Archive record · Brewery
NWT Brewing Company
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
Also known as The Woodyard Brewhouse & Eatery
- Founded
- 2015
- Archive ID
- TB-NNA13P9E
- Last checked
- 2026-08-23
Who owns this brewery?
Independent ownership is recorded. No parent company is held in the archive.
From the record
Summary
The first and only commercial microbrewery and brewpub in the Northwest Territories. Owner-operated by Fletcher and Miranda Stevens since it opened in November 2015. Owner-operated.
A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.
Tally’s Take
The only commercial brewery in the Northwest Territories, and the first ever established in the territory. Everything that goes into the beer — grain, hops, cans — is hauled thousands of kilometres up Highway 3 or across seasonal ice roads, which makes a 112-seat brewpub in Old Town Yellowknife a genuine feat of logistics before it is anything else. It started as a Christmas homebrew kit and a complaint about the price of beer up here. Kicksled Cream Ale took a bronze at the Canadian Brewing Awards in year one, which suggests they were never really just complaining.
The founding thesisMiranda gave Fletcher a homebrew kit for Christmas as a hedge against northern alcohol prices. He was a journeyman mechanic. Eighteen months later they had both quit their jobs.
Where it is
62.46030, -114.34850
Supplied by the research pass; method not recorded
Open on a mapThe Museum
Timeline
- 2014Quitting the day jobs
In January 2014 Fletcher and Miranda Stevens leave full-time work to build a brewery in Yellowknife — a hedge against northern alcohol prices that turned into a business.
- 2015The Woodyard opens
NWT Brewing Company opens in November 2015 in Old Town Yellowknife, with the 112-seat Woodyard Brewhouse & Eatery attached.
- 2016Bronze in year one
Kicksled Cream Ale takes a bronze medal at the Canadian Brewing Awards within the brewery's first year of operation.
The People
Behind the beer
Fletcher was a journeyman mechanic until Miranda gave him a homebrew kit as a Christmas present and it turned into an obsession. In January 2014 the two quit their full-time jobs to build the brewery; it opened in November 2015.
Official brewery identifies Fletcher as Brewmaster/co-owner; Corporations Canada lists him as director and direct 25–50% significant-control shareholder.
Official brewery identifies Miranda as General Manager/co-owner; Corporations Canada lists Lea Miranda Stevens as direct 25–50% significant-control shareholder.
Corporations Canada lists Vranckaert as a current director as of 2026-05-26; no equity is inferred from directorship.
Official NWT Brewing credits Brennan with the 2024 winning commercial-collaboration recipe; 2021 Canadian Homebrewers Association describes him as Aroma Brewealis president and founder. Exact founding-team structure remains HELD.
Official 2025 NWT Brewing release credits Letourneau with the winning recipe behind Aroma Brewealis West Coast IPA.
The Beer Library
Beers
Kicksled Cream Ale
Year-RoundCream Ale
Bronze medallist at the Canadian Brewing Awards in the brewery's first year.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Bug Repellent IPA
Year-RoundAmerican IPA
The flagship hop-forward beer, named for the only thing that outnumbers people up here in summer.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Turbid Witbier
Belgian-style wheat beer / Witbier
Core brand brewed with chamomile, coriander and orange peels. (CURRENT — ON TAP AT ACCESS) [Canada Pass 83]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Nitro Oatmeal Porter
Oatmeal Porter
Current official tap-list beer. (CURRENT — ON TAP AT ACCESS) [Canada Pass 83]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Bent Prop Pilsner
Pilsner
Current official tap-list beer. (CURRENT — ON TAP AT ACCESS) [Canada Pass 83]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Mezcalita Piña Gose
Gose
Current official tap-list beer. (CURRENT — ON TAP AT ACCESS) [Canada Pass 83]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Forager IPA
IPA
Current official tap-list beer. (CURRENT — ON TAP AT ACCESS) [Canada Pass 83]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Make Lemonade
UNKNOWN — style not stated on current tap page
Beer name and ABV verified; style intentionally left UNKNOWN. (CURRENT — ON TAP AT ACCESS) [Canada Pass 83]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Bug Lite India Session Ale
India Session Ale
