As part of our ongoing coverage of Toronto’s Festival of Beer, we’re profiling some of the different local brewers that will be taking part in the festival. This week, we chat with Kosta Viglatzis from Liberty Village Brewing Company.
For those interested, we’re also giving away tickets to the festival through our Facebook page.
In four sentences or less, tell us who you are and what you do.
My name is Kosta, I’ve been working with Liberty Village Brewing Company since its inception in 2012. I take care of day-to-day duties—sales and deliveries. Basically, wherever the team needs me, I’m there.
What were you doing before you got involved with the brewery?
Beer is my part-time job.
I’m also a high rise window contractor. I actually installed most of the windows on the condos here in Liberty Village.
What made you decide to take on the extra job?
A lot of influence from Steve, who is one of the other partners here. We went to university together, and he started talking about running a brewery when we graduated. He eventually came to me and asked me to take part in the brewery. We then got the other guys together, and now there’s four of us working on it.
We’re all working on this part-time right now, but we’ll hopefully be able to do it full-time sometime soon.
What defines Liberty Village Brewing?
First, it’s quality beer.
Second, we’re good people that want to keep everything as local as possible. We also love the city of Toronto, and the different neighbourhoods and pockets it has. Liberty Village being one of those pockets, we thought we could help define its identity by doing this beer.
Does anyone on your team live in Liberty Village?
You know, it’s funny, I worked in Liberty Village for two years; Cassandra, our marketing head, lives near Fort York, so she lives outside the neighbourhood; and Erik, our brewmaster, lives on the other side of Dufferin. We’ve basically been in and around Liberty Village for a long time, but no one actually lives in it.
What’s your current brewing situation? Where do you plan to take this brewery in the couple of years?
We’re currently brewing our beer through the Cool Brewery, which is near the QEW and Islington. We’ve been brewing there since March, and we’ll be brewing our third batch there come this Saturday. We’re planning to brew in excess of 70 hectoliters this batch.
Moving forward, we want to find a small space in Liberty Village, and brew some one offs and connect with people here to create an identity in the neighbourhood.
Basically, you want to live up the name, right?
Yeah. I don’t want someone to ask where we brew the beer and the answer to that be Etobicoke. That doesn’t work. We want to have some sort of small space here, and if we have to, because of financial reasons, we’ll get something bigger outside of the city.
You’ve been doing this for two years now, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned in that time?
It’s not easy, and success doesn’t happen overnight.
It’s great that we have four partners involved and that everyone has different tasks to execute on a weekly basis. We’ve learned a lot about business—the way it works, the way you start one up. We’ve also learned the way this city works, and what people like and don’t like.
Finally, we’ve learned a lot about ourselves. I know it sounds cliched, but starting a brewing company is a test of your character and strength. Do you keep sinking money, time and effort into it? Or take time out to socialize with friends? Those are some of the decisions we’ve had to make.
What keeps you going when the business isn’t doing as well as it could be?
Other than the money that we make here and there, I think it’s the support we get from friends, family, each other and the local business that have decided to carry our beer.
It has been well received, and people continue to tell us that they love the beer. So we know that we have a good product; we just have to keep going and weather the initial financial storm.
What’s the challenging part of your job? Conversely, what’s the most rewarding part?
I would say balancing this job with everything else going on in my life. This job is more of passion project right now, and until it brings in a more steady paycheque, then it’s going to continue to be that.
If you want to succeed, however, then you have to go for it at some point. So I think that’s the biggest challenge right now is staying focused and committed to the company.
The most rewarding part, and I know everyone on the team feels the same way, is going to a place like the Brazen Head and ordering our 504 Pale Ale there, or going to events like this one and having people try our beer and tell us that they like it.
Want to talk a bit about the beer itself?
It’s a pale ale. It has a bit of hoppy flavour to it, as well a citrus flavour—a lot of people say that it picks up some mango and peach flavour. It’s not too bitter, though.
If you’re into the big boy beers—I mean the Labatts and Budweisers of the world when I say that—and you’re interested in venturing down the craft beer path, then it’s a good beer to start with. It’s not going to blow your head off with the hops.
What’s next?
Everyday I go to a condominium to lead a crew in putting the windows in. We’re almost done that, and when that’s done I’m going to try to take a step back and focus more on the beer. You have to take a chance on it at some point; it might as well be now.
Anything to add?
It’s a project that, with the way we’ve structured it, requires all four of us giving specific levels of commitment and expertise. One person could not have come this far. Three of us didn’t know how to brew a beer, two of us didn’t know how to use excel, and two people didn’t have drivers licenses when we started. Everyone on their own is weak in one or two departments, but together we’re doing okay.
Favourite beer outside of your own?
Oh man, you’re putting me on the spot here.
I have to say Amsterdam’s Boneshaker. It’s a little bit harsh for some people, but I keep going back for it at the LCBO.
And on that note, are you guys at the LCBO?
No, that’s one of the tasks we’re undertaking right now. Hopefully by the fall we’ll have the beer on its shelves.
Lead Image: Liberty Village Brewing Company, left to right, are Kosta Viglatzis, Steve Combes, Eric Emery and Casandra Campbell.
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Igor Bonifacic is the managing editor of Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter.
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