London Inc. March/April 2023 - 10

Upfront Food & Beverage
STEADY AS
SHE GOES
Five years in, a side
hustle brewing
company keeps
its focus firmly
on craft and city
AS AN ENGINEERING
student at Western
University, Colin Gunn
started homebrewing beer for a couple
of reasons: to save money, and also
because it offered an interesting logistical
challenge.
Starting with the basic ingredients
for all beer - water, grain, hops and
yeast - and a classic lager recipe, Gunn
began to experiment. He tweaked the
ingredients, lagering time and other
variables countless times in his quest
to perfect the brew - even building a
unique mineral profile into the water.
" Colin was obsessed with getting it
right, " says long-time friend and business
partner Myles Rombough, who
was one of the official taste-testers as
Gunn's lager went through dozens of
iterations.
Once the lager was perfected, the
duo wanted to share it with the world,
so they incorporated 4EST Brewery
(www.4estbrewery.com) in January
2018. Named for the Forest City,
4EST's slogan - Back to the Roots -
captures two of the brewery's priorities:
embracing the roots of beer brewing by
making classic European-style beer,
and helping London get back to its roots
by supporting tree planting to increase
the city's tree canopy. To that end,
from inception four per cent of profits
have been directed to reforestation
initiatives and funded the planting of
thousands of trees.
Because they were both busy university
students when 4EST launched,
with neither the time nor money to set
up their own physical brewery, Gunn
and Rombough approached Sam Smith,
the head brewer at Toboggan Brewing
Company. That collaboration brought
4EST's Munich Helles Lager into
commercial production.
Initially the beer was sold through
restaurants across the city. " Demand
grew organically, kind of like a tree, "
says Rombough.
With brewery license in hand, the
partners went through the process to
have 4EST lager distributed through
The Beer Store, and always being
up for a new challenge, in 2021 they
successfully applied to have it listed
with the LCBO.
" First you apply and get it approved
to be sold in the LCBO, then you have
to approach each store individually
and convince them to carry your beer, "
explains Gunn. And once you do convince
them, you only get to keep that
valuable shelf space if your beer sells.
Currently, 4EST can be found in
five area Beer Stores, 11 LCBOs and 11
10|londonincmagazine.ca|MARCH / APRIL 2023
restaurants.
As sales have increased, production
has moved to successively larger
contract brewers and 4EST is now
being produced at Equals Brewing
Company on Sovereign Road. Gunn
and Rombough have plowed 96 per
cent of profits back into the business to
support its growth. And while they still
don't have the time or necessary capital
to set up a physical brewhouse, that's
still their eventual goal.
Five years in, Gunn and Rombough
continue to operate 4EST as their side
hustle. After graduating with a degree
in engineering, Gunn went on to medical
school and is currently completing
his residency. In his spare time, he's
been working on recipes for the three
other European-style beers they plan to
produce. " It's 4EST - we do things in
fours, " says Rombough. With the next
recipe now perfected, watch for a 4EST
Czech Pilsner to hit the market soon.
KYM WOLFE
4EST Brewery's Myles Rombough and Colin Gunn
http://www.4estbrewery.com
London Inc. March/April 2023

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