Fort Garry Brewing Company
Encyclopedia
The Fort Garry Brewing Company Ltd brews beer
in Winnipeg
, Canada
. The company was bought by the Hoeschen family in 1930, and operated by them until it was sold to Molson
in 1960. In 1994, Richard D. Hoeschen resurrected the company.
The company was publicly traded on the Winnipeg Stock Exchange starting in January 1999, as CDNX:FGA.V.
Fort Garry Brewing produced two initial brands, Fort Garry Pale Ale and Dark Ale, from a 280 m² plant with a capacity of 400,000 litres. In June 1999, the company moved to a new 2,300 m² plant with ten times the capacity, and in September revived a brand from the 1930s, Frontier Pilsener.
On September 16, 2002, Richard D. Hoeschen died of Hodgkin's disease.
Starting in 2005, Fort Garry Beer is sold in Manitoba
and Alberta
.
On October 15, 2004, Fort Garry Brewing signed an agreement with its former Manitoba rival, New Manitoba Brewing, to warehouse, distribute and market the Agassiz Brewing
brand, Catfish Cream Ale.http://www.fortgarry.com/pdfs/2004/3Q2004-Final.pdf
In 2007, Fort Garry began to brew and bottle Nubru Blend, for FarmPure Beverages of Regina
, Saskatchewan
.
On October 22, 2007, Fort Garry Brewing Company amalgamated with Russell Brewing Company as wholly owned subsidiaries of Russell Breweries Inc, of Surrey, British Columbia
, in a deal worth $4 million in cash and stock.http://www.russellbeer.com/documents/RussellBreweriesAnnouncesCompletionofAmalgamationwithFortGarryBrewing.pdf
Formerly brewed under contract:
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The company was bought by the Hoeschen family in 1930, and operated by them until it was sold to Molson
Molson
Molson-Coors Canada Inc. is the Canadian division of the world's fifth-largest brewing company, the Molson Coors Brewing Company. It is the second oldest company in Canada after the Hudson's Bay Company. Molson's first brewery was located on the St...
in 1960. In 1994, Richard D. Hoeschen resurrected the company.
The company was publicly traded on the Winnipeg Stock Exchange starting in January 1999, as CDNX:FGA.V.
Fort Garry Brewing produced two initial brands, Fort Garry Pale Ale and Dark Ale, from a 280 m² plant with a capacity of 400,000 litres. In June 1999, the company moved to a new 2,300 m² plant with ten times the capacity, and in September revived a brand from the 1930s, Frontier Pilsener.
On September 16, 2002, Richard D. Hoeschen died of Hodgkin's disease.
Starting in 2005, Fort Garry Beer is sold in Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
and Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
.
Amalgamations and contract brewing
On May 15, 2003, Fort Garry Brewing amalgamated with Winnipeg's Two Rivers Brewing Company (established in the 1990s), keeping the Fort Garry name, but adding some of Two Rivers’ brands to its product line.On October 15, 2004, Fort Garry Brewing signed an agreement with its former Manitoba rival, New Manitoba Brewing, to warehouse, distribute and market the Agassiz Brewing
Agassiz Brewing
The Agassiz Brewing Company is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is named for the prehistoric glacial Lake Agassiz which once covered much of Manitoba...
brand, Catfish Cream Ale.http://www.fortgarry.com/pdfs/2004/3Q2004-Final.pdf
In 2007, Fort Garry began to brew and bottle Nubru Blend, for FarmPure Beverages of Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
.
On October 22, 2007, Fort Garry Brewing Company amalgamated with Russell Brewing Company as wholly owned subsidiaries of Russell Breweries Inc, of Surrey, British Columbia
Surrey, British Columbia
Surrey is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of Metro Vancouver, the governing body of the Greater Vancouver Regional District...
, in a deal worth $4 million in cash and stock.http://www.russellbeer.com/documents/RussellBreweriesAnnouncesCompletionofAmalgamationwithFortGarryBrewing.pdf
Brands
Most brands are 5% alcohol by volume, and available in small bottles, or sold as draft beer in bars.- Fort Garry Pale Ale
- Fort Garry Dark Ale
- Frontier Pilsner
- Fort Garry Premium Light (4% alcohol)
- Stone Cold Draft (budget beer in 2L plastic bottles, 6.2%)
- Cold One Draft (1L plastic bottles)
- Rural Route Lager (2L plastic bottles)
- Fort Gibraltar Premium Lager (made for the Festival du VoyageurFestival du VoyageurThe Festival du Voyageur is an annual 10-day winter festival which takes place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada during February. "Voyageur" refers to those who worked for a fur trading company and usually travelled by canoe.This event is held in Winnipeg's French Quarter, Saint-Boniface, and is...
) - Folklorama (made for Winnipeg's annual and world's largest multicultural festival)
Formerly brewed under contract:
- Agassiz Catfish Cream Ale
- Farmpure Nubru Blend
See also
- Agassiz Brewing Company
- Upper Fort Garry
- Lower Fort GarryLower Fort GarryLower Fort Garry was built in 1830 by the Hudson's Bay Company on the western bank of the Red River, north of the original Fort Garry, which is now in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Treaty 1 was signed there....
- Canadian beerCanadian beerBeer in Canada was introduced by European settlers in the seventeenth century, and a number of commercial brewers thrived until Prohibition in Canada. Though short-lived, very few brewers survived, and it was only in the late twentieth century that new breweries opened up...