Slackwater sneak peek

It's opening "very, very soon."

Penticton's newest craft brewery, Slackwater Brewing, is getting down to the final touches.

"A lot is going into this project," said co-owner Liam Peyton. "Everyone is pulling out every stop to get this up and running and open as soon as possible." 

Located on Martin Street at the site of the old Mule nightclub, Slackwater has been completely redesigned.  

The fencing and screening that had been concealing Slackwater from the public eye while construction went on came down Tuesday — a huge moment for Peyton and his whole team. 

"It's pretty fantastic, looking on Martin Street through this beautiful room that we've built, and all these big, amazing, shiny stainless tanks and the bar and everything," Peyton said. "Even from the brewery looking out, while you're brewing beer there are trees outside and people walking past, I mean, most brewers look out into a back alley."

It's an open concept inside, with the top level looking over the bottom and the brewery portion prominently visible from both. The rooftop patio gets plenty of sunshine, and the streetside patio has plenty of room to eat, drink and be merry. 

The brewery will offer a light menu to complement their beer, featuring what Peyton calls "elevated pub fare" like honey sumac-glazed duck wings, ale-braised bratwurst, a classic "Brewer's Burger" and his namesake, "Liam's Angry Chicken."

"It is spicy, but there's a lot of people on our team that don't like spice and they can't get enough of it," Peyton explained. "It's not like your mouth's on fire, but you'll break a little sweat."

They don't have an official opening date yet, but Peyton said there will be a soft opening on Friday evening. 

"It's a word-of-mouth thing, we'll be opening for a few hours in the evening, probably between 5 and 9 p.m.," he said. "If you know you know, if you don't we'll catch you next time!"

He anticipates a few more pop-up soft openings before an official launch, that will be advertised on social media.