01/21/2026
Thanks so much for sharing our story and for all the support! We’re excited to finally get beer into people’s hands and to keep learning as we go. Cheers to the future!🍻
What do you get when you cross mash tuns, brew kettles, and fermenters with three synchrotron scientists? A new microbrewery called Saskatoon Beer Lab. The enterprise is the passion project of Jarvis Stobbs, a staff scientist at CLS who leads the Strategic Support Group.
Jarvis got the idea a few years back. His father-in-law, a restaurateur, was considering selling a complete brewing setup and the space in which the equipment was housed, but then asked Jarvis, a passionate beer lover, if he wanted to take over the brewery.
“That’s when I reached out to (CLS colleagues) Tom (Regier) and Burke (Barlow) and said, ‘Hey guys, you want to tag-team brewing?’ And they’re like, ‘Hell, yeah!’” His father-in-law still owns the building and equipment, but Jarvis now owns the beer-making operation.
Over the last two years, the trio has been plugging away on evenings and weekends to assemble a working brewery, calling in friends in the trades to hook up boilers and set up the glycol systems.
“We’re basically nerds who like good beer. Rather than trying to brew funky, unusual beers right away, we want to make solid, well-crafted beers for a reasonable price, and really understand what makes them good.” The team recognizes that while hoppy IPAs will always be popular with some beer drinkers, most people just want classic lagers and pilsners, with the occasional pale ale. They plan to establish a strong base lineup first, then periodically experiment with smaller-batch specialty styles.
Their brand tagline? “Know your beer.” The brewery has a small onsite lab, complete with a high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC), which they’ll use to generate data on every batch. Whereas most brewers typically post only the IBU (International Bitterness Units) and ABV (Alcohol by Volume) for their products, Beer Lab customers will be able to scan a QR code on cans to access extensive batch metadata, including key process variables from brewing and fermentation. With their in-house HPLC system, the team can measure the actual bitterness compounds and alpha acids in every batch, rather than estimating them from hop additions.
They also emphasize transparency in brewing. Customers will be encouraged to share what they love – or dislike – about Beer Lab products: Was a lager too bitter? An IPA not bitter enough? Or maybe a batch had a funky, “off” flavour? “We welcome the feedback and will investigate," says Jarvis. The team plans to openly discuss how different batches performed and what they learned from them. True to their backgrounds, they approach brewing as both craft and experiment, using lab tools to better understand each batch and sharing their methods openly so other brewers can benefit.
Once they’ve established their name and reputation, they plan to offer lab and analytical services to other brewers to leverage their in-house expertise: Jarvis is a food scientist, Burke is a chemist, and Tom is a physicist who’s also an organic farmer on the side. Anything they learn by studying their own beers, they plan to publish. While large breweries have well-staffed labs, they tend to keep their knowledge in-house. “We want to make this information easy and accessible for other brewers or the general beer enthusiast”
Saskatoon Beer Lab is now fully licensed, and commenced operations in early January. As production ramps up, the trio will begin with smaller batches while they learn the equipment and dial in recipes before scaling up. Sales will start with take-out cans, growlers, and contract brewing as they establish themselves and develop an onsite taproom.
Jarvis says that, as the brewery grows, they hope to steadily expand their brewing capacity and lab capabilities over time, while maintaining a strong focus on quality and data-driven brewing.
Photo (left to right): Jamie Stobbs (Jarvis's brother / co-owner), Burke Barlow, Tom Regier, and Jarvis Stobbs
Saskatoon Beer Lab
