Ben Coli, co-founder and brewer of Dageraad Brewing in Burnaby, BC, took to social media this month to express the challenges his brewery is facing at the start of a continued pandemic year.

“I want to be clear that Dageraad isn’t at risk of closing, but business has been terrible for us and for a lot of others,” said Coli in an interview with Daily Hive. “This slowdown is impacting a lot of hospitality businesses. January is always slow for restaurants and breweries; the weather is cold and a lot of customers spent too much and ate too much at Christmas. I’ve talked with a lot of other business owners who say this is the worst January for business that they can remember.

“The usual January slowdown has been compounded by omicron and the cold weather at the start of the month, and people are just staying home. I wanted to remind people that if they wanted their favourite places to be open in March, they should maybe order some takeout this month.”

Dageraad Brewing opened its doors in 2014 as a small-batch brewery with a focus on Belgian-style beers.

“I loved local craft beers, but I was really obsessed with Belgian ales for their complexity and incredible variety,” explained Coli. “Belgian brewers use very interesting, expressive yeast strains to ferment their beers, and while there were a few local brewers who dabbled in those styles, nobody really focused on it. I wanted to make those interesting beers here in the Lower Mainland so they’d be fresh and readily available.”

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Photo courtesy of Dageraad Brewing