Beau's being awesome again!

[cfrancis]

Loaning some older equipment to a smaller brewery here in Ottawa that is trying to expand for the cost of a box of beer a year.

http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2013/05/ ... ompetitor/

MAY 22 13 – 12:01 AM — The little Ottawa brewery that took off in a really big way is getting help with expansion plans from none other than competitor Beau’s All-Natural Brewing Co. in Vankleek Hill, which is lending Beyond the Pale Brewing Co. four large fermentation and aging tanks that will enable the six-month-old beer maker to almost double capacity.

Beau’s two fermentation tanks and two “bright” tanks used to condition beer before bottling/kegging, each about 1,800 litres, are being loaned for the price of a box of beer for at least a year, and possibly longer. They are expected to arrive today at the tiny Beyond the Pale brewery on Hamilton Avenue, which has been routinely selling out at its store that’s only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“The tanks were much more useful to us when we had a smaller brew house,” says Beau’s co-founder, Steve Beauchesne.

“We still use them, but not on a continual basis. For us to use them once or twice a year versus the good they’ll do for Beyond the Pale seems a good fit. They’re going to need them more than us,” Beauchesne says.

“In any other industry, helping a competitor would seem odd. But one of the best things about being in the craft beer world is our interest in seeing the craft movement succeed. When we started Beau’s almost seven years ago we were helped tremendously by Church Key Brewing in Campbellford, and without their help I don’t know how we would have made it past our first year.

“It’s something we’ve taken to heart and it’s something we’re happy to do. So I’ve committed the tanks for at least a year and, after that, if I still don’t have a dying need for them then Beyond the Pale can have them a little longer,” Beauchesne says.

Beaus4 Beyond the Pale microbrewery gets big help with expansion from, yes, a competitorBeyond the Pale partner Shane Clark, who doubles as brewmaster, says ordering new tanks would have taken at least four months to deliver — and even that could be optimistic, given today’s growth in the craft beer industry. Meanwhile, his tiny brewery is in the midst of a big expansion and cannot keep up with demand, selling out its regular five products, plus special brews when the mood strikes, every week. Its latest addition to the regular lineup is Hop on Your Face, a 7.5-per-cent alcohol brew that’s contains even more hops than traditional India Pale Ale.

steve fermentors Beyond the Pale microbrewery gets big help with expansion from, yes, a competitorBeyond the Pale sells its beers in kegs to 15 different pubs and restaurants, as well as large bottles called growlers available at the brewery. Partners are Shane Clark, his life-long friend Robert McIsaac, and Shane’s father, Al Clark. They opened on Nov. 29 with a 1,000-square foot brewery, then announced expansion plans in March to double the floor space — and still it seems small.

Right, Beau’s partner Steve Beauchesne with one of the fermentors destined for Beyond the Pale.

The nano-brewery quickly earned a reputation as a brewery that’s definitely thinking out of the box — or should I say, stubby bottle — with such popular entries as Pink Fuzz made with grapefruit zest and pulp, a robust and creamy oatmeal stout called The Darkness, and Rye Guy with full hops. Today it employs the partners as well as four full-time staff.

“We usually run out of beer on Sunday,” Shane says. “In fact, this is only the third weekend when we’ve made it all the way to Sunday without running out early. It’s amazing.

“I think our location has helped because of the fact people can walk to us.”

McIsaac says he approached Beauchesne almost two months ago “when I realized it would take four months to get new tanks.

“I knew they had recently upgraded to a bigger system and I wondered if Beau’s could part with some of their older gear — whether it be a purchase, a lease or a loan. Shane and I went to the brewery in Vankleek Hill and they agreed to loan us two fermentors and two bright tanks, which are used to clarify, carbonate and condition the beer before it goes into kegs or bottles.”

McIsaac says his products are now on tap in 15 locations around town, “but I really haven’t been able to take on new accounts because of our limited capacity.

“These fermentors from Beau’s will add 80-per-cent to our capacity, so we can expand the number of outlets and maybe open our brewery retail store on Thursday too.”

McIsaac called Beau’s a “great ambassador” for the craft brewing industry. With roughly five per cent total share of beer sales in Ontario, craft brewing is growing 10 per cent a year “so there’s plenty of growth potential for everyone.”

[Kekumba]

The Beau's crew, regardless if you like the beer they make, are world class people. Love 'em.

It would be excellent if this allows BTP to open up a day earlier. My work week ends Thursday for the forseeable future, and I would love to pop in there after work. Kinda makes sense now that Hop On Your Face was added to the regular line-up.

[MatttthewGeorge]

Wish people thought we were cool and wrote an article about us when we loaned our 10HL fermenter to Wellington 8+ months ago!

[MatttthewGeorge]

Don't mean that to come out snarky, at all. It is a great story. There are many great stories of breweries working together to help each other out, that's one of the things I love about this business. It's not just Beau's "being awesome again"; a lot of breweries are awesome!

[cfrancis]

Wish people thought we were cool and wrote an article about us when we loaned our 10HL fermenter to Wellington 8+ months ago!

I'll happily spread the news if I hear about it. I didn't know. But that is awesome as well. I love to hear about stuff like this. It's not about competition, it's about winning more market share away from the big boys.

I'd love to come and buy you a drink, like a did yesterday at Beau's.

[Kel Varnsen]

Don't mean that to come out snarky, at all. It is a great story. There are many great stories of breweries working together to help each other out, that's one of the things I love about this business. It's not just Beau's "being awesome again"; a lot of breweries are awesome!

I am sure there are tons of breweries that do this kind of thing, but one thing that Beau's does better than any other brewery in the province is PR and Self promotion. I think if more breweries in Ontario put as much effort into promoting themselves at Beau's does smaller brewers would have a way bigger market share.

[MatttthewGeorge]

Wholeheartedly agree. They certainly are a step or three ahead of a lot of us on the PR front. I wish Wellington and us had sent out a press release over the tank, but I would never of thought of doing so. I'll think about it next time, though!

Again, my point was never to downplay Beau's. My point was only to state that breweries working together is actually quite common. And that it's awesome!

[Belgian]

I think if more breweries in Ontario put as much effort into promoting themselves at Beau's does smaller brewers would have a way bigger market share.

- this. I do like some of their beers but Beaus' sheer dynamism actually goes way beyond a lot of the products they offer.

[rejtable]

Since getting the new equipment Beyond the Pale has consistently been able to offer their range or regular beers pretty much every weekend, and have expanded their hours to include Thursday.