Nonsuch Brewing Co.’s name was inspired by the historic ship Nonsuch, which sailed from England in 1668 to trade for furs in Hudson Bay. For President Matthew Sabourin, the brewery’s name represents the promise of something unique and personal. Matthew explains that their shareable plates and award-winning craft brews are designed and served to create an entire experience. Their mission is to make special moments, like that one perfect evening shared among your favorite people. A moment always remembered but never re-lived.
As a Métis-majority owned company that has significant ties to Manitoba’s history, Nonsuch is proud to honour the past while shaping the future as a micro-brewery with a small team who cares. Originally created to offer an elevated beer option similar to wine, Nonsuch brews all beers on site, featuring ten rotating taps of Belgian and European ales and a locally inspired menu of shareable plates.
Nonsuch received funding through PrairiesCan’s Business Scale-up and Productivity program to scale their craft beer production and canning processes. This allowed them to keep up with high market demand and offer Manitobans a unique dining experience. As the brewery continues to expand, they hope to share their original product with other Canadian provinces to continue making moments beyond Manitoba’s borders.
Manitoba brewery scales up with support from PrairiesCan (length: 3:31 minutes)
Transcript: Manitoba brewery scales up with support from PrairiesCan
[music]
[Video opens to Matthew Sabourin, President of Nonsuch Brewing Co. in front of grey background, speaking to the camera.]
MATTHEW SABOURIN, President of Nonsuch Brewing Co.: We founded Nonsuch on this idea of making Manitoba proud and making moments. And so we decided to have beer be that vehicle to communicate that vision and that mission.
[Video transitions to various panning shots of Nonsuch Brewing Co. brewery, beer and food being served, people having a good time in the brewery, beer taps, Nonsuch logo on building.]
[Nonsuch La Brasserie Brewing Co appears on the screen.]
[Video transitions to Matthew Sabourin.]
My name is Matthew Sabourin and I’m the president at La Brasserie Nonsuch Brewing Co.
I personally have a pretty interesting connection to Manitoban history. I am a direct descendant of Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière and Marie-Anne Gaboury, so through there are some significant ties to Louis Riel and his story and to my Métis heritage. And so that has always been something that’s been important to me personally, and now subsequently for the company and our story.
[Video transitions to mural of outdoor Louis Riel, then transitions to a line of various beer cans.]
[Video transitions to Matthew Sabourin.]
[While Matthew is speaking, video transitions to various beer making products, grains, brewing vessels, and barrels.]
What led us here dates all the way back to me becoming an adult and discovering wine, and really falling in love with it. Beer has always, I’m from the country so it has always been a part of my life, but it was more so the unsophisticated drink you had at parties or whatever, and wine was like, oh, those are the special moment things. And I loved that part of it. I loved that we would take a minute to just taste a little bit more.
Later on in life, I became an entrepreneur and fell in love with the world of business and at the same time started home brewing. And that’s where I discovered Belgian beers and all of the parallels that certain Belgian beers have with wine. And suddenly that dream and that passion that I had originally had with wine suddenly smashed in with beer. Why can’t we do to beer as we do to wine? Why can’t it be a sophisticated drink? Why can’t it be respected, like wine is respected? And pieced it together, that’s where the concept of Nonsuch was born.
[Video transitions to various panning shots of Nonsuch Brewing Co. brewery, beer being poured and served.]
Probably the largest problem that breweries face is finding the capital to start a business like this upfront, which ultimately led us to partnering up with PrairiesCan and the Business Scale-up program to help us take the business to the next level.
[Video transitions to Matthew Sabourin.]
[While Matthew is speaking, video transitions to various panning shots of Nonsuch Brewing Co. brewery, woman walking in, two people sitting at a table drinking beer.]
It’s incredibly reaffirming to know that a program with such high due diligence ultimately chooses you. It’s like, “Okay, maybe we’re on the right track here. Maybe we really do have something special.” That alone was quite gratifying. And then we connect with how PrairiesCan and the Business Scale-up program is here to work with us was really special.
[Video transitions to various panning shots of Nonsuch Brewing Co. brewery, someone holding a can, someone testing beer, preparing equipment, beer vessels.]
We are big dreamers. We always have been. We have always tried to push the envelope for what beer can be and what a company like ours can be in this market. And so, our hope is to leave the Manitoban borders and maybe within five years our beer is available nationally. We see a great opportunity with that, and so that’s where we hope to go.
[Video transitions to Matthew Sabourin.]
[Text on screen: “With the support of: Prairies Economic Development Canada”.]
[Prairies Economic Development Canada Wordmark appears on screen with Animated Canada Wordmark.]
