“In my previous career, when I travelled, I always hit up brewery taprooms and used bookstores,” said Filbert. “I had a lot of conversations in those taprooms. I learned about what I was tasting and what I liked and didn’t like.”

Filbert worked for a banknote company as a technical artist. He says that a technical artist takes the work of a graphic artist and deconstructs it for the printing process. That graphics and printing training is why Filbert has a deep appreciation for book covers. In particular, he scours used bookstores for paperbacks from the 1950s because he likes the cover art. His personal collection includes about 200 such books.

“I think everyone should collect something,” he said. “And it should be something very specific. Then you leave it to chance when you find something to add to your collection. I like the discovery. I like the chase.”

The beer

To date, Bookstore has released 11 beers. If all goes to plan, the brewery will release three more this year. The first ever Bookstore beer was The Quick Fix Coffee Cream Ale, a 5.5 per cent ABV cream ale with locally roasted coffee beans added five days before packaging, to impart aroma and flavour without changing the blonde colour. “I wanted to start with something odd,” said Filbert.

However, that oddity is not without research and precision. “I want my beers to fill a hole in the market,” he said. Having kept track of the flavours he likes and dislikes in beer, Filbert designs Bookstore beers based on the flavours he knows he likes, rather than strictly adhering to beer styles. “All my beers are novel,” said Filbert, pun intended.

Filbert delegates recipe development to his friend Ryan Fisher, a trained brewer. Then, the beers are brewed at Winnipeg’s Oxus Brewing on a 30-barrel brewhouse built by Newlands. “I’m a big fan of hiring people who know what they are doing, and letting them do it,” said Filbert. “I’m an idea guy, not a full-out story creator.”

Oxus Brewing also produces beer for six other brands. By combining efforts, the breweries can achieve economies of scale in raw material procurement and ensure the tanks are always full. This was a low-cost, low-risk way for Bookstore to enter the beer market, although a small brewery of his own is Filbert’s ultimate goal. Bookstore’s beers have been well received, not just by Winnipeg’s beer drinkers, but by critics as well. Bookstore’s awards include:

• 2024 Canada Beer Cup gold for A Brighter Shade of Doom, a 6.5 per cent black New England IPA
• 2024 Canadian Brewing Awards gold for Flirting with Goth, a five per cent dark ale
• 2023 Prairie Beer Awards gold for Another Deadly Sin, an English amber ale
• 2023 Prairie Beer Awards gold for A Brighter Shade of Doom
• 2022 Prairie Beer Awards silver for Escape From Narrow City, a 4.8 per cent easy IPA

“I try to focus on myself as the first customer,” said Filbert. “I’m just going with what I like and hope it works.”

The art

All of the label art is original, says Filbert. Having found a kindred spirit in Ontario-based artist Randy Preising, Filbert retained him to do all of Bookstore’s label art. Those labels have a lot of details. “If you look at one of my cans, you’ll see a book cover, a spine and a back cover. Historically, these types of books had coloured page edges, so my labels have a strip of page edge colour as well,” said Filbert.

The back cover, in addition to satisfying required disclosures such as ingredients and alcohol content, always includes a tease to a story that doesn’t actually exist. It’s an homage to the books Filbert loves and collects. There are even recurring characters, “because that’s a lot of fun,” says Filbert. There are even consistent themes to Bookstore’s labels: ales have covers for detective mysteries, lagers and pilsners are westerns, IPAs have science fiction covers, sours are romance and dark beers have a horror look.

Filbert works with Preising to ensure the labels mimic shelf wear. Since these books would have been mass-printed, they often contained printing errors. Filbert and Preising carefully mimic these errors on their labels. “It’s a little Easter egg for drinkers to find, especially if they know about printing,” said Filbert.

Also similar to the books Filbert collects, each beer label includes a three-character catalogue number. The two digits are the year the beer was first released and the letter represents the number of the beer that year. For example, “24-B” was the second beer Bookstore released in 2024.

The community

For Filbert, it is important that Bookstore be part of the Winnipeg community. In 2024, Bookstore released Timeless, a light lager with proceeds assisting CJNU, Winnipeg’s community radio station. CJNU’s frequency is 93.7, so 93.7 cents from every can was donated to the station.

