Capital Pint by Travis Persaud is published regularly at OttawaMagazine.com. Follow Travis on Twitter @tpersaud.
The Wellington Gastropub didn’t have this in the master plan.
For the past seven years co-owners Shane Waldron and Chris Deraiche have built a loyal following on the foundation of quality food, stellar service, and that not-quite-definable atmosphere that makes you want to end the night with a big group hug.
Housemade elements dominate the kitchen. Vinaigrettes are made in the kitchen; bones are used to create stock. So when three employees, who double as home brewers, approached Waldron and Deraiche with the idea of turning the gastropub into a brewpub, it made complete sense.
“It falls into the artisanal philosophy, of doing things homemade,” says Adam Newlands, one of the brewers behind the newly minted Stock Pot Ales brewery. “It heightens the experience [at the restaurant].”
Newlands and Edwin McKinley, servers at the Gastropub, and Nathan Corey, who’s a bartender there, have been home brewing for years.
(Newlands actually got his start when he was taking an Ancient Science and Technology class. “Everyone was making catapults [for the class project],” he says. “I decided I was going to make some booze — water, honey, yeast, and time, and I had mead.”)