Christine and Andrew Gillingham understand that progress is a slow process. We went out to speak with the owners of one of the newest craft breweries in the county, Gillingham Brewing Company. We’ve heard some serious beer connoisseurs geeking out over the new brewers and we wanted to check out the operation and hear their story.
The family owned and run business, like a lot of PEC businesses, started after spending some time in the area. This was due to Andrew’s family establishing Domaine Darius winery located adjacent to Gillingham’s location.
It was a two-year process from the point of conception with a gentle progressive process since brew master, Andrew, also spent two days a week up in the GTA working while spending five days getting the logistical, structural and mechanical processes going with wife and business partner, Christine, who was living in the area full-time with their daughter.
They acknowledge that the endeavor is not an easy one, but they like that… a lot. These two like a challenge. They tried to be practical with the scale of the operation, but recently had to already increase that.
This all came to fruition with Andrew being an amateur home brewer for years as a hobby that he took as seriously as “Chad the Crossfitter” takes his #WOTD. Yeah, that serious.
Branding was a labour of love as well for the couple as they came from a background of marketing and advertising before making the complete lifestyle transformation into brewing. We love the stubby bottles and 1920’s style fonts and graphics they use. The bottles have a prohibition era style that also speaks to the beers that it holds. They have soul and warmth with a no-nonsense appeal.
Gillingham prides themselves on educating their customers that come to not only try a beverage, but to learn about the craft and science behind the product. They are happy to walk you through their current offering of seven different brews and the grains and the different processes that it takes to get to the finished products.
With each beer, there is a paired bar snack to go with it. One would think that it doesn’t take much thought to come up with a pairing, but not when Christine is involved. She took that very seriously as all levels of molecular gastronomy are taken into consideration when pairing their snacks with their beer.
What’s next for the 1920s bootlegger-style beer company? Well, for them, they’re taking things one day at a time. They are solely focused on the product they produce. They are invested wholeheartedly and will continue to be invested in the day-to-day operations. Christine and Andrew are determined not to lose sight of that because they love the industry and process as well as the area in which they live, and the community are proud to be a part of. We highly suggest you consider making the trip, BOQ fam. We promise you will not be disappointed.
Gillingham Brewing Co. is located at 1316 Wilson Rd. in Hillier and is currently open:
Thursday: 11:30am-6pm
Friday: 11:30am–6pm
Saturday 11:30am–6pm
Sunday 11:30am–5pm
Monday 11:30am– 5pm
Follow Gillingham Brewing Company on Instagram for more details and updates.
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