Manitoba brewers frothing over lack of government support

It's been a year and a half in the making but the first few pints of Torque Brewing Co. beer are being poured into glasses across Winnipeg this week.

But what the brewers are frothing over is that they were hoping to offer up their suds in their own tap room, but it's not ready yet. Funds from a provincial loan program that was announced in January have yet to materialize. 

The newest local craft brewing company sent out their first kegs to local establishments on Wednesday and within 24 hours they were already getting reorders.

"It tells us that Winnipeg is ready for another craft brewer," said John Heim, the president of Torque Brewing Co.

The five founders of Torque have been pouring everything into their new venture and when Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries announced a new $5 million fund in January that would issue loans of up to $250,000 to local craft brewers and distillers, they were pleased there would be support to tap into.

But Heim says so far his requests have ended up unanswered. 

• Manitoba craft brewers get boost from province

"Ultimately we need to sell our beer to make the money back but the infusion would certainly be a welcomed addition to help hire a few more full-time folks in the back here and allow some of us to repurpose some of our efforts to what we are good at," said Heim.

The loan program, under the province's Supporting Manitoba Craft Brewing Strategy, was supposed to be implemented this spring but a number of local would-be brewers have said they haven't been able to get information on how to apply for the funds.

'Hops'ing hurdles

Other local startups have noted that on top of not being able to access the loan program, navigating the city's permits process and inspections hasn't always been easy.

Tyler Birch started brewing at the new Barn Hammer Brewing Co. on Wall Street at the beginning of June and opened their tasting room on July 23. Barn Hammer is the first tasting room to tap into new legislation that made room for on-site brewery sales.

The tap room has windows that look directly onto the brew floor which Birch said is a more immersive experience and allows customers to see the process from the time the beer is made to when it's served. The window was a key item for Birch's vision of the brewery and it took a fair bit of back-and-forth with inspectors, he said. 

According to fire codes, there needs to be a fire barrier between the production side of the business and the occupancy side of the business. To have more than 30 occupants in the taproom Birch has had to spend tens of thousands of dollars on installing fire shutters. If a fire started in the production area, heat sensors would drop the shutters to delay the spread of the blaze into the tap room. Birch said that the inspectors were good to work with and helpful with suggestions but that more communication throughout the process would have made it smoother.

"Maybe you can't change the rules, and everything has to fit into those rules. That's fine, but if the process was less opaque, [it] would be much easier. I didn't even know what the problem was until I called and asked, 'What is the problem?'" said Birch.

Back on King Edward Street, near the airport, staff members at Torque are feverishly working to get the business fully open and Heim is hoping support may be forthcoming.

"We've supported a lot of trades, a lot of businesses to where we are at today, so I think it's important that the province make good on some promises that are due," said Heim.

A request for comment from the provincial government was not immediately available.