Canada, MB: Half Pints Brewing Co. is for sale

For sale: a pioneer of Winnipeg’s craft brewing scene.

Over the past 19 years, Half Pints Brewing Co. has witnessed the local market expand from two companies to at least 26. It’s been through a global pandemic, rapid inflation, supply chain breakdowns and, most recently, a trade war, Winnipeg Free Press reported on March 10.

Half Pints founder David Rudge is ready for a break.

“People will put this down to ‘Dave’s gone nuts and had his mid-life crisis,’” Rudge, 50, said with a laugh.

But handing the keys to a new entrepreneur has been an ongoing discussion between Rudge and the Half Pints ownership group, which includes family members.

He started the venture in 2006 — back when national and international beer ruled the market. Just Fort Garry Brewing Co. Ltd. shared the city when Half Pints opened on Keewatin Street, and at the time, the former was owned by a British Columbia firm.

Rudge had spent the past years creating drinks in other provinces. He returned home inspired and with former operations like Agassiz Brewing in mind: “No brewery exists in a vacuum.”

The first site was cramped. Many onlookers questioned whether Half Pints would succeed, Rudge recalled.

However, by the next year, Half Pints was moving to the St. James neighbourhood for more space. It eventually quadrupled its capacity at 550 Roseberry St. (It can now produce up to 14,000 litres of beer weekly.)

Out came the St. James Pale Ale, Little Scrapper IPA and Stir Stick Stout. The latter, a coffee-flavoured blend, hooked Kyle Mathers.

“It absolutely blew my mind,” the longtime customer said. He’d line up a half-hour before Half Pints opened on days new beers would be released.

Specialty brews would sell out before the line finished, Rudge recalled.

Those were early days, he added — Half Pints upped its production and stopped hosting anticipated releases around 2012 to give everyone “a fair crack.”

As Half Pints continued operating, Rudge lobbied the provincial government to make it easier for craft breweries to operate and to open licensed taprooms.

“(We wanted to) really open it up so that we weren’t just the only ones standing there beating the drum for good beer in Manitoba,” Rudge said.

Change happened rapidly between 2015 and 2020. Barn Hammer Brewing Co. opened Winnipeg’s first taproom in 2016; small breweries started sprouting across the city as zoning bylaws were amended.

“It was easier for us to kind of follow in (Half Pints’) footsteps because they worked hard to forge the path,” said Chris Warwaruk, co-founder of Farmery Estate Brewery in Neepawa.

He ran a restaurant and pub during Half Pints’ infancy. Both venues had Half Pints drinks on the menu; they were well-received by customers and showed craft beer “was something to be reckoned with,” Warwaruk said.

Rudge spoke positively about the newer craft brewers in town. Each draws a different clientele and has a distinct feel, he added.

And the ones with at least five years under their belt, like Half Pints, have been through headline-making global events.

Manitoba taprooms and restaurants temporarily shuttered for periods during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each time, Half Pints lost 40 per cent of its business, Rudge recounted.

The company would sometimes accept unused beer kegs it had sold; client businesses pushed returns and refunds so they could pay their staff, Rudge said.

Half Pints dropped from a peak of 14 staff pre-pandemic. Rudge now runs the place with one other employee.

“I think breweries in general … have all kept things a little bit tighter over the past little while,” he said. “You’re dealing with ‘Oh my gosh, what’s coming? Tariffs and this and that.’”

There’s a widespread feeling of being drained amid companies weathering these global events, said Michael Mikulak, executive director of Food & Beverage Manitoba.

He pointed to labour shortages and supply chain disruptions lasting years. Breweries face increased competition locally, a decrease in alcohol consumption and possibly less consumer spending due to inflation, Mikulak said.

“Being an entrepreneur is hard,” he said. “It’s been that death by a thousand cuts.”

There wasn’t a single moment sparking the Half Pints sale listing, Rudge said. He asked his shareholder group: “We can keep doing it and keep rolling. How much more do we want to do that?”

It’s time for someone with new ideas to take over, Rudge added.

“I’m … excited about the idea of seeing people come in and change something,” he said. “I think that’s one of those things that this place could technically offer to people, that ‘Here’s a blank slate that you could create on.’”

A blank slate with a recipe list for 400 beers, Rudge said. Upwards of 35 restaurants and bars stock Half Pints, he estimated.

He’ll keep Half Pints open — 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, so he can have his evenings — while searching for a buyer. Already, people have been enquiring.

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