WHO IS HOWE SOUND BREWING: THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE BUSINESS

Howe Sound Brewing, Head Brewer & Brewery Manager – Peter Charles

Written by Stacy Thomas

Photography by Angela Bliss Photography

 

When Peter Charles, head brewer and brewery manager of Howe Sound Brewing, talks about his hobbies, he talks about them in terms of being full on obsessions. 

“When I get into something, I get in pretty thoroughly,” he says.

For him, this applies to mountain biking, music, movies, and most of all: beer. 

When he and his friend Matt McConnell, now head brewer of Royal City Brewery in Guelph, started brewing beer together in his Ontario kitchen back in 2009, it was an instant obsession. At the time he was managing a record store, and when he felt himself being pulled into the enticing world of brewing beer, he quit his job and moved to Toronto to pursue his new passion. Which he did until 2017, when he saw a job posting at a faraway brewery at the other end of the country. 

“I googled Squamish and just said, yes, I need to move there right now. And here I am. At the time all I knew was that I needed a change from what was going on there, and this seemed like the biggest change that I could have imagined. I didn’t know it was the place I needed to be until I was here, and now I can’t imagine leaving.”

Since those days with his home brewing kit in his kitchen in Guelph, Charles has been pursuing education about beer brewing systems, science, techniques and data with an obsessive fervor. Self-taught, his knowledge has been gleaned from all the books he can find on the subject, and lots and lots of practice and trial and error, finding the delicate balance between tradition and individuality.

This balance is where Charles finds his inspiration and the most challenge – staying relevant while also staying true to Howe Sound’s own traditions. 

“We have a balance of the old and the new all on one site here,” says Charles. “I’m very proud that we make a product that reflects our history and also reflects the changing tastes, and I think we’ve struck a good balance there – balancing the changing taste in the industry, and not abandoning brands simply because they’re not cool. I think there’s always a place for a good brown ale or a good stout; just because they’re not a ‘milkshake IPA’ doesn’t mean they’re any less of a good beer.”

With three breweries in such a small town, one might think there would be intense sibling rivalry going on. On the contrary, Charles says the Squamish breweries play off each other and challenge each other to excel, and with that healthy competition comes a better overall destination for beer tourists to come to. While they all up their game, they can keep up with the ever-changing beer industry and its fast-moving trends.

“The industry is changing really quickly. We need to be aware of those changes and keep up with those changes, and I think having other breweries in town is one of the most helpful things for all of us to be progressing with the industry and learning from one another.”

While keeping up with new trends keeps him busy, he also spends a lot of time thinking about perfecting old recipes, such as “unraveling the mystery” of traditional Belgian beer – finding ways to heighten those authentic experiences with his own identity imprint. It’s not just about recipes, he says. It’s about studying every detail of a process and understanding not just the “hows,” but the “whys.“ 

“It’s not just about trying to mimic what’s already out there. It’s to try to recreate something and make it taste authentic. But it’s also about putting your identity on it. Beer, like any creative process, is not a destination, it’s a constant revision. If you’re just doing something because you’ve always done it that way, you’re doing something wrong. You need to constantly be progressing.”