E Q U I P M E N T
Good advice
“This business has taken us all over the
world and helped us develop unique skill
sets and experience that we have been
able to pass along to our clients.” A large
part of what AM Jade does involves con-sulting.
This can include advice on busi-ness
aspects such as location, sizing of
equipment, funding, how to hire staff
and engage a proper contractor; not to
mention recipe development and types
of equipment.
Good examples of how AM Jade have
helped both new and established players
in craft brewing are numerous. For exam-ple,
Hubtown Brewing is a new brewery in
Okotoks, a suburb about a half-hour drive
south of Calgary.
“We have been hard at work on this
project for over four years,” said co-owner
Lisa Watts who together with husband
Mark opened the new brew site this past
summer. “We were looking for a consul-tant
to help us not make some of the same
mistakes we had seen happen to others
who were involved in a brewery start-up.
We already knew quite a bit about equip-ment,
but we were looking for a leader
to assist. We brought AM Jade on board
about a year ago to provide advice as we
moved forward.”
According to Watts, AM Jade first
offered consulting advice and then was able
to supply equipment that met the unique
needs of Hubtown. “Our space is very tight,
and we were having challenges finding the
right equipment that would fit. We decided
to go with a setup that used double stacked
short, fat tanks over the tall skinny tanks
we had planned for originally. AM Jade was
able to assist in sourcing of the right equip-ment
products.
“Where they shined for us was in pro-viding
equipment that can ‘think’ out all of
the problems that cookie-cutter systems
bring with them. AM Jade has used their
many years of helping build breweries to
design out those issues and when you see
our equipment you’ll agree.”
Hubtown has opened at 41 Elizabeth
St. in Okotok’s Olde Town with a slate of
more than 30 brew recipes that include pale
ales, IPA’s, stout, Hefeweizen and Irish red.
Opening day saw them offering three beers
and a radler.
Larry Kerwin is another craft brewer
who has found an association with Bondi
and Merlo to be beneficial. Kerwin is a
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