DRIVEN BY HONESTY & TRUTHFULNESS to their customers & themselves CANMORE BREWING COMPANY
by Anita Flowers
B rian Dunn is a big fan of knowing where the beer he drinks comes from. When he began writing a business plan for a craft brewery, he immediately checked the name of his town. Canmore Brewing was available, and he quickly snatched it up. Canmore, Alberta, a former coal mining town in the Canadian Rockies, is close to Banff National Park and the home of all things outdoor – hiking, skiing, mountain biking. What better place to put a craft brewery? Spotlight on Business sat down with Brian Dunn, President and Founder of Canmore Brewing, to chat about the outdoor life in a mountain town, old school values, and, of course, beer. Dunn grew up in Nova Scotia, graduating with an engineering degree in 1991. He promptly moved to Alberta, because “that’s where the jobs were” and began working in oil and gas. After ten years, he moved into investment banking, working to buy and sell oil and gas companies. Fifteen years later, in the summer of 2014, he left the industry – without a game plan. “I didn’t know what I was going to do,” explained Dunn. “I had always been a fan of beer. I always had a thirst for something different and was always trying to find oddest, weirdest, farthest fetched beer, that still had style and quality.” Dunn had home- brewed for several years and then kids and work took precedent. After leaving investment banking, Dunn revitalized his home brewing equipment and again began to make beer. The craft brewing industry and regulations had changed in Alberta and the chance to be a part of a new industry with exploding growth beckoned. Dunn put together a business plan and started to homebrew with intention.
“I was brewing in my garage with a pilot small batch brewing system that brewed 50 liters at a time – commercial quality. Making beer is not hard, making good beer is not hard, but making good beer that’s the same every time is rocket science. We go to extremes for consistency. That’s the hard part.” Dunn’s pilot brewing system allowed him to repeat recipes and experiment with changes until he found something he liked. After 18 months of testing recipes, Dunn was ready to go public. A longtime friend and uni- versity classmate, Marc Gagne, agreed to come on board for the building phase and together they implemented the plan and worked through construction. And in December 2016, Canmore Brewing brewed its first beer. Dunn wanted his beer to be associated with the mountain town of Canmore and the outdoor activ- ities there. “It’s very easy to identify with the name of the town. Only one brewery per place gets to do that. I wanted to take advantage of the local outdoor vibe,” said Dunn.
“Making beer is not hard, making good beer is not hard, but making good beer that’s the same every time is rocket science. We go to extremes for consistency. That’s the hard part.”
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JUNE 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020
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