Made in Saskatchewan: Great Western Brewing expands to double production

Saskatoon’s Great Western Brewing is raising a glass to nearly a century of beer-making history, and to the workers who kept it alive.

Beer has been brewed on the company’s 2nd Avenue site since 1927, when the original facility first opened its doors. After decades under various ownerships, the Carling O’Keefe Brewery nearly shut down in 1927.

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But 16 employees refused to let it happen. They risked their homes, pooled their savings, and formed what would become Great Western Brewing Company, preserving large-scale beer production in Saskatchewan.

Now, 97 years later,