Brewer turns to crowdfunding
Kelowna craft beer maker hopes to raise $30,000 to expand operations
When I drop in on Chris Dedinsky, he’s testing the carbonation on a batch of the new-release Full Nelson, a bitter but juicy double India pale ale.
“I think it’s going to be a hit,” says Dedinsky, partner at Kelowna’s newest craft beer maker, Kettle River Brewing. “It’s strong with eight to nine per cent alcohol by volume, but balanced with New Zealand hops.”
With the initial chit-chat out of the way, Dedinsky gets to the purpose of our meeting, which is telling me about the brewery’s ambitious expansion plans and the need for a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to make the growth possible.
“We’ve taken delivery of this brand new brewing system that will allow us to increase our capacity five-fold, but right now it’s like a car without a motor,” he said. “It needs a boiler and controls before it can be used for making beer, and we need $20,000 to make that happen.”
The Indiegogo crowdfunding goal is $30,000.
“The other $10,000 will cover the building upgrades and rezoning for our licensed patio we hope to have going for this summer with beer, or course, food and entertainment,” said Dedinsky.
The crowdfunding started less than two weeks ago, and already beer lovers have pledged $4,500.
The campaign goes until April 9 at igg.me/at/krbc.
What do you get for giving money to Kettle River Brewing?
Well, besides the cool factor of investing in a craft brewery, Kettle River is offering up a plethora of perks, from branded swag and bonus beer to a learn-tobrew day and tickets to its Brewhouse Backers Banquet.
There’s also a special event March 25 at the brewery at 731 Baillie Ave. featuring a mini popup store with Groove Garden Records, raffles for vinyl, art, brewery swag, and, of course, beer and beer tasting.
Kettle River quietly opened last July in Kelowna’s industrial North End in a building formerly occupied by Hot Wire Electrical.
The transition to craft brewery has been organic and very much a do-it-yourself project.
The other co-founder is Ross Higgs, who grew up in Grand Forks on the Kettle River, thus the name of the brewery.
Higgs’ parents still have property there, and an abandoned barn was harvested for the wood that’s been made into the brewery’s tasting bar and the big tables and benches beside it.
The brewing equipment is similarly jerry-rigged.
Higgs and Dedinsky bought 20 used 212-litre stainless-steel shipping tanks by scanning classified ads.
Four of the tanks have been fashioned into a makeshift brewing system in which hot water is mixed with the mash before being pumped into one of 16 other stainless-steel tanks in the fermenting room.
There are also some secondhand wooden barrels from a bourbon distiller and JacksonTriggs and Arrowleaf wineries for aging special batches of beer.
While the founders are proud of what they’ve achieved with an ad hoc setup and elbow grease, they know the increased-capacity, professional brewing system is needed for Kettle River to jump to the next level.
Higgs came up with the business idea and asked Dedinsky, who was working at Wasserman and Partners Advertising in Vancouver at the time, to help him with some branding work for a new craft brewer.
Dedinsky did more than that and became a partner.
While Dedinsky had worked as a graphic designer on campaigns for mega-brewer Molson and bigger-volume breweries such as Granville Island, Rickard’s and Wild Rose in Alberta, the goal was not to have Kettle River replicate those brands.
“We had to be unique and not look like anything else out there,” said Dedinsky. “We want to portray a playfulness and quirkiness.”
That’s been achieved with an eccentric lineup of unpasteurized, unfiltered, small-batch beers.
Most of the beers are only served in tasting flights and by the glass in the brewery’s tasting room at 731 Baillie Ave. or sold out of the cooler at the on-site shop.
Kettle River bottles all its brews in 650-millilitre bomber bottles under pry-off caps for $8 each or $12 for limited-edition releases.
Or, you can buy a one-litre brown-glass growler bottle for $6 and repeatedly fill it up for $6 each visit, or spend $8 to buy a two-litre growler jug and refill it for $12.
The flight I slurped during my visit included Grisette, the lightest and crispest ale the brewery makes, an easy-drinking Extra Special bitter, Cascadian dark ale, Under the Weather Chocolate Milk stout, which really does taste like chocolate beer, and Loose Canoe India pale ale, bursting with grapefruit flavour.
The flagship brews, Loose Canoe, Open Saison (a light French-style ale) and Under the Weather, are also sold at most government and private liquor stores in the Okanagan.
Kettle River also has a Friday bottle-delivery service, which it dubs as like your milkman, only better.
Call the brewery at 250-862-5115 and it will drop off your suds sometime on Friday afternoon between noon and 3 p.m.
Currently, Kettle River Brewing is open for tastings and sales from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday to Friday and noon to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.