CREDIT: BROOKE FOSTER
Mike Smith's London Brewing Co-op's brewing system is located in the basement of Jim Bob Ray's.

Mike Smith is about to be London’s newest craft brewer. He’s starting up his own line of craft beers to serve in his restaurants.

The brewery is located in the basement of his bar, Jim Bob Ray’s. Smith also owns Joe Kool’s, Fellini Koolini’s and P•Za•Pie.

The list of London brewers is small, but Smith believes craft beer is beginning to really take off in Ontario.

“It’s only about five per cent of the [beer] market in Ontario right now. We’re one of the slower place to adapt to it,” he said. “But out in British Colombia, it’s well over 20 per cent. I think they’re a few years ahead of us, but you can kind of see where Ontario is heading.”

Smith doesn’t have a grand opening date just yet. He’s still waiting on the licensing and paperwork that goes along with opening a brewery.

“You never know when that finally comes through. We’re hoping it’s soon.”

There is one other hold up.

“We’re not quite ready to go because we’re still doing the testing of our recipes and finding out what people like,” Smith said.

In true business style, Smith hasn’t picked a favourite recipe yet; rather, he looks at what the customers will favour.

“You get too close to the forest to see the trees,” he said. “When I drink other people’s beer, I know what I like and don’t like. When I taste my own, I’m thinking about what would the consumer like?”

Long-time brewer at London Brewing Co-op Aaron Lawrence is excited to see more brewers in the London area.

“There’s a lot of new start ups and new craft beers, all over not just London,” Lawrence said. “London is probably underrepresented in that regard. There are three in a city of 350,000. So, we’ve got room for a couple more. ”

On the other hand, Lawrence says craft beer is becoming more popular for a reason.

“There’s a lot more education out there about what’s going into our food and people are starting to take an interest,” he said. “When you get right down to it, beer is food. It’s an agricultural product.”

Lawrence has been brewing locally for about 12 years and has no intentions of expanding to a global market. Smith, however, hopes to join the likes of popular London Forked River Brewery and wants to sell his beer to a wider audience.

There are approximately 40 craft beer breweries in Ontario. To find them and more information, visit ontariocraftbrewers.com.