It reads like the script for the pilot of a hit television series.
Two professionals walk into a bar, while bemoaning their mutual frustration about the cost of living in the big city.
Over drinks they hatch a plan to abandon their established careers and open a craft brewery.
That鈥檚 the birth of Iron Road.
Jared Tarswell is proud to call himself Princeton 鈥渂orn and raised.鈥�
He graduated from the local high school more than a decade ago, and headed off to university where he earned a degree in geology.
For seven years he worked as an exploration geologist in the Yukon during the field season, and in a Vancouver office for the balance of the year where he wrote reports and laid plans for future drilling. 鈥淓ventually everything was getting really expensive in Vancouver, and my wife and I wanted to start a family,鈥� he said in an interview with The Spotlight.
鈥淢y business partner is also a geologist. We鈥檇 seen the craft beer explosion in Vancouver and we liked going to those breweries.鈥�
On one fateful excursion 鈥渨e were sitting in a craft brewery and over beers he said 鈥榤an, we should open up a craft brewery. I was like, 鈥榶eah, that would be a good idea鈥欌�e quit our jobs and started building Iron Road.鈥�
Reactions to this life changing decision were mixed.
Tarswell chuckled as he described his parents as 鈥渟upportive, but definitely cautious.鈥�
The pair鈥檚 colleagues 鈥渨ere super supportive. Most of our investors came from our firm, our bosses and stuff. It was more like 鈥榟ey man, that sucks that you are leaving, but how do we get in on it?鈥欌��
They also said: 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 realize you knew anything about beer.鈥�
And really, they didn鈥檛.
鈥淣either of us was in the brewing industry, so we didn鈥檛 really understand how to do everything.鈥�
Tarswell took craft brewing courses at SFU and the partners researched, toured dozens of breweries and hired a consultant.
They leased and overhauled an 8,000 square feet warehouse in Kamloops, creating a 60-seat tap room and bar to front the brew operation.
鈥淚t took us a really long time to hire our brewmaster. We didn鈥檛 hire him for about the first seven months鈥e didn鈥檛 expect him to be so hard to find.鈥�
What exactly is craft beer?
Technically it is beer made in small batches, but the designation also denotes 鈥渙riginal, artisanal type of beer of a much higher quality,鈥� said Tarswell.
鈥淚t鈥檚 obvious we start with all the best ingredients. Our malts are from all over the world鈥nd then the hops are the same.鈥�
The other three ingredients are water, yeast and time.
鈥淚n four to six weeks you have beer.鈥�
By way of commercial comparison 鈥測ou read a can of Budweiser and it has rice as one of their ingredients.鈥�
Iron Road Brewery opened August 1, 2017 and employs 30 people.
The company鈥檚 flagship products are Locomotive Lager, Red Bridge Pale Ale and Loop Line IPA. All of the beers are named for a railroad theme.
鈥淏eyond that we have seasonal products and one-offs, so 15 to 16 different beers.鈥�
In a few short months Iron Road has made a splash in the craft beer market. Most of the Kamloops liquor stores carry Iron Road, and at least 25 restaurants there include it on the menu.
Princeton鈥檚 BC Liquor Store also features Iron Road, and it is sold in Chase and Salmon Arm.
The future is about expansion, said Tarswell, and good taste.
鈥淚t鈥檚 totally spoiled me. I can barely drink Budweiser or Canadian anymore. After you acquire a taste for really high quality beer it鈥檚 hard to go back.
鈥淏ut that鈥檚 okay, because we have a lot of it.鈥�
