The Martlet

Beer and beaches — two things B.C.’s west coast does right. As far as the area’s best beach goes, Tofino’s Long Beach is tough to beat. A stretch of sand coveted by surfers and tourists from all over the world. But if that weren’t enough, Tofino recently began its bid for the best beer as well.

The Tofino Brewing Company (TBC) officially flipped its taps on April 16. From a warehouse-turned-brewery within Tofino’s industrial section, four guys — Bryan O’Malley, Chris Neufeld, Dave McConnell and Dave Woodward — are putting Tofino on the map for more than just its geography.

“It’s a pretty amazing part of the world here,” says O’Malley, the man responsible for making TBC happen. “Adding a brewery to it is just adding to the already long list of things that make Tofino great.”

O’Malley moved from Vancouver to the Island’s west coast after graduating from high school seven years ago. After a few years of tending bars, he needed a change.

“I switched to working on tug boats,” he says, and that’s where the TBC revelation struck him. “Me and a couple of co-workers were doing a really shitty job one day and talking about what would be way better than [tugging], and one of the guys said, ‘Man, a brewery would work pretty good out here,’ and I was just like, ‘Awesome, all right.’ ”

Enter Neufeld and McConnell, the other two partners in the business. O’Malley and Neufeld grew up together; Neufeld met McConnell at university. They had all emigrated to Tofino from Vancouver. None of them had ever owned a business before.

“I had to convince them a bit,” O’Malley says, “but after some time they definitely got on board.” He did some research, quit his tug job and a mere year-and-a-half after developing the business plan, the boys opened their brewery’s doors.

But while these three might have formalized the TBC, it’s Woodward’s role that’s arguably most important. He’s the brew master. After five years as the head brew master at the renowned Whistler Brewhouse, Woodward too had needed a change.

“He heard about our startup and gave us a call,” says O’Malley. “We went over to Whistler, tried his beer, saw his operation and were super stoked on it. He’s a really good guy and also brews amazing beers. We were like, ‘We’d be crazy not to take him.’”

And just like that, the dream team was formed. Says O’Malley of the group’s dynamic, “We all have our strengths and the really nice thing about it is all of our strengths fill in the other persons’ weaknesses. It really works out well for the business aspect.”

Since opening, O’Malley and the gang have been blown away by the support they’ve received from the community. It’s helped make their first foray into entrepreneurship a smooth one.

“We’ve got to definitely attest that to the fact the local community has been behind us through the whole project,” says O’Malley. “The response has been pretty much unreal.”

It’s no surprise that a community like Tofino would approve of such an enterprise.

“We really try to focus on making sure we’re as sustainable as possible and being as much of a positive addition to the town,” says O’Malley.

Instead of propane or natural gas, they power the brewery solely with electricity — no carbon emissions. A water recovery system recaptures roughly 1 200 litres of water per batch, which is used in a subsequent brew. The spent grain goes to a farm in Port Alberni and they give their trub, a coagulated malted barley protein and hop byproduct, to a soap company on Stubbs Island.

Aside from the local establishments they supply to serve the beer on tap, the crew only sells their beer in growlers — 1.89-litre glass bottles that people can refill at the brewery — to help cut down on waste and recycling.

The Tuff Session Pale Ale is available year round, along with a seasonal beer. The Fogust Wheat Ale, a summertime German-style hefeweizen, just replaced the Hoppin’ Cretin IPA.

“We’re actually looking for the fall to kind of speed up the transitions a bit. We’d definitely like to get a few out before Christmas time,” says O’Malley.

But although they plan to constantly rotate their seasonal beers, the guys aren’t too keen on expanding their market . . . yet.

“For right now, we definitely want to grow roots here and become the local brewery,” says O’Malley. “That’s very important to us, not to be exploitive of the [Tofino] name, but just be true to being out here and supporting the community. But in time, we’d definitely like to grow, as any business should.”