworks boasts a team dedicated to long-term success. Many of the brewery’s upper management have worked at Steamworks for over a decade and the brewery’s brewmaster, a role particularly subject to poaching and burnout, has been in place for six years.
“We are a very functional management team,” said Hahn. “It helps the culture to have capable and empathetic leadership.” This leadership has endured the ups and downs of the craft beer industry and has learned not to chase trends. Still, having a single owner means the brewery can make decisions and act quickly when the right opportunity presents itself.
“After 28 years, I am proud to have built a culture of like-minded, mutually supportive people that ultimately transcends craft beer,” said Gershkovitch. “We produce beer, we spend a lot of time thinking about what we produce and how we go about doing it. Sometimes we need to do it quickly or at significant quantities, but ultimately, even under the evolving pressures of running a business in a dynamic and ever-evolving industry, we can remain in touch with our humanity and simply have fun with what we are doing.”
Consistent people begets consistent culture, and consistent culture begets consistent beer. “We are proud of the consistency of what we’ve done,” said Hahn. “Over time, if you look at the awards we’ve won, we get recognized for our core beers. We know that’s our skillset. We focus less on chasing trends and more on consistency and repeatability. When consumers pick up a Steamworks beer, they know they are getting a reliable beer at a fair price.”
However, Steamworks has never rested on its laurels. Not chasing trends often means setting them. In addition to being an early mover in craft beer, Steamworks was the first brewery in British Columbia to package a hazy IPA. It was also the first brewery in British Columbia to release a mixed eight-pack of 473 millilitre cans. Dubbed the “Mash-Up,” the boxed eight-pack remains a market leader in British Columbia beer retail.
Despite achieving national and international success, Steamworks remains a pillar of the local beer community. Both of its brewhouses were purchased from British Columbia-based Newlands, which has since been acquired by DME Process Systems Ltd. of Prince Edward Island, and all of the ingredients of Steamworks’ new Lions Gate Lite are sourced from within 500 kilometres of the brewery, where Steamworks tries to support regenerative farming efforts.
The Brewery even supports former employees with many Steamworks brewers going on to open their own breweries. Steamworks also helped a long-time employee open Steamworks’ first franchise location in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, which opened in 2022.
“If you’re standing still, you’re falling behind,” said Hahn of the ever-evolving craft beer industry. While she remains tight-lipped about specifics, she hints at great things yet to come. “We are always innovating. We are always looking at new opportunities. There is always a lot going on in craft beer. But we talk a lot internally about identifying the right opportunities for our skills and expertise and what we want to be known for.”
Steamworks’ logo features a steampunk-inspired rendition of Gastown’s famous steam-powered clock. That steampunk aesthetic is carried throughout their branding and celebrates their ability to honour their past while looking to the future.
