Our Story
Established in 1930, our recipes and brewing techniques are a time-honoured tradition that have been passed down through the generations. Only the finest raw ingredients are used to brew our fine ales and lagers.
Take a short trip through time with us to find out why.
Then
Then
1930 — 1990
Between the world wars and within the great depression, one man sought to rise above and give the people what they wanted: completely original and completely delicious beer, and that's exactly what he did. Beating England in a competition with the commonwealth, Frontier Beer won "best in class" and the rest is history.
After being purchased by Molson breweries who soon merged with Carling O'Keefe, Fort Garry Brewing shut its doors for good, or so everyone thought...
Now
Now
1994 — Present
During the microbrewery renaissance, Fort Garry Brewing is resurrected in 1994 by Richard Hoeschen, great-great-grandson of B.W. Hoeschen, re-establishing the only microbrewery in Manitoba.
Maintaining the same Frontier recipe from 1930, Richard also developed a brand-new family of full-flavoured beers that would become staples and household names. Expectations were high, and so was demand, so to keep up and allow for future growth, a 25,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility was developed.
Sadly, Richard was not long for this world and passed away in September of 2002, but his memory and drive to develop new, and crowd-pleasing beer lives on.
While in Winnipeg, Andrew Harris, President of Russell Brewing in BC, sampled his first taste of Fort Garry Dark and fell in love with the beer. Captivated by the quality of the product and the enormous pride that Manitobans had in this beer, Andrew saw a similarity between Fort Garry in MB and Russell Brewing in BC. A year later, Fort Garry would become a subsidiary of Russel Brewing.
As 2016 rolls around, an extremely significant development occurs; Fort Garry Brewing is bought out, re-establishing local Manitoba residents as the beneficial owners of the brewery!
With a major expansion and many titles under our belt, Fort Garry Brewing here to stay and is still brewing the classics while developing new and delicious IPAs, sours, radlers, seltzers, and much more.
Richard Hoeschen
Founder, Fort Garry Brewing
"When I restored Fort Garry Brewing in 1994, I knew I wanted to use only the finest raw ingredients to brew our modern fine ales and lagers, as well as resurrect my great-great-grandfather's recipes and brewing techniques that have been passed down through the generations. As you sit around the table with your friends and family, I hope you enjoy the delicious beers that he and I worked so hard to develop, and the many more revolutionary beers to come."
Legends Never Die
For some people, the old saying means that singular stories are immortal, written in stone. At Fort Garry Brewing, we know that legends never die because they’re constantly being retold, reshaped, and remade — passed down through generations and true to their roots.
Our province. Our people. Our beer.