The Brewer’s Blog was launched last year by Dageraad Brewing founder Ben Coli as he prepared for opening. It’s now being picked up by Josh Vanderheide, who is on his way to opening Field House Brewing Co. in Abbotsford.

———— READ PART ONE | TWO | THREE ————

by Josh Vanderheide | The last few weeks have been a whirlwind – hence the delay in writing this, the final article in the Field House Brewing Co. series. Our team worked through the holidays like crazy to open the doors for a ‘soft opening’ this last week – which turned out to not be so ‘soft’ after all. The response was much more than we expected. People have been packing the house almost every night. It’s been great to see a steady flow of people from the community coming by to check things out.

To get you up to speed, here’s what we’ve been working on for the last 2-3 weeks…

Building a ‘Home away from home’ | Before Christmas we finished the lion’s share of the build process, getting our temporary occupancy at the very last minute on Christmas Eve. The final paperwork and inspections weighed a ton, but it was such a great milestone to achieve right before the Christmas break. We were able to take a rundown, beat-up car garage and turn it into Abby’s newest craft brewery in about 3.5 months; not bad considering we basically re-built the entire building from the floor to the roof and everything in between (you can check out Google street view for 2281 West Railway to see our ‘before’ image)

One of our biggest goals was to create a warm, comfortable space where people would want to spend their days and evenings. It’s often said that Abbotsford is a bit of a ‘bedroom community’ with folks opting to stay home where it’s comfortable, rather than going out to meet up with friends and family. We wanted to help change that by creating a new meeting spot that was worth leaving home for. With some help from my good friend Jen Eden, Principal at Occupy Design we gave our space a ‘modern farmhouse’ feel using lots of natural wood finishings, rustic and raw materials, and little accents to fill the space with texture and attention to detail. We also tried to pull in local connections wherever possible — for example, the wood from our tap handles, beer flights, tables, and benches were built using timbers from a 100-year old barn in Abbotsford that was torn down. The reclaimed wood was handcrafted by the talented guys at Fraser Valley Craftsmen. We feel the result is the right mix of a modern space that also pays homage to Abbotsford’s farming and agricultural roots.

Field House Family | Other than having great craft beer, I believe the next most important part of the Craft Beer Experience is the people. I think people are the x-factor that can turn a great product into an amazing experience; even the best craft beer can benefit by great, authentic service.

I have been so fortunate and lucky to have stumbled across some of the most gifted, kind, and hard working people that now make up the Field House team. From our core management team (Parker, Ashley, Kendra) to our new tasting room crew (Josh, Sierra, Chloe, Gemma) we have a great group of people who are working really hard to give this community the best experience we can offer. Despite the short time we have known each other, there is already a natural comfort in working together. The team has given up countless hours of their own time to help bring this concept to life and I can’t thank them enough for all their hard work. They make me look forward to coming into work everyday!

Did we really just open a brewery? | It’s hard to believe that it’s done, and strange to be actually standing in a place that you have been thinking and dreaming about for the last year. Yes, there’s little things that I might change, but the end result looks a whole lot like we originally thought it would look, which is surprising given all the twists and turns along the way.

This process is quite the adventure, an exercise of blind faith in a hypothetical plan loaded with too many variables. Many times I questioned my ability to pull the thing off, but I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by a great family, an excellent team, and a supportive community. They’re what kept me going on those late nights and early mornings when doubt would rear its head. I certainly would never have been able to do this alone.

“So, why open a brewery?” | This is probably the most asked question during our soft opening. The reality is that there are too many reasons why this project began. The first of them is that the BC Craft Beer industry is like none other. Their camaraderie and support for each other was (and remains) a core inspiration, so a huge thanks to all the breweries that have offered advice and insights along the way – I’ll be sure to pay it forward whenever I can! In the end, though, just watching people hanging out at Field House, chatting over beer, coffee, and local food has been really rewarding and justification enough. We live in a great community with amazing people; offering them a place to come together to share good times feels pretty good. I hope we can continue to be a positive part of this community as we grow and evolve.

And, what’s next? | Well, other than trying to catch up on a million emails and to-do’s, we’re just trying to focus on getting our operations and team feeling comfortable with all the new systems and processes so we are ready for customers everyday. But there are lots fun things to be excited about. Our beers will be finished brewing in about 2 weeks and we’ll officially open our Growler station. Parker is working on designing some new brew recipes and we are really excited for nice spring weather when our 3,000 sqft. licensed picnic area, which will be up and running with beers and good times flowing. We have lots of fun ideas for the future, but lots to do as well.

So, that about sums up the last 6-8 weeks of our adventure opening our little community brewery. It’s been a lot of fun documenting the process. We appreciate everyone who has been reading along. A HUGE thanks to Scout Magazine for their interest and support of Field House. It’s been an honour and pleasure to be involved with you guys!

If you are ever out in Abby, be sure come by for a beer. Until then, cheers!