After the Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter was robbed, Filbert helped organize a tap takeover of Bookstore’s beers so that money could be donated to replace the shelter’s losses. Each year on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Bookstore hosts “orphan parties” for those who feel loneliest during this time of year. “My parents died before I started Bookstore Brewing,” said Filbert, explaining his motivation. The annual parties help ensure nobody spends the holidays alone.

Bookstore also partners with local food manufacturers. Bookstore’s beer was used by Loaf and Honey, a Winnipeg fromager, to make cheese. Also, the company’s beer was used by Mr. Biltong to make South African-style beef jerky.

The next chapter

Filbert’s dream to have a physical space to call his own may soon come true. “If things go as planned, I hope to open this year,” he said. Unlike most brewery taprooms that look similar to bars, Filbert wants “a different kind of thing.”

“I want to take over a café with small menu items, with fancy coffee, and my beers on tap,” he said. “And it will be a bookstore. Customers can read a book and leave it there. We will make a note of the book and page number, so when the customer comes back, they can pick up where they left off. COVID-19 killed a lot of bookstores. I want to get people back into them.”

All my beers are novel.

Parris Filbert, Bookstore Brewing

For Filbert’s bookstore taproom to come to fruition, he will require some regulatory changes. While the café bookstore will have a small pilot brewery, current regulations prevent him from selling Bookstore’s contract-brewed beer without paying high levels of provincial government mark-ups. That’s where groups like The Manitoba Brewers Association and Beer Canada can help.

“I’m just a one-man show. I’m a sales guy,” said Filbert. “I took a distinct financial hit to leave my career and do this, but it’s better to be happy and pinching pennies than well-paid and stressed and unhappy.” After five years, Filbert says new customers are still discovering his brand. A café will help give his brewing company a face. Despite Filbert’s modest claim that he’s not a full-fledged story creator, through Bookstore, he is actually writing his own story.

Bookstore’s beers are available only in Manitoba, at Liquor Mart, boutique beer shops and on draught in the Oxus Brewing taproom and elsewhere.

This was fundamental in shaping what would become Trans Canada Brewing Company (TCB), which Tallman founded and owns today. While the first beer would not be brewed until 2017, planning started in 2015. His goal was to create beer and a space that would welcome everyone.

“We want you to come here to enjoy our products and our atmosphere,” said Emma Houldsworth, brand and marketing leader at the brewery. “We welcome all ages, we have long, communal picnic tables and the room is one large space, instead of being sectioned off. We want it to feel like an extension of hanging out with friends and family in the backyard.”

The TCB taproom has 16 draft beers on tap and offers cider from Dead Horse Cider Co. and wine from Low Life Barrel House (both local producers), along with non-alcoholic beer from Partake Brewing and a variety of sodas.

“We have a simple mission: to offer a beer for everyone,” said Houldsworth. “From seasoned craft beer enthusiasts who seek out bold, hop-forward IPAs, to someone who enjoys the easy drinkability of a crisp, clean lager, there’s a TCB beer made with you in mind. Every beer we produce is developed, brewed and packaged entirely in-house. This hands-on approach allows us to maintain complete control over quality, from recipe development to the final pour, ensuring every can that leaves our brewery reflects our high standards and dedication to the craft.”

The staple of the taproom food menu is pizza, with a core lineup of 12 favourites, as well as two feature pizzas per month, both of which have a suggested beer pairing. That list of pizzas is supplemented by other shareable items like artichoke dip, sliders and tacos. Almost everything on the menu is meant to be shared, furthering the brewery’s goal of fostering community.

Since the release of Batch No. 001 in 2017, we’ve set aside a portion of each annual brew from Foeder No. 5 and bottle it, knowing a part of the original 2017 brew lives on.

Scott Sawatzky, Trans Canada Brewing Company

The taproom has live music on Fridays and Saturdays, and it is always subtle to ensure the taproom is welcoming to all. “We want to be a reliable brand, so whether we are the go-to spot for a night out with family and friends, or the beer that is always stocked at home, we want our customers to know they can expect the same level of care we put into every aspect of our company,” said Houldsworth.

Great beer

The 16 draft beers in the taproom consist of five core beers and rotating seasonal beers brewed on TCB’s 35-hectolitre brewhouse, which feeds into 14 70-hectolitre fermenters. TCB also has a five-hectolitre research and development brewery for experiments and recipe development, but the brewery eschews gimmicks.

