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This article was published 31/10/2015 (1789 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It may be late to the party, but craft breweries are on the verge of exploding in Winnipeg.

Once a smaller market with just two local craft breweries (Half Pints Brewing Co. and Fort Garry Brewing Co.), the city is set to quadruple that number by the end of next year when at least six breweries or brew pubs are scheduled to open.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Craft beer makers met today to discuss the future of their business at Half Pints Brewing Company.

From the opening of Nicole Barry's Peg Beer Co. brew pub this winter to Tim Hudek's One Great City Brewing brew pub opening in April, Manitoba will go from being the only province without a brew pub to hosting two.

Executives from Calgary-based Big Rock Brewery were here this week, scoping out Winnipeg as a possible location for one of their new urban brew pubs.

Local veterans of craft breweries are embracing the competition.

"None of these people are my competition," said Dave Rudge, the brewmaster at Half Pints. "These are all friends that are opening up breweries, and in the grand scheme of things, our competition is the large, multinational breweries that are taking over small craft breweries and saying they are craft beer as well."

Instead, brewers such as Rudge and Fort Garry brewmaster Matthew Wolff, argue it's about strength in numbers, giving them more lobbying power and a bigger voice.

"Fort Garry and Half Pints have been the lone wolves in the province, and we (Manitoba) have always been behind the curve," Wolff said. "Now that we have a bigger voice and more breweries, we can go after the government and we can ask for things like better taxation."

Members of the Manitoba Brewers Association gathered at Half Pints Thursday for a meeting.

Representatives from the province, Yes! Winnipeg and Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries were at the meeting. They were interested in ways to harness and encourage a local industry that is on the rise.

Representatives from One Great City Brewing Co., Half Pints, Fort Garry, Farmery and a host of other local brewers met to see how they can bring more craft beer to Manitoba.

A newcomer to the scene, Matthew Tallman doesn't have a name yet for his brewery, but said he is planning to open it next year in Winnipeg.

"We're in mid-planning stages. We have some ideas, and we are getting there," Tallman said. "We love the industry and want to be a part of it."

Canadian micro-brews have grown 19 per cent in dollars in Manitoba and 12 per cent in litres since 2014, Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries said.

MLL said demand for craft beer "has exploded in both sales and interest" in Manitoba.

Fort Garry, Half Pints and Farmery have increased sales of almost 10 per cent since last year, MLL said.

The province began trying to expand the local market for craft beer last year by introducing growlers, a refillable beer container that sells Fort Garry and Half Pints beer at participating Liquor Marts. It plans to expand the program.

In May, the province announced it would allow for taprooms at these breweries, with a maximum of about 50 patrons, to sample beer. The brewery only has to provide small snacks.

The decision in May to allow taprooms and tasting rooms helped convince Tyler Birch to get involved in craft brewing. He hopes to have his brewery, Barn Hammer Brewing, opened by late April.

"There weren't enough breweries in Winnipeg and Manitoba," Birch said, while on break at the Brewers Association meeting.

"Craft beer in Manitoba is definitely going to change. Everywhere else you go, there are so many breweries, and everyone drinks local beer. We don't have that here, and I think as people start to see what we're doing, that will all change," Birch said.

So far, only Half Pints has expressed interest in opening a taproom, but Ron Lemieux, the minister responsible for MLL, hopes these new breweries will pounce on it.

He said the province's goal is to see farmers growing barley or hops that will be used by these breweries.

"We can make our own homemade brew. Not only do we grow the barley and we grow the hops, we have all the ingredients with making craft beer -- that's the dream, that's the goal, and it is not that far off," Lemieux said.

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca