Upstart emerges from craft-brew trenches

From Prince George Citizen, by Stuart Neatby
April 25th 2018

Brandon Pelletier, sales manager with Trench Brewing, pours a pint of their Fang IPA on Tuesday. – Citizen photo by Brent Braaten

What began initially as a hobby for a small group of friends has emerged as Prince George’s newest micro-brewery.

After more than a year of preparation, Trench Brewing officially opened the doors of its own tasting room last weekend. The space boasts an impressive brewing operation, with seven 1,200 litre Newlands Brewings tanks, and a 1,000 litre kettle which owners hope to use for distilling vodka and gin. The brewery has seven local brews on tap, all named after popular outdoor landmarks that will be familiar to locals. Many have already made an appearance at downtown Prince George restaurants such as Kask and Hummus Brothers.

“All of our beers are pretty well named after areas of the Rocky Mountain Trench,” co-owner Craig Schwenning said.

“On the continental divide, we love the outdoors.”

Located across from a scrap-yard within the old Kenroc building on Second Avenue and London Street, Trench’s lounge is set in a decidedly industrial part of town. This location echoes the trajectory of other craft breweries in cities throughout North American. Belying the reputation of the area as simply a part of town one might only enter in order to have a car repaired, Schwenning expects the brewery to draw significant foot traffic in the evenings from people simply looking for a fun place to go in Prince George.