New $1.2M renovation lets beverage makers experiment in Penticton

Drink makers are going to be able to head to the newly renovated lab at Okanagan College’s Penticton campus to work on innovative beverages.

Okanagan College has spent $1.2 million to renovate its Beverage Technology Access Centre with a new canning line that’s meant to support anyone in the beverage sector, according to a press release from the college issued today, Sept. 10.

“To be able to access the science and the research and the students — it’s incredible what we can do when we work together with folks like BC Beverage Technology Access Centre,” owner of Tin Whistle Brewing Alexis Esseltine said in the release.

The lab has a new canning line so businesses have the chance to can new, small batches of their latest creation.

The funding for the renovations came evenly from the BC Knowledge Development fund and the Canada Foundation for Innovation, each giving $638,226.

“The BC Beverage Technology Access Centre has played a key role in helping our province’s beverage industry grow and innovate sustainably, and this renovation will provide even greater support for producers to succeed,” Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon said in the release.

The centre is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and BC Ministry of Post Secondary Education.

In June the centre received $1.75 million for the college’s innovation program for beer and wine.

The centre has been open for five years and has supported businesses while giving students experience that helps their education.

“The beginning of what we’ve seen with the (Technology Access Centre) over the last half decade has been instrumental for a nascent industry like ours,” Okanagan Spirits owner and president of the Craft Distillers Guild of BC Tyler Dyck said in the release.

“Having those supports will give us the ability to grow and to develop into the economic driver for the province and for Canada.”