After meeting in Nova Scotia during university, Andrew Bullied and Erica O’Gorman returned to Calgary upon graduation and started dating. Erica went into culinary arts and nutrition, while Andrew decided to pursue brewing. Erica eventually wound up as the head chef at Village Ice Cream while Andrew found himself working at the unrelated Village Brewery. When Alberta’s legislation changed in 2014 to allow more microbreweries to open up, the couple decided to combine their passion for food and beer into their own joint venture – Annex Ale Project.
“The laws had changed and made it considerably easier for smaller breweries to start up, which has been great,” says Andrew. “So we just decided we’d dip our toe in the water.” After locking down a space in the heart of the Manchester industrial area at the end of 2016, the couple finally opened Annex’s doors to the public on May 4, 2017.
The foundation for Annex Ale Project is built on the idea of “annexing” – being present, being in the moment and being in an environment that is free from distraction. “Creating an intimate space was the ideal goal for us,” explains Erica. “Annex is typically a secondary space. Annexing can also mean taking over something and so we want to take a little piece of the brewing industry for ourselves while creating a space where people can hang out.”
