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Prince George biologists hop into science of making craft beer

Deadfall Brewing Company opened in June as city's third microbrewery

Considering the scientific process that goes into making beer, it’s only fitting that biologists Erin and Brandon Baerwald have made it their business to create Deadfall Brewing Company.

Open since June in the Nicholson Centre, Deadfall is the third microbrewery in a relatively untapped Prince George market and its roots are spreading as more customers discover what’s in store for them to sample in a Deadfall can or tapped into a glass.

Building a new business from scratch while the world was still reeling from a pandemic brought supply chain issues and unanticipated delays that tested the patience of the Baerwalds, but they leaned on their years of training as scientists to get them through those difficult days and bring reality to their dream of making suds for a living.

“We knew this was going to happen, we just didn’t know where,” said Brandon.

Brandon, 41, got his undergraduate and masters degree in biology at the University of Calgary and went on to earn his doctorate in ecophysiology at the University of Regina. He met his future wife Erin while they were studying bat biology in Alberta, where they first got bit by the homebrewing bug. Their passion for making beer grew exponentially when they moved to Regina in 2015 and discovered the Ale and Lager Enthusiasts of Saskatchewan (ALES) Club, which introduced them to a group of professional brewers.

That led to jobs for both of them, Brandon as a brewer and Erin serving customers in the taproom at Nokomis Craft Ales in Nokomis, Sask., a small town halfway between Saskatoon and Regina. They worked there for nearly three years until they moved to Prince George late in 2019 when Erin was hired to teach animal behaviour and conservation biology at UNBC. Brandon continued to refine his craft at Trench Brewing & Distilling, where he worked for about a year before branching out to start Deadfall.

Teaching online classes during the lockdowns of 2020-21 was a challenge Erin was forced into and that made the couple’s adjustment to moving to Prince George that much more difficult.

“Moving to a small city that’s close-knit, right at the beginning of a pandemic where you can’t get out and meet people was hard for me professionally and hard for Brandon and I personally,” said the 45-year-old Erin. “He was still able to go into work at Trench but the university said if you can stay home, stay home, so I stayed home for a year-and-a-half.

“So my favourite part is creating a space where people can gather and I’ve met so many wonderful people already. Prince George has come out so hard for us. We already have regulars coming in and we’ve only been open two months.”

It takes money to set up a microbrewery and as longterm students the Baerwalds didn’t have all of the startup funds they needed but found their best friends - Jane Fowler and Will Emery of Vancouver - were willing to invest in Deadfall. They’ve also had plenty of helpful advice by the employees and owners of Trench and CrossRoads Brewing & Distillery – the city’s other two microbreweries. The month they opened for their first beer sales, Trench switched four of the taps of the beer it sells at its downtown tasting room/restaurant to Deadfall brands

COVID tossed the Deadfall duo a few wrinkles. The walk-in cooler where they store flats of beer, originally quoted in the summer of 2020 at $5,000 with the three-week delivery time, six months later the cost ballooned to $25,000 with an 18-week lead time required. So Brandon built his own cooler. After seeing the stainless steel fermenting tanks they bought installed, they looked into buying larger tanks but found similar price spikes related to shortages caused by the pandemic.

Deadfall’s beer menu includes six staples – Retrogression West Coast IPA, Succession New England IPA, Cache Kölsch, Persister Pale Ale, Basal American Brown Ale, Circinate Kettle Sour – and two seasonal brews at the moment – Watermelon Goose and Session Pale Ale. The plants and animals they’ve chosen for the beer can labels are all native to B.C., and many of them are threatened or endangered.

The brewery at 1733 Nicholson St., is on the site of the original Koop’s Bike shop, and it houses the stainless steel kettles where the beer is brewed and a 30-seat taproom tasting area that’s open Thursday-Saturday from 2-9 p.m. There is no food service and customers are encouraged to bring their own if they want to eat and drink in the taproom. They’ve purposely limited their opening hours to allow time to make the beer and to try to keep a chill vibe .

“It hit us the other day, we’re now small business owners in Prince George and we’ve worked real hard to create something really nice,” said Erin. “Because we’re friends with Trench and CrossRoads we’ve built something that looks very different and we’re brewing different styles of beer, so there is no competition. If one of us does well, we all do well.”

Deadfall is on Tourism Prince George’s Bites Flights + Sights app and the brewer is listed on the B.C. Ale Trail, both of which are bringing in new customers.

Holly Smith brought her friend Mariah Franzmann in for her visit to the Deadfall taproom just after it opened on a Thursday afternoon. They were among a steady trickle of customers who came into the store to buy beer.

“This is my second visit here - the beer is delicious and the atmosphere is really nice too, I appreciate the simple touches,” said Smith. “They just kept it simple and straightforward. The last time I came here almost every table was full and I think it’s only quiet now because its 2 (p.m.) and they just opened.”

Franzmann was the designated driver and chose not to indulge on her first visit to the brewery, but she has tasted Deadfall’s beer out of a can and liked it.

“Everything I’ve tried, I like,” she said. “I like that it’s not boring, they’ve tried some interesting flavours. They’ve tried to experiment and tried to do some new things.”

Could be a formula for success.