Dildo Brewing has found a place to pump up production: a former fish plant

A Newfoundland brewery is increasing its footprint with a new facility aimed at almost tripling its beer production.

Pam Goodyear, head of sales for the Dildo Brewing Company, says demand has continued to grow since the business opened seven years ago. 

She said 90 per cent of Dildo's tap sales happen on-site during the tourism season.

"It makes it a little bit challenging to expand to accounts across the island and make sure that everyone gets that product that they're really, really craving," Goodyear told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show.

"So to solve this problem, [the owners] had basically repurposed the old fish plant in New Harbour."

WATCH | Jessica Singer has an inside look at Dildo's new brewing facility:

Cheers! Dildo Brewing launches new expansion, and a new brew

1 day ago

Duration 2:37

There’s a lot to cheer about in Dildo, N.L. The Dildo Brewing Company has transformed an old fish plant into a new production facility that can nearly triple its beer output. The CBC’s Jessica Singer speaks with folks about the success of this family-run business.

The four-vessel, 20-barrel automated brewhouse is the first of its kind in Newfoundland, Goodyear said, explaining that the expansion had been in the works for years ahead of Friday's grand opening.

"Everyone's just, you know, really excited to finally be able to show the public what we've been working on for the past two years to really bring craft beer on a huge scale from Dildo Brewing to the rest of the folks who really want to experience our product," she said.

The new facility will brew Dildo's core brands that its customers are already familiar with, including its stout beers and IPAs.

But, Goodyear said, there's also new additions.

"We're launching a new 12-pack of Dildo Light," she said. "So it will be the first of its kind that we're going to be packaging in the 355 [ml] cans."

The packs are now available at Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation stores and soon they'll land in select convenience stores.

"This beer is definitely going to be a game changer, I think, for a lot of folks," said Goodyear.

She said the craft beer market is growing consistently and, while there are more breweries open across the province, there is space for them.

"We have great relationships with everyone and everyone kind of does their own thing. They have their own kind of niche products that they're producing," said Goodyear.

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.