It is not too often that a business that opened its doors in 2016 can trace it roots back to the early 1900’s, but that is the case with Medicine Hat Brewing Company. Spotlight on Business had the opportunity to catch up with Warren Vancuren, Owner, and Kaiden Vancuren, General Manager of Manufacturing & Distribution, for the brewery and learn about their family’s journey to bring back a piece of Medicine Hat’s history. But as Warren and Kaiden will tell us a legacy isn’t the easiest thing to live up to, but then again Medicine Hat has never been about doing things the easy way, but the right way when it comes to making timeless craft beer.
Although the Vancuren’s chapter with Medicine Hat Brewing Company started on December 10, 2016 the story of the brewery started over a century ago, in 1912 when the Medicine Hat Brewing Company first opened it’s doors to serve thirsty residents of this booming community, old fashioned lagers, ales and stouts.
When the Temperance Movement picked up, this popular brewery and water hole – one of Medicine Hat’s first – was forced to close it doors in 1920. A second incarnation of the brewery was attempted between 1925 and 1927, but unfortunately was not able to keep the brewery running and had to close its doors.
The third iteration of Medicine Hat Brewing, and where the Vancuren family comes onto the craft beer scene in Medicine Hat, is when Warren, an oil and gas businessman who had operated a number of servicing companies over the years, and his wife, Kathy tried retirement. They found that they had way too much free time on their hands and were looking for a new project to keep busy. The craft brewery industry had been something Warren had followed, researched and grown passionate about over the years. So, it was not a surprise to them after about a year of solid research on the industry, Warren decided that getting into the craft brewing industry and opening a brewery was definitely a good fit for he and Kathy to come out of retirement. Warren has a strong background in business, and Kathy with a background of over 25 plus years in accounting, giving them the foundation for a strong management team to get things off the ground and running. During this time, Warren discussed with the rest of the family making this a family venture. Kaiden says, “After much thought, I made the decision to leave my position at a Frac company and come on board. Brennan made the decision a couple of months later to leave his position in Calgary and move back.”
The Vancuren family re-opened the doors of the brewery on December 10, 2016 – 103 years after the first brewery had opened its doors. For all that’s changed in the years in between, some things have stayed the same: they were focused on making timeless craft beer to serve thirsty, hard-working Hatters.
So starts the come back story of the Medicine Hat Brewing Company. When we asked Kaiden why a brewery – in Medicine Hat of all places? His answer was quick and straight to the point, with just a touch of humor, “We liked drinking beer so much we decided we should start brewing it.”
The interesting part of this story is that although Warren had a successful background as a businessperson and entrepreneur neither he, his wife nor his sons were beer experts. “Starting a brewery and knowing how to brew are two totally different things,” Kaiden goes on to say, “Dreaming about owning a brewery and actually owning one are two totally different things. One of the biggest challenges I would say is that the craft beer industry is always changing and evolving. You always have to stay up with trends and be trend setter.” So, this is where Mitch Dalrymple comes into the picture. It was a perfect fit for the brewery, as Dalrymple, was a bit of a late bloomer in the world of craft beer and so were they.
“We like to joke that the beer gods were watching over us, in finding Mitch,” says Kaiden. We advertised for a Head Brewmaster, and Mitch responded to our ad. Everyone connected immediately, so Mitch made the leap of faith, left his position with a brewery in another province, moved his family to Medicine Hat. Kaiden followed with, “The beer gods do listen, if you ask loud enough.”
With Dalrymple as Medicine Hat Brewery’s Brewmaster, they had the perfect ingredients to get into the craft brewery industry; business experience and a veteran of the Canadian craft beer scene with almost two decades of head brewer experience in recipe design, production and all things beer. Now it was time to get brewing.
Selecting a name for the brewery was difficult, however, right from the start, the name Medicine Hat Brewing Company made logical sense to the Vancuren family. During their research, they were intrigued and delighted to discover that there was an original Medicine Hat Brewing Company, well actually two. As they continued on with their research, the city’s history became a focus (almost an obsession!). It became clear that they could, not only supply amazing craft beers into the community, but additionally reintroduce some history from our great city. “One of our greatest compliments from our clients is that they thank us for reintroducing our city’s history,” said Warren.
It was now up to them to live up to the name, history and traditions of the brewery. That is why it was important for them track down the distant relatives of the previous owners, who had passed on, to get their approval. “The use of the name was legally available, but it was important to us as a family business get the previous family owner’s approval before moving forward and using the name,” said Kaiden. He goes on to tell us that the previous owners were delighted to hear that the brewery and Medicine Hat Brewery name would be coming back to the city and they have been very supportive since day one and still do as frequent customers of our taproom. “All they asked in return for the name was first six-pack of our package products, which we were happy to give them,” said Kaiden.
“A lot of people are learning about the city’s history through our beer, which is pretty neat,” said Kaiden. He also acknowledges that in addition to ensuring the beer lives up to the name, it is equally if not more important to balance its craft credentials and crossover appeal as the industry continues to grow. Kaiden continues to say, “Our beer appeals to the ‘blue collar guys and gals’ who work hard and have a deep pride for Medicine Hat.”
