PUTTING LOCAL ON THE MAP ONE BEER AT A TIME TOWNSHIP 24 BREWERY C raft brewers come from across North America and as far away as Korea and South Africa to by Anita Flowers search out the highly prized malt barley grown in the rich soil and cool climate of Alberta. For Township 24 Brewery it is all about locations as they can easily pick up this highly prized malt barley with a quick trip down the road. We chat with Township 24 Brewery about getting into the Alberta brewing industry and the importance using locally sourced ingredients in their focus on putting local on the map one beer at a time in this month’s issue.
the city. We wanted to have our own sense of community here. Our goal is to be as involved in the community as possible,” said Gron. Township 24 focuses their story on local farms and the quality barley produced there. “We have some of the world’s best malt barley produced in this region. That’s the story that we tell. We do a lot of edu- cating people about what we’re sitting on here in Alberta. Until recently all the malt went on a train car and left the province. Now we’re starting to capitalize on that as brewers.”
In 1910, the Alberta Surveyors Act laid out the groundwork for the province’s township system. Following the lines of latitude and longitude, the grid was used to define the land for agricultural purposes. The agricultural land that surrounds Township 24 produces some of the highest quality malt barley in the world. The beer at Township 24 Brewery uses that barley to produce their award-winning beer. It’s a local win for all. Spotlight on Business chatted with Mike Gron, founder and owner of Township 24 Brewery in Chestermere, Alberta about his focus on local agriculture and brewing great beer.
Gron grew up on a farm about 15 minutes from where his brewery now sits in Chestermere. After earning a degree in economics, he began a career in finance and IT, but chose to make a return to his roots. “I slowly made my way back here. I didn’t want to go back into farming, so the brewery is a nice compromise. I was a home brewer and the timing was right. At the time I became interested in brewing as a business, legislative changes were happening here, making this size brewery a possibility.” In 2013, the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission removed minimum production requirements, opening the path for fledgling brewers to open for business without meeting a certain volume output at day one. Gron became interested in a craft brewery as a business he could base around community and build out over time. After picking up the keys for the brewery in May of 2017, he was brewing by November of that year. The brewery opened for business on December 28, 2017. “The brewery is in a rural setting and we put a lot of focus on local agriculture, specifically local malt barley production. We’re only ten minutes outside Calgary. I didn’t want to be competing with all the breweries inside
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JUNE 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020
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