Our Team

Mike FoNiok

Meet Mike. Founder, brewer, establisher. Not only can he balance a beer on his head, the guy’s got some mad skills! Mike fell in love with beer when he made his first homebrew batch about 14 years ago. After joining the Cowtown Yeast Wranglers, and taking his Beer Judge certification exam, he began submitting his beers in Canadian homebrew competitions. 

His passion for brewing took over in his basement home-brewery on Erlton Street; the house his roomates called ‘The Establishment’. And it’s been a slow decline into brewing obsession ever since. About a decade later, Mike has well over 100 Canadian beer awards, achieved National BJCP title, and became a top homebrewer in Canada in 2016.

It’s safe to say that Mike’s got a huge passion for beer, and gives back to the community by teaching beer judging courses to new beer lovers. He hopes to continue sharing the love of beer with his “don’t discriminate against beer styles” attitude at The Establishment. Expect to see a wide variety of interesting beers being created; barrel-aged wild beers, European lagers, fruited sours and hop-forward IPAs. Why not brew them all? We can't wait to share his delicious beery creations with you.

Dave Ronneberg

After being introduced to home brewing by a friend 10 years ago, and joining the Yeast Wranglers homebrew club, Dave has been dabbling in producing great beer at home ever since. A natural fit for someone who enjoys hands on work, a technical challenge, cooking (and naturally, eating), his interest in brewing kept growing until his wife suggested he start a pub in their backyard shed... oops!

With a little brainstorming and planning, ShedPub was born and with an audience to enjoy his award winning beer, Dave started brewing more than ever. ShedPub hosted music concerts, Oktoberfest parties, and just plain old backyard gatherings with friends, where the most common question was "When are you opening a brewery?"

After meeting Mike and Brandon through the Yeast Wranglers, the idea of opening a commercial brewery quickly became reality. Dave has spent the last couple years starting a small family, achieving BJCP Certified status, and mostly planning and building The Establishment. He can't wait for you to come see the place, enjoy the great beer, and have a few laughs.

Brandon Hart

Brandon got into homebrewing the same way many people do… you’re sitting around un-employed in a dark basement trying to figure out how to turn pretty much anything into booze (Mike was easily convinced this was a good idea).  The first bad beer led to a second better beer and the next thing you know it's 10 years later and you realize your garage and basement are half full of brewing gear, your yard has a handful of hop plants and there are at least as many beers on tap in your kitchen. 

Along the way he found the Yeast Wranglers, became a BJCP judge, and won a few medals.  But mostly he remained in the basement aging and playing with sour beer.  While he won’t be in the brewery full-time there is still a good chance you’ll find him there surrounded by barrels and empty sample glasses, excited to talk to someone about it.