In what seems to be a series of firsts around the Edmonton area in the last few months, Sherwood Park has just added its name to the list of towns who have their first-ever brewery. 70 Acre Brewing opened its doors (sort of) in early June, becoming the latest of the brave COVID breweries. I did a recent CBC column profiling them, which you can listen to here.

70 Acre is the inspiration of Lindsay Pennock and Michelle Dixon, both former managers at Edmonton beer-oriented pub and nightclub MKT. The idea of opening a brewery in Sherwood Park, where they both live, emerged a couple of years ago. “We saw the growth of craft beer, all the new breweries opening up in Alberta but none in Sherwood Park”, says Dixon. “We decided right away we wanted to do something”.

Being experienced in the hospitality industry, Dixon and Pennock wanted to create something more than a brewery with a tap room. “We want to be known as more than a local brewery”, says Pennock. “The goal is to be known for our food as much as our beer. The goal is a 50/50 split”. The pandemic has slowed the development of their food menu (they have only been fully open for four weeks), but they are already earning a reputation in the area for their artisanal pizzas. They intend on building out the food menu in the coming months as things return to normal to offer a range of items that go beyond your standard pub fare.

The focus of the brewery is squarely focused on Sherwood Park. “Distribution is a secondary concern”, says Dixon. They are working to introduce themselves to Sherwood Park and will worry about the rest of the province later. To that end most of the beer will be sold out of the brewery/restaurant, with some select tap and retail accounts in the county. The original plan was keg only but, as usual, COVID forced a shift to some limited canning on a manual two-head canning line they picked up.

Like other craft beer pioneers, 70 Acre knows their job is as much about education as it is about providing good beer. Sherwood Park, despite its proximity to Edmonton, doesn’t have the same awareness of local craft beer that the capital city does. So they know they need to move people along the continuum. For example, Pennock admits to being surprised there is no culture of growler fills in Sherwood Park. “One challenge we found, especially during the restrictions, is that many customers don’t know about growlers and growler fills. We got funny looks”. Pennock sees this as an opportunity to expand the perspective of local beer drinkers.

As for the beer, head brewer Brandon Owens says they want “a beer for everybody”. “We want to have a broad line-up to choose from. Some traditional styles, some new world. We want them to find something familiar but broaden their horizons at the same time”.

The original line-up speaks to that sentiment, offering a classic pale lager, a couple of fruited sour beer, a hazy pale and and an IPA, but also including a rye saison, a coconut–infused porter and a cherry and grape-infused dry-hopped lager. I think we can legitimately call that a broad range.

The name comes from Pennock’s family history. His family has farmed in the Red Deer area since the 1970’s. The first plot of land the family purchased consisted of 70 acres. Even though the farm today is thousands of acres, they still call that particular plot the “70 Acre Plot”. Pennock wanted to honour that history.

When I ask them my final question, which is always where do they see their brewery in five years, they stumble, not sure what to say. That they haven’t spent a lot of time thinking five years ahead makes sense. The challenges of opening a brewery during a pandemic are enough to keep you focused on the present. However upon some reflection they offered a glimpse into their thinking. “It would be cool to be in some other smaller rural areas, to enter those markets”, Pennock first says, and then shifts. “I would be happy if we had to expand here, a larger system for production and distribution while the current system could be used for the pub and experimentation”. The fuzzy response reflects, I think, their interest in staying connected with community while finding ways to expand their reach to other craft drinkers.

Sounds just like a farm that started at 70 acres in size and now is 6000 acres. Maybe the name is appropriate in more ways than one.