A history of quality.

Very few people get to study craft beer under one of the pioneers of the North American micro-brewery movement. Frank Appleton taught me what it means to make great beer, and I am truly grateful for that.

Frank and I set up the brewery in Victoria’s historic Swans Hotel in 1989. When he moved on to build other breweries, I took on the role of Brewmaster and began honing my craft.

In 1998, I founded the brewery at Canoe Brewpub. I brewed there for 13 years, focusing on developing award-winning beers and fostering a sense of community between brewers and beer enthusiasts. For me, it is community that really counts: getting together with fellow beer lovers, talking shop, sharing a few pints, and having some laughs. I bring this fundamental passion to every batch I brew.

“Make great beer,” Frank told me. “The rest will follow.” While my understanding of the craft has matured over the years, Frank gave me the foundation I needed. I strive to create interesting and thoroughly enjoyable beer. Beer that looks good in the glass, feels good in the mouth, and lifts the spirit—and for that, I am proud.

Brewed in science.

There is a science to brewing, so it follows that there are geeks among us. I count myself as one. We can jaw on endlessly about the details, hailing the happy embrace of malt and hops, bitter and sweet, light and dark. We wax poetic about alpha and beta acids, conversion temperatures, micro-organisms, valves and attenuation.

But science can be art and a passionate brewer understands balance. We understand where and when compromise is possible or necessary. Some of us even get all misty-eyed and philosophical when trying to explain how we pour (pun intended) our hearts into making the absolute best beer we can. That is, of course, the reason we brew.

I make beer. Delicious beer. It is a lovely marriage between art and science, and, although each batch is here for a short time, not a long time, I pride myself on the fact that what I make brings people together. And when people get together, amazing things happen.

For all the right reasons.

I make beer because I love drinking great beer. I was drawn to the craft because I see beer as a metaphor for the best things in life. To me, it represents enjoyment and community. It means gathering around a table, a fire, or maybe just another person drinking a beer. It means sharing time, stories, music, and laughter.

Meeting over a beer could mean skimming along the surface of a friendship or delving straight to the marrow of a relationship, but it doesn’t really matter because having a beer means getting together, and that is what really counts.

Beyond all of that, the craft of brewing intrigues me. It is a balance between history and science, between tradition and technology. It is hands-on. It gets hot in the brewery: the work is physical and the results tangible. Brewing beer is an honest craft. Science is the backbone, history the heart.

And beer is history. Our craft is founded on the skills honed by the centuries of men and women who committed themselves to brewing. Those who grow barley and hops, who design and innovate equipment, and those pioneers who have—pint by delicious pint—built a framework that binds this industry, and pushes it forward. Some would say we stand on the shoulders of giants, but that is not how most brewers would put it. We are largely a humble lot, who simply like making and sharing beer. That is the essence of the craft.