Restaurants and bars in town are thirsty for the Olds College Teaching Brewery's selection of beers.According to Tony Stolz, the brewery's business manager, beer sales are higher than expected, currently running four months ahead of production.But he said the brewery's not getting ahead of itself, keeping growth measured.“What we're trying to do is build at a reasonable pace so that we can do a good job serving everybody. So far the guys have been able to produce a really good quality beer and we just want to make sure that we keep that up,” Stolz said.“There's good demand for it. People want our product in their facilities but you want to make sure that you're serving them well. It's hard to keep a customer.”Since production started in January, the brewery has slowly added clients who want to serve its beer, Stolz said.There are several venues in town that serve Olds College beer, he added.One of them is Our Flames Restaurant and Lounge, which carries the brewery's Olds School beer.The suds started appearing on tap because owner Prokopi Roussakos wanted to support the college.The restaurant is considering adding the brewery's Hay City, a mild wheat beer, to its menu because Roussakos expects people's tastes to trend toward craft beers over mass-produced ones.“That market is going that way, the beers and such,” he said. “We're thinking about getting more beers on tap and adding more craft selection as well.”Personally, Roussakos likes the selection the brewery offers and the local connection.“There's different varieties. I mean, there's different taste for everybody and that's what they cater to. That's a good thing about them,” Roussakos said. “That it's homegrown, kind of natural … it's all their own beer. Just small-town Olds beer.”Other venues in Olds that serve beer brewed at the college include Tracks Pub, The Bowl and Mr. Ribs Bar and Grill.It's beer that's made in town and for the town, as shown by the brewery's desire to branch into the public, Soltz said.“I think people are really excited about it. I mean, it's pretty cool having a brewery in your town and our philosophy is to engage the community,” he said. “We don't even see this brewery as ours. We see it as the community's. This is a community brewery. So we want everybody's input. We want them to feel like it's theirs.”Stolz said the brewery operates on a small scale so it's no threat to larger breweries. Beer sales go back into the school's brewmaster program, which supplies the brewery with future employees.“We're a social enterprise and that means the brewery exists to support the students. We're not trying to get rich on it,” he said. “We're trying to produce the best quality beer, give the students the best learning experience we can and we're here to support the industry, period.”[email protected]
