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Hudson's Bay Company Lower Fort Garry Brewery

St. Andrews, Manitoba, Canada

Also known as Lower Fort Garry Brewery, Stone Fort Brewery

Closed · 1880Ownership unknownMicrobrewery
Founded
1847
Closed
1880
Archive ID
TB-WYMQZ31G
Last checked
Not yet checked

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01

From the record

Summary

Chronology refinement: Manitoba Historical Society's broader brewing history describes Lower Fort Garry's brewery as operating intermittently from 1847 to 1868. A separate MHS account states beer finally ceased coming from the Lower Fort Garry brewhouse in April 1880. The master therefore retains 1847 as the documented start and 1880 as the physical brewhouse endpoint, while explicitly noting that regular/intermittent production is only documented through 1868. PROBABLE DUPLICATES 2026-09-24: lower-fort-garry-brewery (TB-N1XMA08R, 1845-, no sources), lower-fort-garry-hbc-brewery (TB-JC85TQKM, 1840-, PUBLIC A with no sources — the 1840 start is unsupported by either MHS article) and lower-fort-garry-brew-house (TB-YSAK2Z3S, INTERNAL D) all describe this one Company brewery. This record carries the sources. A merge is a decision for a person with all four open.

A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.

02

The Museum

Timeline

  1. 1843
    Settlers ask for a distillery

    "by 1843, after some settlers urged that a distillery be built in order to increase the amount of liquor available in the colony, the HBC decided to hire 'respectable' contractors to produce 'Native Malt Spirits' under the Company's management".

  2. 1845
    Still, expanded brewery and malting house, June 1845

    "Construction of a whisky still began at Lower Fort Garry in June 1845 following the Council's request for the HBC to begin distillation. In addition, an expanded brewery was built and a malting house erected which would service both production lines."

  3. 1847
    Intermittent, 1847-1868

    "the first commercial brewery was established by the Hudson Bay Company at Lower Fort Garry, and operated intermittently from 1847 to 1868" (Manitoba History no. 54).

  4. 1880
    Last call, April 1880

    "In April of 1880, last call was made at the Lower Fort Garry brew house" (Manitoba History no. 74) — the two MHS articles' end dates, 1868 and 1880, are both kept. The fort is a Parks Canada national historic site.

08

Show your working

Sources

  1. recordProbable

    Brewery record taken from Tally's Manitoba master, Pass 26, which cited https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/54/beerincanada.shtml 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 reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-19
    Claim last checked 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.

09

Straight answers

Common questions about Hudson's Bay Company Lower Fort Garry Brewery

Is Hudson's Bay Company Lower Fort Garry Brewery still open?
No. Hudson's Bay Company Lower Fort Garry Brewery has closed (1880). Chronology refinement: Manitoba Historical Society's broader brewing history describes Lower Fort Garry's brewery as operating intermittently from 1847 to 1868. A separate MHS account states beer finally ceased coming from the Lower Fort Garry brewhouse in April 1880. The master therefore retains 1847 as the documented start and 1880 as the physical brewhouse endpoint, while explicitly noting that regular/intermittent production is only documented through 1868. PROBABLE DUPLICATES 2026-09-24: lower-fort-garry-brewery (TB-N1XMA08R, 1845-, no sources), lower-fort-garry-hbc-brewery (TB-JC85TQKM, 1840-, PUBLIC A with no sources — the 1840 start is unsupported by either MHS article) and lower-fort-garry-brew-house (TB-YSAK2Z3S, INTERNAL D) all describe this one Company brewery. This record carries the sources. A merge is a decision for a person with all four open.
When was Hudson's Bay Company Lower Fort Garry Brewery founded?
Hudson's Bay Company Lower Fort Garry Brewery was founded in 1847 in St. Andrews, Canada.
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