Calgary beer experts tap into arts and culture
The boardroom at Village Brewery seems normal at first glance. The hardwood floor the wall-sized window and blueprints on the table all suggest that the soon-to-be-opened southeast brewery is run just like any other business.
But that assumption is dismantled with closer inspection. The boardroom table itself is simply two card tables that have been hastily pushed together. Out of the six chairs surrounding the table only one is an office chair; two fabric beach chairs a bar stool a foldable red chair and a wooden reclining seat make up the rest of the furniture.
The seemingly improvised setup isn’t accidental. Rather it fits perfectly into the philosophy of the brewery which will open in late fall. Jim Button one of six owners explains that as many things as possible — including the brewing equipment beer glasses and tap handles — will be either re-used or built by local businesses.
“If we have a big hunk of sheet metal left over I’d put it out and ask artists to come turn it into bottle openers” Button says. “I’d sell them pay the artists full fare and the money raised would go back into an arts group. It’s just trying to cycle through and think laterally where you’re supporting the community.”
The concept of creating community is central to the existence of the brewery. After all the adage “it takes a village to raise a child” has been revised to serve as the unofficial mission statement of the brewery: “It takes a village to raise a brewery.” Ten per cent of the business’s earnings will be donated to community projects predominantly in the sphere of the arts. Art installations will also decorate a wall or two of the interior.
“It’s built around being as big a factor as it can be in helping grow this city and building the arts and creating a sense of cool and starting conversations” Button says.
But the cultural presence that the owners of the brewery wish to attain isn’t a coverup for a bad product. Collectively the six partners in Village Brewery have 140 years of experience in the beer industry with Button bringing in 25 years of marketing experience.
After serving as the vice-president of marketing for three years at Big Rock Brewery Button left to start his own enterprise with a couple of friends. Along the way he realized that another group in town was also planning to do the exact same thing so they decided to mesh together to create Village Brewery.
“It was interesting that all the elements that you need to run a brewery — the brewmaster finance guy operations guy and marketing guy — came together” Button says. “If it was two separate groups they would have had to go out and find those individuals but just by putting those two groups together we all of a sudden had another moment of serendipity.”
Once the brewery opens customers will be able to tour the facility and taste a selection of beers. However the facility is licensed as a tasting room rather than a bar so customers wishing to drink more than a sample will have to buy bottles from the store have their two-litre growler filled up or try pints of the beer around town at different bars.
The owners of Village Brewery have eventual plans to invest in a “funky” downtown store where they will be able to display their product in a bar-like environment. However Button assures that the brewery — which only began to be built inside an old hardwood factory last week — will stay small in size in order to ensure the quality of the beer stays high and the community is the focus.
“There’s no desire to try to blow it up fast” he concludes. “If it does go like wildfire then we’ve just got to find a way to contain it. I can’t stand watching these flame-out scenarios happen and I’ve seen them with too many breweries.”
The brewery will become Calgary’s newest in 15 years since Wild Rose opened and will become just one of a dozen in Alberta.
