The Eaten Path: A craft brewery that glowed bright if briefly, even changed a few lives

'Don't cry because it's over, be happy that it happened'

I was a little verklempt on the last day of existence at Bricklayer Brewing, one of the first businesses to open five years ago at District 1881, Chilliwack's re-imagination of the decrepit southeast block of Five Corners at the city's downtown core.

"Don't cry because it's over," the sign behind Kristopher Schmidt's bar said that day. "Be happy that it happened."

"Be happy that it happened" is existential good advice worth considering at all the big challenging moments in life: when friendships melt away, when commitments to forever fall apart, when final breaths are drawn.

It's also worth remembering as last sips of fine wine are sipped, the final chords of your favourite song reverberates, as a spine-tingling embrace is ended, or the last bite of the best meal you've ever had is savoured.

The "here-for-a-good-time-not-a-long-time" philosophy is easier to post about than to live in reality. Even when it was spoken and shared behind the bar, some people shed a real tear when Schmidt was forced to close the doors that one final night and wrap up his hoppy experiment. It was a place where regulars gathered and clinked glasses like a scene from that eponymous sit-com, friends laughed over IPAs and sours. They ate chips 12-inch hot dogs, young musicians showed off their chops, and strangers made connections both bizarre and fruitful, fleeting and enduring.

Bricklayer visitors saw all kinds of stuff, from middle-aged drag queens calling bingo numbers to teenage hair farmers sharing electric-guitar riffs.

"It was always a strong inclusive place," Schmidt told me in a chat we had, recently and unironically over a happy hour pint somewhere else.

"I was proud of the inclusiveness."

What was most remarkable for a small craft brewery was that almost every night of the week there was an event or a performance. From trivia nights to special events to music across the spectrum. Occasionally touring musicians would stop in to play but the music was often more like a jam night with collaborative connections between bands and singers and guitar players.

Several very young musicians in new bands got a chance to play in front of people, some of them for some of the first times in their lives. The closure of Bricklayer meant a somewhat unique venue for young and new artists is gone.

What happened happened

Schmidt opened Bricklayer Brewing on Nov. 11, 2020, in the 3.75-acre District 1881 redevelopment at the heart of downtown Chilliwack.

As long-time Chilliwack residents know, the project was long in the making as city hall tried to find a developer to bring redevelopment to the troubled couple blocks that was home to The Empress Hotel, many boarded up shop fronts, and even a homeless camp for a while.

The Algra Bros. did and continue to do a remarkable job bringing in unique, independent shops and services. There is a combination of retail, commercial, residential and mixed-used development, that has grown slowly and intensively in this multi-phased development.

Like many craft brewery owners, Schmidt was part of a home-brewing club and he kept winning award after award so he realized he was onto something.

The plan to open was before the pandemic hit and he opened up eight months in, not a great time to start a business but he had put his heart and soul into the place. He has a Red Seal in woodwork and worked as a cabinet maker in Vancouver. While Schmidt built all the interior himself, there's a little irony in the brewery's name.

"I didn't lay a single brick," he said.

So why Bricklayer? It's sort of a naming tribute to his sons who have Italian names from their mother's side of the family.

"Everyone would hear they're names and say 'They're gonna be a couple of bricklayers one day,'" he said.

It was a "weird" time to open up a craft brewery for sure, Schmidt said. COVID rules meant his occupancy was reduced from 60 down to 30, he had to put in plexiglass and he was lucky that he had a patio. Costs of all materials were rising but he powered through and eventually restrictions lifted and the customers kept coming.

After five years, however, Schmidt's lease was up for renewal and he was disappointed to find out that he was being offered a rate significantly higher than he had at the start. He couldn't afford the new per square foot rate, so Schmidt realized the dream was over and he planned a final night on Jan. 31, 2025.

Unfortunately, the day after that, the locks were changed and he is left in a dispute that will probably involve lawyers over his brewing equipment inside. This is not a story about that fight, the legal matters, because I don't care to wade into complex and personal business affairs. Suffice it to say, it ain't pretty as business disputes rarely are.

At least it happened

I am not prone to hyperbole nor public sentimentality so anyone who knows me will forgive me what follows: I am often sarcastic, usually cynical, but I'm also honest and thoughtful and I greatly appreciate when good people make good things happen for whatever glimmer of time that's possible.

I met some people at Bricklayer that changed my life in a strange and beautiful and terrible time in my life. There were times when I stopped in and it was a lifeline to a bad day, chatting with someone I knew or didn't. Often just a little time alone in public. There were times when it was a happy hour lure that I probably didn't need, I mean, one can only drink so much beer.

There were also two or three times when something truly remarkable happened for me, to me, around me. There were people I reconnected with, an old acquaintance turned enemy turned friend again. I had a strange and fleeting encounter with a person I just met who since moved away. I met someone else that no matter what happens in my life, I will never forget. Cryptic, sorry, but those who know, know.

Those who knew Bricklayer might have taken it a little bit for granted and not visited enough, not spent enough money. Most certainly miss its absence.

But hey, at least it happened, which is better than the alternative.

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Paul J. Henderson
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