Poster Video

The story of Phillips Beer is not one to be told to any person bent on doing things the traditional way. It is a tale that begins with an outlandish idea, a passionate brewer and a stream of refusal.

After several years of slugging it out in the brewing community in and around BC, Matt Phillips (the patriarch of Phillips Beer) decided he would like to make beer of his own. He dreamt of setting up an artisanal brewery dedicated to making unique beers. He wanted to start small, to make beer that tasted good using top quality ingredients, and then take it from there. So, he collected all his ideas and experience into a business plan, and then took to touring various financial institutions looking for a loan, each of which steadfastly refused to give up the cash.

In a traditional tale the story would end here. Phillips Beer would have never been and no one would have ever tasted the award-winning brews to come. Fortunately for fans of Phillips, this not a traditional tale.

On his way out of the banks Matt looked for other options. He collected every credit card application available, which he then brought home, filled in, and filed all on the same day. The result was a collection of credit cards ranging from $2000 to $12000, and the beginning of business in the most untraditional way. It was with these cards Matt purchased some small brewing equipment and then signed a lease for a dark, modest warehouse above a metal shop that would become his home and workplace for the next two years.

It was, as some might say, not the ideal situation. Matt worked alone in those days, rolling up his bedding each morning and setting up timers on halogen lamps to imitate the sunrise. The apartment/warehouse/brewery had no facilities––there was nowhere to take a shower, and so a dedicated Matt went to the gym every single day during his time there. Somehow though, in between the darkness of a warehouse and the distress of showering in public, Matt managed to create his first offerings. In August of 2001, Phillips Beer rolled out the soon-to-be loved classics the Raspberry Wheat Ale, India Pale Ale and Espresso Stout, and with that Matt was on his way, sort of…

Starting a business is never easy. Doing it alone without support from the banks and using a 1985 Subaru station-wagon as a delivery vehicle is doubly hard. Creativity combined with a renegade disregard for typical methods is essential.

Matt spent the years immediately following the launch of the brewery walking a thin line between success and bankruptcy. He built his own bottler, The Instigator, and developed a sleepless routine of renting trucks to transport his beer to the mainland on the last ferry, staying up all night hand labeling bottles, dropping them off in the morning and then returning for another full day of work. He found clever ways to save money, like driving rented trucks down to Portland to nudge his way between the monster delivery vehicles waiting in line to collect bottles. He worked hard and he worked long, and what kept him going only he knows (maybe it was all the great beer), but in just over a year Matt was already brewing another offering, the Draught Dodger.

2003 saw some fateful moments: a stockpile of stubby bottles was discovered––which led to the creation of the much loved Phoenix Gold–– and Matt’s Subaru, fed up with having cases of beer smash through its windows on sharp corners, decided to die. It was replaced with a more ‘business appropriate’ 1965 Chevy. It was a milk-truck looking van painted with house paint and fitted for camping, but Matt saw potential written all over it. With some hard work he managed to sand off the house paint, replace it with blue spray paint, and then repeatedly fill it to brim with beer, which he trucked around BC (without the doors on) all summer.

By February of 2004 the demand for Phillips beer had grown to the point of needing help, so Matt hired his first two employees, Mr. and Mr. Bell (no relation). Together with the Bell Boys, Matt continued making beer in his dark brewery/apartment above the metal shop––that is he did, until he returned home one night to find that one of the tanks had ruptured, spilling 1900 liters of ale across his floor and into the shop below. He was promptly encouraged thereafter to find a different location for his endeavor, so in June of 2004, with his lease up and no one offering a second term, Matt moved into the William Street brewery.

During the first months at the new brewery the team at Phillips made some changes. They crafted three new offerings: the Longboat Chocolate Porter, the Amnesiac, and the Black Toque; and by December of 2004, Phillips was sending out traditional sized six-packs of India Pale Ale and Draught Dodger.

Soon after the year passed into 2005, it became obvious that the demand was too much for the brewery’s machinery. Long hours, extremely hard work and slow production time meant Phillips either needed to get some faster equipment or face a revolt from the staff. Bigger tanks were built and in the spring of 2005 Matt bought a Pirzer bottling machine. The new bottler out paced The Instigator by roughly a thousand percent––production increased from six (sometimes eight) bottles a minute to one hundred bottles a minute!

With beer moving out of the brewery at a record pace, 2005 proved to be a great year for Phillips. The first of many awards started to roll in and at the Canadian Brewing Awards Phillips took home two gold medals for the IPA and Draught Dodger; two silvers for the Phoenix Lager and Longboat Porter; and a bronze for the Amnesiac.

Indeed, 2005 was a big year, but it wasn’t without its own form of tragedy. After a dedicated few years of hard service, the Blue Truck––that juggernaut of joy bringing beer to the people––was retired. Following countless trips over and around Vancouver Island and the mainland it was turned off for the last time in front the brewery, where it still sits today as a bittersweet reminder of all the hard work needed to keep Phillips alive.

The years that have followed the retirement of the Blue Truck have been frantic, yet successful. In 2006 CAMRA voted Phillips Beer the BC Brewery of the Year, production increased after the brewery doubled in size, and a secret project for a gin distillery began (don’t tell anyone).

The Espresso Stout transitioned to the Oatmeal Stout, and then onto the award-winning Surly Blonde. And somehow through all the madness of 2006, Phillips managed to create a beer in tribute to the infamous delivery vehicle called, rightfully so, The Blue Truck; a crisp, flavorful ale that flew off the shelves into the bellies and hearts of all Phillips Beer lovers out there! 

2007 led to a name change of the Blue Truck. Known now as the Blue Buck, it’s still winning awards and has in its own way led to other great creations like the Accusation Ale; a seasonal bitter with limited production. The Canadian Brewing Awards came again and Phillips took home a gold medal for the Blue Buck; two silvers for the Amnesiac and the Raspberry Wheat; and a bronze for the Surly Blonde. And Phillips Beer won ‘Brewery of the Year’ again!

Moving into 2008, things couldn’t look better for Phillips Beer and their fans. Great ideas, great beers and great times are all on the agenda. So keep watching to see what sort madness Matt and his crew can get up to this time around!