Founded in 1985 by British ex-pat Phil Gosling, Wellington Brewery is the oldest independently owned craft brewery in Ontario. Gosling’s bold vision for the brewery was to bring English-style, cask-conditioned “real ale” to the province; a slightly warmer, unfiltered product that was – at the time – relatively unknown in the North American marketplace.
“Some of those recipes from that first year are still in our lineup,” said Brad McInerney, marketing director at Wellington Brewery. “This is a pretty rare feat as trends and styles always evolve over time, but a lot of those original recipes have stuck around because just like they hit the spot back then, they still hit the spot today.”
The Canadian craft beer industry looks a lot different today than it did when Wellington Brewery first opened its doors in Guelph almost 40 years ago. Wellington was one of only a handful of breweries in 1985, and there are now more than 400 craft breweries in operation in Ontario, and the competition is fierce. This has caused some of the pioneering companies to push boundaries and become ever more innovative to stay relevant.
Wellington Brewery’s philosophy is about walking two paths: staying true to its roots as a brewery of traditional styles, and being willing to walk outside the lines in a new experimental and contemporary style. “It may seem like a contradiction to try to do both, but it’s become our strength,” said McInerney. “We bring in new customers who may want to try out what we’re doing – like our Lemon Lime Hard Seltzer – and that could be the entry point for everything Wellington Brewery has to offer. Then, once they’re here, they might realize they love our Country Brown Ale as an everyday beer. It may not have that ‘wow’ factor that first brought them to us, but it’s one of those beers that always welcomes you back.”
Wellington Brewery’s facility was custom built and only had a few employees upon opening. Steady growth has seen the workforce expand to approximately 50 people, including part-time staff, and much has changed for the company.
In 2015, the brewery added approximately 20,000 square feet of facility space, updated its aging brewing system and packaging line, and expanded the brewery’s front of house areas. Wellington Brewery now sports a 40 hectolitre Newlands Systems brewhouse to replace its original Hickey Design 10 hectolitre brewhouse that was brought over from the U.K. in 1985. The brewery also has a state-of-the-art Krones bottling and canning line that essentially doubled its previous production capacity, which can produce up to 30,000 hectolitres of product per year.
We want to take every opportunity to make sure we’re not missing out on new customers who may be out there by keeping up with evolving trends. That’s how we ensure we have an offering that’s right for everybody.
Brad McInerney, Wellington Brewery
“It was almost like we rebuilt our whole brewery top to bottom, and you probably wouldn’t even recognize it as the same brewery that opened in 1985,” said McInerney. “But what hasn’t changed is that we are still committed to producing the same great beers that have been enjoyed by our customers since the beginning.”
An eclectic lineup
Wellington Brewery products are primarily sold across Ontario. While the COVID-19 pandemic created challenges, it also opened opportunities for the brewery to introduce its offerings to new customers ordering online. “Reaching new people is always exciting,” said McInerney. “Maybe they don’t know us from another brewery that just opened down the street, but there’s always an opportunity there to grow craft beer as a whole, and there is always somebody out there to introduce our more flavourful and unique beers to.”
Wellington Brewery’s most popular products include its Special Pale Ale, an English pale ale that is unique in the Ontario market because it’s a little more malt-forward than most pale ales; its Helles Lager, one of the brewery’s top sellers; and its Upside IPA, a juicy IPA that is consistently a best-seller in retail stores across Ontario.
Outside of its core brands, the brewery also brews its popular Country Brown Ale, a traditional English-style brown ale; a unique Imperial Stout; and the original 1985 beer that put Wellington Brewery on the map, Arkell Best Bitter. “We are a one-stop shop for when people are looking for a variety of tasty beverages they want to enjoy,” said McInerney. “We want to take every opportunity to make sure we’re not missing out on new customers who may be out there by keeping up with evolving trends. That’s how we ensure we have an offering that’s right for everybody.”
Wellington Brewery has also recently moved into producing sparkling hop water, which has become a significant part of its business over the last few years. Customers can now find Wellington Brewery’s Cascade and Chinook Sparkling Hop Water at Ontario grocery stores, which have non-alcoholic options that cater to consumers who are switching to lighter and healthier options.
