Powell Brewery

This Powell Street brewery is a success story that just keeps getting better and better.

When husband and wife David Bowkett and Nicole Stefanopoulos opened their nanobrewery in late 2012, they planned for slow, steady growth. Within six months, that plan was shredded when Powell Street Craft Brewery’s Old Jalopy Pale Ale won beer of the year at the Canadian Brewing Awards. As demand spiked, Bowkett simply could not brew enough beer. The only option was to move — and, thankfully for the brand, a larger space opened up a few blocks west on Powell Street. Almost in direct contrast to its origins, Powell Brewery (the name was tweaked in 2016) has a luxurious amount of space, with ample room for Bowkett’s burgeoning barrel-aging program and a walk-in cooler the size of the original brewery.

Bowkett and his brewing team focus on classic styles and more experimental creations featuring new hop varietals and souring. Powell has also expanded its repertoire with a line of low calorie beer seltzers called SLTZR (pronounced Seltzer) that pour clear and bubbly, gluten free, and vegan,  as well the Light series featuring beers that are low in calories, but still big in flavour.

Bowkett’s other great passion is barbecue — he is the founder of Aftermath Barbecue, a Texas-influenced BBQ pop-up company that holds regular cooks in the Powell Brewery parking lot, where you will also find a large, pandemic-friendly patio space augment the indoor tasting room.