In Profile: Persephone Brewing Company

Persephone Brewing Co. (aka The Beer Farm) has been growing hops, connecting with the community, and serving up farm-fresh beer in Gibsons, on the Sunshine Coast, since 2013. We reached out and collected a few words from Sales Manager David Schnieder, Head Brewer Anders McKinnon and the team. Here’s what they had to say about what’s new and coming down the pipe.

Q&A with Persephone Brewing

Persephone has been around for well over five years now. What would you say you’ve learned in that time?

We’ve learned how complicated waste water treatment can be, even for a small brewery, but we have reduced our wastewater to less than half the industry standard and we continue to improve.

You’re known for growing your own hops. What made you choose to set up on a site where you could do that?

We believe it’s important to connect people back to the source of the food we eat and the beer we drink. While we don’t grow all our own hops, being on a farm allows us to feature our own hops and demonstrates the importance of farming in the making of beer.

You recently won a CBAC Gold for your Coast Life Lager. What were you most proud of about that?

It was certainly validating as a hop farm since our Coast Life Lager is made exclusively with our own homegrown hops.

Persephone Brew The Change Mocha Porter

What’s new on the horizon in terms of seasonals or new beers?

Our Dry Irish Stout is finally in tall cans in all its nitrogenated glory. We have a series of sours and unique IPAs coming in tall can 4 packs soon.

Any new collaborations?

We just brewed a beer with Steel & Oak that we released at our Sunshine Coast Craft Beer Festival.

Any new brewing techniques you’ve discovered or recipes you’re working on?

We have started our first barrel-aged sour ales.

Any new upgrades at the brewery these days?

We have an upgraded lab space and a fancy new labeling machine to replace the manual labeler that has served us so well for the past 5 years. We also have spent significant time on our canning line in order to dial-in the canning of our nitro stout using liquid nitrogen.

Persephone is also known for being particularly active in the local community?  Tell us how you came to get B-Lab “Best For The World Business” for 2018?

We’ve been a certified B Corporation since 2015 and were honoured as a Best For The World Business in 2018 in large part due to our partnership with The Sunshine Coast Association for Community Living to employ adults with developmental disabilities in our business and our ongoing efforts to adopt sustainable environmental practices and systems

What would you tell someone getting into the business today?

Don’t pander. We have been served well by brewing what we want to drink. Integrity is crucial to brewing good beer.

Persephone Brewing Company

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Persephone Brewing Company carries What’s Brewing magazine! You can find them in our Partner Outlets directory:
www.whatsbrewing.ca/find

Persephone Brewing Company
1053 Stewart Road, Gibsons, BC

Phone:	778-462-3007
Website:	http://www.persephonebrewing.com/
Hours:	Winter Hours (Following Labour Day thru May Long Weekend): Tuesday thru Sunday – 11am – 7pm Friday and Saturday – 11am – 9pm