A Bragg Creek resident is brewing up a new attraction which he hopes will bring a bevy of beer-loving tourists to the area.
Creeker Baruch Laskin, along with friend Adam McLane and beer expert Kirk Bodnar, are the founders of Bragg Creek Brewing. They recently secured a plot of land on Balsam Avenue, where they hope to break ground on a new brew restaurant early next year.
“It’s a beautiful property,” Laskin said. “We can be a launching point for people to visit other shops in the hamlet.”
Laskin said he thought of the idea for a micro-brewery-slash-eatery years ago after he stumbled across an old beer bottle while hiking a trail called Strange Brew near Kananaskis.
“It was one of those old stubbies,” he recalled. “The sun shone down and there was a shiny brown bottle.”
Laskin started discussing the idea with McLane, who came on board the project because of his “passion for learning and a passion for beer.”
The two business partners officially founded Bragg Creek Brewing this spring, along with Bodnar, who is a certified Cicerone – the beer equivalent of a wine sommelier.
Right now, McLane said the group is in the “recipe phase,” with three or four different beers in various stages of development.
“It’s super fun, and also super frustrating. You do everything right and then it comes out and you’re like, ‘Ah, it doesn’t taste very good,’” he said with a laugh. “That’s all part of the process.”
McLane said the flavours will be perfected in the next six months.
“We’re a smaller volume brewery with an exceptional product,” he said, adding they may focus also on special seasonal brews. “We’re focusing on the quality, not quantity. Definitely by spring you’ll see our beers in the Bragg Creek area.”
Those beers will be showcased in the company’s flagship location on Balsam Avenue. Now that Laskin and his partners have found the land, they are excited to break ground and start work on the building itself. McLane wants it to have a low-energy, low-water footprint – an earth-friendly accomplishment they hope other breweries will model.
“We can be a leader and a catalyst for that,” he said.
When the doors do finally open sometime next year, Laskin said Bragg Creek Brewing aims to be a family-friendly environment for tourists and hikers can grab a bite to eat before exploring the area – then return at the end of the day to unwind with a pint or two.
“It’s a destination brewery.”
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