The Other Craft Brew
Sometimes customers can be so rude, even crass, and sometimes, it's in the best way possible. When they are, Diana McKenzie, co-founder of Callister Brewing and Callister Soda Co., is happy to take it as a compliment. After trying her raspberry Earl Grey soda, customers often let the expletives fly.
"Raspberry Earl Grey has been really popular," she says. "People usually swear at me when they taste it for the first time because they say, 'it's so good.'"
It's an unexpected flavour, much like her favourite soda — spruce and hops. "It usually surprises people, too, because they expect it to be piney or bitter because of the hops," she says. The spruce tips, which, coincidentally, McKenzie sources from Northwest Hops Farm in Chilliwack, impart lemon and other citrus notes. While aged wholeleaf hops add a subtle grassiness. She explains that if she used hops in the form the common brewer's pellets, they'd disintegrate, becoming nonfilterable, and fresh hops would make it bitter.
McKenzie's knack for putting unique flavours together shouldn't come as a surprise. She's been at it for a while. She started her practicum in sustainable agriculture at UBC Farm in 2013 and started homesteading — making cheese and naturally fermenting soda — at the same time. She also attributes her ability to build and make things from scratch to her mother, who grew up in rural Nova Scotia in the 1940s and '50s and made most things herself out of necessity. This notion of using what's available and in season and to do it yourself was ingrained at a young age. Plus, she says her mom was a good cook.
While finishing her practicum, she was considering her next career move, one that would align her values and her passion for farming and homesteading when her husband, Chris Lay, said he'd like to start a brewery. She says it was literally that simple and they began building their business plan.
VanBrewers, Vancouver's homebrewing club, served as a source of inspiration for the business model. McKenzie and Lay, who had already been home-brewing when they joined, found a community of knowledgable people who supported their development and helped them brew better beer. At the time, craft brewing was just starting to take off in the province and with the rising cost of commercial leases, they felt it was important to continue to build this community.
They came up with the concept of an incubator brewery; they call a collaborative brewing space.
It meant they were forging new ground as the first of its kind in Canada, but they were able to draw ideas from The League of Extraordinary Brewers in Houston, Texas. The League operated a commissary-style, co-working brewery, where independent brewers could use the space and equipment to make their own beer. The challenge was to bring the concept in line with B.C. liquor laws.
In February 2014, McKenzie and Lay signed the licence and opened at Callister's current location on Franklin Street just north of Clark Drive and East Hastings Street in July 2015. They launched Canada's first incubator brewery, allowing brewers to sign up for a year of producing the fermented beverage under Callister's licence. It's an opportunity for them to get started without the overhead of leasing space, buying equipment and Callister provides a retail space and access to an existing market. Co-brewers can produce, package and sell their beer in a low-risk environment with the help of other experienced brewers.
"When we started, we had three other teams with us — Superflux Beer Company [originally Machine Ales], Brewery Creek and Real Cask," McKenzie says. "It was helpful to have people working along side us — it helped to bring in more people."
This year, Xander Szymanski, Peter Hendriks, Andrew Tsang and Kirby Burchill are brewing at Callister as Altitude Beer Co. with its Ascension Hazy IPA and Vistula Baltic Porter currently on tap.
As the industry matures, McKenzie and Lay are producing more of their own label, focusing on core beers and wholesale.
And they're pushing the soda side. Because they operate a tasting room and lounge, they are required to offer nonalcoholic drinks and the sodas complement the beer program, offering alternatives for designated drivers and those looking to avoid gluten.
The ginger-mint soda was one of the first flavours McKenzie developed and remains a regular in Callister Soda's lineup. When she started naturally fermenting sodas, the process began with a ginger-bug starter. It's a slurry of ginger, sugar and a culture of beneficial bacteria that develops, like a SCOBY or sourdough starter. When McKenzie and Lay started bottling and canning their beer, they switched to force-carbonating their sodas and bottling them, too. Still brewed in small batches with high-quality ingredients and minimal sugar, bottling meant they could expand to sell at other breweries, cideries and wineries. Her customers are likeminded businesses looking to offer their customers a locally crafted, non-alcoholic drink that aligns with their brands — something other than Coke and Pepsi products.
And customers are responding. "The hibiscus lemonade was intended to be a seasonal brew, but it's the most popular, so it's a core flavour now," McKenzie says. J.J. Bean Coffee Roasters recently picked up the raspberry Earl Grey, gingermint and cream soda for all of its lower mainland locations, so McKenzie will be busy brewing.
She also manages the cask-brewing program, producing Callister's ESB (extra special bitter) and dry Irish stout, among others. But she still takes the time to build community.
For International Women's Day, McKenzie is hosting a collaborative brew day on Saturday, March 8, to benefit Pink Boots Society, a membership-based organization that was created to assist, inspire and encourage women in the brewing industry. It's open to the public (registration required) for women interested in learning more about making beer. The beer that's made that day will be released approximately two weeks later.
It's clear McKenzie is equally skilled at pairing unexpected ingredients for an exhilarating effect, as she is at creating a collaborative work environment and a sense of community, minus the profanity.
Callister Brewing Co.
1338 Franklin St., Vancouver, B.C.
callisterbrewing.com | 604.569.2739 | @callisterbeer
Callister Soda Co.
callistersoda.com | @callistersoda
