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A & R / Righton's / Kootenay Brewery

Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada

Also known as A & R Brewery, Righton's Brewery, Kootenay Brewery, J. E. Long's Kootenay Brewery

Closed · 1921Ownership unknownMicrobrewery
Founded
1890
Closed
1921
Archive ID
TB-CWBY7T7X
Last checked
Not yet checked

Who owns this brewery?

Not yet establishedNot yet established

The archive is still digging. That is a gap in the research, not a finding of independence.

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01

From the record

Summary

SFU continuity row traces A & R 1890 → Righton's 1890-93 → Kootenay Brewery 1893-1918 and through Prohibition to 1921. NOTE 2026-09-24: the SFU row's 'A & R 1890 → Righton's 1890-93' prelude belongs to Allen and Righton's two-month partnership (a-r-brewery); from 1893 this is J. E. Long's Kootenay Brewery, not Allen's Revelstoke Brewery (revelstoke-brewery-1891-historical, TB-ACZ9KQ5W), which the same 1893 review says had just added a lager plant.

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

Tally’s Take

Three names across thirty-one years. SFU traces A & R in 1890 into Righton's from 1890 to 1893, and then the Kootenay Brewery from 1893 to 1918, with the line carried through Prohibition to 1921. That gap between 1918 and 1921 is the same shape this archive recorded at Nanaimo on the coast: the brewing stops when British Columbia's prohibition bites, the company survives on paper, and the line finally closes as prohibition lifts.

02

The Museum

Timeline

  1. 1890
    A & R, then Righton's

    The first two names on one continuity row.

  2. 1893
    Kootenay Brewery

    The name it kept for twenty-five years.

  3. 1893
    Re-opened by J. E. Long

    The Kootenay Star's review of 1893 (30 December): "The Kootenay Brewery was re-opened early in the year by Mr. J. E. Long, and a lager beer brewing plant has recently been added to the Revelstoke Brewery." (PRIMARY) — two breweries in Revelstoke in 1893, this one distinct from Oliver Allen's. In January 1894 Long was summoned "for obstructing a public roadway near the Kootenay Brewery".

  4. 1894
    'Have you tried the new lager from the Kootenay Brewery?'

    The Kootenay Mail's local items, 24 November to 8 December 1894: "Have you tried the new lager, from the Kootenay Brewery?" On 26 January 1895 "J. E. Long, of the Kootenay Brewery, was fined $25 and costs for selling liquor on Sunday", after Italians came "at the invitation of Jas. Harper, an employee of Mr. Long's". The SFU row carries it to 1918; its later proprietors: UNKNOWN.

  5. 1918
    Brewing stops

    British Columbia prohibition.

  6. 1921
    Line ends

    The company outlasts the brewing by three years.

03

The People

Behind the beer

Thomas Righton
Partner

08

Show your working

Sources

  1. recordProbable

    Brewery record taken from Tally's British Columbia master, Pass 57, which cited https://www.sfu.ca/archives/archives-program/research/bc-beer-history-archive/bc-beer-history-archive-resources/timeline-pre-prohibition.html for this entry. The cited page has not been opened by the archive.

    Tally's British Columbia master, Pass 57 (research workbook) · Tally's Beer Universe research workbook · 2026

    CommercialMedium reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-19
    Claim last checked 2026-08-19
  2. historyProbable

    Continuity dates as recorded in BC Pass 57: 1890, 1893, 1918, 1921.

    Tally's British Columbia master, Pass 57 (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 A & R / Righton's / Kootenay Brewery

Is A & R / Righton's / Kootenay Brewery still open?
No. A & R / Righton's / Kootenay Brewery has closed (1921). SFU continuity row traces A & R 1890 → Righton's 1890-93 → Kootenay Brewery 1893-1918 and through Prohibition to 1921. NOTE 2026-09-24: the SFU row's 'A & R 1890 → Righton's 1890-93' prelude belongs to Allen and Righton's two-month partnership (a-r-brewery); from 1893 this is J. E. Long's Kootenay Brewery, not Allen's Revelstoke Brewery (revelstoke-brewery-1891-historical, TB-ACZ9KQ5W), which the same 1893 review says had just added a lager plant.
When was A & R / Righton's / Kootenay Brewery founded?
A & R / Righton's / Kootenay Brewery was founded in 1890 in Revelstoke, Canada.
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