
First Indigenous brewery opens in Saskatchewan
Global News
Minihkwe Brewery, Saskatchewan’s first Indigenous brewery, is now officially open in Saskatoon.
Minihkwe Brewery, Saskatchewan’s first Indigenous brewery, is now officially open in Saskatoon.
Located at the Sandman Signature on Lorne Avenue, the brewery kicked off its opening on Saturday with a prime rib dinner, live comedy, magic and a musical performance by Armond Duck Chief, a Juno award nominee.
Owner KJ Bird said the idea for a brewery all started with something simple.
“The way it started out was just over a conversation and we were just kind of making jokes about starting our own beer company,” Bird said.
Now two and a half months later, the company is ready to launch two beers, which are expected to hit the shelves on March 1.
The first beer is named ‘The Minihkwe’, a blonde ale named after both the company and the Cree word for drink.
“Not only are we teaching everybody a word of Cree but there’s also on our label all the treaty territories in Saskatchewan … which is pretty cool,” Bird said.
The brewery will also be offering the ‘Omawisow’, a raspberry blonde ale meaning berry picker.