New business brewing on Clifton Hill
Niagara Brewing Co. targeting the craft market
Niagara Brewing Co., a new craft brewery, will soon be opening on Clifton Hill.
Th e target date is the Victoria Day weekend in May.
Construction workers have been busy knocking down walls and renovating a building for a three- level brewery.
“Breweries in the past used to be on diff erent levels so they could make use of gravity rather than pumping and we will be using that same idea here,” said brewmaster Gord Slater, who has been developing breweries and brew pubs for 30 years.
Niagara Brewing Co. will have four main brands that it will be bringing to market, and four other brands will be rotated in and out. Th e beers will have different alcohol content.
“We will have all the ones that you hear about in the craft beer industry and we will even be able to do some very exotic beers that are way out there,” said Slater.
Th e facility will have a restaurant and patios. Customers will be able to sample some of the diff erent beers and buy some to take home.
It will sit on the former site of the Foxhead Inn, one of the fi rst luxury hotels built in Niagara Falls.
Th e Foxhead Inn was built by Howard Fox. It opened in 1925 as a subsidiary of the Clifton House, a hotel that was lost following a dramatic fire on New Year’s Eve in 1932.
At the front of the brewery there will be a patio and on top there will be a 12- metre tank.
“Craft beers really got rolling in Ontario around 1984. Th e problem back then was that it was a supply driven sale so that people really had to get out and hustle,” said Slater, who once worked at Molson.
He was also involved in the legalizing of brew pubs in 1984 when Ontario made them legal.
While brewing is a science, Slater said it’s not an exact sci- ence because it uses biological organisms ( yeast) and agricultural products ( malt).
“With the trend to buy local, and being aware of what you are drinking, along with all the different flavours and food pairings, now it is demand driven so people are asking for it so that makes it much easier for the craft breweries.”
Currently, Slater said craft breweries make up about 6% of the Ontario market, but that’s growing. Ontario is getting two applications a week for craft beer licences.
The advantage of making smaller batches is that if a customer liked a certain beer, the brewery would be able to make that beer for them in two to three weeks.
“Th is is the new trend that we are seeing and it will definitely help us when we are marketing to couples or conferences,” said Sarah Ventresca- Vazquez, vicepresident of business development and marketing for Canadian Niagara Hotels.
“We will be able to specialize the beers to almost any event. On Oct. 2, we are having an Octoberfest event so he is going to make pumpkin brews. Then on Feb. 5 we are having our Beer on Ice event so he will be doing an icewine beer and for dessert ( Slater) is going to do a chocolate beer.”
Vazquez said Niagara Falls is iconic, there are so many stories
We will be able to specialize the beers to almost any event. On Oct. 2, we are having an Octoberfest event so he is going to make pumpkin brews. Then on Feb. 5 we are having our Beer on Ice event so he will be doing an icewine beer and for dessert ( Slater) is going to do a chocolate beer.”
Sarah Ventresca- Vazquez, vice- president of business development and
marketing for Canadian Niagara Hotels
to tell, and each of the company’s beers will have a story connected with them.
Slater said it’s rewarding to work on such a project.
“It’s important and it’s something that I like doing. I’ve been fortunate to have worked on a number of nice projects in recent years,” said Slater, who has won awards, including best in show for an event in Germany.