In 2014, Ben Coli, the nerdiest among his homebrew friends, took the homebrewer’s plunge and launched Dageraad Brewing, which he named after the Dageraadplaats (“sunrise square” in Flemish), a neighborhood square on the east side of Antwerp, Belgium. “The square is not a tourist destination, just a neighborhood square. It’s a really lovely place to go hang out and have a beer.”
So is Dageraad Brewing. It’s a small operation in Burnaby, British Columbia, that just recently opened a cozy new tasting room. After launching the business in April, Coli took his time to transition his recipes from homebrew-size batches to ten barrels at a time.
“Part of our general philosophy is taking things slowly,” says Coli, referring specifically to the house blend of Belgian yeast he’s pitching. “Belgian yeast is slow. It’s way lazier than American ale yeast or British ale yeast.”