Agassiz Brewing Company Ltd.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada · Est. 1998
Tally's Take
Why this matters
Winnipeg craft, a decade too early. Agassiz brewed in Winnipeg from 1998 until 2002. The brand carried on until 2010, but under contract elsewhere — so the brewery entity ends at 2002 rather than being stretched to cover a label somebody else was making. That distinction is the point of the record: four years of actual Winnipeg production, in a market that would not arrive for another ten.
The Museum
Timeline
- 1998Founded
Agassiz Brewing begins brewing in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
- 2002Winnipeg brewing ends
Production in Winnipeg stops; the brewery entity ends here.
- 2010Brand ends
Agassiz beer had continued under contract elsewhere since 2002; the label stops in 2010.
The People
Behind the beer
Left Fort Garry as brewmaster to start Agassiz, 1998. Closed 2010.
The Beer Library
Beers
Catfish Cream Ale
RetiredCream Ale
Manitoba Pass 26 master. Research beer ID: MB-BE0244; research brewery ID: MB-B0025. Original availability: HISTORICAL / DOCUMENTED RECIPE. Source type: Winnipeg Free Press. Pass added: 23. Winnipeg Free Press explicitly names this as an Agassiz recipe when recounting the brewery's 2002 plant closure and later contract-production phase. Exact ABV left UNKNOWN.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Bison Blonde Lager
RetiredBlonde Lager
Manitoba Pass 26 master. Research beer ID: MB-BE0245; research brewery ID: MB-B0025. Original availability: HISTORICAL / DOCUMENTED RECIPE. Source type: Winnipeg Free Press. Pass added: 23. Winnipeg Free Press explicitly names this as an Agassiz recipe when recounting the brewery's 2002 plant closure and later contract-production phase. Exact ABV left UNKNOWN.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Premium Pilsner
RetiredPilsner
Manitoba Pass 26 master. Research beer ID: MB-BE0246; research brewery ID: MB-B0025. Original availability: HISTORICAL / DOCUMENTED RECIPE. Source type: Winnipeg Free Press. Pass added: 23. Winnipeg Free Press explicitly names this as an Agassiz recipe when recounting the brewery's 2002 plant closure and later contract-production phase. Exact ABV left UNKNOWN.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Dark Lager
RetiredDark Lager
Manitoba Pass 26 master. Research beer ID: MB-BE0247; research brewery ID: MB-B0025. Original availability: HISTORICAL / DOCUMENTED RECIPE. Source type: Winnipeg Free Press. Pass added: 23. Winnipeg Free Press explicitly names this as an Agassiz recipe when recounting the brewery's 2002 plant closure and later contract-production phase. Exact ABV left UNKNOWN.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Harvest Haze Hefeweizen
RetiredHefeweizen
Manitoba Pass 26 master. Research beer ID: MB-BE0248; research brewery ID: MB-B0025. Original availability: HISTORICAL / DOCUMENTED RECIPE. Source type: Winnipeg Free Press. Pass added: 23. Winnipeg Free Press explicitly names this as an Agassiz recipe when recounting the brewery's 2002 plant closure and later contract-production phase. Exact ABV left UNKNOWN.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Travel Guide
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Show your working
Sources
- recordProbable
Brewery record taken from Tally's Manitoba master, Pass 26, which cited https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2010/01/29/agassiz-ale-no-longer-made... for this entry. The cited page has not been opened by the archive.
Tally's Manitoba master, Pass 26 (research workbook) · Tally's Beer Universe research workbook · 2026
CommercialMedium reliabilityAccessed 2026-08-19Reviewed 2026-08-19
Only the claims above are sourced. Everything else on this page is the archive's own research and has not yet been tied to a document — which is worth knowing rather than hiding.
Straight answers
Common questions about Agassiz Brewing Company Ltd.
- Who owns Agassiz Brewing Company Ltd.?
- Agassiz Brewing Company Ltd. is recorded as owned by Gary De Pape — founder/President/Brewmaster; later New Manitoba partners including Joe Constant; full equity timeline HELD, which does not yet have a full company profile in this archive.
- Is Agassiz Brewing Company Ltd. still open?
- No. Agassiz Brewing Company Ltd. has closed (2010). Manitoba Pass 26 master. Research brewery ID: MB-B0025. Entity type: Production brewery. Historical physical brewery recovered in Pass 2. Winnipeg production ended in 2002; later Agassiz brand production continued by contract, so the brewery entity is not extended to 2010. Early modern Manitoba microbrewery supported by provincial technology-commercialization funding; after physical closure the Agassiz/Catfish brand survived through outsourced production. Legal entity: Agassiz Brewing Company Ltd.; later brand activity via New Manitoba Brewing Ltd.. Production evidence: HISTORICAL PRODUCTION VERIFIED — Manitoba government identified operating small-scale brewery in March 1999; physical Winnipeg operation later closed and brand shifted to contract production.. Ownership as recorded: PHYSICAL BREWERY AND LATER CONTRACT-BRAND LINEAGE SEPARATED. Owner as recorded: Gary De Pape — founder/President/Brewmaster; later New Manitoba partners including Joe Constant; full equity timeline HELD. Status as recorded: CLOSED — PHYSICAL BREWERY ENDED 2002 / BRAND ENDED 2010.
- When was Agassiz Brewing Company Ltd. founded?
- Agassiz Brewing Company Ltd. was founded in 1998 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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