{"id":48805,"date":"2023-12-13T05:00:34","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T13:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bcaletrail.ca\/?p=48805"},"modified":"2024-01-17T13:31:29","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T21:31:29","slug":"angry-hen-brewing-and-the-legacy-of-shirley-warne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bcaletrail.ca\/angry-hen-brewing-and-the-legacy-of-shirley-warne\/","title":{"rendered":"Angry Hen Brewing and the Legacy of Shirley Warne"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kaslo\u2019s little brewery is home to a hidden legend of BC brewing and an inspiration to women in craft brewing everywhere.<\/p>\n

\"Angry
Angry Hen Brewing in Kaslo, BC (photo: No\u00eblle Phillips)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shirley Warne may be a self-declared bitch, but she is warm, welcoming, and clearly loved by the staff at her brewery. I\u2019ve just driven nine hours from Vancouver to reach the tiny village of Kaslo, tucked away on the shores of Kootenay Lake and just an hour\u2019s drive from Nelson. On Kaslo\u2019s main drag, populated by Gold Rush-style shops and shadowed by snow-topped mountains, sits Angry Hen Brewing<\/a>, opened by Shirley in December 2017. On this quiet Saturday night, as I\u2019m relaxing after the long drive, Shirley joins me in the brewery for a pint and a chat. She puts our beers \u2014 a Fowl Play Hazy IPA for me and Straw Man Lager for her \u2014 on her tab and tosses some coins in the tip jar for the staff. The woman running the tasting room gives her a quick hug before they close up for the night.<\/p>\n

These small details reveal that Shirley has cultivated a positive relationship with her employees. After decades of working in the beer industry and dealing with difficult bosses, she knows the value of a safe and warm working environment. From homebrewer and bottom-of-the-ladder brewery grunt to brewery owner and brewmaster in the village she loves, Shirley has seen it all \u2014 and she\u2019s put all that knowledge to use. As one of BC\u2019s first female craft brewers, she fearlessly trailblazed in a male-dominated industry. Even though she\u2019s never been interested in public attention and therefore rarely makes it into beer publications (Lundy Dale\u2019s interview with her for What\u2019s Brewing<\/em><\/a> is a notable exception), she\u2019s had a deep influence on craft brewing here in BC.<\/p>\n

Climbing the Brewing Ladder in Ontario<\/h3>\n

Shirley\u2019s career began not in BC, but at Conner\u2019s Brewing in Mississauga, Ontario. After years of homebrewing with her twin sister Pat and beer tasting across Europe, she decided to pursue brewing full-time. A friend introduced her to Paul Hoyne \u2014 eventual co-founder of Lighthouse Brewing<\/a> in Victoria \u2014 who got her in the door at Conner\u2019s, a production brewery that opened in 1985 but closed by 1990. She didn\u2019t stay long; there was little room for creativity, but, unfortunately, plenty of room for sexism. Paul and the other brewers were wonderful mentors, but the company\u2019s owners were crude and misogynistic to the young female brewer-in-training. She quit within a year, but shortly afterwards met Amsterdam Brewing\u2019s Joel Manning. She made sure she tried his beer before she took a job with him (it passed the test).<\/p>\n

\"Shirley
Shirley Warne at the Rotterdam Brewery in 1989 (photo provided)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cJoel was such a great guy,\u201d Shirley recalls. Manning ended up being a valued fellow brewing colleague for several years. While brewing at Amsterdam, and its sister brewery, Rotterdam, she trained Tony Dewald<\/a> and Harley Smith, brewers who would make their mark in BC brewing. \u201cWhen Harley first started, he made some kind of off-colour joke and I jumped right on him,\u201d Shirley laughs. \u201cBut we ended up being best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bootlegging and Brewpubs in Vancouver<\/h3>\n

By the early \u201890s, Shirley decided to leave the brewing scene in Toronto to join her sister Pat in Vancouver. Just as they had during university, Shirley and Pat took up homebrewing in their apartment again. \u201cWe would bootleg beer from that apartment! We had these big parties,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI don\u2019t think I can get in trouble for it now though.\u201d Their homebrew was so popular that tipsy neighbours would come knocking late at night, looking for whatever they were selling. \u201cThat was when I first brewed the Old Bitch,\u201d Shirley says, referring to the Old Bitch Bitter she later brewed for Brassneck and Angry Hen. \u201cIt was one of our most popular beers back then.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Angry Hen Brewing (provided)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finding brewing opportunities in Vancouver proved to be a challenge. \u201cBC and Ontario were stagnant for a while,\u201d Shirley says, referring to the 1990s beer scene. When Yaletown Brewpub<\/a> opened in 1994, she applied for the job of head brewer but lost out to Iain Hill, now co-owner of Strange Fellows Brewing<\/a>. However, she was soon contacted by Eli Gershkovich, a lawyer who was opening a new brewpub in Gastown. He\u2019d visited Dan\u2019s Homebrewing Supplies on Hastings \u2014 a haven for all Vancouver homebrewers \u2014 and asked for brewer recommendations. Dan gave him Shirley\u2019s name. When she showed up for her interview, she brought some of her homebrew: a bitter, a brown, and a lager. They hired her that same day, and Shirley Warne became the first brewer at the new Steamworks Brewpub<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At Steamworks, Shirley had free rein over the brewing programme as well as the freedom to shut down unwelcome suggestions or interference (she didn\u2019t fear losing her job \u2014 Eli wanted to keep her on). In her first week, she met Conrad Gmoser, a young man who was working as an assistant to the architect and moonlighting as a carpenter but swiftly developed an interest in brewing. Vern Lambourne, now of Parkside<\/a>, and her old friend Harley Smith also both worked under her at Steamworks. When she left Vancouver in the late \u201890s for opportunities in the Maritimes, she trained up Conrad to take her place as brewmaster. And when she returned to Vancouver in the early 2000s, she took up homebrewing again \u2014 this time in Conrad\u2019s garage.<\/p>\n

\"Shirley
Shirley Warne and Conrad Gmoser at Brassneck Brewing in 2013 (photo provided)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back in Vancouver after a few years away, Shirley was itching to open her own brewery.\u00a0 After purchasing brewing equipment, she spent several years trying to find investors. Leads that were initially promising gradually dried up. By 2007 she was fully disheartened; she gave up her dream and sold the equipment. For close to a decade, she helped new breweries start up and did occasional brewing jobs. The Ridge Brewpub in Osoyoos, for example, would fly her out for brew days (they gave her no creative license in the brewhouse though). Shirley helped Conrad and his friend Nigel Springthorpe open Brassneck Brewing<\/a> in 2012, and her Old Bitch Bitter was one of the first beers they put on tap (unlike Eli at Steamworks, they were fine with the \u201coffensive\u201d name). She was also behind the scenes at Bomber Brewing<\/a> in Vancouver and Crann\u00f3g Ales<\/a> in Sorrento.<\/p>\n

Finding Her Passion: Angry Hen Brewing<\/h3>\n

But Shirley still wanted her own brewery. Gradually, after multiple visits and a lot of planning, she and a small group of friends purchased a storefront property in Kaslo for $165,000. The village was the home of her sister-in-law, and it was also a place that resonated with her: the close-knit community, the picturesque high street, the nearby mountains and lake.<\/p>\n