County of Barrhead will soon have a second distillery within its borders.
The only other facility within the county’s borders is the Shady Lane Estate winery.
At their June 6 meeting, councillors unanimously approved an application by Richard Bogach, which will allow him to establish a 50,000 bottle a year distillery inside a quonset on his 150 acre property.
County of Barrhead development officer Rick Neumann said at first he wasn’t sure what to do with the application.
“It’s really unique and as far as I know, we haven’t received one of these applications before,” he said, adding eventually he decided to approach it as a discretionary use of an industrial property. Neumann added the applicant has already received approval from the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission.
Bogach has canvassed the majority of his immediate neighbours and so far has received no negative comments.
In the application package, Bogach estimates once the distillery is up and running fully he will have two employees.
Neumann said the county also asked area residents for their comments, inviting them to the council meeting.
“As you can see no one is here and we’ve received no phone calls,” he said.
The other concern Neumann had before making his recommendation to approve the application is if the Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) had any restrictions.
“This is really such a small volume operation they really don’t have any concerns,” he said.
Reeve Doug Drozd was surprised AEP considered 50,000 bottles to be small.
Coun. Bill Lee estimated 8,833 gallons of water would be needed, depending on the type and size of bottles being brewed.
“[Coun. Marvin] Schatz probably uses more than that of diesel,” he said.
Neumann added he wasn’t surprised that no one had any objections.
“The equipment is very quiet and where he would be setting up is in the middle of his quarter. If he hadn’t made an application, no one would even know it was there,” he said.
Drozd ended discussion saying this is the type of application they need more of.
“This is the one thing that we always are talking about. How we need value added agriculture,” he said. “We have to give this our total thumbs up. Someone is taking a risk and being an entrepreneur.”
Lee agreed, adding kudos should also be given to the province that relaxed the rules that allows small microbreweries into the market.
In addition to council’s approval, Bogach will also need approval from Barrhead Fire Services.
