Hamilton Micro-brewery/pub

bornagainbiking · #1 Posted **Dec 11, 2012, 11:06 AM**

I like to visit these establishments while touring around mostly North America.
To mention a few success stories:
Spinnakers in Victoria, I was in the neighbourhood when it open as a bare bones tavern with one vat and look at it now. Was even mentioned on Good morning America during the Vancouver Olympics. They have a face book page with nightly activities and even guest carriage houses.
Garrison in Halifax, right at pier 21 and catch the cruise ships. Kinda neat they have a small bar with nice sized tasters with 5 choices available.
Kingston Brewery old style brewery. Quaint and always full.
Taps in Niagara Falls. Built in an renovated garage. At least 7 options and like looks like the vats are connected to the bar taps with all the pipes.
These are just a few of many.
Why can't we have something like that downtown (old Regal or Corktown), or Jackson Square. Or the waterfront.
Hopefully some day. We have so many fairly local breweries that could be set up. Cameron's in Oakville, Several in the Guelph area or Kitchener.

http://www.garrisonbrewing.com/

mattgrande · #2 Posted **Dec 11, 2012, 1:49 PM**

I think the biggest obstacle is the start up costs. There's a lot of equipment necessary, bottling equipment, kegging, water filtration, etc. And that's saying nothing of zoning and LCBO restrictions.

bornagainbiking · #3 Posted **Apr 2, 2013, 9:02 AM**

This concept is taking hold. Check out web sites like Bar Towel, this article was in the Halifax Newspaper this morning along with an article how the big brewers are having a hard time with the water rates.
Yesterday on CH a recent grad from the Niagara program started a brand and is growing in the GTA "Left Field".
Nice to see a local flair as all the big guys are going regional and buying out their local competition. Like Lakeport.
Maybe about time as these new entries would not flourish without a gap in the provision by the greedy giants.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/busines...-fresh-recipes

Nice to see the Sydney East Side Mario's is showing faith.

Come on Hamilton, we need some local interest.

CaptainKirk · #4 Posted **Jun 17, 2013, 3:31 PM**

By Julia Chapman, CBC News Posted: Jun 17, 2013 8:25 AM ET

Quote:

It was 4 a.m., and Warren Pyper was making sausages. That's when the grocery store butcher realized the city he loves is missing something.

“Hamilton doesn't have a craft brewery,” he thought to himself. “Over 500,000 people and no craft brewery.”

Pyper, a former Hamilton-based military corporal, graduated from Niagara College's chef program, and was racking his brain for a way to build his own business.

“I wanted to work for myself,” the 31-year-old said. “Being a professional solider really brings out your work ethic.”

Now, two years later with and a business plan that has been refined as many times as his own beer recipes, Pyper is bringing craft brews to the Steel City.

You can read the rest of the article here http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/stor...t-brewery.html

movingtohamilton · #5 Posted **Jun 17, 2013, 5:03 PM**

I really hope this venture is successful.The owners seem to have no brewing experience, so hopefully they will recruit a veteran brewmaster.

HillStreetBlues · #6 Posted **Jun 17, 2013, 5:48 PM**

Best of luck to him. Even if this is not a great success, though, it will get Hamiltonians thinking about this type of business seriously, and maybe encourage a few to try entering the market themselves.

movingtohamilton · #7 Posted **Jun 17, 2013, 6:15 PM**

Wonder what's happening with the planned craft brewery in Dundas? Anyone have an update? It was announced back in January. http://www.hamiltonnews.com/news/cra...ing-in-dundas/

CaptainKirk · #8 Posted **Nov 1, 2013, 7:55 PM**

The Hamilton Brewery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L68OWXPfrSM#t=318

http://thehamiltonbrewery.com/

thistleclub · #9 Posted **Nov 20, 2013, 2:08 PM**

Brewing up a dream in Hamilton
(Hamilton Spectator, Kathy Renwald, Nov 20 2013)

There's a void in Hamilton and Warren Pyper wants to fill it with beer. Craft beer.

"I love beer and products that are well made," Pyper says as he gets ready for pitch night for the sudsy dream he has to start up The Hamilton Brewery.

Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. will be the second pitch night he's hosted at the Casbah Lounge at 306 King Street West. His plan is straightforward, he needs to raise $1 million to get the THB up and running and he's looking for investors. $10,000 buys one share, and if all goes well the investor would recover investment costs and make a profit in eight years.

Pyper's dad, Dwayne Pyper is a chartered accountant, and did a thorough evaluation of the business plan to make sure his son wasn't looking at the dream through beer goggles. "He's the one who's kept me going, he believes in following your passion," Pyper says.

Pyper's idea to start a craft beer business has been brewing for two years. He's been hosting pitch nights for four months. "If you look at the brewer's map on the Mom 'n Hops website there's a big void in Hamilton," he says. Other than a nanobrewery at The Ship on Augusta Street, a triangle between Burlington, Guelph and St. Catharines appears to be craft-beerless.

The drive to start a craft brewery isn't just a frothy dream for the 31-year-old Pyper. "I really learned about leadership and completing goals in the military," he says. Pyper was in the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry from 1999 to 2007, including a tour in Afghanistan in 2004. After the military he went to Niagara College for a culinary management degree, and now works as a butcher for Whole Foods in Mississauga.

At home with his wife and young son, he has a bit of time for craft beer making, but for the business he'll hire a brewmaster. "We'll start with three, Blue Collar Pale Ale, Riley Red (named for the combat infantry unit of the RHLI), and an India Pale Ale, that we'll have a contest to name," he says.

