Kevin Grinyer’s quest to open a local microbrewery made it over the first hurdle when the District of 100 Mile House council unanimously adopted a zoning bylaw amendment on June 19.
No concerns were voiced by council, area businesses or the general public throughout the process, which began at the June 9 council meeting.
Mayor Mitch Campsall says he was pleased to see the amendment go through so smoothly.
“Everybody is in support of it. It’s something new in the community, and it’s great when you see local people – and he’s been here all his life – do something like this.
“I think they’ll do a great job and I’m excited to see it up and running. It’s always nice to see new business.”
Grinyer says he expects it will take about three to four months of jumping through the provincial hoops and getting the essential paperwork completed.
He notes some breweries have completed the process in three months, but that’s the exception to the rule.
Grinyer says he is looking forward to getting started on what he calls a “nanobrewery.”
He will be setting up shop in the old 100 Miler Gear Garage, which will provide plenty of room for the startup.
Grinyer says there will be a tasting area, and he will be providing “growlers,” which are reusable containers that people can bring back for refills, bottles and eventually kegs.
He hope to start setting up the brewery later this month because it’s an important step in getting a licence.
“You have to be able to prove you’re functional before the inspector will approve the licence.”
While the retailing aspect will be new to him and something he’ll have to learn as he goes along, brewing beer is the least of his concerns.
“I’ve been home brewing for decades and I did it because of the enjoyment and cost savings.”
He says brewers learn a lot over time, including what works and what doesn’t work. It’s a refining process, he adds.
Owning a brewery was “never on the radar” when he started home brewing.
However, as the microbreweries started popping up all over the province, Grinyer says he started thinking it might be a good way to work into semi-retirement.
Folks can follow his progress at Broke ‘N Rode Brewing Co on Facebook
