When Ian Leis began brewing beer in Guelph, he named his company Ward 1 Brewing Co. to honour his neighbourhood.
Ian Leis tried for years to find a suitable space to open his brewery in Guelph’s Ward 1, but even when industrial zoned spaces were becoming available they were being rezoned to residential.
Now his years-long quest to open a brewery is in sight at the corner of Hwy 6 and Guelph-Nichol Townline.
“I started looking into a home in the Ward, but then my real estate agent’s husband bought this place,” said Leis. “She kept saying ‘if you want to do your brewery we have this spot’ and finally I said yes, I want to do this.”
The eventual new home of Ward 1 Brewing Co. is a former restaurant and motel, most recently David’s Country Diner.
“Some people still call this the Delmar corner, there was a Delmar Inn way back in the 50s. It’s been a whole lot of things since then,” said Leis. “This is Ward 1 of Guelph/Eramosa Township, so I didn’t even have to change the name.”
The building has enough space that Leis is planning to put a 40-seat restaurant in as part of the project, plus a gift shop and country market that sells goods from local farms.
“About 1,000 cars pass by here a day,” said Leis. “We want to support the local farmers and other businesses as much as we can.”
Leis acquired a large outdoor smoker from a local business that closed down and plans to centre the restaurant around it. The opportunity to purchase it came to him shortly after he decided to make the move to the township.
”There were only three days where I didn’t know what I was going to do about the kitchen,” said Leis. “Smoked meat and beer — if that’s what fate has in store for here I will take it.”
For almost three years Leis has been living on site and gutting the main floor of the restaurant portion of the building.
“I work nights as an electrician and I have my days to do this stuff,” said Leis. “A year earlier would have been cool, but we are at where we are at.”
Final building plans have been submitted to the township and construction should begin shortly, said Leis. He hopes by spring the smoker will be slow-cooking the restaurants ribs and the 12 taps t the bar will be flowing with his suds.
“I know that spring sounds like a long time to some people, but after three years, six months is nothing,” said Leis.
He understands the confusion some may have about his brewery not being located in Guelph’s Ward 1.
“Once people understand that’s where I started brewing and it is part of where I grew up — it just wasn’t feasible — I hope they can forgive that,” said Leis.
