A few weeks ago there were rumours flying around the Alberta beer industry that Calgary brewery Caravel Brewing had closed its taproom and the future of the brewery was in doubt. Then the COVID crisis hit and that story quickly fell to the back pages.

I had a chance in the last few days to pick up the threads of that story. I reached out to a few industry folks to get an update. I also contacted Caravel owner, Vlad Covali, to hear his side of the story.

Covali confirms he has closed both the taproom and the brewery. His plan is to arrange some contract brewing in the short term to make sure he still has product on the shelves and in the future find a smaller location to re-open. The existing brewhouse is currently for sale.

Those plans were definitely a pre-COVID-19 arrangement. At the moment, like almost everybody, he is in a bit of a holding pattern until we get through the crisis.

Caravel fell victim to the classic small brewery problem. Cash flow. Sales were decent but not enough to cover both ongoing operating expenses and debt. In the last days Covali attempted to re-negotiate his lease with his landlord and also sought out new investors to inject some cash. The landlord rejected his offer, which was the final blow on the taproom and existing space.

Many have argued Caravel was over-sized, which contributed to their issues. They built a 30-hl brewhouse (with six 60-hl fermenters) in a massive light industrial bay near the airport. They were never able to fully utilize the space and I can imagine, despite relatively cheap square footage rates in that part of town, the rent was formidable.

Caravel’s cavernous brewery space

His problem now – along with almost everyone else in the industry – is that COVID is turning the world on its head. Supply lines are restricted and only those breweries which can develop a direct line to their customers will move beer in this environment.

It is not a great time to try to re-make your business. Covali is determined to try to make a go of it. Time will tell whether Caravel 2.0 can ride out the storm and stay afloat until it reaches calmer waters.