Brick Brewing Co., Ontario's largest Canadian-owned brewery today announced that it has formally amended its corporate name to Waterloo Brewing to align with the Waterloo brand names under which it has been brewing and marketing craft beers for the last 35 years. Originally established in 1984 by founder Jim Brickman as Brick Brewing Co., the Company was the first craft brewer in Ontario and has paved the way for over 270 craft brewers now operating in the province.
The name change was approved by shareholders at the Annual and Special Meeting of the Company held on June 5, 2019 and has been approved by the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The company’s common shares, which until now traded on the TSX, under the symbol “BRB”, will commence trading under the new ticker symbol “WBR”.
“We are a company of pioneers, led in the critical early years by our founder Jim Brickman [who resigned in 2008}. It is incredible to think that in the early 80’s there were only ten licensed brewers in all of Canada and no such thing as a craft brewer,” George Croft, President and CEO, Waterloo Brewing was quoted in a press release today.
“We are truly indebted to those original brewers and brewery workers,” continued Croft. “They created the craft beer movement here in Ontario, starting with the renowned Waterloo Dark. The time was right, however, to begin a new chapter in this company’s history. We wanted to cement our commitment to our hometown and the Region of Waterloo by adopting their name as our own; to become part of that regional family, legally and officially. We’re truly grateful for the strong, deep roots as Ontario’s first craft brewer and humbly hope to live up to the standard set by the brewing pioneers who went before us.”
In 2011, Waterloo Brewing purchased the Canadian rights to Seagram Coolers and in 2015, secured the exclusive Canadian rights to both LandShark and Margaritaville. In addition, Waterloo Brewing utilizes its brewing, blending and packaging capabilities to provide an extensive array of contract manufacturing services in beer, coolers and ciders.
In January 2018, the brewery said it is investing CAD 3.5 million (USD 2.6m) to upgrade the can line at its brewery in Kitchener, Ontario, which will double canning capacity to 400,000 hectoliters.
In November 2018, the company further announced to expand its existing operations for CAD 9.6 million (USD 7.16m) by adding a tasting room, small-batch brewhouse and a larger retail store. The investment is the latest in a series of significant projects at the site representing a total investment of nearly CAD 30 million (USD 22.37m) in the past five years.
