As an entrepreneur and real-estate agent, Ron Cheeke is used to moving and acting quickly when there’s an opportunity. So having to wait for the final touches to be complete on his Axe and Barrel pub is clearly weighing on him.
Sitting quite literally and metaphorically on the edge of a bar stool, Cheeke is a bundle of energy and some nerves.
“I had hair,” he joked, pulling off an Axe and Barrel cap he had put on for a photo shoot in the tasting room of his brewhouse, on Millstream Road in Langford.
The former Loghouse Pub, which he bought into in 1999 and has owned outright since 2007, has been closed for the past six months as Cheeke worked on re-imagining the space as a destination brew pub and BBQ joint.
The waiting has been tough. Not only has Cheeke spent $2.6 million to rethink the pub and build a brewhouse and tasting room from scratch, but he’s on the edge of his seat wondering if people will make it the success he needs it to be.
“In 15 years [previously], the most I’ve ever been shut is four days. We’ve now been shut for six months and invested $1.4 million,” he said.
Cheeke is the first to acknowledge he might have bitten off more than he bargained for.
He had initially budgeted $550,000 to redo the pub, but after realizing he had to completely gut the place, replace systems and build a new kitchen, he was looking at a $1.4-million bill.
The brewery, which started brewing last July and put product onto the market in the fall, was supposed to cost $450,000. It ended up hitting him for $1.2 million.
“The pub was a challenging project,” he said, admitting that for the past few years, he had spent his time focusing on his massive Liquor Planet store across the parking lot. The pub’s quality slipped.
That meant a massive reinvestment, new menu, new focus and new staff.
“The pub, which was built 25 years ago, is now up to today’s standard,” Cheeke said.
He brought in Chris Silvestri as a director of operations to guide the restaurant side of the business and integrate the BBQ joint with the brewery.
“The idea is to have one identity — the Axe and Barrel,” Silvestri said.
“They are now inextricably linked, that is the whole point of this.”
Silvestri said the two sides will work in concert, complementing menus with their beer and using beer in recipes to the point that spent grains will be used in creating doughs. They will also be making, from scratch, their own barbecue rubs and a variety of sauces.
Silvestri said the Axe and Barrel will open with five of its own beers on tap, along with half a dozen guest taps that will rotate to feature craft brewers from around B.C.
He said they are already hearing buzz on the street about the new BBQ focus for the pub, and feedback on the beer has been good.
“People are itching to see what we are producing,” he said.
“We have to deliver on the quality of the beer, our food and service. And if we do that, I think we will be back to having lineups here.”
Silvestri said there’s plenty of room for another brewer to make noise in a market where craft beer has taken hold.
“The benefit we have is in being new kids on the block. Everyone wants to see what we are all about,” he said.
Cheeke said their location also will help make it a success.
“This is the only brewery in Langford and we feel we are opening up a market here,” he said, noting there are a lot of young families in the area looking for good dinners, quality beer and nice wine.
There is a rental apartment complex being built beside the pub, and across the street there are plans for two residential towers.
“We anticipate with our location, we will get a lot of walk-in clients,” he said.
And so far as Cheeke is concerned, it can’t happen fast enough.
The complex, including the pub, brewery and liquor store, has been a passion project and a long-time vision. Cheeke believes it’s a solid business proposition.
“I always believed that whether you’re happy or sad, you will eat and drink,” he said. “In good or bad times, you will spend your money on booze and food.”
The Axe and Barrel pub expects to be open in the second week of April. It will be open for one night, April 4, for the launch of a Brews Brothers collaboration 12-pack featuring beer from 12 brewers.
All of the beers in the package will be on tap at the brew pub that night.
