Well…It’s been the better part of a year and a half since we decided to take the time to make a dream a reality…and, when we did, the logistics and legalities of that dream became our reality.
The thing is, from our perspective, it takes a significant amount of capital to get licensing completed; and licensing as a whole is SUPER complicated. Do you want a tab-room? Do you want to sell to restaurants? Do YOU want to make the beer? Do you want someone else to make it for you and you distribute your ‘Contract Brewed’ product? Most of these options come with a (somewhat) unique licensing charge.
So, where did we start? RIGHT BEFORE Covid-19 started, my parents were trying to determine what a good Christmas gift would be for Mel and I (since our birthdays are within 6 days of each other). As we sat in our living room, packed with clutter due to the merging of our two families (almost like the Brady Bunch…Her plus two; Me plus two) we chatted about our family cottage and all the beer we consume on family weekends; and how some of the beer seemed either over priced or under flavoured…Which led us to searching the internet for “brew your own” kits. Fortunately for us, and with my parents looking at acquiring property in Florida, we stumbled across an American Thanksgiving SALE for a “RoboBrew”; specifically the Brewzilla 2 model. With little research completed in a single-vessel system, the [Add to Cart] option was selected and a credit card provided. And that’s how it started, in the fall of 2019, Mel and I had out first home brew system on its way to Canada…
What came next was quick and unexpected; well, some of it…Some was planned!
Recently engaged (Canadian Thanksgiving 2019), we planned a wedding and reception at one of our favourite craft-beer-restaurants on New Years Eve 2019. Although that night has some stories, we will leave it with an ending where Nick try’s his best to “get our money’s worth” from the down payment while consuming an AMAZING stout from Royal City in Guelph, Ontario…
As 2020 started, and our blended family began the process of blending (again, there’s A LOT of stories there), we prepared for our honeymoon to Holland and a few neighbouring countries; departing on March 14, 2020. For those in Canada, that date MIGHT be meaningful. That was the day all flights in and out of Canada were grounded due to Covid (well…+/- a day or two; I cannot EXACTLY remember).
So, there we were, trying our best to blend a family, trying to prioritize OUR relationship via a honeymoon, and a plethora of unnamed challenges ahead (I know that’s ominous, but I can’t put EVERYTHING into the first blog…
Fast forward slightly, and I would have to check my brew-logs to be certain, but that led to a shift to online school, working from home, 4 kids trying to find space in a 3 bedroom bungalow, and…a brand new RoboBrew system! So that became my/our outlet for the stress and ‘damages’ of Covid. One fermenter/carboy turned into two; two to three; three to four. Until, one day, my Microsoft Teams background looked like an animated pipe organ of air-locks chirping to their own frequencies. People from work would ask questions but, unlike sourdough, we could not legally distribute it for everyone’s enjoyment and ‘stress relief’. (Which meant WE consumed each batch - remember I said there were 4 carboys - which SOMETIMES helped with our stress levels (but didn’t help my waistline))
The double-edged-sword about it was this…TO DATE, there have only been THREE batches we’ve had to throw away and ONE (made with Chai) that I couldn’t stomach. TRANSLATION: We were making some VERY tasty brews!
By about a year, the thought and idea of opening our own brewery became ALMOST all-consuming.
The two years that followed have many stories that we will share, but, after struggles at home, struggles at work, and some challenging health impacts (temporarily changing our lifestyle), Mel and I discussed me taking a stress-leave from work in March 2023; which I did. While off, I looked deeper into licensing with the AGCO (Alcohol and Gaming Corporation of Ontario) and found that the lions-share of our savings (AKA maxing-out all our line of credits) would allow for LICENSING (and a little left over for purchasing a brew house). But, without a significantly risky load from the bank, licensing was contingent on having a location; which was not longer in the budget. VERY soon after I went on leave, more significant concerns hit our household and our priorities shifted to protecting the lives of the 6 bodies within our four walls. As such, a 2 year dream became a 3 year dream; then a 5 year dream; then a retirement plan; then, merely, a dream. And that little piece of paper that I kept in my wallet, reminding me of our dream of having a restaurant/brew-pub and making our own beers for everyone to enjoy, slowly started to fade.
So, now, in 2024, with the ink on that scrap of paper being unrecognizable, we shift again…and evolve.