It goes 'without saying'  that community and inclusion are important to us here at Winterlong.  That's why we jumped at the chance to become a supporter of Teegatha'Oh Zheh as a 'Patron of the Arts' sponsor.  Teegatha'Oh Zheh or TOZ as they're known, is a Yukon non-profit organization that has supported people with intellectual and developmental disabilities since 1989. Recently they opened a progressive art studio at their location, and as part of our sponsorship we were able to licence the artwork of one of their artists for the label of a brand-new beer.

We are very excited about this partnership and are proud to showcase the artwork of Ernest Chua, a self-taught, local autistic artist, who has been very prolific in Whitehorse as of late. He had an art show at the Yukon Arts Centre in 2025, called Without Saying.  We thought the title of the show was the perfect beer name for this collaboration, with Ernest being non-verbal and instead being able to express himself with his art.

The label showcases an untitled acrylic on canvas of Ernest's from 2025. The original piece is 48" x 60" to get an idea of scale. We were drawn to the bold colours and portraits of people, providing a vibrant, community feel.

ARTIST BIO

An artist bio was provided by the TOZ Art Studio Coordinator, Phoebe Rohrbacher: 

• Ernest Chua, born in 1990 is a self-taught autistic, Canadian artist. His paintings navigate representation and abstraction, through densification by deep layering. His complex visual-lexicon stands at odds with his preference not to speak. Ernest bases his practice out of Teegatha'Oh Zheh Progressive Art Studio.

To learn more about Ernest and his and his family's journey, see his website that showcases not only his other art, but also his  accomplishments in sport: https://ernestthetriplea.com/ 

FUN FACT!  He has represented Canada at the Special Olympics World Games winning medals in both winter and summer sports! To help other families with children with autism, Ernest's parents have shared their journey, with it's ups and downs. 

Since October is Autism Awareness Month in Canada, this was the perfect time to celebrate this accomplished young man and his family and caregivers. Those who live with autism deserve every opportunity to participate fully in our communities and they are so important to enriching our society.  

ABOUT THE BEER

The beer we have chosen to brew is a new style to the brewery, a West Coast Pilsner. The pilsner base recipe offers a crisp and clean canvas on which to showcase some bold and flavourful hops - Nectaron and Krush for a hoppy West Coast influence. We are very much excited to taste the beer as it comes along and to share it with you all.

In addition to the licencing fees for use of the artwork on the label, we will be donating $2 from every 4-pack sold back to the Ernest. 

RELEASE EVENT

To celebrate the release of this beer, we are inviting the community to join us while hosting the artist, their family and the folks from TOZ, and showcasing the original piece of art in the tasting room, along with another art piece of Ernest's.  

When?  Friday, October 16th 5-7 pm

What? Check out the art, celebrate the artist, try the beer, and purchase some to take home. Free tastings will be provided.  There will also be post cards and t-shirts for sale with the art as an additional fundraiser for the TOZ Artist Studio.

One of our most seasonal seasonals is coming out soon - our FRESH HOP Pale Ale. 

This beer uses Cascade hops harvested from Topp's Hop Farm in Abbotsford, BC.  In order to use fresh hops, you need to brew with them within 24 hours, the sooner the better.  But being so far away from any commercial hop growers, it's not simply as easy as driving over to the farm, picking the hops and heading back to the brewery to add them to the brew.  It takes a little more coordination for us northerners!  Thanks to Air North Cargo service we've been able to get the hops collected from the farm flown up in one day and used the hops that next morning. 

Fresh hops are also a product that have to be used on the hot side of the brewing process (i.e they can't be added as dry hops in their raw form), and in our case, we use them in the whirlpool to get more of the aroma from the hops.  A whirlpool addition is when you add hops to the kettle at flame out (at the end of the boil) and circulate them in the hot wort for 20-30 minutes.  The effect of the fresh hops is a lot more subtle than other hop products (i.e. hop pellets), and the flavours can be more delicate and smooth.

Mesh bags are used to hold the hops so it's easy to get them out of the kettle at the end of the day - basically like a tea bag.

To aid with cleanup, we keep them in mesh bags, essentially a giant tea bag. This year, we brewed a double batch, each with 30 lbs of fresh hops. The brewery sure smelled amazing!  

Here one of our brewers, Darren, adds the hop bags to the kettle for the whirlpool.

But it's not all about the hops, the pale ale is also brewed with rye malt (17.6% of the grist) along with Red Shed Malting Parkland Pale and Caribou malts.

We can't wait to see how this year's batch turns out.  Find it at the brewery Tuesday, September 29.  It will be on tap and in cans to go, and it's sure not to last long!

You're Invited to our annual OKTOBERFEST event!

DETAILS:

Date: Saturday and Sunday, Sep 19-20.

Time: ALL DAY 12-7 pm

No Tickets or Reservations Required

Family Friendly

WHAT TO EXPECT:

Beer Release -  Annual Oktoberfest Festbier Lager 5.5%!  You can BYO Stein or Maßkrug for beer pours of 16 oz to 32 oz (with some restrictions on stronger beers for the 1L pours).  

Food - Fast & Tasty Food Truck + Swiss Bakery Pretzels

Beer Garden w/ Propane Fire Pits, Tent, Games

Festive Decorations & Playlist for über Oktoberfest vibes!

Dirndls & Lederhosen Encouraged!

Prost!  We will see you there.

It's that time of year again, when we celebrate our birthday!  This year is our 11th anniversary, and we'll be celebrating in style (of course) with new beer releases, live music, food trucks and mini golf!

Join us on Saturday, May 30th from 12-7 pm in the Tasting Room and Beer Garden. No tickets are required and all are welcome!  See details below.