“Having this non-alcoholic option in our lineup has been huge for us,” said McInerney. “We launched our sparkling hop water in 2021, and they’ve been selling like crazy for us. Now everybody can have a beer at an event, but some can choose to drink our sparkling hop waters and enjoy the flavour without the alcohol or calories.” The inspiration for new brews comes from the small-batch planning meetings held between the brewing team and marketing team. This enables the brewery to engage the entire creative process and opens the door to experimentation, perhaps incorporating a new hop, new malt or a fruit adjunct.
Wellington Brewery has also recently moved into producing sparkling hop water, which has become a significant part of its business over the last few years.
While the recipe is important in terms of how Wellington Brewery creates its beers, the label on the outside is just as crucial regarding marketing and is a vital part of the creative process. The brewery relies on an in-house graphic designer to ensure the product looks as good as it tastes. “We believe that our team-oriented approach is the best way to create a new beer,” said McInerney. “Working collaboratively like this makes the beer-making process more organic and it’s vital to how we are succeeding as a brewery.”
When brewing excellence, the world takes notice. Over the years, Wellington Brewery has received numerous awards for its offerings like the Imperial Russian Stout, Arkell Best Bitter and Chocolate Milk Stout. In 2022, the company won 13 medals at various brewing competitions, such as the Canadian Brewing Awards, the Ontario Brewing Awards and the U.S. Open Beer Championship. “The quality of your beer is right at the centre of your brewery,” said McInerney. “It’s nice to receive the awards, but we’re really just focused on ensuring that when we do make beer, it’s the highest quality and the most consistent. We consider ourselves lucky when somebody else recognizes our efforts.”
Doing good, one beer at a time
A quality product is only part of the puzzle. Much of Wellington Brewery’s success is also attributed to its commitment to community engagement. The brewery has a very supportive customer base within the Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo and Greater Toronto Area regions, and the business focuses on embedding itself into the fabric of the local community by supporting charities and local community organizations that work to make the world a better place.
Wellington Brewery is proud to present the 10th annual Queen of Craft. In addition to brewing up its Queen of Craft IPA, the brewery hosts a cadre of beer-loving women to create unique beer education programs, support local charities and build community initiatives. One hundred per cent of the profits generated by the women- and non-binary-led beer education series are donated to organizations that support the wellness of women and, over the last 10 years, the event has raised more than $65,000 for the Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis Centre.
“We haven’t always had a huge marketing budget to grow our brands, but we’ve had a lot of people who have got behind what we’re doing because they identify with the values that we cherish and what our products stand for,” said McInerney. “For us, good business means giving back to the community that has given us so much.”
As a responsible Canadian brewer, Wellington Brewery is committed to sustainable craft brewing practices. As part of this, the brewery is constantly seeking ways to improve water use, reduce energy consumption and use raw ingredients in ways that promote greater circularity. Almost all the brewery’s spent grain (98 per cent) is diverted from the landfill, and instead, is sent to local farmers to use for animal feed. Other spent grains are creatively used by partners for upcycled bread, insect food and other products.
In January 2022, Wellington Brewery launched the Welly Climate Future Fund, a capital fund that will be used to invest in projects at the brewery that will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. “Mitigating the impacts of climate change is not just about how much water are we saving or how we’re using recyclable material, we also need to look ahead to see what we can do over the next decade,” said McInerney. “We need to think in the long-term about our sustainability and environmental projects, and set out a roadmap as to where we’d love to go as a brewery.”
Wellington Brewery is proud of its long history with Beer Canada, valuing the association as a critical resource for timely data, for its ability to advocate on issues most important to the Canadian brewing industry and a platform for peer-to-peer networking. “Working with other breweries across Canada is a really important part of what we do,” said McInerney. “Craft brewers are a close-knit group that contributes to the overall strength of the Canadian beer industry, and Beer Canada is one of the areas where we’ve been able to work closely alongside other breweries.”
