Archive record · Brewery
River City Brewing Co.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Also known as River City Brewing Company
- Founded
- 1999
- Closed
- 2003
- Archive ID
- TB-CM265J7N
- Last checked
- Not yet checked
Who owns this brewery?
The archive is still digging. That is a gap in the research, not a finding of independence.
Know who owns it? Tell us, and we will correct the record.
From the record
Summary
Closeout recovery. Winnipeg Free Press identifies River City Brewing as a Winnipeg brewpub operating in 1999 and later states the Osborne Village brewery closed in 2003. It is preserved as a distinct physical brewpub, not confused with later businesses occupying the same site.
A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.
Tally’s Take
The brewpub that broke Manitoba's fifteen-year drought. The Winnipeg Free Press has River City operating in Osborne Village in 1999 — the first local brewpub attempt since Fridays at the Niakwa in 1984 — and records the closure in 2003. The archive preserves it as its own physical brewpub and deliberately does not confuse it with the later businesses that occupied the same premises, which is the most common way a defunct brewpub gets quietly resurrected on the internet.
The Museum
Timeline
- 1999Opens in Osborne Village
First Manitoba brewpub attempt since 1984.
- 2003Closed
Winnipeg Free Press records the Osborne Village closure.
The Beer Library
Beers
Kringle's Cranberry Christmas Ale
RetiredCranberry Christmas Ale
Historical MLCC beer list indexes 'River city brewing-kringle'S, Cranberry christmas ALE'. Exact ABV and production year remain UNKNOWN.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Show your working
Sources
- recordProbable
Brewery record taken from Tally's Manitoba master, Pass 26, which cited https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/2019/03/08/pouring-it-on 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 2026-08-19Claim last checked 2026-08-19 - historyProbable
Lineage dates as recorded in Manitoba Pass 26: 1999, 2003.
Tally's Manitoba master, Pass 26 (research workbook) · Tally's Beer Universe research workbook · 2026
CommercialMedium reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-19Claim 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.
Straight answers
Common questions about River City Brewing Co.
- Is River City Brewing Co. still open?
- No. River City Brewing Co. has closed (2003). Closeout recovery. Winnipeg Free Press identifies River City Brewing as a Winnipeg brewpub operating in 1999 and later states the Osborne Village brewery closed in 2003. It is preserved as a distinct physical brewpub, not confused with later businesses occupying the same site.
- When was River City Brewing Co. founded?
- River City Brewing Co. was founded in 1999 in Winnipeg, Canada.
Drinking River City Brewing Co.? Stamp it in your passport.
Discover it here — collect it in the Passport. Track every beer, earn stamps, and build your own beer passport.
Every brewery deserves its full story told.
If you're the owner or team behind River City Brewing Co., we'll build out your complete profile — history, the people, every beer — and feature you in a Tally's documentary. No cost, just your story.
No payment affects this record — editorial policy