E-Malt.com News article: Canada, ON: Big Rig Brewery to open new production facility in Ottawa soon

Ottawa has been kind to the Big Rig Brewery.

So kind that the two-year-old operation has become the fastest growing microbrewery in the city and will soon open a 16,000-square-foot production facility in the west end of the city, with a tasting room and meeting space, as well as second restaurant location in the east end, Ottawa Citizen reported on August 19.

“The Ottawa market has been great. I think there is a lot of room to grow,” said Lon Ladell, head brewer and part owner of Big Rig. “There is still lots of room for good beer.”

The new brewing location, which is hidden away on Schneider Road off Herzberg Road in Kanata, will allow Ladell to increase his production from around 5,000 barrels of beer annually to as much as 25,000 in the years ahead. By contrast, during the first year of operation at the restaurant/brewery located near Ikea off of Pinecrest Road, Ladell pumped out around 1,500 barrels of beer.

Demand for his product has skyrocketed.

The additional capacity is necessary, as the Ottawa brewer is ready to roll out availability of its Big Rig Gold brand of beer to every LCBO in the province of Ontario. Ladell is also in negotiations to see his beer on the shelves of The Beer Store.

On top of all of that, Ladell plans to introduce a second brand to the LCBO, his award-winning Big Rig Black IPA, a dark and bitter brew that took home a gold medal earlier this year at the Ontario Brewing Awards before going on to win gold at the Canadian Brewing Awards in Fredericton, N.B.

The new production facility will primarily focus on the beers Ladell wants to distribute across the province. But even with the addition of a canning line, allowing the brand to move away from bottles and package its products in aluminum cans, the space he has found in Kanata is far more than he currently needs. He plans to begin contract brewing for fledgling microbrewers, a popular choice for breweries just starting out that don’t have enough capital to purchase breweries or equipment.

Ladell said he already has agreements with two breweries to begin brewing their beers for them in Kanata. Interest is pouring in from as far away as Toronto.

“I’d like to work with the smaller startup breweries,” he said. “This will be more of a full-service offering. I can help them take their recipes and bump them up to commercial-sized batches. We can help with packaging and we can even help them with distribution.”

An added benefit to expanding into the cavernous space is that Ladell’s brewery off of Pinecrest Road, affectionately called “Lon’s Lab”, will become available for smaller batches of special or seasonal beers that can be sold at the restaurant.

Ladell isn’t letting his foot off the pedal with this expansion, either. He said he plans to have his beers available in Alberta stores sometime in 2015.

The tiny microbrewer has come a long way from when it first opened in 2013. The 9,000-square-foot restaurant, which employs 120 and can seat 300 inside, is owned by a group of investors that includes Ladell and Ottawa Senators defenceman Chris Phillips, also known by the nickname Big Rig.

Ladell said he has to tip his hat to Phillips for lending the business a brand that has really resonated with the community and helped to catapult the brewer to where it is today.

“With bringing Chris (Phillips) on board, he really opens a lot of doors for us,” said Ladell. “But it’s up to Jimmy Zourntos (who is in charge of the food at the establishment) and me to keep them coming back.”

The expansion of Big Rig is happening at a time when the Ottawa and Ontario markets are going through a craft-brewing boom. By the end of 2014, Ottawa will be home to as many as 24 craft breweries. According to the LCBO’s latest report, sales of craft beer in Ontario jumped by 27 per cent between 2013 and 2014. In Ontario, craft beer still accounts for less than five per cent of overall beer sales. Sales of beer as a whole only jumped by 2.2 per cent over the past year.



22 August, 2014