“We want to give our customers proven winners,” said Houldsworth. The brewery uses its small brewhouse to aquire feedback from taproom customers when developing new beers, all with the intention of developing and improving their beer line up.

“Every October, we get together and plan what the entire following year will look like for beer launches, [including] what they are, when they’re coming out, how much we plan to make and what the beer will be packaged in,” said Scott Sawatzky, TCB’s senior leader of operations. “This is a full-team effort involved in our launch calendar, including our production team making and packaging the beer, input from our sales team with what they experience in the market and asking our taproom team what they hear from our customers.”

For beer lovers seeking a more elevated experience, TCB has a fleet of six 40-hectolitre foeders and a collection of barrels. “Our anniversary beer, Solera Farmhouse Saison, which was actually the first beer ever brewed at TCB, is made in a foeder,” said Sawatzky. “Since the release of Batch No. 001 in 2017, we’ve set aside a portion of each annual brew from Foeder No. 5 and bottle it, knowing a part of the original 2017 brew lives on.

“Good beer always starts with good ingredients. You can have the best equipment, the most creative recipe or the most skilled brewers, but if the ingredients aren’t top quality, the beer won’t be either.” To that end, TCB builds relationships with trusted suppliers, looking to local and Canadian sources whenever possible. “Our Flying Otter Light Lager is a great example. It’s brewed with Canadian malt barley grown right here on the Prairies,” said Sawatzky.

We want to be a reliable brand, so whether we are the go-to spot for a night out with family and friends, or the beer that is always stocked at home, we want our customers to know they can expect the same level of care we put into every aspect of our company.

Emma Houldsworth, Trans Canada Brewing Company

Another beer he’s proud of is Harvest Sky, which TCB releases every fall to line up with the end of the harvest season. “What makes it special is that every ingredient comes from Manitoba or Saskatchewan, from the malt to the hops. It’s a small way for us to celebrate the farmers and producers who help make what we do possible,” said Sawatzky.

TCB beer can be found across Manitoba, including every Liquor Mart in the province, as well as independent local beer vendors, restaurants and bars. “We really try to make sure we’re showing up wherever our customers are looking for us. We want to be easy to find,” said Will Lisson, TCB president.

Great community

“[TCB] is proudly independently owned and operated right here in Manitoba,” said Lisson. “That independence is something we deeply value, not just as a point of pride, but as a strategic advantage. It gives us the freedom to make decisions quickly, stay rooted in our community and remain true to our vision.”

Staying rooted in the community means investing in that community outside of the taproom as well as inside. “We’re proud to support causes that matter to our community and our province,” said Houldsworth. “Most recently, and hitting close to home, we started a new initiative to help raise funds for those affected by the Manitoba wildfires. All proceeds in June from our Scooper Pale Ale, which features a water bomber aircraft as the main illustration, [were] donated to the Canadian Red Cross for Manitoba wildfire relief.”

Within TCB, community is fostered by promoting a team approach where every employee is valued. “We believe strong leadership means setting a clear direction, while also listening actively, supporting professional development and trusting our team to take ownership of their roles,” said Lisson.

“That’s what drives our growth and helps us build an engaged company culture. Our leadership is focused on empowerment and collaboration. We intentionally foster a culture where every team member, whether they’re on the production floor, in the taproom or at the leadership table, feels encouraged to contribute ideas, ask challenging questions and take initiative. Innovation doesn’t just come from the top down; it comes from creating space for ideas to rise organically through every level of the organization.”

Great future

In the eight years since opening its doors to the public, TCB has achieved growth and success by being a part of, and helping to build, the Winnipeg beer scene and broader community. That growth has now provided an exciting opportunity.

“We are in the process of starting our expansion into Brandon, Man., with our second taproom and brewery,” said Houldsworth. “Brandon was an easy choice for our first expansion opportunity. It’s an exciting city, and the surrounding areas represent a huge market that has only recently started its craft beer journey. We aspire to be a household name in the beer industry in Manitoba, and Brandon allows us to speak directly to customers in a … new [way].”

Planning for TCB’s Brandon expansion is well underway, with an opening date scheduled for 2026. That new location will have the same community feel as the existing Winnipeg taproom, but with its own taproom-exclusive offerings, supplemented with beer from the main production facility, which will remain in Winnipeg.

