From brewpub to brand: How Diversey fuels growth at popular Canadian craft brewer.
Brewsters Brewing Company was founded in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1989 as a brewpub owned by the Lanigan family. At the time, Brewsters focused on brewing high-quality craft beer on a micro scale to sell on-site at their restaurant, which was formally launched in 1991. In the years that have followed, as Brewsters grew to multiple sites and the craft beer industry boomed, their need for consistency in their brewing processes and cleaning regimen increased dramatically. And that’s where we come in.
Almost two decades ago, Diversey’s Troy Matteotti, at the time a hygiene technical customer service specialist, visited the brewery where he learned Brewsters' daily processes and challenges. While donning a pair of galoshes and completely inside the brewing tank, Troy observed one of the key issues creating challenges for Brewsters – a tank cleaning process that required scrubbing the inside of brew kettles by hand.
What followed next was the recommendation of a range of Diversey hygiene solutions featuring Singlex® and Plastren H®; two powerful caustic solutions that eliminated the need for physical scrubbing of the brew kettles. This chemical solution also required only one water rinse – saving time, resources and cost.
According to Brewsters’ Brewmaster Robert Walsh: “Singlex has been our go-to solution for 18 years now. The product works like no other caustic that I have used in my 28 years of brewing.”
During a relationship that has spanned twenty years, Brewsters now has 11 locations in Alberta and two “Beer Revolution” locations, a new restaurant and craft beer bar concept. This expansion is no accident – and wouldn’t have been possible without the Diversey relationship.
The relationship with Brewster is still managed by Troy Matteotti, now an account manager. According to Troy, “Cleanliness is a crucial part of a successful, consistent brew. When working with a customer like Brewsters, it’s really important for us to recommend solutions that allow the brewer to innovate without disrupting bread-and-butter processes. Brewing beer is a creative industry, and brewmasters constantly need to experiment with new recipes while also staying true to known favorites.”
Troy continues, “We don’t just provide cleaning products. We see ourselves as true partners to our brewery customers. We take time to learn their business first, and then help find gaps in their systems and introduce solutions that minimize resources, maximize efficiency, and maintain the highest levels of cleanliness.”
Most importantly, Diversey’s consistent attention to relationship and results help brewers maintain brand integrity and consistent flavor profiles batch-to-batch and location-to-location. No homebrewer milling grain by hand in their basement dreams of the sanitation solutions their brewery might someday need to employ… but they do dream of creating delicious, reputable beer, and that’s the capability that Diversey provides. By taking out the guesswork around hygiene and helping brewers increase efficiency, Diversey enables our customers to create consistent, quality beer, and grow their business – and that’s what makes for a successful partnership year, after year, after year.