Canada, ON: Sleeping Giant Brewing Inc. to open in Thunder Bay

The owners of Sleeping Giant Brewing Inc. brought in some of the final pieces of equipment they need to make beer in Thunder Bay. But before that, the owners will have to get the necessary permits and licenses before beer drinkers in Thunder Bay can order a pint at a pub, Tbnewswatch.com reported on April, 4.

The company’s brewer Kyle Mulligan has made his own beers for the past six years and said if all goes well the beer could be hitting Thunder Bay pubs as early as the end of May or as late as June.

“In terms of production, we have to get everything set up and then we can apply to the government for our manufacturing license,” Mulligan said. “Once they say ‘go ahead’ we can make beer.”

“It doesn’t mean we can sell beer, but we can make it. As soon as we make the beer we can submit that to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission and from that point we can move on to selling beer.”

The main establishments that they want to start selling to are locally owned restaurants, pubs and hotels, he said.

Currently, Sleeping Giant Brewing makes three beers: ale, an American wheat beer and a stout.

Thunder Bay has had microbrewers before but they weren’t able to stick around for long. Mulligan said Thunder Bay is behind the times when it comes to locally owned breweries and hopes that more local brewers open up in the city.

“In the old days breweries were always local because freshness in beer was paramount,” he said. “The number one reason why we did this is because we’re passionate about craft beer, about different beers other than lagers and we thought Thunder Bay was really lacking.”

With only a few steps left, Mulligan said they are excited to have their beer on tap.

“It’s been a long process,” he said. “We’ve enjoyed the process but hopefully the results are really worth it.”

05 April, 2012