At the first ever Alberta Craft Brewing Convention in Red Deer, Sunny 94 got to catch up with a new business coming to Ponoka, but part of rapidly growing industry in our Province.

Siding 14 Brewing Company will be one of Alberta's most unique Craft Breweries, with a Brewmaster (Marc Shields), 2 Hops Farmers (Brent & Kari Tarasoff), and 2 Barley Farmers (Josh & Femke Lubach) coming together to create a truly "Plow to Pint" beer.

Brent Tarasoff says their opening date is drawing nearer, and they couldn't be more excited.

"The cement's been poured, and our equipment will be coming in about 3 weeks, with set up to follow that. So we're hoping to be brewing by mid May, with a soft opening to come 3 or 4 weeks after that. Then we're hoping to be fully open for the start of the Ponoka Stampede."

Josh Lubach explains why they chose to startup in Ponoka.

"I personally grew up in Ponoka, moving here when I was 13 years old, and have been here the last 20 years. I thought that it was just a good fit, a good community, and we thought it's a small town we could hope to find support in. We have a great location, and there's a lot of events always coming to town, so we think we could fit right in."

Kari Tarasoff says their brewery will truly be a unique experience, and like nothing else offered in the province.

"We're joining hop growers, barley growers, and a brewer. So we're taking everything that each of us do really well right now, and we're turning it into actual beer. So the things that we're growing, you'll taste in our beer. Our brewer takes locally grown ingredients that we're passionate about growing, and is making beer that we hope people will enjoy."

Femke Lubach says her husband had always thought about making beer, but they'd never quite had the best connections.

"He always wanted to do something like this, but didn't quite have the connections to make it all click. We found each other though, and things have been going perfectly ever since."

You can find out more about Siding 14 by visiting their website http://www.siding14brewing.com/