Label illustration and design: Lind Design

Brewing Changes Guelph examines the social and economic importance of brewing beer in the Royal City and the changes brought about by the rise, fall and resurrection of Guelph breweries. Whether one has worked in the brewing industry or has never tasted beer before, visitors will learn how brewing has benefitted and continues to benefit our city.

The story begins with whiskey, early independent innkeepers and entrepreneurs, includes English immigrant brewers who established a thriving commercial industry, and then suddenly ends in the late 1930s when Guelph was left without a single brewery for nearly fifty years. Key events in the 1970s and 1980s, and the visionary thinking of several men and women, led to the resurrection of brewing in Guelph in 1985.

This exhibition focuses on the impact of changes in production, transportation, marketing, gender and policy in Guelph, positioned within current brewing trends in Ontario, across Canada and around the world. Guest curated by Eric Payseur, Brewing Changes Guelph is as much about the present and future of brewing in Guelph as it is about its illustrious past.