The Fort Garry Brewing Company Ltd is 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 ...

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

, Canada.

History

The company was bought by the Hoeschen family in 1930, and operated by them until it was sold to

Molson The Molson Brewery is a Canadian based brewery company based in Montreal which was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its Ca ...

in 1960, and incorporated as Molson's Fort Garry Brewery Ltd. In 1990, Molson merged with

Carling O'Keefe Carling O'Keefe was a brewing company in Canada that is now part of Molson Coors. The company's origins can be traced to Canadian Breweries, which bought the Carling Brewery in 1930 and the O'Keefe Brewery in 1934. Canadian Breweries purchased ...

and closed the Fort Garry facility.In 1994, Richard D. Hoeschen resurrected the company. At the time, Fort Garry Brewing was the only

micro-brewery Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

in Manitoba, and the beer was originally intended only to be available in kegs. Before opening the doors, Hoeschen hired Gary De Pape as

brewmaster 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 ...

and the two developed the Company's flagship brand Fort Garry Dark. Richard D. Hoeschen died on September 16, 2002. In 2003, Fort Garry Brewing amalgamated with Winnipeg's Two Rivers Brewing Company (established in the 1990s), keeping the Fort Garry name, but adding some of Two Rivers’ brands to its product line. On 15 October 2004, Fort Garry Brewing signed an agreement with its former Manitoba rival,

New Manitoba Brewing The Agassiz Brewing Company was a Canadian brewery, founded by former Fort Garry Brewing Company brewmaster Gary De Pape. The company was established in 1998 in Winnipeg, Manitoba and based there until 2010. It was named for the prehistoric gla ...

, to warehouse, distribute and market the Agassiz Brewing brand, Catfish Cream Ale. In 2010, Fort Garry Brewing ceased production of the product. Since 2005, Fort Garry Beer is sold in

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Win ...

and

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. In 2007, Fort Garry began to brew and bottle ''Nubru Blend'', the first

gluten-free beer Gluten-free beer is beer made from ingredients that do not contain gluten such as millet, rice, sorghum, buckwheat or corn (maize). People who have gluten intolerance (including celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis sufferers) have a reaction ...

in Manitoba, for FarmPure Beverages of

Regina Regina (Latin for "queen") may refer to: Places Canada * Regina, Saskatchewan, the capital city of the province ** Regina (electoral district) ** Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina France * Régina, French Guiana, a commune United States * ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

. On October 22 that year, Fort Garry Brewing Company amalgamated with Russell Brewing Company as

wholly-owned subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company (law), company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company ...

of Russell Breweries Inc., of

Surrey, British Columbia Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...

, in a deal worth $4 million in cash and stock. In 2008, 2009, and 2010, the brewery produced a custom brew for Winnipeg's

Folklorama Folklorama is an event that runs for two weeks each August in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Visitors to the festival are invited to sample cuisine and celebrate the cultural and ethnic heritage of people from dozens of cultures who have made Winnipe ...

festival, called "Folklorama Beer". In 2012, Fort Garry Brewing Company partnered with the

Winnipeg Goldeyes The Winnipeg Goldeyes are a minor-league baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Goldeyes play in the American Association of Professional Baseball, which they joined in 2011. Previously, the Goldeyes were members of the Norther ...

to produce a

pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (german: Pilsen), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewe ...

called "Angry Fish" to promote the team's new secondary logo. As of May 2022, the current brewmaster at Fort Garry is Josh Berscheid.

Brands

Most brands are 5% alcohol by volume, and available in small bottles, or sold as draft beer in bars. * Fort Garry Pale Ale * Fort Garry Dark Ale * Frontier

Pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (german: Pilsen), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewe ...

(discontinued in 2013 to return later that year revamped with the original recipe from 1932) * Fort Garry Premium Light (4% alcohol) * Stone Cold Draft (budget beer in 650mL and 2L plastic bottles, 6.2%) * Cold One Draft (1L plastic bottles) * Folklorama (made

, for Winnipeg's annual and world's largest multicultural festival) * Angry Fish Pilsner (made in partnership with

) * Fort Garry Rouge * Two Rivers Lager Brewmaster's Series and Seasonal releases: * Munich Eisbock (660 mL bottles) - Oct. 2011 * Kona

Imperial Stout Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout. The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscrip ...

(660 mL bottles to 2014. Cans in 2015) - Spring 2012-14, January 2015 * Happy Jack Pumpkin

Ale Ale is a type of beer brewed using a warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to bal ...

(660 mL bottles) - Autumn since 2012 * St. Nick's Oak Spiced Porter (660 mL bottles) - Winter 2012-13 * Portage and Main India Pale Ale (473 mL cans) - Intermittent since Spring 2013 * Big Bison

ESB ESB may refer to: Education * École supérieure du bois, a French engineering College * Edwards School of Business, at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada * English Speaking Board, a British educational charity * ESB Business School, at R ...

(660 mL bottles) - Spring 2014 * Evil Goat Dopplebock (473 mL cans) - Summer 2014 *

Raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with ...

Quencher

Wheat Beer Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The two main varieties are German ''Weizenbier'' and Belgian ''witbier''; other types include Lambic (made with wild ...

(473 mL cans) - Summer 2014 * Big Buddha Lemon Wheatgrass Beer (473 mL cans) - Summer since 2014 * Das München Oktoberfest (473 mL cans) - Autumn 2014 * Naughty & Spice Porter (660 mL bottle) - Autumn since 2014 * Golden Boy India Pale Lager (341mL bottle) - Spring 2017 - Collaboration with the Manitoba Brewers Association * Lucky Cherry Cider (473mL cans) - Spring 2017 * Friday Knights Weekend Warrior (473mL can) - Summer 2017 * Extra Special Bitter (473mL cans) - Summer 2017 Growler Only Releases: * Oak Aged Fort Garry Dark (2014, 2017) * Red Reaper Rye Ale (2015) Formerly brewed: * Agassiz Catfish Cream Ale (under contract) * Farmpure Nubru Blend (under contract) * Fort Garry Lime (473 mL cans)

References

{{reflist Beer brewing companies based in Manitoba Manufacturing companies based in Winnipeg Cuisine of Manitoba Fort Garry, Winnipeg

History

Brands

See also

References