It’s news worth hoisting a pint over.

London is getting its own craft brewery as Forked River Brewing will soon start making suds here, giving London an accolade it has lacked since that dark day when Glatt Bros. closed down its own craft beer maker.

“We want to build a craft beer business here, a community business with a unique beer tasting opportunity,” said David Reed, an engineer by trade who is starting the business with Steve Nazarian and Andrew Peters, both micriobiologists.

“We want to build it and grow it here.”

The 3,000-square-feet brewery on Pacific Court will boast natural beer without preservatives and will not be pasteurized. It will hit some pubs and restaurants this spring with a Capital Blonde brew and Riptide pale ale. It will also feature seasonal specialty beers after it is up and running.

It is also promising an on-site tasting room and customers will be able to buy beer on site, from bottles to kegs, he added.

Reed now has deals to sell the beer in about a half-dozen bars. It will be able to brew up to 18 hectolitres in a batch, that is 1,800 litres or 3,600 bottles at a time, he said.

“We just want to make it here, distribute and sell locally and build our business from there,” said Reed.

Reed, who grew up in London and is an Oakridge and Western graduate, has been making beer at home for about 10 years and his home brew won two gold medals and a bronze medal at home brewing competitions.

Forked River is entering the London craft beer market at just the right time, added Steve Abrams, co founder of Mill Street Brewery in Toronto.

His brewery has struggled to penetrate the London market, based on the fact Labatt has a strong local presence here given its Horton St. brewery, he believes.

But the market is turning and may finally be ripe for a small, independent.

“When Mill Street expanded we set our sights on London, it has been a tough nut to crack, it is more conservative” said Abrams.

“But it is starting to change. The timing (for Forked River) is good.”

The market itself remains strong, with the number of craft breweries in Ontario increasing to 47 from 31 since 2005, and sales have grown to 5% of the provincial beer market, to about $190 million, according to figures from the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation.

In 2011, Ontario’s craft beers led LCBO sales in all categories, including wine and spirits — with nearly 45% sales growth, stated the ministry.

norman.debono@sunmedia.ca