“As for our Winnipeg location, we are always thinking of ways we can continue to evolve and improve. [We’ve started] some light planning on taproom renovation and upgrades, and expanding our production side. We are consistently growing and doing what we can to be the best version of ourselves, not only for our customers, but for our team.”

Blood Brothers Brewing

Toronto, Ont.

Blood Brothers Brewing started in 2015 in an 800-square-foot unit located inside a larger industrial building, but by 2016 it had already outgrown the meagre space. The team knew that to make the brewery profitable, they would need to move.

Luckily, they found a post-industrial space in a century-old horse barn-turned-automotive-garage down the street. Pulling from their network of friends, and a shoestring budget, they hired Borien Studio for the buildout. Leaning into Blood Brothers Brewing’s request of cult, church and horror elements, Borien Studio built a bizarre yet gorgeous alter using brass, reclaimed materials and the Japanese technique of preserving wood through charring, called Shou Sugi Ban, to create a unique, grand space.

After a year or so, the Blood Brothers Brewing team added a large altarpiece of timber and brass behind the main bar, and a custom brass chandelier designed by friends and neighbours, Sixpenny Architectural Fabrication.

Submitted by Blood Brothers Brewing

Kilter Brewing Co.

Winnipeg, Man.

Kilter Brewing Co. creates tropical, exploratory beers. They wanted their taproom to reflect those elements in every possible way through the design. Customers are welcomed into the taproom by lush greenery and a wide variety of seating and décor options that cater to different preferences.

Their space features cozy couches, papasan egg chairs that swing and floor-to-ceiling wallpaper with tropical plants and flamingos. Their bar is completely canopied with green vines, plants and string lights. The back of the taproom features mix-and-match coloured tables surrounded by barrels filled with different beers that have been aging for several years.

The presence of a large glass overhead door at the front of the taproom creates an open-air environment that allows for a seamless integration between the indoor and outdoor space.

Submitted by Kilter Brewing Co.

Container Brewing Ltd.

Vancouver, B.C.

Container Brewing Ltd., located in East Vancouver, opened on Nov. 22, 2019. Container is a brewery that blends passion for craft beer with a commitment to community and diversity.

It was built largely in part by its co-founders Terry Brown and Dan Webster. The design’s intention was to create a bright, minimalist space with a West Coast feel. Incorporating reclaimed wood from the demolition and overhaul of the building, along with indoor planters, helped to realize this vision.

Hand-built tables and benches give warmth to the space, which is made up of unique socializing opportunities through a “nook,” group seating, a bar top and built-in tables for smaller groups. Exposed brick and rafters help bring an old-time industrial feel to the space and connect the lounge experience with the production that takes place on the premises.

Throughout the lounge there are artifacts from the construction of the brewery, which include photographs of found objects and equipment, old bottles and office items left behind. Anything of interest or novelty was incorporated into the aesthetic. Behind the bar is the sole literal nod to the name of the brewery. A corrugated cladding embodies a shipping container and serves as a magnetic menu board.

Submitted by Container Brewing Ltd.

Steam Whistle Brewing

Toronto, Ont.

Steam Whistle Brewing’s taproom creates a rustic feel that is authentic to the brand. The team used natural materials like wood to create a rustic and warm ambiance along with industrial elements like exposed beams, metal fixtures and concrete surfaces to reflect the idea of traditional brewing. They installed warm and ambient lighting to create a cozy atmosphere and showcase artwork of past beer cans along with memorabilia from the brand’s history.

Submitted by Steam Whistle Brewing.

Quidi Vidi Brewery Co.

St. John’s, N.L.

Quidi Vidi Brewery Co. was founded by Dave Fong in 1996. Before that, the brewery was a fish plant, a history which inspired the theme of its taproom.

Quidi Vidi Brewery sits on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean and is a 15 minute boat ride away from cod fishing. Fresh cod caught by the brewery’s team are prepared and served in the taproom, which can seat 220 people and consists of three sections: the main and original taproom inside the brewery – which includes the main bar with 16 beers on tap – the upstairs patio and deck, and the seaside deck.

The upstairs patio and deck has a clear roof and is weather-proofed with heaters so customers can sit “outside” 365 days a year and overlook the water. The seaside deck is the brewery’s lower deck, which is at water level. The light fixtures took some effort to source, but the ropes and hooks tie together the taproom’s connection to the sea.

