What sparked your interest in Craft Brewing and how did you guys get started?
I’ve always been into food and flavours so craft beer was an easy match for me. My partner Jamie and I started to get into craft beer and joked about starting a brewery up. We always figured it would be a bad idea. Then we went to Tofino with our wives and found Tofino Brewing Co. We looked at their operation and figured if they could make great beer for a smaller community like Tofino why couldn’t we in New West!? Thus the dream began…
What is your favorite part of your job?
Chatting with our community and customers. My wife says I’m chatty and she is right. I love talking about beer in general with people so to get to do that for a living is a dream.
What is your favorite type of beer?
I’m a huge fan of ESB’s… and I’m not just saying that because we do one at Steel & Oak 😉 But really nailing down a favourite type is tough. It depends on my mood. A well crafted European Pilsner suits a hot day for me. In the winter I love stouts and porters. But, if I see a new sour beer in my liquor store that will get my money every time.
How did you come up with the branding and the name for Steel & Oak?
The branding was really a group effort between our logo designer Dylan Yee, or packaging designers AKA, my wife Alissa, Jamie and Myself. With any small business a lot of it is actually done by the owner’s (Jamie and I) but all of the big ticket items are done by our guys at AKA.
The name Steel & Oak symbolizes the modernness of today while paying homage to the craftsmanship of years long past. Materials of strength and durability, steel and oak house, protect and nurture what we stand for most – exceptional tasting craft beer.
What advice do you have for someone wanting to start down your path?
Plan well, make fantastic beer, save about twice as much money as you think you’re going to need and remember to breathe and enjoy it.
You have 3 types of beer on the menu right now, what is the next style you’re working on?
Right now we actually have 4 which are our Royal City Pale Ale, Red Pilsner, Dry-Hopped ESB, and Smoked – Hefeweizen.
The next style we’ll have coming out is a Dark Lager followed by a Smoked Lager.
What has been your biggest challenges in opening the tasting room?
The biggest challenge is keeping up. Currently we are selling beer faster than we can make it. We will have to close our doors for a bit in the coming weeks and that hurts. We couldn’t be happier with how our tasting room has been doing but we definitely need to increase capacity.
What’s your favorite thing about what you guys do?
My favourite thing is when someone tastes one of our beers and says “that’s fantastic.” In all fairness, that’s the only thing that really matters. We take more time and care than is known by the general public to make sure our beer is the best quality and when someone tastes it and enjoys it… well that makes all the behind the scenes work worth it.
For more info:
Website: https://steelandoak.ca/
Instagram: @steelandoak
Twitter: @steelandoak