Medicine Hat Brewery currently has six main beers made up of ales, lagers, an IPA and a stout that can be purchased all year round. They say “timeless craft beer” because it is quite simply that. They use local stories and history from the 1912 era when the brewery first opened its doors and use them in their beer names. Such as their “Industrial Ave IPA,” when the first brewery opened its doors it was on Industrial Ave. The “Sin Bin Red Ale” is named after an old famous hotel and bar that’s been around since the early 1900’s and still around today. Their most popular beer is the “Burnside Blood Orange Ale” named after A.P Burns who was a noted businessman, contractor builder and rancher in post 1900 Medicine Hat. “Boomtown Lager” name comes from the early 1900’s, when Medicine Hat was referred to as “Boomtown” because of the large industries that were created near the banks of the South Saskatchewan. The “Gentlemen’s Stout” was inspired by those early businessmen that enjoyed a few cool ones back in those days along with a pipe and scotch as well in one of the gentlemen’s clubs back in the 1900’s like the Cypress Club, which supplied a relaxed atmosphere for the lonely and for the not-so-lonely. Which leads us to their Patio Series “Tart Cherry Ale” which uses a generous addition of real red tart cherry puree to their “Hatfield Blonde Ale,” which is named after Charles Hatfield, the man that was hired by the Medicine Hat United Agricultural Association to be a “rain-making” wizard back in 1912. He built a 20-foot tower by a lake just 20 miles northeast of Medicine Hat, and he poured secret ingredients, like a witch’s brew, into the tower. People waited anxiously, to see if distant clouds would be drawn into the area, and three days later the rain began to fall. The farmers were no longer apprehensive of Hatfield’s skills, he definitely was a rainmaker. So, in honour of the man that showed this prairie town that sometimes you must have faith that something will turn out better than you could have dreamt.
“Our intention to ‘Timeless Craft Beer’ is two-fold. Creating a craft beer flavour profile that will stand the test of time, much the same as history stands the test of time. To us, ‘timeless craft beer’ means great beer that you will still drink and enjoy years from now, and great history, that you never tire of hearing. The two truly go hand in hand for us here at Medicine Hat Brewery,” said Warren.
In addition to their main beers the Medicine Hat Brewery offers a Brewmaster Series, which are their more classic, older style type beers such as hefeweizen, munich dunkel, or brown ale. Their newest Brewmaster series beer, which was just released on October 25th, is called “Woolfrey Milk Stout” and was named after one of the first Dairy Farms in Southeastern Alberta. They also offer a Patio Series, which is pretty self-explanatory as these beers are designed for the patio. Nice light, easy drinking and mostly fruit-forward beers. Medicine Hat gets really hot during the summer months, so these beers are the perfect thirst quencher on a hot day. This last summer they made a Creamsicle Ale and it was very popular so be on the lookout for that again to be available for the May Long Weekend, to kick off the summer. Then they have a Collab Series which is new they just started doing collaborations this year with other breweries. “They are a lot of fun! It is great being able to work with other brewers and breweries,” says Kaiden. This past year they brewed the “Albertan” IPL with Origin Brewing and Malting out of Strathmore, AB. They also collaborated on a hopped-kettle sour with Rebellion Brewing, Regina, SK. Spoiler Alert, they have one exciting collaboration coming out this December, a collaboration with Oregon Fruit Products. Using cranberries from Bussman’s farm located just south of Oregon Fruit Products in Oregon, to create a “Holiday Cranberry Sour.”
As of right now Medicine Hat Brewing Company products are available in Alberta and Saskatchewan and they are just starting to get into Manitoba with plans to expand into both the BC and Ontario markets. Plus, they have been researching opportunities overseas, as Canadian craft beer is becoming more popular in some Asian countries, making the possibilities endless for growth of both the business and the industry as more markets open up.
However, back at home Medicine Hat Brewing offers visitors to their tap room more than just timeless craft beer. The detail of the restaurant and tap room design stay true to the brand, with an industrial-ish look that promotes the history of the area. Like the red brick walls (you’ll see lots of it there thanks to the I-XL brick plant that has been around since 1886). The tin ceiling with ornate detail and the rich woods invite you to sit back and relax with one of their timeless craft beers accompanied by an elevated cuisine in this casual environment. The menu at Medicine Hat Brewing Company is always changing to feature seasonal ingredients, and everything they offer is made in-house – from the buns, pasta, mayo and sauces, to the crackers we serve along side local meats on our Charcuterie Board, it is all made at the brewery fresh for you to enjoy.
“When we opened the brewery, we knew food would be an integral component of the community experience. With that in mind, we sourced ingredients grown and produced right around the Medicine Hat area. From fresh seasonal produce to meats fed with spent grain from the brewing process – we hope when you visit our Tap Room at Medicine Hat Brewing, you enjoy a taste of all the great things that Medicine Hat has to offer,” said Kaiden.
Medicine Hat Brewing also believes in giving back to the community that they serve and proudly sponsors, partners and donates to a vast variety of organizations through-out the province. “Our team strongly respects the privilege to be a business in the community and allocate budget dollars to be able to help where possible,” said Warren. During 2019 alone, they proudly participated in 30 plus beer festivals and 30 Plus Golf Tournaments, plus they support and sponsor many local and provincial organizations and events.
If you are in or around Medicine Hat for this coming December 7th stop by the brewery and taproom and join them in their 3-year anniversary celebrations. They will be releasing two new beers – a Belgium Triple (Brewmaster Mitch’s 500th brew) and Holiday Cranberry Sour (the collaboration brew with Oregon Fruit Products mention earlier in the article), as well as having live music and other activities. If you can not make it for the anniversary then make sure the next time that you are in Medicine Hat to stop in for a pint and tell them that Spotlight on Business sent you, they will be happy to serve you.
by Christi Rideout