Waterloo Brewing Co. opens new brewhouse

KITCHENER, Ont. – A new brewhouse is allowing the Waterloo Brewing Co. to reduce its environmental footprint while increasing its presence in the craft beer market.

Waterloo, the craft division of Brick Brewing Co., unveiled its new home at 400 Bingemans Centre Dr. in Kitchener, Ont, on Aug. 13. After 10 months of construction, the $9.3-million brewery and retail store is operational about two months ahead of schedule.

The brewhouse will produce all products under the Waterloo label, including the new seasonal small-batch Smoked Applewood Roggenbier, expected to launch this fall.

“It’s extremely exciting,” said brewmaster Bill Henry. “The technology inside this brewhouse is fabulous. The control it gives us and the energy efficiency it provides us is really good.”

The brewhouse is three times the size and 60 per cent faster than the brewery’s previous home in Waterloo, Ont. The brewery is now capable of producing 216,000 litres per day, a 174,000-litre increase compared to its previous location.

While capacity is increased, Henry said the brewery is still able to handcraft its beer, as well as create small batch, seasonal beers.

“There’s still hands on sections of it and we’re able to be flexible and do some of the creative brewing we like to do with the Waterloo trademark,” Henry said.

Luigi Fantin, director of engineering and maintenance, added the removal of steam in favour of hot water from most aspects of the brewing process increases the quality of Waterloo’s products.

“You end up with less thermal impact,” Fantin said. “It leads to stability of the end product.”

George Croft, president and chief executive officer of Brick Brewing, explained the expansion coincides with a growing interest in craft beer as well as the province’s plan to introduce beer into grocery stores.

“We believe the expansion is well timed and will address the opportunities in front of us,” Croft said. 

Alongside capacity, Waterloo also improved upon its ecological footprint. The brewhouse uses 50 per cent less natural gas and 40 per cent less electricity compared to the former location. As well, the facility uses 10 per cent less brewing materials and produces half of the wastewater of the previous brewery.

“We ensured the new brewhouse is environmentally state of the art and operates efficiently with little environmental impact,” said Stan Dunford, a Brick Brewing Co. board member and largest shareholder in the company. “The new brewhouse represents the next era of growth for Waterloo brewing company.”