Armoury Brewing Co.: Canadian Craft Beer Celebrates Saskatchewan’s Farming Roots

Brewing local pride, North Battleford brewery celebrates its farming roots through craft beer.

Brennan Lampitt, 38, co-founder of Armoury Brewing Company in North Battleford, SK, clearly remembers the first time he tasted craft beer. It was 10 years ago, and he and his wife were on a snowboarding trip out west, having lunch with a friend in Vancouver. When Lampitt asked for a Kokanee, his friend promptly cancelled the order and traded it up for a locally brewed craft beer. Brennan was blown away by the flavour and complexity of the beer — and by the fact that it was brewed locally with home-grown ingredients. From that moment forward, he began exploring the world of craft beer and dreaming of someday opening his own brewery. Today, Brennan is one of five co-owners of North Battleford’s first microbrewery, Armoury Brewing Co.

Armoury Brewing Co.’s story begins in 2016 when Gregg Tady, 53, and Brad Taylor, 51, purchased the city’s old armoury. Built in 1913, the building was rundown and had been on the market for ages. Brennan heard the news and was surprised to learn that it was his uncle and a friend who had made the purchase. They were talking about putting in a microbrewery, a dream Brennan still longed to fulfill. Conversations were had, and Brennan, along with his cousins Jackson Tady and Wade Voigt, joined forces with the armoury’s new owners and worked to bring it back to its former glory.

A microbrewery was a good fit for North Battleford. Nearly everyone in the approximately 20,000-person strong farming community has some relationship with agriculture. Wade’s father was a grain farmer, for instance, and Brennan’s dad sold tractors for a living. “We’re in the middle of a bunch of great soil, so when the farmers are doing good, we feel it in town,” Lampitt explains.

Folks in North Battleford also love their beer, but until recently, they didn’t have a source of local pride. Putting Saskatchewan barley into a North Battleford bottle was bound to be a success. It took two years to renovate the old armoury. When it was done, the brewery’s taproom became a living museum that paid tribute to the city’s rich history. It’s not just the façade that pays tribute to the region, but also the malt. Matt Enns, owner of the Rosthern, SK-based Maker’s Malt, prides himself on utilizing local grain in his malt — and Armoury Brewing Co. is proud to showcase it in their beer.

The two companies even have worked collaboratively to create a hyper-local beer, Czech Your Six. The malt used in the beer comes from grain that was grown on land farmed by their neighbours, the Charabins. Lampitt’s uncle once farmed the same land. The combination of regional flavours served in a historical monument gives Armoury Brewing Co. a hometown feel. Lampitt said that was the aim. “We wanted this place where the guy that pumps your gas and the guy that works on your teeth can leave their hat at the door and sit down and have a beer together,” he says. “And I feel that we’re doing a pretty good job of that.”