by Andrew Morrison | Earlier this week Michelle Sproule and I took a look inside the imminent Faculty Brewing Co. at 1830 Ontario Street (the foot of Mt. Pleasant, just a stone’s throw from Olympic Village).
Owners Mauricio Lozano and Alicia Medina were on hand to show us around their tidy 1,400 sqft brewery and 30 seat tasting room. Everything is pretty much good to go, so we found them in waiting mode, pining for the last of their paperwork to come through. It’s been a long time coming for the pair, who took possession of the space back in January of 2015. Understandably, they’re raring to go.
It’s a pretty cool concept for a brewery. As the suggests, it has a higher education bent, and for brand-to-product continuity they’re numbering their beers like a tertiary institution would number its courses. A 100 level beer, for example (eg. 107 Blonde Ale) is an easy drinking, entry-level exercise in crowd-pleasing, while a 300 level beer (eg. 305 Saison) or a 700 beer (eg. 710 Oak Stout) will cater to more refined, curious palates. To graduate is to explore.
They have six rotating taps to work with, and they’ll be launching with four beers and a kombucha to start (Alicia makes her own in house under a separate brand called Oddity – it’s delicious). They’ll also be offering some food (hummus and pita, chips and salsa, cheese and charcuterie). Opening is set for the first week of August, with operating hours being Monday through Friday from 2pm to 11pm (weekends, 11am to 11pm). Take a look inside….