least one of our products,” said Gron. Gives us a nice base to work with and we try to grow from there.
The brewery continues to grow, recently adding two new tanks to the system. Township 24 Brewery runs a 17-hex liter system with 90 barrels of fermentation space and has followed the trend into canning. “We started with bottling and have recently moved to canning. That’s the way the market is going. The demand is much higher for cans.” Township 24 features 4 core brands including a black lager, kolsch, blonde ale and an American pale ale, plus two seasonals at any given time. “We do a stout for winter and a lighter beer for the summer. It’s all based on feedback from people in the tap room,” said Gron.
The small team of 6 employees “all do a little of everything.” Head brewer Curtis Metzger, a graduate of Old’s College Brewmaster and Brewing Operations Program, runs all operations in the back of the house, including the brewery, packaging and quality control. “We’re seeing a lot of breweries leverag- ing that program to find quality brewmasters,” said Gron.
The team at the brewery enjoys the creative process of making new beers.
“We’re fairly nimble and we’re always experiment- ing. We do a lot of pilots, usually a couple a month. The process for some breweries to get a new beer out is 56 weeks. Our process takes two weeks.” Running a brewery is a multi-faceted, ever changing job, one where Gron thrives, even with the admin- istrative paperwork. “No two days are the same. I do a hundred differ- ent things throughout the course of the week. It’s a lot of administrative work which brewers don’t often anticipate. Since you’re dealing with alcohol, you’re coordinating with various government agencies.” The community spirit in Chestermere is an asset in generating outside sales. “We depend on outside sales for half of our revenue. We’re out there getting new accounts and servicing accounts. That’s one nice thing about being in this community. There’s not a single bar or liquor store that doesn’t carry at
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JUNE 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020
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