Thunder Bay's Dawson Trail Craft Brewery set to open in December
Thunder Bay beer drinkers could soon have a second option when it comes to buying a locally-made brew.
Brewery president George Renner said the limited liquor sales licence would allow people to have a drink at the brewery.
"It's slightly different than a standard bar licence," he said. "You're limited in how much you can serve, and how you can serve it."
Renner said he hopes to have the brewery up and running by December.
The plan is to have a few flagship beverages, along with a number of seasonal brews, he said. The brewery will also sell growlers, so customers can take their beer home.
Renner said the brewery is a natural extension of his passion for making it.
"Me and a friend of mine [John Kivinen] have been brewing for about three years," he said.
"We kinda fell in love with just creating brews and giving them to people, and seeing what they think."
The idea of competing with another local brewer doesn't faze Renner.
"There are new breweries popping up everywhere. If you look down south, there are 4 or 5 breweries between here and Duluth. Every year, we see more craft brewers coming out of southern Ontario, making their way up here to Thunder Bay," he said.
"I thought it would be an interesting opportunity to start doing this ourselves."
Renner told CBC News all the brewing equipment is in place at the brewery's Copper Crescent location.