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Peter McAuslan – not your everyday Beer Baron
By
Peter Kerr
Peter McAuslan was not a great
student, and so-so athlete. There wasn’t a lot of early evidence that
the easy-going and fun-loving young man would become the driving force
in one of Canada’s first successful small and independent breweries. At
age 40, he realised that he wasn’t enjoying his senior position at
Dawson College – so he did something about it.
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Peter
McAuslan is just as happy in the warehouse as he is in his office.
“After 20 years - I’m still having fun.”
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In 1988 at the age of
40, Peter and his wife Ellen started The McAuslan Brewing Company and
introduced St. Ambroise beer to Montrealers.
“My grandfather came to Montreal in 1920 from Glasgow, Scotland
when my father was still young – about ten years old. They lived
in NDG on Prud’homme, and my grandfather worked as a plumber. My
father started working in the office at CN when he was 15, and worked
his way up through the company. He held a wide variety of jobs –
from being responsible for all the spur lines in the prairies to being
Donald Gordon’s assistant.”
“My mother was from Lachine, and that’s where we lived as I
was growing up. My mom always made wine – dandelion wine was one
of her favourites. Give her anything she could ferment and she could
turn it into some kind of wine. She just turned 91 – so I guess
it didn’t do her any harm.”
| “I went to John Grant High School
which was a relatively small school. The student population was
culturally diverse.” Peter has fond memories of his days in high
school. “We had some really good teachers – many who went on to
significant jobs at the school board. They were a really important and
positive influence on me. The Lachine Y was also an important part of
my life, and again I had the benefit of the leaders and role models.”
Peter continues; “You don’t think of it at the time, but the influences
of Scouts, sports, good teachers, and other role models do have a
positive effect on you – on how you carry yourself later in life.” |
Peter McAuslan |
And
good friends… “I work out 2 – 3 times a week with a guy who’s been my
friend since we were 13 years old. One of my John Grant High buddies. ”
For a while, it looked as though Peter might make a career out
of going to high school, but at 19 he finally graduated. “Then I went
to the High School of Montreal for a year.” It was time for a break
from school. Peter and a couple of buddies from Lachine headed west to
Vancouver. “I got a job in a bank, working as a teller. It was our
first time being away from home – three guys from Lachine and one from
Vancouver.”
However, fun-loving Peter McAuslan knew that you
can only have so much fun on an annual salary of $2,900 – which is what
the banks were paying in the mid sixties. “We knew in the back of our
minds that we’d have to go back to university some day.” Two of us
began hitch-hiking back to Montreal in the spring of 1967. The Stanley
Cup playoffs were on. “We watched hockey games in taverns all the way
across the country.” A mother who made her own wine and now a national
market research tour…
“We arrived back in Montreal just in time for
the opening if Expo ’67. Peter has a glint in his eye and a mischievous
grin; “It was a great summer to be 21 in Montreal.”
Peter was
accepted into Sir George Williams University, and he graduated with a
BA in 1972. He worked with the YMCA for several years, before he moved
to Dawson College. Peter gradually worked his way up to be Secretary
General. “At the time, home brewing was popular, and I was hacking
around brewing beer for my friends.”
At the same time, Peter
wasn’t getting much enjoyment from his job at Dawson. “I was more
involved in conflict resolution than education. I wasn’t having much
fun.” Peter’s wife Ellen worked as The Registrar at Dawson. The couple
travelled to Europe and researched small breweries. “I was making beer,
and my friends seemed to like it.” I was sure that we could make a
success of a small brewery.”
“Some people thought we were
nuts. I was now 40, with job security, 5 weeks of vacation – what was I
thinking!” Peter put together a business plan, and begin to seek out
investors. “A lot of my colleagues at Dawson were the original
investors. I only had to speak with 3 or 4 people to get one investor –
which I still think was very good. We put the whole thing together for
about $800,000.”
Peter explains the disarmingly simple process
of his and Ellen’s research. “While we were still working, we visited a
friend’s small brewery in Portland. Allan Pugsley showed Ellen how to
brew beer over the week-end. She was trained as a biologist and has a
background in science. She looked at me and said “Yeah – I think I can
do this’.”
The decision was made. At the age
of 40 Peter said goodbye to security, benefits, and most importantly –
a job he didn’t like. “Allan came up from Portland and helped us get
set up. He made four batches with Ellen, and bid us farewell – we were
on our own…. At the beginning there were just four of us – and three of
us are still here.”
There is a saying that ‘luck’ is when
opportunity meets preparedness. Peter and Ellen knew how to make beer;
Peter still has the natural attributes of a successful salesman. There
was something else. “We were one of the first small breweries in what
has become a very popular beer category. We got off to a good start
with St. Ambroise before there were too many other independent brands.”
“We figured how to make the stuff, how to package it, and then how to distribute it.
Peter
continues; “We built it slowly, until we employed 40 – 50 people by
2000. Then in 2000, we struck a deal to brew Moosehead locally. That
meant a huge investment in this new building, new equipment and a
bigger payroll. From a small group of just four people, we’ve grown to
a $20 million business in just under 20 years.”
Sons
Todd and Taylor are involved in the business in a sales capacity. Todd
is selling in The Plateau area of Montreal; while Taylor has set up a
sales territory in the Maritimes with nearly $1million in revenues.
Even
with the time demands of a growing business, Peter has made time to
support and participate in cultural and community organizations. “All
my years with The Y, and my educational experience taught me that
social involvement is an important part of life.” Continuing, Peter
explains his support of cultural activities; “I’ve always has an
interest in the Arts. Research has subsequently shown that people who
like our unique type of beer are also supporters of the Arts. So it
also happens to have been a good business decision.”
“We
outgrew our original building next door, and built this one to ramp up
for the Moosehead production. We refurbished the old one, and have
turned it into a cultural and performance space. I’d like to see
performances going on over there 200 nights a year.”
Ever the
promoter, Peter comments, “Of course we sell a little beer at the
performances, but we hope that some of the people attending will buy
St. Ambroise beer. We also sponsored the Olympic Swimming Trials here
in Montreal. It’s not your traditional sporting event like hockey or
football.”
“We opened a terrace at the end of our building,
adjacent to the bike path alongside the Lachine Canal. It’s open for
June, July and August, and last year we had 10,000 people stop by. Our
attendance is growing by 20% per year.”
There’s room for
environmental conservation in the beer business. “We changed all of our
sales representatives’ vehicles to hybrids; use corn starch recyclable
beer cups on our terrace; and of course we re-use the beer bottles.
We’re also investigating the possibility of using solar energy. We have
a very large roof – why not use it for solar panels?”
After 20
years, Peter McAuslan is still having fun. A sense of humour, a little
bit of luck and a whole lot of determination have earned this
Montrealer a strong measure of success. Cheers!
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