The Establishment Brewing Company
Calgary, Alberta, Canada · Est. 2019
Tally's Take
Why this matters
Homebrew champions who went pro and immediately started winning national awards for wild fermentation. Calgary got a serious brewery almost overnight.
The founding thesisThree friends spent a decade homebrewing in an Erlton basement they nicknamed 'The Establishment' — then turned the nickname into Canada's Brewery of the Year.
The Museum
Timeline
- 2000sThe basement called The Establishment
Mike Foniok, Dave Ronneberg and Brandon Hart spend a decade homebrewing in an Erlton basement they'd nicknamed 'The Establishment', bonding over records as much as beer.
- 2013The flood
The Calgary floods devastate Erlton and end the basement era. The name survives the building.
- 2019Opening in the Manchester Brewing District
The taproom opens in January 2019, with a decade of competition-winning homebrew experience behind the brewhouse.
- 2021Canadian Brewery of the Year
Named the top brewery in Canada — two years after opening.
The People
Behind the beer
Over 100 Canadian homebrewing awards and named a top homebrewer in Canada in 2016. Brought the mixed-culture and wild fermentation work with him when the hobby went professional.
One of three founders with more than a decade of homebrewing behind him before the brewery opened.
Co-founded The Establishment after years of brewing in the Erlton basement that gave the brewery its name.
The Beer Library
Beers
Gold Past Life
Year-RoundCzech Pale Lager (Světlé)
The house lager, and the beer to judge the brewhouse by.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Left My Wallet In El Segundo
LimitedLichtenhainer
A revived historical German style — smoked, soured, and almost nobody else brews it.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Travel Guide
Plan a visit
- Pet-friendly patio
- Outdoor seating
- Family friendly
- Snacks
- Outside food delivery allowed
- Wheelchair accessible
Barley Belt — a few doors from Annex Ale Project, which makes the two an easy pair.
Show your working
Sources
- nameConfirmed
The brewery is named after an Erlton house damaged in the 2013 Calgary flood. The house has since been demolished.
The Establishment Brewing Company — About · The Establishment Brewing Company
BreweryHigh reliabilityAccessed 2026-08-07Reviewed 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.
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