FOOD TRUCKS

Happy Schnitzel Food Truck will be serving from 12-3 pm.

Out of the Blue Wood-Fired Pizza will be serving from 3:30-7 pm.

MUSIC

Our awesome regulars, Jimmy and Dave, will play some tunes in the beer garden early afternoon (time TBD).

Then we are excited to have Dutch Handsome and the Ransoms play at the party from 4-7 pm in the beer garden.

Dutch Handsome and the Ransoms are a honky tonk, country swing band based in Whitehorse, made up of an all-star cast of Yukon musicians.

Fronted by Alex Johnston (formerly of the Midnight Suns) on vocals and acoustic guitar and backed by lead guitarists Sam Newman and/or Ryan McNally, the band features catchy fingerpicking and jumping solos. The rhythm section highlights Genesee Keevil on upright bass and Patrick Singh on drums.

Influenced by country and bluegrass greats like Bob Wills, Doc Watson, Buck Owens, and Ferlin Husky, Dutch Handsome and the Ransoms' music warms the spirit and fills the dance floor. They will be playing at the 2026 Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival, as well as playing numerous shows in Atlin, Carcross, Haines Junction and Whitehorse, including the 2026 Frostbite Music Festival.

Featuring the fabulously versatile vocals of Johnston, and the raw country bluegrass harmonies of Keevil, the band has been selling out local venues with its mix of old time cowboy blues and originals that are rich, heart-felt and varied. The music gets audiences toe-tapping and singing along, appealing to everyone from students to elders.

MINI GOLF

Frost and Flame Rentals will be setting up a 5-hole mini golf course for the day.  Challenge your friends and family to a game or two!

BEER RELEASES

We are releasing two brand new beers on May 30th as well.  One is a style we have never-before brewed at Winterlong and the other a new take on one of our favourite styles.

STREETS OF SIMA Irish Red Ale (5% ABV)

We were looking back through our old homebrew recipe books recently and noticed that we used to brew an Irish Red Ale on the regular.  So it was a bit surprising that we've never attempted one at Winterlong… until now!  Known for their easy drinkability and toasty malty character, Irish Red Ales are an easy crowd pleaser.  Our recipe was brewed with 5 different specialty malts, including biscuit, amber, light chocolate, a caramelized malt, and roasted barley, all from our friends at Red Shed Malting. It's lightly hopped just enough to balance out any malt sweetness.  It's dry and very drinkable and will be on tap, on nitro, and in cans to go starting May 30th.

The can label features a stare down between a lynx and a snowshoe hare, the later of which had a banner year, at least in the Mount Sima area!

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE Hazy IPA (7% ABV)

Of course we can't have a birthday release without some kind of IPA in the line up. For this Hazy IPA we used some different hopping techniques than our typical hazies to really boost the smooth, soft mouthfeel and juicy hop character.  We hopped this brew with Nectaron and Riwaka, two hops from New Zealand, featuring bold tropical and stone fruit notes along with a zesty citrus aroma and flavour.

The label artwork features a hummingbird feeding near Emerlad Lake.  DYK that we have only two hummingbird species in the Yukon?!  Rufous is the more common with Anna's being a little more rare.  Both are only seen in the southern Yukon, going only as far north as Lake Laberge. Wear something brightly coloured on your next outting and see if you can attract any attention!

They will both be on tap for enjoying on the day and in cans and growler fills to take home with you!  Online orders for easy local pickup will be available starting at 11:30 am via our website.

We operate in a pretty resource intensive industry – big electricity demands, lots of water, truckloads of malted grain coming up the highway, hops from around the world, and of course lots and lots of aluminium!

Over the years we’ve been taking steps to make our operations more sustainable. We’ve had solar panels on the roof since 2020, harnessing the power of the sun from March to October (depending on when the snow melts and falls).  That precious grain that gets trucked up the highway doesn't go to waste after it is used, like every brewery that spent grain goes to local farmers to feed their livestock.  We of course compost and recycle as much as possible, buy sustainable cleaning products, and support local where we can.

Most recently, we invested in a carbon dioxide reclamation system with help from the Economic Development Fund, which helps us capture the CO2 produced during the brewing process and reclaim it to be able to use in other parts of the brewing and packaging spaces.  This will save us a lot on trucking up CO2 tanks to the Yukon and allow us make our beer quality even better!

Here are some other shoutouts to some of our suppliers and local partners who help us do our part to tread a little lighter on Planet Earth. Cheers to the following:

• Big Bear Liquor Store - For saving our cardboard flats so we can pick them up and reuse them!
• Red Shed Malting - For providing a means for us to send our plastic grain bags back for proper recycling outside of the Yukon.
• Pride Bites For offering Eco-friendly (rPET) fabric and stuffing (made of recycled plastic bottles) for our Winterlong Dog Toys.
• Yukon Refillery – For stocking bulk environmentally-friendly soaps that we can refill for our bathrooms.
• Blue Bins Recycling - For handling all our compost and recycling over these past years.
• The Farm Gate - For collecting our spent grain and feeding it to their livestock. Which in turn gets used in things like our Scotch Eggs from Landed Bakehouse!
• Sockrates - For offering an organic cotton option for our everyday Winterlong socks!

EARTH DAY FUNDRAISER

This year for Earth Day, we're going global and shining a light on the fantastic work of the GivePower Foundation. This organization sets up solar-powered solutions in developing regions that need it most – think desalination solar water systems and power for critical infrastructure like schools, hospitals, and food production facilities.  To date they've improved the lives of over 2.5 million people across 32 countries, and they are doing it in a sustainable way.

We'll be donating $1 from every pint to GivePower on this Earth Day, April 22nd.  Come by and have a pint for a good cause.  Check out Give Power if you'd like to make your own donation and read up on some of their projects!