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Behind the Label: Slackwater Brewing in Penticton

Co-founder and general manager Liam Peyton discusses month one of operations for new brewery

Slackwater Brewing has only been open in Penticton for one short month, but it is already busy keeping up with the demand for its beers and burgers.

Liam Peyton, one of the brewery’s founder and the general manager, said the team wanted to start small to make sure they had the basics down before they expanded their beer and food menus. Having experience opening restaurants and other service industry related businesses, he said he knows the importance of having well-trained staff and a solid menu.

“The basics for us are guest experience, consistency, communications and operations, making sure our staff were trained up,” said Peyton. “So they know everything they can about beer and what we’re about, and push that into the guest experience. We’ve had overwhelming compliments about our staff, we’re extremely proud of our team.”

He said the brewery, located at 218 Martin St., has already cycled through its fourth rendition of its taproom menu, with their Tightlines Lager, Anglers Tale Pale Ale and Intruder IPA as permanent fixtures in their larger tanks. The brewery also has four smaller tanks that can produce roughly 16 kegs, so the brewery has experimented with more “fun” styles of brew such as its cherry sour and amber ale.

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Peyton added that Slackwater’s head chef and brewer work hand-in-hand to develop a great food menu that pairs well with all of their draughts. He said their focus will remain on brewing since they are a brewery, but they pride themselves on offering high-quality foods such as beef and veggie burgers, bratwurst, summer salad and more.

Slackwater now offers daily happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. daily and brunch on the weekends. Peyton said they have already hosted one live music night that exceded their expectations so, in the near future, the brewery will be hosting a weekly live music night.

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“We want to say a big thank you to our regulars — we didn’t think we’d have any so quickly, but seeing the same faces in here day in and day out has been extremely encouraging. And a big thank you for all your feedback, we knew we wouldn’t be putting out something perfect right off the bat, but we’ve been listening and working through,” said Peyton. “We’re always out to know how we can do things better. Now we’re starting to expand our horizons and look at adding more fun stuff. Now that we’ve weathered the storm of the first four weeks, like every other restaurant and brewery.”

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Jordyn Thomson | Reporter
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