Meet The New Owners Of Pump House Brewery
MONCTON – The new owners of Pump House Brewery are well-versed in the beer and restaurant sector. Kolin Barley owns the St. James Gate franchise, Brian Harriman was president of New Brunswick Liquor for five years, and Brad Devarennes was in charge of sales execution and customer experience globally for Molson.
The three long-time friends are taking over the Moncton brewery from its founders Lilia and Shaun Fraser, though they won’t share the size of the deal.
“We met through work and hockey – three buddies that looked at an opportunity to stay in Moncton, acquire Pump House as this hallmark brewery with a strong brand presence throughout the region, and pursued it,” Harriman said.
Harriman has just returned from Calgary after working there following his NB Liquor stint. He and his friends had been thinking of the acquisition “for a long time.” His return to New Brunswick and their optimism about the business as things seem to be looking up with the Covid-19 pandemic solidified the decision to buy Pump House this year.
“It just sort of worked out as we were talking with the Frasers – they thought we brought enough collective experience that we could successfully build on what they had had happening. And the timing for us was good from a personal perspective,” Harriman said.
“We’re all from New Brunswick. This gives us an opportunity to really plant roots in New Brunswick, stay in Moncton, grow this thing across not only this province but exterior to that,” he added.
Harriman said his understanding of NB Liquor’s way of working will help them build a good partnership with the crown corporation. Additionally, Pump House could benefit from Barley and Devarennes’ experience as well.
Barley, who started the St. James Gate restaurant franchise 20 years ago, has known Devarennes and Harriman for about that long too.
“Getting us three together and writing the next chapter for the Pump House is going to be very exciting,” said Barley. “We’ve always really taken great leadership in the community and we really want to take the next steps with the brewery and with all the employees that are there. They have created a culture…we really think Shauna and Lilia did an excellent job.”
Barley has also had a close working relationship with Pump House, which supplied his restaurants with beer for the past 15 years.
“Having those relationships with the key employees there is really a good fit for the three of us,” he said.
Harriman said it’s still early to share their plans for the business, but noted that the Frasers “have done a good job getting their beer into some other markets.”
“Excitingly, Pump House, especially the Radler brand, has been well-received everywhere it’s been so far. As we have demand, we’re certainly more than happy to see it continue to grow,” he said.
“We’re gonna keep the Pump House tradition as it stands today. We’re going to focus on helping the business grow to [its] full potential,” Harriman added, saying they’ll share more about their plans in the new year.
Meanwhile, Shaun Fraser is confident they’ll run Pump House well.
“We have a great business. All they have to do is kind of step in and take over,” he said. “We’re very proud of all our workers. And we’re very proud of the support that Moncton gave us during our tenure, and I think that you’re going to see business as usual.”
The Frasers decided to step back from Pump House because they’re getting older.
“It’s time to step back and just relax, and enjoy the fruit of our labour,” Shaun said.
They’ll still run their winery Pioneer Estate, though, which makes the canned Pump House sparkling white wine and hard apple cider drink Crisp. They’ll also continue to operate CANDU, which manufactures cans for small breweries.
“Hopefully I’ll work with that for a little while and step away from that eventually. I have no big, strong plans. Just keep kind of busy,” said Shaun. “We want to keep a business going, and we’ve been growing this winery or developing it for the last probably 10 years.”
A geologist by trade, Shaun has served as a firefighter for 27 and a half years, thus Pump House’s fire department-themed pub and brewery in downtown Moncton.
After 21 years as founder and leader of Pump House alongside his wife, Lilia, he said there’s much he’s happy about.
“Winning awards, and expanding our business, we’re all across Canada and internationally, so there’s a lot to be proud of,” he said.
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Inda Intiar is a reporter for Huddle. Send her story suggestions: [email protected]