Local microbreweries and brew pubs ramped up production to keep sippers deep in suds during the recent strike that stopped shipments of Molson’s and Labatt’s products throughout most of the province for 10 days.

But it remains to be seen if that bubble will burst, and the gains last as long as the three-year contract that ended the Brewery, Winery and Distillery Workers’ Union strike.

“We all did quite well over the strike period,” said Paul Hoyne, owner and brewmaster of Lighthouse Brewing Co. Lighthouse had a 20-per-cent increase in sales and took on five new accounts, he added. “We’ll be working to keep those relationships up, so people will stay with us afterward.”

Industry players know how one long strike secured permanent market share and customer base, as well as long-term financial success, for Calgary’s Big Rock Brewery.

Don Denton, Business Edge
Jennifer Little, sales and marketing manager for Vancouver Island Brewery, shows off her company’s products at the brewery on Government Street in Victoria.

In 1984, Big Rock was a very small fish in the brewing pond. But the company capitalized on a summer beer strike that stopped shipment of all major brands.

Soon Big Rock was the only brand available, and the microbrewery plunged right in, adding round-the clock shifts to meet the sudden demand.

When the big breweries dove back in, Big Rock was a considerably bigger fish in the pond. Sales had doubled for its premier product, Big Rock Pale Ale.

Big Rock products are now distributed in every province west of Quebec, in the North and four U.S. states.

But the recent B.C. strike did not afford the same opportunities: The media were focused on a health union strike, so microbreweries were surprised by the brewery workers’ strike. And the strike was over in a splash.

But some made the most of the opportunity to increase market share or build customer base.

Gulf Island Brewery added two new accounts and draft taps “which are hard to get and wouldn’t otherwise have happened,” said owner Murray Hunter.

A few decided not to seek new customers.

Although Vancouver Island Brewery doubled its production during the strike and garnered a few new customers, it didn’t vigorously pursue new accounts, said Jennifer Little, sales and marketing manager.

Phillips Brewing Co. decided not to pursue new accounts at all. “We didn’t want to disappoint existing customers,” said owner Matt Phillips. “We were running pretty close to c apacity” at 25 hectolitres per week. (A hectolitre is about 293 bottles of beer.)

The smaller breweries were preparing for increased summer production at the time of the strike, so were able to ramp up quickly to meet extra demand.

“We went from 75 per cent of capacity to 100 per cent capacity,” said Gulf Island’s Hunter.

Capacity presents a problem for microbreweries looking to increase market share or widen customer base in a short period of time.

Currently, microbreweries and brew pubs account for only five to 10 per cent of the beer market in B.C.– 2,341,737 hectolitres in 2003.

The Canadian Brewers’ Association sets 60,000 hL as the upper production limit for a microbrewery, with most producing much less.

Although smaller brewers can add additional shifts to increase production, the strike was too short for them to develop the extra capacity needed to capture a larger share of the market. They don’t have idle brew tanks just sitting around.

“I was dreading the next week,” said Phillips. “But it was such a short strike that nobody really ran out of beer.”

Had the strike stretched into a third week, domestic supplies would have begun to disappear and the craft breweries, all running at or close to capacity, would have depleted their stores and had no way to produce enough to meet demand. Shortages were inevitable.

While the big domestic breweries flood back into the market, the microbreweries are replacing stocks depleted by the strike and grooming customers won over during the labour dispute.

The fuller flavours of craft brews are foreign to palates of domestic beer drinkers.

Craft breweries rely on customers’ tastes maturing and educating their palates. The craft brewers’ customer base has been built one customer at a time – but the strike delivered a whole new pool all at once.

“Generally, once people try our brews, they prefer them,” said Hoyne.

“Once they find out there is a beer with flavour,” added Hunter “they won’t go back. They want to drink it on a regular basis.”

And often seek out new taste sensations among the craft breweries.

The craft-brew industry has been steadily growing. Gulf Island Brewing has enjoyed 25-per-cent annual growth and after three years in business, Phillips Brewing is set to move into a larger facility.

Hoyne sees the day when craft breweries rule local markets, as they do now in Europe.

The strike may have brought that day a little closer, but “it’s too early to tell if there’s been a long-term effect,” said Vancouver Island Brewery’s Little.

The strike of ’04 may have flashed by quickly, but Island microbreweries will be on alert three years from now – when the union will be back at the bargaining table.