This Alberta-based brewery is maximizing beer production and minimizing its global footprint in 2022

It’s all about the beer for the Fahr brewery.

Soon, there will be a lot more of it due to the award-winning brewery’s recent approval for over 25,000 square feet of expansion to their facility in Turner Valley, Alberta, just south of Calgary.

Scheduled to break ground in the spring of 2022, the German-infused brewery received approval from the town to expand into a brewing and entertainment space in the Foothills community.

Since bringing its first beer to market in 2016, Fahr’s founder and president, Jochen Fahr, has made an impact on the beer industry, not only with its expansion plans but local, national and international recognition as well.

“From the moment of conception of the business plan for our brewery, we have been guided by our mantra: it’s all about the beer,” Fahr says.

The brewery’s success is the driving force behind the expansion and Fahr hopes to have shovels in the ground next year.

“We are bursting at the seams, so we really need to upgrade our space,” he says.

Minimizing its global footprint

Not only is the brewery upgrading its space with a goal to quintuple production within the next five years, but they have a heavy focus on sustainability — and it’s not just for show.

Fahr’s expansion includes a state-of-the-art facility that focuses on closed-loop sustainability, with the goal to be net-zero within the next three to five years — a target they have been working towards since day one.

“Essentially, the overarching goal is while everything is about the beer here, the second part of that story is can we have the opportunity or the capability of having at least two uses for everything,” Fahr says.

Fahr has developed a carbon recycling process that recaptures excess carbon, making it reusable.

The recapture initiative is only one part of the large-scale sustainability plan for the brewery. The new facility will also include a solar panel roof, a passive heating system that uses heat raised from the brewing process.

“I’d like to claim that’s my European roots,” he says.

“I’m from Germany and the country is exactly half the size of Alberta, and there are 83 million people there. So, if you’re not smart with what you’re doing with your resources, things get really tight, really quick.”

That’s not all the brewery will have to offer

In addition to increasing production capacity, the brewhouse will be able to seat up to 100 guests.

With expanded food offerings, guests will also be able to dine on authentic German street food, and there will be a 2,000 square foot barn-style event venue for weddings and special events.

Upon completion, the expansion will add 30 to 50 jobs to the local economy.

“The Fahr Brewery expansion and investment in Turner Valley is a great example of what supporting local means,” Turner Valley Mayor Barry Crane says.

“This project empowers enterprise and enthusiastic entrepreneurship, creates quality local employment and increases tourism attraction to the community.”

Fahr Brewery has earned several awards in the last year alone, including the World’s Best Bavarian Style Hefeweiss at the World Beer Awards, and a Gold at the Alberta Beer Awards for Best German and Belgian-Style Beer this week.

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