Submitted by Quidi Vidi Brewery Co.

Located at 155-A Fort Street, Devil May Care co-owners Colin Koop and Steve Gauthier say they started business planning in 2015, and it took until 2018 to get started as a contract brewer. “Five years on from the start of our stint as a contract brewer, we finally got to open our very own facility,” said Koop. “Suffice to say, it was very difficult!” He says the biggest issue they encountered was raising the capital.

“We’re just two pretty ordinary guys who come from middle-class ordinary families,” said Koop. “There’s no family wealth to speak of and neither of us worked high paying jobs to bankroll a project as capital-intensive as breweries tend to be. You might say we started from less than zero, but through a period of strategic brand building over four years, we were able to convince lenders that we had something financially viable on our hands.”

Construction challenges

Devil May Care spans 5,500 square feet with the production space comprising 2,500 square feet. Describing their construction efforts as very “DIY,” Koop says their biggest challenge by far was the power requirements for an electric brewery, which were significantly larger than the infrastructure their nearly 100-year-old space could provide.

“We worked with Manitoba Hydro to upgrade that service, but the result was a larger-than-expected infrastructure cost and significant delays. To some extent, and in these situations, the only thing you can do is budget accordingly – both financially and timewise, too.”

Koop and Gauthier knew local company Global Drains from other production brewer spaces and were looking for a drainage system that could withstand the daily rigours of brewery life, be that beer waste, harsh chemicals or driving a forklift over the drains. “When it came down to it there really was only one choice and it was Global Drains,” said Koop. “With their guidance, we were able to purchase the right product and install the drains ourselves. They took our requirements, designed the system appropriately and delivered a fantastic product that we use literally every minute of every day.”

Devil May Care had two slot drains installed, which cover the drainage needs for the whole facility. “Since we are a wet environment, a lot of moisture ends up on the ground during a production day. All of this either flows directly or is pushed with minimal effort toward the slot drains,” said Koop. “The two drains both have a catch basin for objects that might fall in. Beyond the filter baskets, they join together to carry all our liquid waste to the main drainage of the building.”

Drain challenges

Jared Shuster, Global Drains’ regional sales representative and drainage expert, says while drainage is sometimes overlooked, it is a vital element of processing design and should be strategically planned. For example, when it comes to beer, wine and spirits manufacturing, there are a few unique drainage complications that must be accounted for.

“First and foremost is the heat and acidity of the liquids being drained,” said Shuster. “If the drains are not manufactured using the proper materials, warping or damage to the drainage system can occur.”

The company’s products combat this by only manufacturing floor drains with high grade stainless steel, which resists these effects. They also manufacture a mobile funnel, the Slot Hog, which fits in anywhere along the Slot Drain, allowing for drainage directly into the drainage system. “This keeps your floor coating safe from acids as well, helping to minimize wear on your facility,” said Shuster.

The Global Drains team worked with Gauthier very early in the facility planning process, acting as consultants on drainage selection and placement to make the process as easy as possible. “The system we manufactured for Devil May Care was from our FoodSafe Slot Drain line of products, specifically the 6000 Series PLUS-R Slot Drain,” said Shuster. “This is a pre-sloped, ready-to-install, fully stainless-steel drain body, which offers extremely high durability and load rating, while also retaining the easy-to-clean features that are standard with any Slot Drain.”

He says the Devil May Care team told them they were planning to use forklifts in their facility, so Global Drains wanted to ensure that the heavy machinery would not cause any issues. “Because of this, we recommended our 6000 PLUS-R Series Slot Drain, which features a reinforced steel angle on the drain lip. This gives the drain an E-Class load rating, meaning that it can handle a load of at least 134,800 pounds per foot, more than enough for any potential forklift.”

What’s next?

As for what the near future holds for Devil May Care, Koop says since the facility is relatively new, he and Gauthier are still getting used to daily operations, especially since COVID-19 caused challenges.

Calling the pandemic a double-edged sword, he says it forced them to move locations once and adopt a largely wholesale business as that was the only way to get their product into consumer hands. “However, we were also able to negotiate a better deal on our new space due to vacancy rates. So, in some respects, we benefited from the pandemic. But, by and large, sales across every sector were severely hampered.”

