Opening its doors as Howe Sound Brewing Company twenty-five years ago, it was one of British Columbia’s original craft breweries with a vision to build a brewpub and inn that feels at home in the landscape of the pacific northwest. In 1996, they brewed their first beers with John Mitchell, the grandfather of Craft Brewing in Canada.
Being inspired and driven by their history, brewers shared the same passion and develop the same recipes to strive to build a better brewery world.
How Sound’s Brewery, Brewpub and Inn have lived on a shared desire inspired by where we call home – the Adventure Capital of Canada and in the heart of Sea to Sky Country – Squamish.
“It is important to us that we honour our past, while also looking forward to the dynamic brewing industry of today. We wanted to use this opportunity to celebrate how we have grown with the brewery industry over the last 25 years and pay tribute to everyone, and all the beers that made Howe Sound Brewing Company the place that it is today,” said Peter Charles, head brewer in a news release.
“It has been fun. We got in at the right time, it was a burgeoning, exciting industry — it was a cottage industry, really and it just took right off,” said Franco Corno who has been with Howe Sound Brewing Company since its beginning. “The big change happened in the mid-90s and it was all exciting and it was all new. Everyone wanted to see the brewery and meet the brewer. Everyone wanted brewery tours,” he said.
“Back then, you had to distribute. There was no way you could make it [otherwise], especially in a town like Squamish. Brewpubs at the time were in big cities where populations were about 100,000. This was like 10,000 to 15,000 people living in Squamish, so in the summertime, we were busy, but as soon as winter rolled around, revenues declined dramatically. So, we had to distribute,” he added. “At the time, machines were very expensive, and they were for the big boys like Molson, Labatt, and so on. An Italian company jumped all over it and started making these smaller and more affordable systems and that is what allowed breweries like us and other brewers at the time to start doing a little distribution,” said Corno.
To celebrate their 25-year milestone, a celebration will be held from July 23 to 26 and will include brewery tours of the original brewhouse and live music from The Hair Farmers, The Whiskeydicks, Marcus Ramsay & Co., and more.
Photos courtesy of Jennifer Thuncher, and Howe Sound Brewing Co./Facebook