Firehall No. 1 Kolsch to be celebrated at Kamloops’ original firehall

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops Fire Rescue’s Firehall No.1 Kolsch will be the star of the evening Thursday night (April 6) at the Kami Inn. The Firehall No. 1 Kolsch beer from Iron Road Brewing pays tribute to Kamloops’ oldest surviving firehall, which opened back in 1905.

Last month, 4,000 cans of the beer rolled off the production line at Iron Road in Kamloops and Thursday the beer and the charitable initiative will be celebrated at its namesake, Fire Hall No. 1. Josh Cowen who helped spearhead the campaign confirmed that a dollar from every beer sold has been benefiting the Kamloops Firefighters Charitable Society.

“Every pint that is sold tonight, the Kamloops Firefighters Charitable Society gets a dollar out of that. From there, we will deem where it goes. It can go down to RIH or the (Firefighters) Burn Fund. There is an actual burn fund building down in Vancouver that houses burn victims — it will help that. The Kamloops Firefighters Charitable Society actually has a room there to house people — and we will just put it back into the community where we see fit,” said Cowen.

The old firehall-turned-bar will be filled with Kamloops firefighters tonight, with a special keg of the kolsch on-tap. The beer is also available at a number of local liquor stores in town and at Iron Road. With sales going well, it’s possible a second run of the beer for a good cause could arrive in the future.

“It’s all kind of up to Iron Road, honestly. I’ll leave that up to them. Hopefully, it’s always good for our charity, the Kamloops Firefighters Charitable Society. If it continues to be a success, then we would love to be onboard with Iron Road,” said Cowen.

The celebration will be held Thursday night (April 6) beginning at 6:00 p.m.