Container Brewing Ready to Pour in East Van

Container Brewing is set to open this Friday. The new Yeast Van brewery comes to us from first timers Dan Webster and Terry Brown, who brought in Tim Juul – formerly Head Brewer at Massachusetts’ Fort Hill Brewery – to help bring the project to fruition.

The 4,440 sqft interior at 1216 Franklin Ave. looked a sight better during yesterday’s walk-through than it did when I last checked in on progress back in March of this year! Designed by Simcic + Uhrich Architects, the two-level, 67 seater appeared to be about 90% complete — ready enough for a couple of trades and friends/family services. A few more tweaks and it’ll be set for this Friday’s public reveal.

The second-storey is particularly cool considering its north/south views of the surrounding industrial area with BC Sugar and the North Shore mountains beyond. I live/work two blocks away so I’m really looking forward to some first sips and nibbles of Welsh rarebit and oven-roasted patatas bravas. It’s been a long time coming.

Here’s a refresher on the project from way back when, plus a before and after series of photos…

Container Brewing will have been five years in the making for Dan and Terry, who sold software and made bicycles (respectively) before jumping off this particular cliff. They got the keys to the building (previously home to Groundwater Hydraulics for 30 years) back in November, 2018.

They’re working with 4,440 sqft in total, which breaks down to 2,800 for production/storage and the rest to a 67 seat lounge spread out on two levels. When I checked it out last week I found the trio working – rather aptly – in a shipping container outside. They showed me around the construction site, pointing out where the tanks will live and where the bar will go (with its 12 taps) and what the view from the upstairs seating area is like (spoiler: an industrial vista of cranes and warehouses backdropped by the North Shore mountains).

The few design renderings I’ve seen (above) have me excited about what it will look like when it’s all done. Simcic + Uhrich Architects is doing the job. If you like craft beer you’re probably familiar with their work, as their past projects have included the likes of Faculty Brewing, Dageraad Brewing, Strathcona Beer Co., Brassneck Brewery and Strange Fellows.

Adding to my anticipation of the place was the test bottle of strong, whisky-whispering, oak-aged, chocolate Imperial Stout that they sent me home with. I’m also curious about the New England styles that Tim has up his sleeve, and what he comes up with for a West Coast IPA. He expects to start brewing in earnest in May, producing 1,700 hls in year one and up to 3,000 by year three.