Kilter Brewing Co. serves up craft beer and community connection in St. Boniface

Deep in the heart of St. Boniface, Kilter Brewing Company is a hidden treasure—an oasis for Winnipeggers to escape their day-to-day routines, enjoy craft beer and connect with their community.

With new products and growth opportunities ahead, Kilter’s beers will soon be on the radar of more consumers in the city and across Canada. Expansion is exciting, but the brewery’s main focus is amplifying its positive impact on the community, with the help of ACU’s Business Financial Centre.

Kilter’s family business beginnings

Kilter Brewing has been at its home on Rue Deschambault for five years, but for co-founder Julien Cloutier and his family — brothers Miguel and Jerik, and parents Carmen and Leo, a retired accountant — bringing their passion for craft beer to the community has been a long-held dream.

“We spent over a decade being consumers of craft beer around the world,” says Julien. “Every time we’d travel, we’d make sure to stop by as many breweries as possible, getting a real sense of what made memorable experiences. The more we travelled, the more we talked about opening our own brewery.”

When Julien’s brother Miguel joined the industry by working at a few breweries in Vancouver, the two discussed starting their own small operation. They soon discovered they needed to scale the project in order for it to make financial sense.

The family finally realized their dream, launching Kilter in 2018. After time spent brewing beer in collaboration with other local breweries, Kilter found its current space in 2019 and launched full production in 2020. They opened their taproom late that year and now ship their beer to consumers across Canada.

A hub for the community

While getting to their current building was a long process (an earlier lease had fallen through), the delay ultimately led the family to the brewery to the right location, since St. Boniface is home to the largest francophone community in Western Canada.

Kilter, we are proud to be a Francophone-owned business. We do everything possible to support our community with events and initiatives that highlight the richness of Francophone culture. St. Boniface, known as the largest French community in Western Canada, is filled with passionate and vibrant people. We couldn’t be happier to have established Kilter at the heart of this community.

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Chez Kilter, on est fiers d’être une entreprise francophone. On fait tout possible pour soutenir notre communauté avec des événements et des initiatives qui mettent en lumière la richesse de la culture francophone. Saint-Boniface, connue comme la plus grande communauté francophone de l’ouest canadien, est remplie de gens dynamiques et passionnés, et on est vraiment contents de faire partie de cette belle communauté.

—Julien Cloutier, co-foundateur, Kilter Brewing Co.

“When choosing a location for our brewery, we wanted to be in a neighborhood with a strong sense of community,” says Julien. “St. Boniface felt like the right fit, as it’s a place we had deep personal connections to.”

As Franco-Manitobans, Julien and his family are passionate about supporting the francophone community in Winnipeg. This includes hosting events in the taproom that promote francophone businesses in St. Boniface. In the summer, Kilter hosts events for the Jeudis Franco Thursdays series and collaborates with local francophone businesses and attractions, like La Maison Gabrielle-Roy museum, on promotions and giveaways.

“We’re always trying to prioritize when we look at suppliers. We always try to source locally from a St. Boniface business,” says Julien. For example, when Kilter serves sandwiches in the taproom, they’ve use bread sourced from La Belle Baguette.

Collaboration, scale and impact is the theme of ACU’s latest impact report, which meshes well with Kilter’s values. Lifting up other Winnipeg businesses is a core part of the brewery’s operations. By partnering with other local businesses, Kilter not only has the opportunity to scale and diversify its offerings to customers, but also the chance to learn and grow with other business leaders.

Over the years, for example, the brewery has collaborated with with a local chef on a branded hot sauce and with another artisan on a soap based on its flagship beer, Juicii.

This collaborative spirit, says Julien, makes an even bigger impact that benefits the entire community.

A place for shared experiences

Kilter’s taproom is more than a spot for craft beer—it’s a community hub. Julien and his family designed it as a space for shared experiences, hosting branded events, private gatherings and community activities like drag shows, trivia nights and local markets. They strive to make the space accessible to all, often waiving fees for non-profits.

“We strongly value doing everything that we can to grow the community in a positive way,” explains Julien. “We want our taproom to be a space for shared experiences. We host our own events and also open our space for community use.”

Partnering for success

ACU’s BFC has been working with Kilter since it launched, with the partnership led by account manager Anthony Fisher and BFC associate director Dan Carevic for the last two years, after their original account manager retired.

“We helped support them initially with the startup. We were impressed by their story, their background, their attention to detail and how well they prepared their business plan. We had the confidence to jump into this partnership,” says Dan.

Julien sees ACU as a partner that has been instrumental in helping fund this family business, providing day-to-day banking solutions, including equipment financing and funds to renovate the building, and helping Kilter get set up with the CSBFL and CEBA (federal small business financing and Covid assistance) loans.

ACU has also given Julien and his family the advice they needed as new business owners, explaining terms and conditions, how the financing process works and acting as a general resource. Kilter and ACU share a vision of what it means to be a part of growing the community and improving the lives of their neighbours.

“ACU stepped in and took the time to listen to our story and truly understand our ambitions. ACU saw the opportunity and gave us a chance at making this wild vision a reality. Without ACU, we wouldn’t exist as a company today.”

— Julien Cloutier, co-founder, Kilter Brewing Co.

A bright future

While Kilter has seen a lot of exciting growth over the past few years, this is just the beginning. Over the past year, Kilter was selected as one of three craft breweries permitted to sell their product at Winnipeg Jets, Blue Bombers and, most recently, Goldeyes games.

“We’re heading into 2025 with all three major sports teams, which is very exciting for us. Those are big parts of Winnipeg, and experiences that people enjoy, and we want to be a part of that,” says Julien.

With the chance to introduce their product to more events, he says, comes increased production—and Kilter will be looking to ACU for guidance on the best approach to finance this growth.

As ACU’s Business Financial Centre cheers on Kilter and celebrates its wins, Dan and Anthony also continue to support and collaborate closely with the brewery to help it realize its plans for expansion.

Beyond craft beer, Julien and his family are also focused on growing their footprint in the community—and opportunities to create shared experiences that enhance the lives of everyone that enters the taproom.

“Growth means more than just expanding our offerings; it’s about amplifying our positive impact on the community,” says Julien. “When people think of Kilter, we want them to remember not just our exceptional beer, but also the positive influence we’ve had on their lives.”

— Julien Cloutier, co-founder, Kilter Brewing Co.

To discover more about Kilter Brewing Co., including the taproom’s upcoming events calendar, visit its website.

To find out more about how ACU’s BFC can help your business thrive with expert solutions and a personal approach, call 204.958.8588 or email us to book an appointment with one of our account managers.

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