B R E W E RY P R O F I L E
“We didn’t want a new parent that would centralize
everything and shut down breweries,” he said.
Enter Sapporo Holdings. In 2006, they acquired
Sleeman Breweries and infused fresh life and funding into
the brand. “One of the challenges we had in the early days
was not enough money to do all the things we wanted,
such as significant TV and radio ads, putting in a pilot
plant and developing new products. The Sapporo people
have been very good at supporting our business where it
needs support,” said Sleeman.
Managing a national business
For smaller breweries, one of the benefits of being part
of a group is access to a national technical team comprised
of a brewmaster, packaging maintenance manager,
quality assurance manager and engineer manager.
They ensure consistency, quality and lay the groundwork
for innovation.
National brewmaster Greg Rutledge says the No. 1
priority is to never compromise on quality. “It’s important
to have national specifications that are stringent, but fair.
We have a national sensory program that’s used to benchmark
all of our brands to ensure the people drinking our
beer have the same experience every time.”
All brewers meet with Rutledge regularly to go over
the quality index, brewery scorecard and any challenges.
“We meet monthly with all our brewers and talk about
challenges and opportunities. There might be an issue
a brewery has already faced or a situation that others
are going through where best practices can be shared,”
he said.
Another advantage of being part of a large group is
access to state-of-the-art brewery and laboratory equipment.
The Guelph brewery and smaller pilot brewery
(where all partner breweries can test new products) is
completely tricked out. “We’ve invested a lot of money as
we started to get more advanced in controls and automations,”
said Rutledge.
“We’re heavily invested in Rockwell automation controls
to help brewers. The beauty is that we can use it
across the country; everyone speaks the same language.”
The pilot brewery has vessels that mimic larger vessels
in the other breweries so small batches can be made
with new ingredients and processes.
A new product development team works closely
with regional brewers and brewmasters to support them
as they develop new beers. Sales and marketing gets
involved and a pilot brewer is on standby to try new
things. “We give autonomy to brewers and brewmasters.
They come up with the recipe, brew it in our innovation
brew house and tweak it. They can bottle it or put it in
kegs. This offers representative samples that allow us to
make informed decisions.
“Before six or seven years ago we would release something
new every three or four years. Now we’re doing two
or three seasons a year because we have the technology.”
Brewing advice for smaller breweries
Rutledge says the No. 1 thing to be concerned about is
consistency. “Keep constant records of your brew days,
including the temperature and every other spec. If things
go wonky you can look back and see where things might
have gone wrong. You’re only as good as the data you
can show.”
His second recommendation is to invest in technology
as your brewery grows. “Oxygen control is key to
the longevity of beer. It starts with a good oxygen meter.
Control it, not just in packaging, but right from the brew
house forward. If you take care of fine details, it’s a lot
easier to brew good, consistent beer.”
Business advice for smaller breweries
Sleeman says the recipe for a successful brewery starts with
a critical ingredient. “You better be passionate about what
you’re doing because it isn’t easy to make tough decisions.”
His close second is to be smart and disciplined about
money. “Of course you have to make the very best liquid
you can, but then you have to turn around and tell people
it’s out there. You can’t be afraid to spend money on sales
and marketing. Not everybody is lucky enough to have a
product that catches fire. You have to tell people you’re
out there.”
“Before six or seven years
ago we would release
something new every
three or four years. Now
we’re doing two or three
seasons a year because
we have the technology.”
– Greg Rutledge, Sleeman Breweries
WINTER 2020 § POURED CANADA § 9