The papal conclave just happens to be taking place at the same time as the Ottawa craft brewery is phasing out one of its best-known brands, Pale Ale Project, and reintroducing its semi-annual Conclave lager.
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With the Catholic Church embarking Wednesday on an age-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis, the timing was truly divine for Beyond the Pale Brewing Co.
The papal conclave just happens to be taking place at the same time as the Ottawa craft brewery is phasing out one of its best-known brands, Pale Ale Project, and reintroducing its semi-annual Conclave lager.
Naturally, the folks at BTP wasted no time in capitalizing on the fortuitous coincidence. The brewery’s social media department jumped into action Wednesday morning with a cheeky post on X featuring an image of a can of Pale Ale Project being laid to rest while a group of new Conclave cans stood by, with the obligatory white smoke wafting in the background.
“As the world waits with bated breath for the white smoke, we’ve found our salvation,” the post read.
For Beyond the Pale co-owner Rob McIsaac, the opportunity to promote Conclave – which he describes as a Vienna lager made with smoked hops that give it a “distinct, smoky flavour” – by tying its reintroduction to the papal conclave was too good to pass up.
“We thought we’d have some fun with it,” he said. “Pale Ale Project is going away, and we’re having a conclave before we announce the new brand. It seemed like an appropriate and timely play for us.”
The company has produced Conclave once or twice a year for the past couple of years, he said.
“It keeps well, so we don’t need to brew it year round,” McIsaac said. “We’re big fans of the recipe … so we continue to come back to the well.”
Meanwhile, Beyond the Pale is preparing to introduce a new offering, a West Coast pale ale called Tasty, that’s set to hit the market in the next week or two to replace Pale Ale Project.
“We had a new beer, and we sort of felt it was time to turn over one of the brands that we had,” McIsaac explained.
BTP’s decision to juggle its lineup comes as the Canadian craft beer industry grapples with issues such as changing consumer tastes and new tariffs on aluminum products that could drive up the price of cans.
McIsaac said Beyond the Pale has “locked in” special pricing with its can vendor for the second quarter of 2025 and isn’t sure how the tariffs will affect costs for the rest of the year yet.
But he said the ongoing trade war with the U.S. has had one positive effect on his business – a resurgence of “Canadian pride” and a “buy local” sentiment that has, anecdotally at least, led more consumers to gravitate toward craft breweries like BTP.
“We’re seeing a little uptick from that as well with people wanting to support their local brands,” McIsaac said. “It’s been a good spring for us so far.”
The brewery is also seeing a steady influx of visitors to its newest taproom, located in the former Courtyard Restaurant in the ByWard Market. McIsaac said business there is “picking up” as the temperature rises and bookings for wedding receptions, birthday parties and corporate gatherings come pouring in.
“It’s pretty much what we’d hoped for so far, and we’re looking forward to going into the summer because obviously there's a large patio there as well,” he said.
At the same time, Beyond the Pale, like craft breweries across the country, is trying to figure out how to keep its product mix relevant with a younger generation of drinkers who aren’t quaffing down beer at the same rate their parents did.
Over the past few years, BTP has introduced new products such as lower-alcohol beers and its Side Hustle line of premixed vodka-and-soda beverages and ciders.
“We’re trying to meet the changing demands of the marketplace,” McIsaac said. “Consumers have shifting tastes from what was much more focused on beer. A lot of those consumers are drinking a broader range of products.”
BTP has yet to come out with a completely non-alcoholic beverage, but McIsaac said that will likely happen in the near future.
“We’re starting to dip our toes into it, but we haven’t found a product that we’re ready to roll with yet.”
In the meantime, the company has a “few thousand” cans of Conclave ready for market, with the current events in Rome providing a perfect backdrop for its launch.
“It’s a great beer, so this is a fun way to get a little bit more exposure for the product,” McIsaac said with a chuckle.