In the next few years, Koop and Gauthier are looking to expand with larger tanks and the obligatory brewing capacity upgrades. “Ideally, we will be able to grow until physical space becomes an issue and then we’ll see what our options are. We love our downtown location, so we’re here for the foreseeable future and looking forward to being part of this community for years to come. At this point, we’re just happy to be open and we’ll embrace growth as organically as possible.”

While working on this space, Coutts came across a newspaper article describing that the St. Regis Hotel had undergone irreversible damage and all the historical artifacts from the Oak Room were slated for disposal. Fueled by both luck and perseverance, Coutts reached out to Cindy Tugwell, who was mentioned in the article. After several weeks, the ownership team of Patent 5 was allowed five days to retrieve whatever they could find of value. The team salvaged original chandeliers, wood paneling, curved headers and original stained glass, including two 12-foot doors.

Originally the intention was to include a tasting room, but the discovery of such beautiful, historical pieces led the team to shift gears and focus on creating a one-of-a-kind cocktail room instead. “It doesn’t feel like you’re in Winnipeg,” said Coutts. “It feels like you’re in a turn-of-the-century cocktail room. Our goal was always to celebrate Canadian and Manitoban history.”

Even their name, Patent 5, has historical roots. The fifth patent to be issued in Canada was in 1869, to a Scottish man named James Wilson of St. Catharines, Ont., for a column still by the Dominion of Canada. Patent 5’s focus on keeping the history of the Exchange District alive earned them a Distinguished Service award in 2019 from Heritage Winnipeg. The dedication and commitment to preserve heritage elements from the St. Regis Hotel was a large factor in the designation. The efforts were well-received; within the first year of opening, Patent 5 was named one of the top 50 bars in Canada.

This is all thanks to the team of four owners with unique work histories: Dinah Santos, a pharmacist; Mike Borgford, an engineer; Mike McCallum, an entrepreneur; and Coutts, an accountant with an undergraduate degree in chemistry and microbiology. With an array of talent and interests, this ownership team works together to support all aspects of the business. Their process is focused on grain-to-glass – everything going into the bottles is made in their facility. This is common in craft industries in British Columbia, “but a lot of other provinces do not have policies that encourage it,” said Coutts. This year, Patent 5 is focusing on heritage grains, including heritage corn.

Offering gin, vodka, whisky and rum, they use both pot and column stills in their production. Focusing on offering their customers and visitors a multi-faceted experience, they are aging some brandy using grapes from Ontario, while also focusing on the production of their whisky and rum. They offer five types of gin, as well as vodka.

“Because we’re grain to glass, we make the base spirit for our gin, which is vodka. Our goal was always making great vodka,” said Coutts. Patent 5 uses some of the best food grade wheat available, and it took the team five months of development to get their vodka to the quality they wanted. “Quality is tough to define, but we wanted to be able to taste the fact that it was a wheat-based vodka, so we experimented with everything – the different types of wheat, the different grinds of wheat and different types of yeast,” said Coutts.

The experimentation at Patent 5 followed Coutts’ track record of part luck and part perseverance. At the end of one very long day, Coutts added bread yeast to the ferment; a seemingly normal occurrence. However, not realizing that Coutts had added yeast before his departure of the distillery, Borgford added champagne yeast to the very same batch. Once the two co-ordinated and realized they had both added different yeasts, they worried that they had spoiled the batch. Yet, when they tasted it, a different feeling arose. The final product wowed them.

After their vodka development, the gin took another two to three months before they managed to get the botanicals correct, leading to the release of their classic London Dry Gin. Their process for gin focuses on maceration and vapour infusion; they do not crush their botanicals. The inclusion of gin in their offerings opened the brand to a larger customer base, which grew even further with the release of their whisky. “When we released our whisky, we attracted a whole new set of customers,” said Coutts.

Continuing to push innovation at the distillery, Patent 5 began creating bottled cocktails. One is Elettaria Old Fashioned: a spiced gin, full of cardamom, ginger and cubeb berry. It was named the 2022 Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition gold medal winner for bottled cocktails. Their Maverick Martini, based on the popular U.K. cocktail the Porn Star Martini, was tricky to make amazing without the use of fresh fruit, but Patent 5 managed to find the correct fit. They’ve also prepared a lot of creative one-offs: limoncello, choke cherry liqueur and coffee liqueur. Additional exciting releases will be announced on their website.

