The Granville Island Brewing Company (GIB) was a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

originally based on

Granville Island Granville Island is a peninsula and shopping district in the Fairview neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located across False Creek from Downtown Vancouver under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge. The peninsu ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. It was founded in 1984 and calls itself "Canada's first microbrewery". In 1989, it was sold to the wine conglomerate Andrew Peller Ltd. In 2009, it was bought by

Creemore Springs Creemore Springs is a brewery in Creemore, Ontario, Canada, which first opened in 1987. It was founded by John Wiggins, and its flagship brew was a premium amber lager brewed with specialty malts, fire brewed in a copper kettle. In 2005, it was ...

, a subsidiary of

Molson Coors The Molson Coors Beverage Company is an American-Canadian multinational drink and brewing company incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in Golden, Colorado and Montreal, Quebec. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 ...

, which in 2016, became the third largest beer corporation in the world. Of brewers with locations in British Columbia, Granville is the seventh largest based on sales to the BC Liquor Distribution Branch.

History

Granville Island Brewing was founded in 1984 by Mitch Taylor. The first Brewmaster was a German import who later quit the 65 Hectolitre brewery in 1988, after winning a lottery. In 1989 Potters IXL hired James Holden away from Carling O'Keefe Breweries to make changes in the product quality and consistency and to work with the new union. Potters financed building renovations as well as the installation of a new 120 Hl tank maturation cellar while upgrading the old Krones bottle Filler with a new body, back and neck labelling station. Holden developed a recipe for Granville Islands first non-lager Pale Ale, a product addition in 1990.The new union was tremendously difficult to work with so James Holden quit to move on to project management of a new 250 Hl brewery installation in Nha Trang, Vietnam. Shortly afterwards he left, the larger operation was moved to Kelowna (1994?) and a small 10 Hectoliter craft brewery manufactured by NSI in Abbotsford was installed to make small amounts of beer in a one man operation. Long-time brewmaster Vern Lambourne joined Granville Island Brewing in 2002 (correction required...probably 1994 to 1996). Between 1984 and 2005 five new beers were released. In August 2005, Andrew Peller Wines purchased Granville Island Brewing from Taylor and in 2006 renovated the original facilities beneath the Granville Bridge and expanded into new, larger 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

Though the larger part of its base of operations moved inland to Kelowna, in the

Okanagan Valley The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is p ...

, the original brewery continues to manufacture some of the company's products, and offers beer-tasting tours. The original brewhouse is located directly under the Granville Bridge that crosses

False Creek False Creek (french: Faux ruisseau) is a short narrow inlet in the heart of Vancouver, separating the Downtown and West End neighbourhoods from the rest of the city. It is one of the four main bodies of water bordering Vancouver, along with Eng ...

into downtown Vancouver. Tours of the small brewery are held daily. In the company's taproom, eight of the company's beers are available on tap, one of which is generally a limited release only available at the brewery.

Products

Granville Island Brewing - Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale

Granville Island Brewery names its beers after local places and neighbourhoods in British Columbia. ;Core Beers *English Bay Pale Ale *Northwest Pale Ale *German-Style Pilsner *West Coast IPA *Sip Easy Lager *Lions Winter Ale (seasonal) *Watermelon Lager (seasonal) *Island Cerveza (seasonal) *Cranberry Orange Wheat Ale (seasonal) ;Taproom Series *Molten Chocolate Stout *Hop Diffuser IPA *Granvillator Dopplebock *Birra Obscura Black Pilsner *Quad 2020

References

External links

*
BC Beer Guide
{{Breweries in British Columbia Beer brewing companies based in British Columbia Canadian beer brands Food and drink companies based in Vancouver Manufacturing companies based in Vancouver Molson Coors Beverage Company

History

Location and operations

Products

See also

References

External links