Sudbury's brewery scene pours out another addition: Forty Six North Brewing Company to open this spring.

AuthorMcKinley, Karen
PositionAGRICULTURE

Graham Orser has a pretty simple to-do list for his business plans.

  1. Build brewery.

  2. Make beer.

  3. Drink beer.

And after seven months of renovations to the new home of Sudbury's latest brewery, Forty Six North Brewing Company, he can say stage one is almost complete and will be making beer very soon.

"I got the tanks and I'm hoping to be making beer in the next week or so," he said in an interview at the soon-to-be brewery and tasting room at 1275 Kelly Lake Road in the city's south end.

"We will focus for now on about four beers I think people will like, and go from there."

That's exactly how he wants to keep it. Simple, homey and welcoming with a focus on brewing beer.

The name is an homage to the longitude and latitude location of Sudbury on a map, 46.5221 degrees north, 80.9530 degrees west.

Orser acquired the space, an old industrial office next door to a city water treatment plant, and has been gutting and building it to suit his needs and business plan.

The business encompasses 5,000 square feet for the brewing and bottling of beer, re; tail and bar space, where people can have 12-ounce samples and purchase bottles and growlers.

"Everything else is literally built for nothing," Orser said. "We got lumber for free and I built furniture for around $400."

His parents are lending a hand in the process, he said, helping to construct furniture and set up equipment.

The retail space is being zoned for about 75 people, where events can be held and people can come and enjoy a drink.

Food will not be served at Forty Six North, Orser said, but people will be allowed to bring in their own food, as well as catering for events.

The location is no accident. Orser said the Kelly Lake industrial area is a perfect place to open a brewery due to the heavy regulation of alcohol production. To open a retail and brewing space anywhere else would mean months of regulatory rezoning.

That's already taken care of, since Stack Brewing and Crosscut Distillery are already set up in the neighbourhood.

Having a well-established brewery and distillery within metres of Forty Six North also offers him support.

"I've been over to Stack many times to talk, and it helps knowing they are close in case I need help, or maybe borrow a bag of grain," he said.

"I can just walk over there."

While the businesses are competing for sales, Orser said the brewing and distillery industries comprise one big family, helping each other to promote locally produced beer and spirits.

...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT