a while. So, the people who were enjoying our beer already, we thought we’d let them have some input and share their ideas with us.” Grain Bin’s DEMOCRACY! series helps them to connect directly with their community. Here’s how it works: There are no set-in- stone guidelines or rules. Customers go to the online form on Grain Bin’s website, fill it out (for example, people would vote on options such as styles and ingredi- ents like more hops, less malt flavour, hint of citrus, and so on), and basically direct the brewery on what they want in a beer. Then the brewers take a swing at what received the popular vote. Voilà. Your palette at work. “We’re lucky to have the people around here who just like to be part of what’s going on.” “A month or two down the road, they can pull a pint and say, ‘this is the beer I voted for. This is the president I elected!’” The first winner was a Double IPA. Hardly a surprise, as the craft beer world seems to be going hop-forward- IPA crazy at the moment. The latest DEMOCRACY! Poll asked enthusiasts to choose their favourite style of hops. The poll acts as a bit of a testament to how educated the craft-beer consumer has become. Knowledge of different hop types probably would have made for very short pub conversation a decade ago. But the recent craft movement in Alberta, and indeed across North America, has led to a new, better educated breed of beer drinker. And the winner? It was the Sorochi Ace hops. It’s a somewhat rare hybrid with an odd character. Chances are, DEMOCRACY! was being tested by the regulars looking to challenge the brewmasters and, simultaneously, ending up with a brew they have never tasted before. More to the point, it demonstrates the premise behind the whole series of mad-scientist concoctions. Carrying this “beer of the people” inclination even further, Grain Bin has initiated what they call their “Communi- ty Series” of brews as well. Landis explains, “The way our Community Series works is, we work with local not-for- profit and charity groups in Grande Prairie, and they come in and design a beer with us. They also do the label design. Then we brew the beer and more often than not, it is brewed for a specific event that the organization is putting on. So, we offer this beer to the public and the proceeds we make from that beer get donated back into the charity.” One of these ‘Community’ beers was for a local institu- tion called the St. Lawrence Centre. It’s a drop-in facility that offers a warm place to stay for people who need it, for whatever reason they find themselves without a place to The people have spoken!
stay. They focus on being available to people during hours that many shelters are closed or otherwise unavailable.
The beer created for the not-for- profit centre speaks to the tragic story of Saint Lawrence himself. Briefly, he was the Saint who dedicated his life in service to the poor. Defiant to the Roman Emperor for using the church’s riches to feed the poor instead of paying taxes, he was eventually burned at the stake. As a homage to the Saint (and with a bit of humour inserted into the creation of the beer, for good measure), the lager they developed had a smokey finish to it, reminiscent of the acrid demise of the Centre’s namesake. All this is not to give the impression that Grain Bin only does one-offs and small-batch charity beers. But because they don’t have a tap-house per se, the bulk of their beer gets sold into the wholesale market to bars and restaurants. Landis points out that there are basically two streams of wholesale customers — ones who want the same beer on tap month-after- month, and those who want to try some- thing different with every delivery. “Yeah, some want something new each time and some want the consistency of the same beer. So we do a pale ale, an amber ale, a Hefeweizen, and a rotational lager which is more seasonal. These are the ones we produce all the time… We also have a handful of beers that we don’t produce all the time, but we bring them back a lot. Like our English Special Bitter, a Dunkelweizen, a robust porter and a stout.” The brewery started out a couple of years ago with a three-barrel (3.5 hectolitre) brewery housing just under 30 hectolitres of fermenting space. It only took six months to realize that demand was outstripping their ability to produce at a sufficient rate. They had to double their brewing capacity, while simultaneously adding a bottling line for 650 ml single bottles. “We were conditionally just doing wholesale. Just selling to bars and restaurants for draft and doing growler fills here. But we had a lot of people telling us they wanted more options on how to purchase our beer. So, we got a bottling line.” Still, demand kept pushing Grain Bin’s ability to produce enough beer in their current location. So, in October 2017, they moved to an even larger facility. “We moved to a building which was four-times the size. It imme- diately doubled our production capacity again.” Looking forward, Landis points out that they are going to try and grow with demand, but not push the limits too far. “I guess the sky’s the limit. But right now, we’re just trying to grow naturally. The money we make generally goes back into the company. So, any growth we have is natural and we can afford any expansions that come down the road.” Landis is also quick to point out that, while the brewery isn’t overrun with staff, they do have help from good friends and family who like to hang out and help where they can. “It’s a
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JANUARY 2018
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