The Urbanite – Jon Liedtke – Jan. 29, 2014
Spring 2014 is set to be the season of breweries as Brew, Windsor’s latest in a series of soon-to-be-opened breweries, is set to launch within blocks of Caesars Windsor in an old chocolate factory.
Brothers and Brew spokespeople Jordan and Joshua Goure talked about the upcoming venture and their past experience in the restaurant and bar industry.
The brothers’ first project in Windsor was The Pour House restaurant, which was shut down last year following a trend of business closures on Chatham Street. They had also been a part of the former Symbol Nightclub (now The Bank NightKlub), the Well House (formerly Lefty’s) and Treehouse.
Having noticed a decline in overall business in the downtown core over the past few years, the brothers came to realize that location wasn’t “pinnacle” and that being in the core wasn’t necessary.
“As a manufacturing facility first… it’s better that we’re in between three busy entertainment districts, being Walkerville, Erie Street and downtown,” said Jordan. “Rather than just in one… not putting all of our eggs in just one basket.
Jordan and Joshua plan on rolling out a full service venue and are seeking a manufacturing, retail and full liquor licence, which would allow for their product to be sold both on and off premise, and for the sale of other alcoholic beverages besides beer.
“You’ll be able to hold an event here, you’ll be able to drink other liquors that we don’t create in house and you’ll be able to drink our beer,” said Jordan. “We can create products here and we can also sell other companies products.”
Having studied the craft beer market in the United States, Joshua explained that he and his brother see the Windsor craft beer market was virtually “untouched.”
“As you’ve seen in the States, there’s been a huge influx [of craft breweries] and they’re being very well received, and people are getting more educated on craft beer as they did in the past with wines and many other spirits,” he said. “This market has been untouched… from 2006 to 2012 Windsor didn’t have any breweries whatsoever, so we feel [that] the market is wide open.”
Brew will initially offer a standard lager at the outset to appeal to a wide clientele.
“That’s where I think we are going to differ from the other breweries, we’re going to do something a little smoother drinking, not quite as hoppy. It’s not that we don’t appreciate that stuff, but we feel that we could be a gateway to educate people on microbreweries and craft breweries and really expand their horizons,” said Josh.
“If you can’t get drunk off our beer because you can only drink a few of them, then we didn’t do the job properly,” he said.
After year one the brothers plan to introduce a chocolate stout as a seasonal brew to recognize the history of the building.
Brew is expected to open in spring 2014, but the brothers explained that they will not rush the product to market.
“We don’t want to release an inferior product. We want to make sure everything is absolutely perfect, that’s something we have learned in our experience,” said Joshua.
JON LIEDTKE – Jan. 29, 2014
Page 6
Jonathon Liedtke is the managing editor of The Urbanite, Windsor’s alternative newspaper. He is also a member of Windsor’s “Punk with Horns” band The Nefidovs, and as such, is committed to enhancing and sustaining the arts community.
Leave a Reply