"We need people to show up": CowDog Brewing calls for support just months after opening
Vancouver craft brewer CowDog Brewing is asking for the community’s help to keep its doors open just months after moving into the former Callister Brewing taproom.
“CowDog is not doing that great right now,” shared owner and head brewer Michael Hodgson in an Instagram video. “We have not been getting enough customers in buying beers to offset our costs, and right now, they are starting to add up.”
“If you like what we’re doing, you like the beers we’re making, and you like the beers we promised you, then we need people to start showing up.”
Dished got in touch with Hodgson after his post to Instagram to learn more about what was happening.
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Who is CowDog?
CowDog Brewing is a passion project by Hodgson, a Royal Canadian Navy veteran, and his four-legged chief treat-tasting officer Louis (aka CowDog), after whom the brewery is named.
Hodgson got the idea to start CowDog after his career with the Royal Canadian Navy as a hull technician ended due to an injury. During his time in the military, he learned you could make beer at home and, more importantly, how to make it taste good. The CowDog recipe comes from over a decade of trial and error.
Despite only operating out of its current location since March 2024, CowDog has been making beer for much longer and selling it in multiple liquor stores throughout Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley and at farmers’ markets.
Business struggles
“I put everything I have into this,” he said.
When CowDog first opened, Hodgson said they predicted about 50 people a day during their eight-hour business day.
“Our first few nights, we were hitting that — no problem with it,” he continued. “As the weeks went on, people were just going to the other watering hole.”
Hodgson said that many of Callister’s former customers didn’t know a new brewery had opened at the location since it closed in December. Between Callister Brewing’s closing and CowDog’s opening, many people had found new places to drink.
“Rent in East Van is not inexpensive,” Hodgson told Dished. “Things are starting to pile up.”
“I kind of anticipated this is a slow period for breweries in general,” said Hodgson. “So, it just may be timing, but I had to do something, and I could either be prideful and just be like, ‘Oh, I’m just gonna see what happens.’ Or, I can just go hat in hand to explain what’s going on.”
“I’m not some rich guy who has some trust fund. I use all of my retirement savings and everything I have for this place.”
Solutions and the future of CowDog Brewing
So what’s the solution? Hodgson said 40 people buying two beers a day would be more than enough.
“I have a lot of customers that like our cask program. They like what we’re planning. They like what’s coming down the pipe. They like our beers. But you know, it’s not enough people coming in.”
“It doesn’t matter how much I like the beers or how much the people like a beer as people show up just because, you know, not everyone wants to be going out for a beer on Wednesday nights.”
One of the unique things about CowDog is its cask beer program, which not many breweries are doing in Vancouver.
For those unfamiliar with cask beer, it is unfiltered beer transferred into casks to undergo a slight final fermentation. The result is a beer that has a much milder level of carbonation and a rounder mouthfeel. Typically, these beers have more complex flavours since they are unfiltered and are often slightly cloudy. It’s considered “live” beer since it is unfiltered and has live yeast in the cask (which causes the final fermentation and carbonation).
In addition to cask beer, CowDog has some other exciting brews coming down the pipeline, including a collaboration with Once Upon A Tea Leaf out in Maple Ridge. Think watermelon oolong, lemon meringue, and mango tea infusions.
However, if CowDog doesn’t turn around, the business may end for good.
“If this fails. I’m probably going to be getting out of the industry purely because I didn’t put this much of myself into something [to] have it fail so spectacularly,” said Hodgson.
You can visit CowDog Brewing at 1338 Franklin Street in Vancouver daily.
It’s open Monday to Thursday from 3 to 9 pm, Friday 3 to 10 pm, Saturday 12 to 10 pm, and Sunday 1 to 8 pm.
If you can’t make the trek out to the brewery, you can also find CowDog’s beer at liquor stores across Metro Vancouver.
CowDog Brewing
Address: 1338 Franklin Street, Vancouver
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