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National brew the brain child of local brewery

Celebrate with a cold one steeped in history
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Doug White of Four Mile Brewing Co. stands amongst the steam coming from the brewing equipment in View Royal. Up at 3 a.m. on “mash-in” day, he’s excited to see how this small batch, national craft ale turns out. (Katherine Engqvist/News Gazette staff)

While the nation celebrates Canada’s 150th in style, one local brewery is crafting up something special to commemorate the day.

But they’re not alone.

Seven micro-brewers across the country have teamed up to create a handcrafted national beer that’s being brewed from coast to coast in small batches.

Doug White of Four Mile Brewing Co. in View Royal is the mastermind behind the Fathers of Fermentation campaign – a national collaboration of seven Canadian micro-brewers who all brew the same historically accurate ale.

“This idea hatched about two years ago and it’s just been jumping along ever since,” White explained.

“We go to all of these conferences …. I just thought, wouldn’t it be neat to get together with some of these guys.”

Besides a love of ale, these seven brewers also have their equipment in common. All use Peter Austin design direct fire brick kettles with traditional open fermentation. “What a natural fit,” White added.

Earlier this month they all took part in a synchronized “mash-in” to create a brew called Sir John’s Special Eh’le that will be ready to serve across the country on July 1.

Posted by Leslie Gentile on Friday, June 16, 2017

Since they’re using the same equipment and for this creation they’ll be using the same recipe, ingredients and methods, White noted “we’re pretty confident all the brews will be pretty close.”

Starting things off at 8 a.m. Atlantic Time on June 16 in Halifax, N.S., Granite Brewery was the first to mash in, followed by Picaroon’s Traditional Ales of Fredericton, N.B., Golden Lion Brewery in Lennoxville, Que., Ashton Brew Pub and Clock Tower Brewing in Ottawa, Granite Brewery in Toronto, and finally finishing in View Royal at Four Mile at around 6 a.m. local time on the same day.

Posted by Leslie Gentile on Friday, June 16, 2017

As White noted, all (except Four Mile) are in Canada’s original provinces when Confederation was signed. But this time B.C. isn’t waiting to join the party.

The ale will be available at Four Mile Brewing Co. starting July 1 in growlers and eventually bottles for a limited time.

katie@goldstreamgazette.com



Katherine Engqvist

About the Author: Katherine Engqvist

I took on the role of Bureau Chief when we created the Greater Victoria editorial hub in 2018.
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