*XhAle You Can Buy This Beer*

Description

Christina Owczarek is the founder of XhAle, a small Calgary-based craft brewery that differentiates itself by creating what it calls “provocative beer for conscious thinkers and drinkers”.  Beer has been her passion for well over a decade and her resume can prove it. Christina has worked at Craft Beer Market and Zero Issue Brewing and is also a beer industry educator.  In the midst of the pandemic, she found herself without a job and so she decided to make good on all that knowledge that she gained and open her own brewery.  So, she opened XhAle, the first Alberta-based brewery to be completely woman and LGBTQ-owned and operated. Her goal? To transform the brewery into eventually becoming the province’s first cooperatively owned brewery so her whole team can benefit from the company’s success.  As Owczarek says the whole idea behind this venture is to give those a voice and opportunities that otherwise might not have gotten them with other traditional corporate entities. Aside from daily brewery business that keeps her busy, Christina is also a part-time brewing instructor at Old’s College. Her statements are strong and so is her beer, powerful messages in delicious brews. Her provocative labels are meant to capture our attention so that we delve deeper into what XhAle represents and how we can contribute to inclusivity issues in the industry.