Jessica Kenny, Centretown News
Rob McIsaac, co-owner of Beyond the Pale Brewing Company. Ontario liquor laws have forced Beyond the Pale Brewing Co. to close its original Hintonburg location in order to open a new premises in Centretown.
The Ottawa-based microbrewery was intending to open a second store at the City Centre complex near LeBreton Flats when that plan came to a halt due to provincial liquor laws. As the law currently stands, a second brewery cannot be opened unless the company is producing more than 2.5 million litres of beer annually.
Beyond the Pale, whose beer can be found in about 30 bars and restaurants across Ottawa, produces only 200,000 litres of beer annually.
Beyond the Pale is moving from its current Hintonburg location to 250 City Centre Ave. at the beginning of 2015. The downtown location is five times the size of the company’s current building.
While the move is due to the success of the small business, Rob McIsaac, co-owner of the microbrewery, says it is unlikely that Beyond the Pale will be able to produce the current 2.5- million-litre requirement for a second premises in the short or medium term. He says the law is unreasonable.
“The current laws affect the ability of small breweries to get distribution for their beer. It’s hard to grow when there is limited access to the market,” says McIsaac.
Eva Innes, communications director at the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, was unable to provide a reason for the law’s existence. However, she says an “extensive review” and modernization of alcohol manufacturing policies is currently underway. “We are reviewing all the policies and engaging affected stakeholders in the review process,” says Innes.
Innes noted that in September, the AGCO changed some of the policies that are affecting brewers in the province, such as the ability for consumers to order alcohol prior to delivery date.
The ACGO states in reports that changes to liquor laws are considered critical during a time microbreweries are experiencing increasing popularity in the Canadian domestic market.
“There’s been a significant shift in the beer manufacturing industry in Ontario,” says Innes, indicating why the ACGO has chosen to review policies at this time.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada recently released a report on the Canadian brewing industry, which states that in the past decade there has been a decline in the per-capita consumption of brand name products, while micro brewers have experienced a significant increase in demand.
In 2014, the Ontario Ministry of Finance listed about 60 microbreweries in the province. Since last year, the LCBO saw a 45-per-cent jump in micreobrew sales.
McIsaac says there are many liquor laws which need to be reviewed in Ontario to accommodate for microbreweries. He says that Ontario’s liquor laws are more restrictive than those in other provinces.
“We’d like to be able to sell beer at one store that was brewed at another location,” explains McIsaac. “We’d also like to be able to sell other breweries’ products as well as ancillary items that are made with some of our ingredients, whether it’s sausages, bread or cheese. More broadly, it should be easier to sell our beer outside of Ontario. It doesn’t make sense that it’s easier to sell beer in the United States and overseas than to other provinces.”