You always have to stay up with trends and be trend setter.” So, this is whereMitch Dalrymple comes into the picture. It was a perfect fit for the brewery, as Dalrymple, was a bit of a late bloomer in the world of craft beer and so were they. “We like to joke that the beer gods were watching over us, in finding Mitch,” says Kaiden. We advertised for a Head Brewmaster, and Mitch responded to our ad. Everyone connected immediately, so Mitch made the leap of faith, left his position with a brewery in another province, moved his family to Medicine Hat. Kaiden followed with, “The beer gods do listen, if you ask loud enough.” With Dalrymple as Medicine Hat Brewery’s Brewmaster, they had the perfect ingredients to get into the craft brewery industry; business experience and a veteran of the Canadian craft beer scene with almost two decades of head brewer experience in recipe design, production and all things beer. Now it was time to get brewing. Selecting a name for the brewery was difficult, however, right from the start, the name Medicine Hat Brewing Company made logical sense to the Vancuren family. During their research, they were intrigued anddelighted todiscover that therewas an original Medicine Hat Brewing Company, well actually two. As they continued on with their research, the city’s history became a focus (almost an obsession!). It became clear that they could, not only supply amazing craft beers into the community, but additionally reintroduce some history from our great city. “One of our greatest compliments from our clients is that they thank us for reintroducing our city’s history,” said Warren. It was now up to them to live up to the name, history and traditions of the brewery. That is why it was important for them track down the distant relatives of the previous owners, who had passed on, to get their approval. “The use of the name was
The Vancuren family re-opened the doors of the brewery on December 10, 2016 – 103 years after the first brewery had opened its doors. For all that’s changed in the years in between, some things have stayed the same: they were focused on making timeless craft beer to serve thirsty, hard- working Hatters. So starts the come back story of the Medicine Hat Brewing Company. When we asked Kaiden why a brewery – in Medicine Hat of all places? His answer was quick and straight to the point, with just a touch of humor, “We liked drinking beer so much we decided we should start brewing it.” The interesting part of this story is that although Warren had a successful background as a businessperson and entrepreneur neither he, his wife nor
his sons were beer experts. “Starting a brewery and knowing how to brew are two totally different things,” Kaiden goes on to say, “Dreaming about owning a brewery and actually owning one are two totally different things. One of the biggest challenges I would say is that the craft beer industry is always changing and evolving. “We likeddrinking beer so much we decidedweshould start brewing it.”
legally available, but it was important to us as a family business get the previous family owner’s approval before moving forward and using the name,” said Kaiden. He goes on to tell us that the previous owners were delighted to hear that the brewery and Medicine Hat Brewery name would be coming back to the city and they have been very supportive since day one and still do as frequent customers of our taproom. “All they asked in return for the name was first six-pack of our package products, which we were happy to give them,” said Kaiden. “A lot of people are learning about the city’s history through our beer, which is pretty neat,” said Kaiden. He also acknowledges that in addition to ensuring the beer lives up to the name, it is equally if not more important to balance its craft
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DECEMBER 2019 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • DECEMBER 2019
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