Carl Pratt – Riding the Waves, Beaches Brewing

Not every brewery closure is a eulogy. Sometimes it's just a brief intermission... but rarely. Troy sits down with Carl Pratt, Co-Founder and brewer behind Beaches Brewing Co, the brewery that spent over a decade as a fixture on Queen Street East in Toronto's Beach neighbourhood. Carl's an accidental brewer - a self-described map nerd who traded a GIS career for weekend homebrew batches, then talked himself into opening a brick-and-mortar brewery just months before COVID hit. For years, he ran nearly every role himself: brewer, GM, and everything in between. In December 2025, after watching the numbers for over a year, Carl made the call to close the doors for good and wrote a heartfelt, unfiltered public letter to the community explaining why - one that got the craft beer world talking. But the story didn't end there: months later, Beaches Brewing reopened under a new ownership group with a new menu, a new look, and Carl still behind the kettle, brewing every batch. What's in this episode:Carl's path from a Mississauga map nerd to a homebrewer building Beaches Brewing from scratchContract brewing, chasing the LCBO, and the reality of running every role solo for yearsOpening weeks before COVID, a landlord lockout, and the toll of doing every job at onceThe December 2025 closure and the “Peace Out Homies” letter that had the industry talkingWhat the letter really meant to those that read itBeaches Brewing's rebirth: new ownership, a French-Indian-Southeast Asian menu, and a whole new lookThank you for tuning into the #BetweenTwoFermenters podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on whichever platform you get your podcasts at and be sure to follow GreatLakesBeer on all social channels. greatlakesbeer.com. Supporting local never tasted soooo good!Hosted by Troy Burtch, Between Two Fermenters, a podcast brought to you by Toronto's Great Lakes Brewery where craft beer and conversation collide - straight from the tanks to your ears.