Great Western Brewing Company

Description of the Historic Place

The Great Western Brewing Company (also known as Hub City Brewing Company) is a large structure located at 510 1st Avenue North in the neighbourhood of City Park. Built in 1927, this building is a historic brewery in Saskatoon, as well as one of the longest large-scale breweries still operating in Saskatchewan.

Heritage Value

The Great Western Brewing Company building was designed by David Webster and built in 1927 for the Hub City Brewing Company at a cost of $500,000. The Hub City Brewing Company was owned by Western Breweries Ltd which was a holding company for Drewry's Ltd of Winnipeg, Manitoba. E.L. Drewry set up his brewing and bottling business in Winnipeg in 1877.

In 1930, the name of the building was changed to Western Canada Brewing Company and in 1932, the parent organization decided to change the name of the brewery again to Drewry's Ltd. Drewry's Standard Ale and Lager beers were produced at this facility and the sales were so good that a bottling plant was added to the existing building in 1948. The addition cost $50,000 and was a one storey brick and tile building.

In 1955, E.P. Taylor's Canadian Breweries bought out Drewry's Saskatchewan operations. Molson decided to close down the Saskatoon brewery in 1989 and shift all production to their Regina facility. In 1989, the plant, land, and equipment were valued at $5 million. 16 former employees decided to buy the brewery with the help of the Saskatchewan Economic Development Corporation (SEDC). The new brewery was called the Great Western Brewing Company and at the time of its creation, it was the only employee owned brewery in Western Canada.  In 1990, Great Western was shipping 80,000 dozen bottles per week. By the late 1990s, Great Western was ranked 29th out of 300 breweries across North America in terms of annual output.

The Great Western Brewing Company has outlasted all other breweries in Saskatchewan. The Molson brewery in Regina and the Labatt's brewery in Saskatoon were both closed leaving this brewery as the only major capacity brewery in Saskatchewan. This building is unique in Saskatoon not only because it is the only major brewery that has survived; but also because it has been used as a brewery through its entire history.

Source: City of Saskatoon Built Heritage Database

Character Defining Elements

Key elements which contribute to the heritage value of this historic resource include:

• Those features that speak to its history as a brewery, including its arched windows, form, massing, scale and original location; and its ‘Great Western’ Mural along its 2nd Avenue North facade.