While Sid studied at the Okanagan School of Business in Kelowna, BC, it was the evening’s self-guided beer education that taught him how to brew. He was fresh out of high school, so him and his friends were not quite old enough to buy beer yet, forcing them to brew their own in Sid's dorm room.

FOUNDED BY FATHER + SON

The idea to put a microbrewery in Oliver’s ‘Old Firehall’ was born of father and son, Jim and Sid Ruhland. Planning for the Firehall Brewery launch began in early 2011, and equipment installation began in July later that year. We heard a local bootlegger was selling his brewing system, and soon enough we were busy piping it into the Old Firehall’s cavernous bunker with the help of friends & family. For an inside look at the whole process, check out "Brewing a Brewery".The first batch was released at the end of March 2012, and since then we’ve been pumping out unfiltered, unpasteurized, & uncompromised artisan ales, again with much help from friends, family, a team of awesome staff.