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Kelowna entrepreneurs seize opportunity to brew creation at Bad Tattoo

“The thing with us is, we’re not going to put out a beer unless it’s exactly what we want. We will trial and trial and trial – and then when we all feel comfortable that this is the one, this is the best beer – that’s the only time we’ll put it out.”

Counterflow Brewing may be in the early stages of business, but the four principals of the start-up know exactly what they want, and how to achieve it.

Taylor Ballantyne, who works in the wine industry, Malcolm Potts, an investment banker, Jason Lanki, who works with the BC Lottery Corp, and Kyle Finnerty, a contractor for a moving company, met through girlfriends or wives.

<who> Photo Credit: Photo Contributed </who> Counterflow Brewing team in action at Bad Tattoo.

“We’re trying to differentiate ourselves from a lot of other breweries,” explained Lanki. “Everybody’s done certain beers before, but we’re trying to do them differently, and make them the best that particular beer can be.”

The project started innocently enough two years ago during a Kelowna housewarming party hosted by Finnerty.

“The four of us were just sitting on the couch, and Jason brought up, ‘You know, it would be really cool to get into making beer one day.' Taylor chimes in and says, ‘I’ve always wanted to do that too,' He’s in the wine industry and knows how it works,” recalled Finnerty to NowMedia. “Jason says, ‘We could use my garage.’ Taylor’s like, ‘I’ve got the knowledge.’"

“A month later, we started putting in an order for our first pieces of equipment.”

<who> Photo Credit: NowMedia </who> Counterflow Brewing's Jason and Kyle at Bad Tattoo.

And therein lies the next piece to this new business venture.

One of the first pieces the guys purchased was the counter flow chiller.

“If you’re a home brewer, you’re going to know exactly what that is,” said Lanki. “It was in our first order, and when we were trying to think of a name for the brewery, we were all sitting around in my garage, looking around and trying to come up with names, and it just popped into our heads. 'What about Counterflow Brewing?' It was a resounding yes with everybody.”

“It was kind of a tip of the cap to our days in Jason’s garage,” chimed in Finnerty, adding the group had spent over a year trying to come up with a name.

With a name officially on the books and equipment ordered, the four began brewing.

Last November, they entered their first competition, and won a homebrewing contest at Tin Whistle with their dry hop citrus pilsner – a brew which had only been sampled by family and friends, and never made public.

Their prize was the chance to brew a 2,000-litre batch of that particular beer at the brewery of their choice.

They chose Bad Tattoo Brewing because of connections to owner Lee Agar and head brewer Liam Hutcheson, and were preparing to brew in February when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, halting plans for a mass brew.

But coronavirus didn’t deter the boys. They continued to brew, making close to 20 batches in Jason’s garage during a two-month period.

“We started a new batch roughly every three days,” said Finnerty.

<who> Photo Credit: NowMedia </who> Jason Lanki gets ready for delivery.

When the limitations started to open up a little bit, Bad Tattoo’s Agur reached out to the group.

“He said, ‘I’ve heard absolutely nothing but good things working with you guys. And, Liam the head brewer said you’re a bunch of great guys, enthusiastic, and you want to produce great beer and start your own organization,’” recalled Lanki. “We’re all extremely passionate about it, we all have strengths and weaknesses, and know where and how to invest our time to best help out the group.”

The connection between the longtime Penticton brewer – and what would normally be considered a group of competitors from the Kelowna area – should come as no surprise, given Bad Tattoo has also been accommodating Neighbourhood Brewing while its new building is under construction.

“Lee has been nothing but a fantastic individual with his assistance and help. He respects where we’re wanting to go with certain beers. We’re trying to differentiate ourselves from a lot of other breweries," stated Lanki. "Everybody’s done certain beers before, but we’re trying to do them differently, and make them the best possible beer that that particular beer can be.”

Counterflow Brewing’s first large brew was Paradigm Shift, a Pink Guava Berliner Weiss Beer.

“Our first release, our baby. As you can taste, it’s nice and light and refreshing. As you look into it you realize everybody likes guava, and nobody knows why. It’s a very strange flavour – but very unique, and when you realize that 400-pounds of guava shows up in a drum and you have to find a way to get it into the tank, it’s a steep learning curve,” said Finnerty. "We’re super proud of how it turned out. To get it just right was a lot of work.”

<who> Photo Credit: NowMedia </who> Time to put on the labels.

In fact, the boys brewed upwards of 20 batches, and when they tasted what was eventually canned, they all agreed it was the one.

“It was an instant thing," added Lanki. "Everybody was sitting around in a group, everybody has a sip, everybody looks at each other, and their eyes light up, and it’s like, this is the one!”

The second, released just days before the Thanksgiving weekend, is a Cranberry Wheat Ale called ‘Don’t Knock It till You Try It’.

“We worked for two months trialing the wheat to get it where we wanted," said Lanki. "When it's come to making a decision on the beer, there’s been zero arguments within the group. It’s always been, hands down, that’s the one. We’re just excited to bring it to the public.”

Don’t Knock It till You Try It will be available through the holiday season – no matter how many batches the team has to brew. And label. And deliver.

<who> Photo Credit: NowMedia </who>

“The support that we’ve got from the community is amazing,” said Finnerty.

The last word goes to Lanki.

“I’m extraordinarily proud of where we’ve gone, from garage brewing and $800 of equipment last February to being in a multi-million dollar facility and creating our own beers that are getting sent out into the public,” he said. “It’s very humbling, and we could not be more excited.”

For more information on Counterflow Brewing, they can be found on Instagram. You can also check them out on Facebook.



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