With so much excitement and innovation happening in the distillery, it can be easy to overlook what is happening in the cocktail room. Changing three times per year, the cocktail menu features Patent 5’s unique and limited-edition offerings. The space focuses on inclusivity. “The whole goal of our space and everything we do is inclusivity – we want everyone to have access to our space,” said Coutts. “We don’t close our doors to anyone; if someone needs to use a washroom, they can use it. We made sure the space was accessible.”

This was a very important consideration to Patent 5, as those facing housing issues often face barriers accessing many public spaces. Two cocktails on the menu raise money for the Sunshine House – a drop-in and resource centre focusing on social inclusion and harm reduction in Winnipeg.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Patent 5 donated tens of thousands of litres of hand sanitizer to downtown agencies. They grew so busy they reached out to the United Way to aid with the distribution of sanitizers.

Sustainability is another piece that Patent 5 focuses on, considering the large amounts of water that distilleries use. Their 1,000-litre tank is regularly recycled for cooling water. Their spent grains are given to farmers as livestock feed. They focus on mild cleaning agents for their stills. They even go as far as reusing their hot water for mash while the temperature is maintained.

Fans of Patent 5’s history and products can become more involved in the distillery by joining the Gin Club. Focusing on creating a community of people who are as passionate about craft spirits as the Patent 5 team, Gin Club members receive three special boxes per year. This includes one exclusive release, a ready-to-serve cocktail or liqueur as well as additional specialty items. Members also receive early access to limited-small batch products, discounts, distillery tours and members-only events. Club membership is limited to 100 members and only available for purchase on Patent 5’s website. Membership lasts for one year and can be gifted to another cocktail lover.

Patent 5’s offerings are available at Manitoba Liquor Marts, and are also present at many Manitoba farmers’ markets. Outside of Manitoba, products can be ordered through the Patent 5 website for Canada-wide shipping.

With so much innovation, excitement and community engagement, “What’s next?” seems to be a question that is always on the minds of the owners of Patent 5. “The most exciting thing is when we open our barrel room and have enough mature whisky to do whisky tasting events in the barrel room,” said Coutts. This will likely come to fruition around September and will focus on the different flavours of Patent 5’s whiskies. They will also be focusing on their new offering of cocktail classes.

Founders Amber Sarraillon and Morgan Wielgosz are committed to inclusivity and say that means ensuring there are options for anyone who comes through their doors. Between fruit sours, milkshake sours and cocktail-inspired beers, in addition to more traditional style kölschs and pilsners, the duo say they want people to be able to explore options while sitting in their taproom. “Beer doesn’t have to be so serious,” said Wielgosz. “Beer should be approachable. Beer should be fun. It should be a little bit more relaxed.”

Together, Sarraillon and Wielgosz have over three decades of beer experience. Sarraillon, who runs the brand and marketing side of the business, began her career working for Labatt, before moving to Red Bull and then eventually as a brand and marketing director for Amsterdam Brewing Co. in Toronto. That’s where she met Wielgosz, Good Neighbour’s brewmaster, who was working as Amsterdam Brewing Co.’s brewer.

Good Neighbour’s beginnings

In 2021, the pair endeavoured to strike out on their own. “We’re pretty lucky that we both found a passion at a young age and have been inspired to continue through the industry,” Sarraillon said. A hazy pale ale, bumbleberry milkshake sour and Czech premium pale lager are the three brews that kickstarted Good Neighbour and have remained mainstays throughout the business’s growth. Since that initial trio, Good Neighbour has brewed over 100 beers.

We love the storytelling of beer.

Amber Sarraillon, Good Neighbour Brewing Co.

Travel to countries such as Czech Republic, Germany, and Mexico, to name a few, has inspired much of the brewery’s variety. The pair say their first instinct when enjoying new and interesting flavour profiles is, “How do we get this into a beer?” “That’s where we find a lot of the passion and the creativity of it, and really wanting to find a way to share our experiences through beer for the consumers,” said Sarraillon. “We love the storytelling of beer.”

The pair’s three mainstay brews are examples of how Good Neighbour develops its products – travel, community and plain fun and exploration. The Czech lager is something Wielgosz learnt to perfect on a trade mission to the Czech Republic in 2018. She was one of 10 North American brewmasters invited to be submersed in Czech beer culture for 10 days and says the trip inspired her to have the premium pale lager be a part of their core brand.

