Lawn bowling beer garden a ‘lifeline’ for downtown Guelph brewery

A unique experience is getting attention in Guelph for combining lawn bowling, beer, music and warm summer nights.

Brothers Brewing is located in downtown Guelph on Wyndham Street, but a massive construction project that started in the spring meant they couldn’t open their summer patio and foot traffic has declined.

Earlier this summer, the brewery opened a beer garden at the Guelph Lawn Bowling Club and it’s proven to be a win for both the brewery and the club.

Colton Proveau, co-owner of Brothers Brewing, says partnering with the club was necessary because sales at the brewery are down by about 50 per cent.

“Some weeks it’s been really rough. This has definitely been a much needed lifeline for us,” Proveau said.

But then the idea for the beer garden at the bowling club came up and it was just what they needed.

“I can’t really complain about the construction too much because necessity is the mother of invention. And this has been sitting here all along and we’ve never really pushed for doing it. So I’m happy that this came out of it,” Proveau said.

WATCH | Guelph brewery escapes downtown construction with lawn bowling pop up:

Guelph brewery escapes downtown construction with lawn bowling pop up

Brothers Brewing has opened a beer garden at the Guelph Lawn Bowling Club to escape the heavy construction in the downtown area. The bonus is that it also introduces people to a new sport. CBC’s Aastha Shetty dropped by the club to get a closer look at the unique summer experience.

Blake Skinner, president of the lawn bowling club, says having the beer garden has added an extra element of fun and brought in people who have never tried the sport before.

“People are really enjoying it,” he said.

“There is nothing quite like this in the area. The river is right there, there’s parks all around us. It is such an incredible space. I am so hopeful that we’re able to maintain this partnership not just for next year or the year after, but for many, many years to come.”

Proveau is also excited about what the future will bring.

“We’re going to do this year after year as long as everybody’s happy with it. So it should be a good silver lining of the whole process,” he said.

New fans on both sides

Mathew and Jenna Holdom are a brother-sister duo from Guelph who have long been fans of the Brothers Brewing patio.

“I was actually at Brothers the first day that they opened and it’s always just been very community based. It’s the hub that we go to constantly. Like we hang out there, we play games there, we watch live music there and we were sad they didn’t have a patio,” Jenna said.

She added they decided to try lawn bowling while visiting the new beer garden.

“The very first time we found out about the Monday free [lawn bowling] day, we tried it and then we realized the membership is actually quite cheap. So we ended up getting it,” Mathew said.

They plan to keep showing their support as construction continues in the downtown area for multiple years.

Emily Gibson says she’s been lawn bowling at the Guelph club for years. For her, the beer garden is a welcome new addition.

“It’s like night and day from last year,” she said.

“This year is the best turn out we’ve had. Obviously it’s unfortunate that the construction downtown is happening, but we’re so glad to have Brothers here. It’s just a really great atmosphere.”

Gibson says the beer garden seems to be attracting new people to try out lawn bowling.

“Typically, and maybe stereotypically, it’s maybe older people that play the sport, which is great. I love it. It’s a great vibe, but it’s also awesome that we have some younger folks coming in to play as then we can keep it going for years to come,” she said.