SpotlightJanuary2018

It’s April Fool’s Day, back in 2001 — while lots of folks were playing practical jokes on their friends and spinning yarns for the unsuspecting, the Cannery Brewing Company was busy brewing their first day’s worth of beer. Current owner Ian Dyck was, at the time, too young to be part of brewing operations. His parents were 23 years into the fine dining business, owning and operating a restaurant in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada. The family had a taste for fine wine, upscale food and all the trimmings that compliment a finer palette… including craft beer. Micro and craft breweries were around on the west coast in the 1990s, but it was certainly nowhere near as prevalent as the craft movement is today. Home brewing became a hobby in the Dyck household, providing a pleasant distraction from the food services industry. Their malty experiments quickly became popular amongst friends and family. And as they already had the capacity to operate successfully in the restaurant business, it wasn’t much of a stretch to extend operations to include a craft brewery. Spotlight on Business spoke with Ian Dyck about their beginnings, their beer, and the community they serve in British Columbia.

By John Allaire M y parents quickly realized that the brewery was growing way faster than they expected. And it was doing way better than they thought it would. So, they sold the restaurant and went into the beer business full time.” Brewing their first batch in 2001 definitely put Cannery Brewing ahead of the curve of the latest craft brewing movement in Western Canada. In fact, the boom of breweries in what is traditionally wine country led Expedia Canada to name Penticton as one of the top craft brewing destinations in Canada. “That was pretty awesome for us. Being in the Okanogan Valley, we were always known for wine. We have the Golden Mile Bench wine region here and are very well-known for our world- class wineries. We have about 160 of them in the area… But in the last 5 years, we’ve grown from one brewery to 5, with two more on the way. So, it’s not just wine here anymore.” When asked why the area seems to be attracting a spike in brewing activity, Dyck naturally points back to the wine industry. “We always say that it takes a lot of good beer to make a fine bottle of wine!” This, of course, refers to how labour-intensive the vineyard and wine industry can be, picking grapes and working the orchards in the heat of the summer. Dyck opines that the last thing the wine industry labourers want to do at the end of a hot day is sit down to a 15% alcohol glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. A nice refreshing Cannery beer tends to be the beverage of choice for the end-of- day social.

for, and acceptance of, the craft beer movement. “People who appreciate wine, good coffee, interesting food… these are the ones who generally appreciate craft beer. They care where the beer comes from, how it’s made, what’s going into the product.

So for us it was just totally a natural fit,” Dyck mentions.

Cannery’s best seller is their Naramata Nut Brown Ale, named after a lake and region just north of Penticton. Their website boasts of the beer’s popularity and taste: “This velvety soft ale has a stubbornly loyal following. Rich dark malts are layered in a seamless manner. Fine tuning with a blend of bittering, aroma, and flavour hops produce an amazingly smooth finish and a lingering taste. This is a full-bodied ale with a rich and gentle flavour.” Dyck explains that it was this brown ale recipe that was the original home brew— a recipe that eventually inspired the selling of the restaurant in favour of letting it all ride on brewing beer. And the gamble paid off. Today it is available on tap at most restaurants and bars around the Okanogan. “It’s very drink- able. Not as heavy as a porter or a stout. 5.5%, biscuity, malt-forward. People out here love it.” So how does the Cannery fit into the I.P.A. and hop-forward revolution sweeping the craft beer world? They simply let their taste buds be their guide. “We offer I.P.A.-style beers as well, because that’s what many of us here like to drink. And it doesn’t hurt that anytime we put a beer up with ‘I.P.A.’ in the title on the board, it sells so fast.” Their core

The whole “wine-making disposition” that exists in the Okanogan Valley most definitely contributes to the desire

“It’s not just wine here anymore.”

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JANUARY 2018 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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