Jul. 13, 2011 - Issue #821: The Beer Issue

Roughneck Brewing

Better hire him on, he's the roughest neck around

Microbreweries versus large scale breweries are, at least to Terry Cameron, a matter of a tasty David versus a watered-down Goliath. Cameron—who wears every hat within his company, Roughneck Brewing, from the sales and marketing to the brewing itself—knows he can't compete directly with the big three, so he competes in the only way microbreweries can: by producing beer in smaller batches with bigger taste and higher care. As he admits, however, you can ensure quality but that doesn't inevitably mean the sales will follow.

"They're giants all right," says Cameron about Molson, Labatt and Sleemans, which own the greatest share of Canadian beer. "You can brew the beer and get that down. That's the easy part. The hardest part of the whole business is the marketing. Probably more important than the product."
As a stroke of genius—or perhaps luck—Cameron recently teamed up with Amber's Brewing, becoming the company's brewmaster. And for what at first glance might seem like a conflict of craft-beer interest for Cameron, the strength of the deal should help propel both companies.
"Two heads are better than one," says Cameron about his new relationship with Jim Gibbon and Amber's Brewing. "We can throw ideas off of each other."

The alliance should not only help the two beer companies, but should help propel the craft-beer market in general. Cameron echoes the craft-beer mentality, saying, "Look at Molson or Labatt or whatever. They can come up with a new label, same fricken beer. It seems like something different, people are like, 'I gotta get that! I gotta get that!'"

Cameron loves his beer and it seems brewing comes to him naturally. Even if he doesn't have the marketing machine the big companies have, the craft-brewing ethic continues to inspire not only him, but also beer drinkers and brewers throughout Alberta.

"I look at Big Rock or even Neil at Alley Kat and think of what great things they've done, which helps a lot," Cameron says. "Craft beer is underappreciated, but I think that's starting to turn around. It's getting better."

 

Roughneck Brewing
Established: 2007, Wizard Lake
Notable products: Brewmaster's Choice India Pale Ale, Brewmaster's Choice Brown Ale, Traditional Lager
  vueweekly.com comments: powered by Disqus