Moving from twenty years in church ministry to brewing may not seem like an obvious career path, but that’s exactly what Chris Neufeld of Grey Fox Brewing did, as we learned when he sat down with us on a hot day earlier this summer.
Chris had originally worked in the engineering field but as a younger man felt called to the ministry; he explained that a few years ago he felt a new calling, this time to do something else, but didn’t feel he was at the right stage of his life to be retraining for a new career.
Having been diagnosed with celiac disease in 2003, he felt that maybe he had something to offer the celiac community in the Okanagan and beyond, and that running a for-profit business would likely ultimately mean that business would have more longevity.
Chris hadn’t really been able to find a palatable beer for approaching 20 years and so had concentrated his home-brew efforts on wine-making, but a gluten free winery doesn’t really offer a unique selling point and so his thoughts turned to beer. After all, how hard could it be?!
With plans to open in the summer of 2020, Grey Fox Brewing was a victim of the Covid 19 pandemic; with the benefit of hindsight, though, Chris feels fortunate he had the extra time to study the industry and is certain more mistakes would have been made if they’d met their original opening target. He spent time talking to gluten free brewers, mainly in Oregon where there are several successful GF breweries, and learning the science behind the magical starch/sugar relationship. He took advice from more local breweries on the equipment they used and was ready to truly hit the ground running. One of the things he’s most proud of is designing the prototype for a gluten free grain mill, and also sourcing most of his custom-designed equipment from local suppliers.
Chris is also justifiably proud of the family support he’s received with this business. His wife manages the financial and administrative side of things, his son does all of the marketing, and having a journalist for a son-in-law has been invaluable in raising awareness and getting people talking. He rates their Kickstarter campaign as a success too, not only did they reach their financial target, but the gluten free community have become “mentally invested” and people have been talking about the importance of having great-tasting gluten free beers readily available in Canada.
As we stand now, the final concrete in the brewery is poured, inspections are imminent and brewing should begin by mid-September, with beer available to buy by the end of September.
Grey Fox Brewing, for now at least, has manufacturing/ retail licenses only - we will be able to enjoy a flight to taste the beers but won’t be able to drink it on site. Chris does, however, have agreements in place for his beers to be sold through four or five taprooms in the Kelowna area and will offer kegs, cans and growler fills at his own brewery.
But what about the beer? Having experimented with different starting grains - all naturally gluten free of course - Chris has settled on a millet base, with some rice and buckwheat in some of the brews. He only buys his malt from certified GF facilities, and whilst hops are naturally gluten free he does ensure his suppliers are not processing them on shared equipment. The final ingredient is the yeast, Chris opts to use gluten free dried yeast rather than brewer’s yeast which is almost always NOT gluten free.
The brewery plans to offer the genuine craft beer experience, with the beers available changing on a regular basis. Grey Fox Brewing’s two flagships will be a pilsner-style lager and what Chris calls an “agile” IPA with an IBU (International Bitterness Units) rating of 56 which classifies it as milder than a lot of commercially available IPAs. There will also be up to 3 Belgian-style beers, with a porter or stout available in the winter months and hopefully a sour for summer 2023.
In the short to medium term there is no plan to introduce an alcohol-free beer, that would require a lot more capital expense, but small batches of hopped seltzers could be on the cards.
Grey Fox Brewing is going to be an exciting addition to the Okanagan when they open, but what of the rest of us elsewhere in BC and beyond? Where can we expect to buy these beers? Chris explained that whilst they can get their products listed for sale with BC liquor stores, they want to be absolutely sure they can cope with demand before they do that. We’ve all experienced the frustration when a GF beer is theoretically available in our local stores but is never actually on the shelf. Grey Fox Brewing will be able to make 3,000 litres a week to start with, with the capability to double that before too long, and they’ll be monitoring sales and demand very carefully to ensure that any province-wide launch is backed up by a regular supply. Partnerships with other BC craft breweries to stock cans of Grey Fox could be an option too. For now - we all need to add the brewery to our list when we’re wine-tasting in the Okanagan!
And finally, what is the meaning of the name, why Grey Fox Brewing? Chris had originally thought of calling it Foxtail Brewing, because the base ingredient is foxtail millet and the foxtail was a cool image. As it turns out, the name Foxtail Brewing was not available, but once you have a name you love, it's hard to think of another. Chris was talking to one of the founding partners at Ghostfish in Seattle and asked him how they came up with the name, because Ghostfish is pretty unusual. He told him that it's a play on words, the abbreviation for Ghostfish Beer being GF beer. Chris’ wife Suzanne came up with the name Grey Fox, and the whole team embraced it. Particularly because grey, not gray, was distinctly Canadian, something they wanted to emphasise. Once people learn of the Grey Fox/GF association it tends to be easier to remember the brand.
And until Grey Fox beers are available for us to try, we asked Chris, tongue firmly in cheek, which beers he recommends… The Ghostfish IPA made the list, but seemingly the best gluten free beer Chris has ever tried is Mutantis’ Hop Trifecta IPA. We’re sure that before too long Grey Fox beers will be topping our list of favourites.
http://www.greyfoxbrewing.com/
info@greyfoxbrewing.com
https://www.instagram.com/greyfoxbrewing/
Chris had originally worked in the engineering field but as a younger man felt called to the ministry; he explained that a few years ago he felt a new calling, this time to do something else, but didn’t feel he was at the right stage of his life to be retraining for a new career.
