Canadian Breweries History: Big Rock Brewery
Proudly Alberta-born (like his beers), Big Rock founder Ed McNally went from
studying and practicing law to becoming a successful barley farmer.
He then combined this intimate barley knowledge with business acumen
and entrepreneurial spirit to form Big Rock (1984), filling a niche for an
uncompromising brewery in Alberta.
Initial sales were slow. The first three beers Big Rock produced were the Traditional Ale,
Bitter, and Porter. All were distinct full flavoured natural unpasteurized beers.
Big Rock had two goals: to develop Albertans' palates for such beers and to get
the people drinking import beers to try Big Rock.
Big Rock began producing the Pale Ale in June of 1986. It is a blond beer
with a mild finish. A perfect introductory beer and a delicious thirst quencher.
The kick off for Pale Ale coincided with a strike at the big breweries. The only
beer available during a very hot summer was Big Rock. Big Rock brewed 24 hours a
day to meet the sudden demand and all of the employees donned their rubber boots
to get that beer ready and delivered. Even the President sat and watched clean
bottles fly by on the assembly line. Pale Ale's success was the turning point
for Big Rock and sales doubled.
At Christmas 1986 a seasonal beer was developed - McNally's Extra, a 7%
alc/vol Irish style ale that exceeded all expectations. Extra crossed all
the demographic borders and exposed this world class beer to new Big Rock
enthusiasts. Sales doubled and an adjacent building was purchased.
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