Slackwater Brewing to have their soft opening tomorrow afternoon in Penticton

Demolition began Sept. 10, 2018. Today is June 13, 2019. That's 276 days, an incalculable number of man hours, and one notable name change right in the midst of it.

Put it all together and you can see why Liam Peyton, GM and co-founder of Penticton's newest brew pub — and a humongous one at that — is just a wee bit jazzed in front of tomorrow night's public soft opening of Slackwater Brewing.

PentictonNow toured Slackwater Thursday afternoon. The plan was to grab a whole bunch of photos, and that plan came to fruition. But at the same time, we couldn't help but corner Peyton for a few words about the place that means so much to him.

"The four of us, my wife Kelsey Peyton, the sales and taproom manager and co-founder, our brewmaster Chris Vandenberg, our finance and operations manager Jason Mathews and me, we've been in the industry a long time and have been planning this for years, trying to create something truly unique and super special."

"We want to be the place in town. We want to further the excellent work that existing breweries and wineries have already done to make this such a world-class tourism destination. We want to add to that. We want to help push Penticton to be the beer town."

Slackwater's come a long way since our visit in March. But apart from all the gorgeous wood beams and trim, the walls of windows, the two patios, and the airy atmosphere that permeates the place, there's one addition we didn't expect.

It's a 16-foot boat, and it sits adjacent to the staircase between the main floor and mezzanine. Peyton wouldn't offer any official comment on what it took to get it in there, but we came away assured it wasn't easy.

He was up front, however, about the first public night and the first public week being a bit of a testing ground.

"The most important part right now is that we have a huge team. We want to put them to work, we want to learn our lessons, and test our processes. So to anyone who comes in after tomorrow at 5 p.m. for our soft open, we ask for a little patience."

"We're a brand new team in a giant facility, trying to do some pretty big, pretty special things here. So we may close early, we may open late, we might even take a day off. We want to make sure we're testing and working all the things we built and planned, to make sure we make the absolute best product and experience for our community and anyone visiting."

And Peyton encourages feedback. "If people have feedback, we'd love to hear it - in a constructive manner of course."

And yes, the place really is big. So big that the sizable brewery in the middle looks dwarfed by the establishment that surrounds it.

Apart from the 223 inside seats, there are 25 more on the rooftop patio, and another 30 on the street side patio. There are two bars - an enormous "Mule"-sized bar on the main floor and a second on the mezzanine - along with a full kitchen, a generous space for pool tables, and lots of room to get up and stretch your legs.

And one other thing. According to Peyton, Slackwater Brewing will be "100 percent counter service."

"You come in, you grab yourself a table, you go order at the bar, you go sit down with your drink, and we'll bring you your food and keep the atmosphere clean and fun. But there's no table reservations, or table service. It's casual, it's relaxed, and you set your own pace."

Currently, there is no date for an official grand opening. Says Peyton, "We'll be mentioning on social media what our hours are going to be each day for the first seven days." An announcement should be forthcoming sometime after that.

As we were readying to leave, we spotted brewmaster Vandenberg labeling cans of Slackwater Saison. He looked happy - a guy who finally gets the chance to let the public partake of his knowledge and his recipes.

"We can't wait to show off all our hard work," he said. "It's been a long time coming. We're passionate, and our big focus now is how good the beer is going to be and how good the food is going to be. And we have a spot now that reflects all that."

Slackwater Brewing opens - softly - to the public Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. You'll find it at 218 Martin Street. For more information, check out their website.