Having been diagnosed with celiac disease in 2003, he felt that maybe he had something to offer the celiac community in the Okanagan and beyond, and that running a for-profit business would likely ultimately mean that business would have more longevity.
Chris hadn’t really been able to find a palatable beer for approaching 20 years and so had concentrated his home-brew efforts on wine-making, but a gluten free winery doesn’t really offer a unique selling point and so his thoughts turned to beer. After all, how hard could it be?!
With plans to open in the summer of 2020, Grey Fox Brewing was a victim of the Covid 19 pandemic; with the benefit of hindsight, though, Chris feels fortunate he had the extra time to study the industry and is certain more mistakes would have been made if they’d met their original opening target. He spent time talking to gluten free brewers, mainly in Oregon where there are several successful GF breweries, and learning the science behind the magical starch/sugar relationship. He took advice from more local breweries on the equipment they used and was ready to truly hit the ground running. One of the things he’s most proud of is designing the prototype for a gluten free grain mill, and also sourcing most of his custom-designed equipment from local suppliers.
Chris is also justifiably proud of the family support he’s received with this business. His wife manages the financial and administrative side of things, his son does all of the marketing, and having a journalist for a son-in-law has been invaluable in raising awareness and getting people talking. He rates their Kickstarter campaign as a success too, not only did they reach their financial target, but the gluten free community have become “mentally invested” and people have been talking about the importance of having great-tasting gluten free beers readily available in Canada.
As we stand now, the final concrete in the brewery is poured, inspections are imminent and brewing should begin by mid-September, with beer available to buy by the end of September.
Grey Fox Brewing, for now at least, has manufacturing/ retail licenses only - we will be able to enjoy a flight to taste the beers but won’t be able to drink it on site. Chris does, however, have agreements in place for his beers to be sold through four or five taprooms in the Kelowna area and will offer kegs, cans and growler fills at his own brewery.
But what about the beer? Having experimented with different starting grains - all naturally gluten free of course - Chris has settled on a millet base, with some rice and buckwheat in some of the brews. He only buys his malt from certified GF facilities, and whilst hops are naturally gluten free he does ensure his suppliers are not processing them on shared equipment. The final ingredient is the yeast, Chris opts to use gluten free dried yeast rather than brewer’s yeast which is almost always NOT gluten free.
The brewery plans to offer the genuine craft beer experience, with the beers available changing on a regular basis. Grey Fox Brewing’s two flagships will be a pilsner-style lager and what Chris calls an “agile” IPA with an IBU (International Bitterness Units) rating of 56 which classifies it as milder than a lot of commercially available IPAs. There will also be up to 3 Belgian-style beers, with a porter or stout available in the winter months and hopefully a sour for summer 2023.
In the short to medium term there is no plan to introduce an alcohol-free beer, that would require a lot more capital expense, but small batches of hopped seltzers could be on the cards.
Grey Fox Brewing is going to be an exciting addition to the Okanagan when they open, but what of the rest of us elsewhere in BC and beyond? Where can we expect to buy these beers? Chris explained that whilst they can get their products listed for sale with BC liquor stores, they want to be absolutely sure they can cope with demand before they do that. We’ve all experienced the frustration when a GF beer is theoretically available in our local stores but is never actually on the shelf. Grey Fox Brewing will be able to make 3,000 litres a week to start with, with the capability to double that before too long, and they’ll be monitoring sales and demand very carefully to ensure that any province-wide launch is backed up by a regular supply. Partnerships with other BC craft breweries to stock cans of Grey Fox could be an option too. For now - we all need to add the brewery to our list when we’re wine-tasting in the Okanagan!
And finally, what is the meaning of the name, why Grey Fox Brewing? Chris had originally thought of calling it Foxtail Brewing, because the base ingredient is foxtail millet and the foxtail was a cool image. As it turns out, the name Foxtail Brewing was not available, but once you have a name you love, it's hard to think of another. Chris was talking to one of the founding partners at Ghostfish in Seattle and asked him how they came up with the name, because Ghostfish is pretty unusual. He told him that it's a play on words, the abbreviation for Ghostfish Beer being GF beer. Chris’ wife Suzanne came up with the name Grey Fox, and the whole team embraced it. Particularly because grey, not gray, was distinctly Canadian, something they wanted to emphasise. Once people learn of the Grey Fox/GF association it tends to be easier to remember the brand.
And until Grey Fox beers are available for us to try, we asked Chris, tongue firmly in cheek, which beers he recommends… The Ghostfish IPA made the list, but seemingly the best gluten free beer Chris has ever tried is Mutantis’ Hop Trifecta IPA. We’re sure that before too long Grey Fox beers will be topping our list of favourites.
http://www.greyfoxbrewing.com/
info@greyfoxbrewing.com
https://www.instagram.com/greyfoxbrewing/
