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Gladstone nets beer awards, eyes expansion in the new year

The Courtenay brewery won two awards at the BC Beer Awards this month
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Gladstone Brewing Company recently picked up to awards at the BC Beer Awards. Photo by Alexandra Stephanson

It’s been a good year for Gladstone Brewing Company.

Co-owner Daniel Sharratt, head brewer Tak Guenette and their team recently picked up two awards earlier this month at the BC Beer Awards in Vancouver.

“It’s pretty competitive out there,” noted Guenette who added more than 200 breweries within the province were eligible for the awards.

The Courtenay-based brewery took home two awards: first place in the North American Porter & Stout category for their porter (which will be available beginning Oct. 31), and third place for their cream ale in the North American Light Beer category.

RELATED: Vancouver Island breweries take 8 titles at 2019 B.C. Beer Awards

For Guenette, finding the right flavour for the beers is a delicate mix.

“I’m always tweaking and changing. For most beers, it’s a very delicate balance. You want to have it so that when you finish one, you want another.”

While this isn’t the first year Gladstone has taken home awards from the BC Beer Awards, Guenette noted as a brewer, it is significant to be recognized on a provincial level, as it demonstrates a good level of consistency with their brewing.

And if 2019 was a good year, 2020 is on a similar path for the brewery, as they are finalizing their expansion plans for both production, their tasting room and their patio.

Sharratt, whose passion for home brewing began in his garage on Gladstone Avenue in Victoria, he is planning a 3,000 square foot expansion next year for production.

“We’ve maxed out our equipment and we need more space for tanks and more space allows us to expand our keg market and expand our canning market.”

Guenette agreed, and added Gladstone is currently “bursting at the seams.”

The expansion, which Sharratt hopes once approved by the city, can begin in early summer 2020, will take some space in the west parking lot adjacent to the current tasting room, but will actually allow for additional parking once they are complete.

The brewery will also increase the capacity of its tasting room, will be adding more washrooms, and have a permanent cover over 70 per cent of its patio.

Additionally, the entire building at 244 Fourth St. was recently purchased by the brewery.

Sharratt said other craft breweries on the Island and beyond have tools and space beyond what the brewery current has, and expansion will allow them to produce at a higher level.

For more information, visit gladstonebrewing.ca.



erin.haluschak@comoxvalleyrecord.com

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Erin Haluschak

About the Author: Erin Haluschak

Erin Haluschak is a journalist with the Comox Valley Record since 2008. She is also the editor of Trio Magazine...
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