Kelowna's newest brewery opened during the global pandemic

Photo: Jackknife Brewing

Kelowna's newest brewery opened under some less than ideal circumstances. But by being adaptable during unprecedented times, they're making it work as best they can.

Jackknife Brewing officially opened for business at their North End location on March 30, but with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the closure of all in-house dining in the province, the opening wasn't quite as they had first imagined.

“We've been dumping every bit of money we can into this place to get it people-ready,” said Brad Tomlinson, Jackknife's 'beer wizard.' “We finished the patio off about two or three weeks ago and then the doors just kind of shut on us at the same time.”

While they haven't been able to welcome the public inside yet, the brewery – made up of Tomlinson, Damien Moore and Ian Middleton – shifted instead to a take-out menu, selling pizza and 750 ml cans.

“We had a decent amount of beer just sitting here waiting for the taps to turn on, but we had to pump the brakes on all that stuff,” Tomlinson said.

“At least we're adaptable. We had crowlers, these 750 ml cans, in the plans for later in spring and then we had a pizza kitchen geared towards doing in-house and a little bit of takeaway, but now we're just doing full on takeaway pizza, takeaway beer.”

The brewery has been a long time in the making. Tomlinson says they are about 16 months into the actual build, after encountering some delays in getting financing through Canada's Small Business Financing Program.

Tomlinson had been a homebrewer for years, before becoming head brewer at Kelowna's Kettle River Brewing. When the building right beside Kettle River became available, Tomlinson jumped at the chance to do his own thing, joining up with Moore and Middleton.

Despite the challenges of opening during a global pandemic, people seem to be enjoying Tomlinson's beer – they've already sold out of their Hair Straight Back spruce tip pale ale, which uses locally harvested spruce tips.

Tomlinson calls his beer “weird,” and takes inspiration from Northern European-style beers.

“We're using these techniques from these farmhouse brewers in Northern Europe, like Sweden and Norway and Finland, and we're combining those with more of a west coast traditional style flavour profile,” he said. “So we're kind of making, I wouldn't say new beers, but a new direction on these beers.”

Those looking to get their hands on Kelowna's newest pizza and beer offerings can swing by the Baillie Avenue brewery from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday to Friday, and noon to 8 p.m. on weekends. Order ahead at 250-712-5225.