Current official tap-list beer. (CURRENT — ON TAP AT ACCESS) [Canada Pass 83]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Aroma Brewealis Hazy Pale Ale
RetiredHazy Pale Ale
2024 Brew Doc winning-recipe collaboration with Shawn Brennan and Aroma Brewealis Homebrew Club. (HISTORICAL / SEASONAL — 2024) [Canada Pass 83]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Aroma Brewealis West Coast IPA
RetiredWest Coast IPA
2025 Brew Doc winning-recipe collaboration by Ghyslain Letourneau; exact ABV not stated in retrieved first-party release. (HISTORICAL / SEASONAL — 2025) [Canada Pass 83]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Anniversary Breakfast Stout
RetiredBreakfast Stout / Coffee Stout
Two-year anniversary collaboration featuring Barren Ground Coffee; supplier post specifies dark-roast Sumatran organic coffee sourced through Tunas Indah Coffee Farmers Cooperative. (HISTORICAL / SPECIAL COLLABORATION — 2017) [Canada Pass 83]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →London Fog Hazy Pale
RetiredHazy Pale Ale
Official release: Earl Grey tea, lactose and vanilla; seasonal 473mL cans and tap. LiquorConnect independently lists the packaged beer. (HISTORICAL / SEASONAL — official 2024 release; packaged Alberta distribution also verified) [Canada Pass 83]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Bohemian Raspberry
RetiredFruited Berliner Weisse
LiquorConnect product name is 'BOHEMIAN RASPBERRY BERLINER WEISE' (source spelling). Untappd brewery profile categorizes it as Sour — Fruited Berliner Weisse. Do not infer current taproom availability. (DISTRIBUTION VERIFIED — Alberta agent listing; historical brewery-profile corroboration) [Canada Pass 83]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Mezcalita Lime Gose
Gose
Packaged product listed by LiquorConnect. Keep separate from current Mezcalita Piña Gose; recipe/version relationship is not assumed. (DISTRIBUTION VERIFIED — Alberta agent listing) [Canada Pass 83]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Solidity Harvest Ale
RetiredFresh-hop American Amber / Red Ale
Collaboration with Field & Forge using fresh Cascade hops from Flatland Hops. AHPA describes a copper-hued fresh-hop pale ale whose proceeds supported United Way NWT after the 2023 wildfire season; Untappd classifies it as American Amber/Red. (HISTORICAL / LIMITED COLLABORATION — 2023) [Canada Pass 83]
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Travel Guide
Plan a visit
- 112-seat brewpub
- Full kitchen
- Seasonal patio
- Growlers, crowlers & 4-packs to go
- Merch shop
- Wheelchair accessible main level
- Private events
Old Town Yellowknife, near Pilot's Monument and the Great Slave Lake docks. Service dogs only — territorial health code restricts pet dogs indoors. Distributed across the NWT through the Northwest Territories Liquor Commission, with some lines reaching Alberta.
On the record
Awards
- 2025
Gold — American Pale Lager, Pilsner & Cream Ale — Kicksled Cream Ale
Canadian Brewing Awards
- 2024
Bronze — Cream Ale — Kicksled Cream Ale
Canadian Brewing Awards
- 2016
Bronze — Cream Ale — Kicksled Cream Ale
Canadian Brewing Awards
Only awards we could attribute to a named body and year appear here. An empty section means unresearched, not unawarded.
Show your working
Sources
- foundedConfirmed
NWT Brewing Company opened in November 2015 in Yellowknife.
NWT Brewing Company — About · NWT Brewing Company
BreweryHigh reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-07Brewery-statedClaim last checked 2026-08-07 - controlConfirmed
Owned and operated by Fletcher and Miranda Stevens, in the brewery's own words.
NWT Brewing Company — About · NWT Brewing Company
BreweryHigh reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-07Brewery-statedClaim last checked 2026-08-07
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 NWT Brewing Company
- Who owns NWT Brewing Company?
- NWT Brewing Company is independently owned — there is no parent company above it on record. It is based in Yellowknife, Canada.
- Is NWT Brewing Company independent?
- Yes. NWT Brewing Company is recorded as independent, with no parent company. Independence is recorded as the brewery states it; where a stake is a minority holding or joint venture, this archive leaves it unmapped rather than calling it ownership.
- When was NWT Brewing Company founded?
- NWT Brewing Company was founded in 2015 in Yellowknife, Canada.
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