During the public pitch nights, people serious about investing sign a letter of intent in order to get the full package on how the financial structure of the brewery will work. Some people have signed up, but he won't reveal how many. Pyper is prepared to work as long as it takes to raise the million dollars needed to start. In the mean time he is looking for a building to house the brewery. He's close to leasing a building on Niagara Street, but is looking for a permanent home in the industrial north Hamilton. "We need a building about 5,000 square feet with M5 (industrial) zoning," he says.

There are 138 brewers listed on the Mom 'n Hops Ontario brewers directory. Pyper is hoping it won't be too long before Hamilton gets added to the list. He chose the name The Hamilton Brewery after staring at the T H & B railroad logo on an overpass near his Corktown home. For the brewery logo he has changed the ampersand to a beer bottle. "It's part of Hamilton, I have a true passion for the downtown, it just seemed like a no brainer to build on THB," he says.

Public pitch nights for The Hamilton Brewery will pause over the holidays, but Pyper is available for private pitches. He's done about 10 already.

Have passion will travel. The Pyper way.

movingtohamilton · #10 Posted **Nov 20, 2013, 5:54 PM**

Anyone going to the pitch tonight? Have you already been to one?

He needs 100 investors, or a combo of people buying multiple shares. I predict a long long wait until this brewery produces its first drop of beer.

mattgrande · #11 Posted **Nov 20, 2013, 8:14 PM**

I went to the last one. He actually need fifty or fewer investors (due to some legislation, it would have to be considered a private company if there's more than 50 people).

I went to the previous pitch. He's enthusiastic, smart, and I really like the branding. He's definitely done his research. I haven't decided if I'm going to invest yet.

coalminecanary · #12 Posted **Nov 20, 2013, 9:14 PM**

This is a very ambitious plan for someone starting with very little money and very little brewing experience. I find the branding to be mediocre, personally. I hope it comes together but I agree this will take some time, so the social media stuff seems a bit premature.

Hamilton could support several breweries of various sizes. Hopefully they can make this work!

movingtohamilton · #13 Posted **Nov 20, 2013, 9:17 PM**

^ His lack of brewing experience has raised a flag with me since day 1. I hope he plans to hire an experienced brewmaster.

I won't be making it to the pitch tonight, it seems. I had a lot of questions.

mattgrande · #14 Posted **Nov 21, 2013, 1:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by movingtohamilton

^ His lack of brewing experience has raised a flag with me since day 1. I hope he plans to hire an experienced brewmaster.

I won't be making it to the pitch tonight, it seems. I had a lot of questions.

He does plan to hire a brewmaster.

Frankenrogers · #15 Posted **Nov 21, 2013, 2:28 PM**

I've thought that the building at Dundurn and Chatham across from the beer store would be a cool spot for a brewery. Hope that this comes to pass.

durandy · #16 Posted **Nov 21, 2013, 6:44 PM**

better approach would be to set up a non-exclusive microbrew with an established pub, get street cred and work on your brand, then get investors or partner with a bigger brewery. Or start your own pub and do them hand in hand. No one is going to give $10,000 to the idea of starting a brewery.

coalminecanary · #17 Posted **Nov 21, 2013, 8:21 PM**

Plus 10,000 per person is the minimum but unless my math is bad, the average has to work out to 20,000 if they need a million dollars from <50 people. So for every person who only commits 10, they will need someone else to commit 30.

I agree that it would make more sense to start smaller.

I still hope that these guys (or someone else) can make something happen but this process feels backwards.

movingtohamilton · #18 Posted **Nov 21, 2013, 9:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by durandy

better approach would be to set up a non-exclusive microbrew with an established pub, get street cred and work on your brand, then get investors or partner with a bigger brewery. Or start your own pub and do them hand in hand. No one is going to give $10,000 to the idea of starting a brewery.

I agree. Another option, very common for start-ups, is to contract-brew at an established facility. There are many examples of this in the GTA, including Collective Arts (Rhyme and Reason ale) which contract brews at Nickel Brook ( Better Bitters Brewing Co.) in Burlington. Some others contract-brew in Guelph.

Get the beer out there, build your brand, and along the way keep working on your long-range plan to open a brewery.

oldcoote · #19 Posted **Nov 22, 2013, 3:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by durandy

better approach would be to set up a non-exclusive microbrew with an established pub, get street cred and work on your brand, then get investors or partner with a bigger brewery. Or start your own pub and do them hand in hand. No one is going to give $10,000 to the idea of starting a brewery.

Not to mention the 8 year turnaround. Not exactly attractive to investors.

LikeHamilton · #20 Posted **Apr 3, 2014, 7:33 PM**

Found this today for beer lovers.

Join Great Lakes Brewery, the 2013 Canadian Brewery of the Year, as they head west down the QEW to takeover all the taps at The Ship for their first tap takeover in the city of Hamilton!

The dudes at The Ship have recently undergone some significant renovations to the beloved pub, so what better way to welcome those changes than with a complete tap takeover featuring extreme one-off beers, Tank Ten series beers, and a couple surprises!

Great Lakes crew will be on-site, giving away prizes for those who share their thoughts about the beers on social media throughout the night.

The entire line-up of beers will be posted shortly!

http://www.greatlakesbeer.com/index....-tap-takeover/

10 April at 15:00
The Ship
23 Augusta St
Hamilton