Brothers Ale House finally gets to pour some beer

It's been a long wait for the owners of Brothers Ale House.

It's been almost two years since brothers Colton and Asa Proveau, along with business partner Michael Bevan, chose the ground floor of the historic Petrie Building in Downtown Guelph as the dream location for their brew pub.

On Tuesday at 4 p.m., after countless construction complications and delays, Brothers Ale House will finally open its doors to the public at 15 Wyndham St. N.

"It's going to be nice to see some people walk in here that we don't recognize," said Asa, jokingly referring to the steady stream of familiar faces in construction helmets they have seen a steady stream of for months.

Bevan said there were obviously some trying times, but at the end of the day they are thrilled with the end result.

"We were frustrated with the delays, nobody is going to disagree with that. We just had to put our heads down and persevere," Bevan said.

"It was quite a ride, but when we look around now and see what we've accomplished, it was worth the hassle."

Added Colton, "we knew it was going to be something great."

Brothers Ale House is a culmination of a dream the Proveau brothers have had for several years. Colton took business management courses at Brock University while Asa took the Brewmaster and Brewery Management program at Niagara College, which is where they met Bevan, a semi-retired investment broker looking to do something new.

It makes its beer on site at the back of the rectangular 950-square-foot main floor.

It's a place made for people who are passionate about beer and enjoy the quality and nuances of craft beer, whether those people are students, women or seasoned veterans of the craft beer scene.

"And we're the only brew pub in town," Bevan said.

The in-house brews are available for sale in 500ml bottles up until 11 p.m.

Brothers Ale House has a capacity of 108 people, will open at 4 p.m. for the first few weekdays then starting Saturday and moving forward will be open at 11 a.m. They will stay open likely until last call on weekends, probably closing a bit earlier in the week.

The taps have five in-house constants: Ease Me In session ale, Serenity Now dry hopped saison, Delusions of Grandeur Belgian dubbel, Tropic Thunder American Pale Ale and Vengence American India Pale Ale.

There will several taps dedicated to other Guelph craft beers and rotating taps. Right now that rotating tap has Undercover Brother, a chai golden stout created in collaboration with Brimstone Brewery.

The partners have outsourced the Brothers Ale House kitchen to Cambridge's Little Mushroom Catering.

The owners describe food offerings as "share plates" and "artisanale street food."

"We make great beers and you can also get great food from someone that is passionate about food," Colton said. "We're more of a communal gathering space rather than a restaurant."

And they're not a sports bar.

"We have one small tv and we had to turn that on just to see if the cable worked," Bevan said.

More info can be found on the brew pub's web site.