Eastern Ontario solar powered brewery in Mallorytown continues to grow

A craft brewery in Mallorytown, Ont. is completely solar powered and expanding its operation to triple its energy. CTV’s Jack Richardson reports.

Even though it may seem like a typical Ontario craft brewery, with massive tanks of beer fermenting in the back that turn into chilly pints on tap, Arbru in Mallorytown has a unique twist.

The eastern Ontario brewery is 100 per cent solar powered.

“Arbru is essentially a marriage of two of my passions,” said owner Phil Audet. “I’ve got a passion for renewable energy. I used to own a solar installation company years ago and I’ve also got a passion for craft beer.”

After opening in the summer of 2022, the brewery has since become a staple in the surrounding community.

• July 2022: This solar-powered brewery is the first of its kind in Canada

“It always surprises me because Mallorytown is such a small area, but the community that we have here is everything. We couldn’t do this without the community here,” said operations manager Jennifer Gransden.

It took a few years for Arbru to get settled, juggling the complications that arise from relying on solar power to operate a business, but nearly three years later, they’re beginning to expand. New solar panels have been added, tripling their total power output.

That’s allowed Arbru to do something Audet has always dreamed of – using solar power to brew their beer.

“We can actually start brewing our beer with solar energy, which is a major upgrade for our business and that’s how we originally intended to do things but as this is experimental, it just took a little bit more time,” he said.

It’s been a trial-and-error process to this point for staff, which has required a lot of patience and dedication. There have been days where they abruptly ran out of power while customers were in the building.

“One of the biggest questions we get is, how do you keep the doors open when you get days after days of rain?” said Gransden.

But their innovative business model appears to have brighter days ahead with their recent expansion.

“Now that we’ve tripled our power, I don’t foresee the same issues we have had in the past,” she said.