Through connections made on that trip, Good Neighbour is able to use all Czech ingredients in its lager with the only exception being water, which itself gets manipulated so that its minerals and pH match that of the Czech Pilsen region. The Bumbleberry milkshake sour was inspired by Saraillon’s mother’s bumbleberry pie. As for the hazy pale ale, “That’s been a fun road trying to dial in and perfect that recipe,” Wielgosz said.

Portfolio pairs core beers with innovation and rotation

For some of the series in Good Neighbour’s portfolio, the beer style remains while the flavours rotate. The fruit sours, for example, change with what’s in season and what the team is excited about. “We have a huge kitchen of folks that are just super creative and bring different ideas to the table,” said Sarraillon. Some of the flavour combinations they’ve experimented with include dragon fruit and watermelon, and peach and apricot to keep consumers engaged with new varieties, and keep themselves excited as well.

The pair say they also feel inspired by the local shops and restaurants in Winnipeg. They say their neighbours have a plot of land where they grow Saskatoon berries. That was the catalyst for Good Neighbour’s annual Saskatoon milkshakes. “You’ll find inspiration everywhere if you are looking for it,” Wielgosz said. “We have those kind of core, standard, very traditional beers. And then we have a highly innovative rotational side of our portfolio as well.”

On top of that, it’s important for the pair to offer alcohol-free options, too. Enter the Good Neighbour sparkling hop water series – filtered carbonated water that’s cold steeped with hops for 24 hours and then the hop varieties are paired with fruit. They offer amarillo hops with grapefruit, azacca hops with mango and ekuanot hops with passion fruit.

“So again, we talk about inclusivity and diversity, and just welcoming folks whether they drink beer or not,” Sarraillon said. She says it also provides an alternative for gluten-free folks and for kids if they want to try it. “It’s not a non-alcoholic beer, per se, but it is a non-alcoholic option for folks to at least experience hops or the profile of hops,” said Sarraillon.

Finding their own place in the ’hood

Since their 2021 beginnings, Sarraillon and Wielgosz have been contract brewing out of Oxus Brewing, another Winnipeg brewery, brewing and packaging their beers through Oxus’ facility. Now, Good Neighbour is getting its own brewery. It’s been a year in the making, and Wielgosz and Sarraillon are opening the doors to their new space this spring. In the front, they plan to have a retail store and tasting room. Out back is what they’re calling the Good Neighbour backyard. There they’ll have games and movies for folks to enjoy with a beverage.

Beer should be approachable. Beer should be fun. It should be a little bit more relaxed.

Morgan Wielgosz, Good Neighbour Brewing Co.

“We talk about it being a community hub, that’s really something that’s important to us; to bring people down [and] provide a meeting space for folks [to] have a few beers and connect, and have a nice time,” Sarraillon said. “We’re super pumped to be a part of a neighbourhood. We have this vision of people showing up to our little retail store on their bike and filling their basket with beer, and heading out for the day and things like that.” Sarraillon says she plans to retrofit a bike to facilitate beer deliveries. “Just really embrace that local neighbourhood vibe,” she said.

In part, the pair’s effort to make inclusion a priority for Good Neighbour stems from being women in a male-dominated industry. “There’s more folks out there beyond just men and guys drinking beer,” said Saraillion. “I think a big part for us, and Good Neighbour as well, is trying to invite diversity in and welcome people who may not have had the opportunities that we have, or who have had similar challenges that we have had.” We want to try to break those barriers for folks,” she said, whether it’s people looking to work with the team or consumers.

As the first all-female and 2SLGBTQI+ owned and operated brewery in Manitoba, the pair notes that earlier in their careers, seeing women in leadership roles in the industry was rare. “The demographic of craft beer is changing in a very good way,” said Wielgosz, and the pair want Good Neighbour to reflect that in the portfolio of drinks they offer, and in providing a safe and welcoming space for all.

It’s important for Sarraillon and Wielgosz that Good Neighbour’s portfolio, space and ambiance be about more than beer. When people walk into their shop, they want guests to kick back and have a good time. “I think the only thing that we’re asking is that people just explore and have an equal amount of fun with this as we do.”