Granville Island Brewing
 | |
| Industry | Alcoholic beverage |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1984 |
| Headquarters |
Granville Island Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Products | Beer |
Production output | 60k Hectolitres Est. |
| Owner | Creemore Springs, a Molson Coors subsidiary |
The Granville Island Brewing Company (GIB) was a brewery originally based on Granville Island in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In 2009 it was bought by Creemore Springs, a subsidiary of Molson Coors,[1] the fifth largest beer corporation in the world.
History
Founded in 1984 by Mitch Taylor who had a vision to bring better beer option to locals with limited choices. In those days it wasn't called craft beer but the efforts of Mitch and a handful of other visionaries opened the door to today's exciting and exploding Canadian craft brewing industry.
In order to guarantee a high quality, German-style beer and the successful start of the new company on the market, Taylor recruited the company's first diploma-holding brewmaster, Rainer Kallähne, in 1983. Kallähne was jointly responsible for planning, building and starting up Granville Island Brewing during its early days. The current brewmaster, Vern Lambourne, joined Granville Island Brewing in 2001. Between 1984 and 2005 eleven new beers were released along with dozens of small batch beers, greatly expanding the company's portfolio. In August 2005, Andrew Peller Wines purchased Granville Island Brewing from Cascadia Brands and in 2006 renovated the original facilities beneath the Granville Bridge and expanded the facilities located in Kelowna. In 2009 Molson Coors Canada purchased Granville Island Brewing through its subsidiary, Creemore Springs Brewing, from Andrew Peller Wines.
Location and operations
The original brewhouse is located on Granville Island directly under the Granville Bridge that crosses False Creek into downtown Vancouver. Tours of the small batch brewery are held daily. The Brewery Taproom features nine of the company's beers, including the latest Small Batch release, along with a locally sourced food menu. The on-site retail store offers beer, merchandise, clothing, growlers and growlettes. The original Small Batch brewery continues to produce all of the Black Notebook Series brews, collaboration brews and unique growler brews available on site only. The remaining production is contract brewed in Vancouver under Brewmaster Kevin Emms' direction.
Products
Granville Island Brewery has three distinctive series in the portfolio:
Coastal Series - All beers named after West Coast locations
- Island Lager - the original 1984 release
- English Bay Pale Ale
- Cypress Honey Lager
- False Creek Raspberry Ale - Summer Seasonal
- Two Tides India Session Ale - 2015 summer release
- Lions Winter Ale - Winter Release
Under the Bridge Series - all beers named for Granville Island history
- Swing Span Amber Ale
- Infamous India Pale Ale
- Hey Day Hefeweizen - formerly Robson Street Hefeweizen
- Maple Shack Cream Ale - formerly Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale
Black Notebook Series - Beers from the brewmaster's notebook
- 12 evolving Small Batch releases annually
- 4 Growler brews
- 2-4 collaboration brews
The house Big Life beers (Amber and Euro) sold exclusively by the Moxie's Grill and Bar chain are brewed under contract by Granville Island.