Seneca College - RED 2016 - 29

Eric Dornan, co-founder
of All or Nothing Brewhouse, has maintained
a strong connection with
Seneca. He recently
addressed more than 100
HELIX students at a forum
on entrepreneurship.

An "all or nothing" approach
to craft brewing

PHOTO: JOANNE RATAJCZAK

Eric Dornan
Co-founder,
All or Nothing Brewhouse

ERIC DORNAN'S NICKNAME SHOULD BE "24-7." That's how
dedicated he is to his latest venture, All or Nothing
Brewhouse. This graduate of Seneca's Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management program
has venture capitalism in his blood and a relentless
drive to succeed.
In two short years, Eric, along with his brother, Jeff,
have established the All or Nothing brand as a unique,
locally brewed Hopfenweisse wheat beer, which is now
distributed across Ontario at 550 locations.
The two recently expanded All or Nothing with the
purchase of Oakville-based Trafalgar Ales & Meads,
Black Creek Historic Brewery and Trafalgar Artisanal
Distillery. These acquisitions have grown the brewhouse's offerings to include ciders, meads and even
craft distilled spirits. These unique products-especially
the meads-help to differentiate All or Nothing in a very
competitive craft beer market.
"We are one of the few who currently make commercially available meads in Canada," says Eric. "It's a

kind of honey wine that in medieval times was a luxury
for royalty because honey was really hard to source.
We feel it is an enormous opportunity for us and look
forward to introducing more varieties to the public."
Eric has brought an "all or nothing" mentality to
this venture, as he has done to past projects, including
a sales and marketing agency called 3D Business Solutions. Beer production appealed to him because, unlike
most sales, the product is produced locally and regulated so that every business is on a level playing field.
While sales came naturally through Eric's dad's work
as an entrepreneur, Eric had to learn the beer business
from scratch. He obtained certification as a master
beer sommelier, travelled to Germany and Belgium to
observe the world's best breweries and joined the
Ontario Brewers Association to have a voice within
the industry.
The next steps for All or Nothing include consolidating all of its properties under one roof (Oshawa
and Oakville aren't exactly within shouting distance),
installing a canning line and getting inventory into
Ontario grocery stores. The coming months will be
critical, and Eric is up to the challenge.
"I don't have time for anything else, not even a
social life," says Eric. "We don't know what the future
will hold. We do know the next few years will be quite
an adventure."

We are one of
the few who
currently make
commericallyavailable meads
in Canada.

Learn more about these homegrown Seneca businesses at
pinnacleddm.ca and allornothing.beer

RED

2016 29

http://www.pinnacleddm.ca

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