INNISFAIL – Microbreweries have been popping up all over Alberta and now Innisfail has a part in the booming business.
Dark Woods Brewing recently held its grand opening at Boots and Barrels.
Owned and operated by Scott and Nick Bell, the 28-year-old twin brothers opened Innisfail’s first microbrewery earlier this spring.
“We started home brewing about three years ago,” said Nick Bell. “We’ve been getting into all grain and home beer brewing and then (expanded) from there. It grew into something bigger and here we are today.”
Bell noted four different beers available at the microbrewery. They include a blonde beer named Poplar Grove, a wheat beer called Naughty Pine, an amber beer with a Morning Wood moniker and a stout beer called Burt Timber.
The grand opening provided an opportunity for Innisfail residents to try the locally made beer.
“People (can) come in and have a pint and taste the beers,” said Bell. “This allows them to have something that’s 100 per cent local.”
While the two brothers work together to operate Dark Woods Brewing, Scott Bell will be studying at Olds College this September and will become the brewmaster for the business.
“Scott is all operations. He does it all right now,” said Nick Bell, noting his full-time job with the family-run NAPA Auto Pro. “I’m the guy behind the scenes.”
The microbrewery is located behind the NAPA Auto shop just off Main Street.
“We have growlers and bottles available for purchase out of the back of the NAPA Store,” said Bell, noting current opening times run Thursdays to Saturdays from 2 to 7 p.m.
“If the gate’s open, we’re open. We’re there pretty much every night working on things so people are more than welcome to stop by,” he said.
The response so far has been positive and the demand high, said Bell, noting their plans to expand the business in the near future.
“We’ve been selling quite a bit already and we haven’t even been open for two weeks,” he said.
“Innisfail is a small town and I think everyone loves a locally made product,” said Bell. “Especially being from Innisfail and from Central Alberta. A lot of the best grain is grown right here in Alberta,” he added.
“It’d be a shame for us to import beers when we can make just as good beers with the grain that we have here,” Bell concluded.
