Kensington Brewing Company draws its name from Kensington Market, but the small craft brewer has never had an official brewing space within that neighbourhood. That’s about to change, because owner Brock Shepherd has secured a location at 299 Augusta Avenue for a brewery, retail space and bar.
Construction starts next month, and if all goes well, the brewery will open its doors to the public by winter of this year. KBCo has also hired a brewmaster, Dave Lee, who graduated from the Siebel Institute of Technology — the oldest brewing school in the U.S. — and who also has experience working at Mill Street Brewery.
KBCo’s current beers — the Augusta Ale, the FishEYE-PA and a soon-to-be-released watermelon wheat beer — likely won’t be brewed on-site (they are currently brewed at Wellington Brewery in Guelph), but they will be available for sale at the new brewery.
“The Augusta location is really for experimentation,” says KBCo’s Michael Gurr. “We’ll be constantly trying to create different beers and focus on new and innovative things all the time. The three big brands will still be brewed at Wellington.”
The venue will also provide beer on tap and beer for retail purchase, and there are also plans to provide food sourced from local vendors, but the first priority will be to brew beer.