Arabella Park Beer Bar raising the bar for craft beer

Beer has come full circle in Belmont Village. A location which once housed the first Beer Store in Kitchener is home to one of the most acclaimed craft beer bars in Ontario.

Arabella Park Beer Bar opened its doors in Belmont Village in late 2016, and in the four-plus years since has grown to boast countless brews on its signature big blue wall.

Natalie Schnurr is the co-owner of Arabella Park, and she founded the craft beer bar with her late father, Bob Schnurr, the former Peterborough Petes captain and Kitchener Rangers centreman.

The duo bonded over food and drink, which inspired them to create a space of their own to share that adoration of food and drink with the rest of Waterloo Region.

They took inspiration from another craft beer bar in Halifax, named Stillwell. The Schnurrs have family connections to the east coast establishment, and the team who designed the bar in Halifax also consulted on the concept of Arabella Park. They call themselves “cousin bars”.

Arabella features 18 taps of rotating craft beer, from brews spanning across Ontario, through Canada, the United States and even overseas. There’s always something new on the wall, whether you’re looking for a crisp lager, a fruited sour, or a high-octane slow-sipping stout.

Schnurr came up with the Arabella Park name as an ode to her German heritage, but also paid homage to Kitchener’s rich Oktoberfest history. She discovered one of the subway platforms closest to the German Oktoberfest is “Arabella Park”.

“The main intention was to ensure it was conversational,” Schnurr said. “That it was open and roomy and airy. And because it's all bar service and everything is ordered at the bar, we wanted to ensure the flow was easily accessible.

“On your way up to grab a beer maybe you bump into a friend or perhaps you meet a new friend; that was kind of the idea. That same sentiment is carried on through biergartens. You share a big long table and you get to meet your neighbour and you make new friends over beer.”

When the Schnurrs scouted prospective locations for their operation, they considered something in Uptown Waterloo, but it was Bob who suggested Belmont Village. Even though Natalie wasn’t sold on the spot initially, it grew to become the perfect location.

“My dad showed me Belmont Village, and I wasn't sure; but then we were there, and we get the sun. We're west-facing, we've got those three garage doors, which I'm so grateful for,” Schnurr said.

“The light we get is so key. Now that we have a patio out front, we get all of the evening sun, it's so nice and warm, and I couldn't ask for a better location with better people and a better community. We are so fortunate.”

After they opened their doors in 2016, word spread quickly throughout the craft beer community. Arabella Park won the 2017 Golden Tap Award for “Best Newcomer” in the bar category.

As everyone in the hospitality industry scrambled to find their footing during the early days of the pandemic, Natalie looks back at those weeks and months as a surreal experience. With her bar forced to close, Arabella Park turned to serving takeout meals for their customers.

“When the first wave came about and we had to close down, I strapped on some roller blades and started delivering takeout deliveries to the trunks of cars,” Schnurr said. “That was fun for a while. I did it for a couple of days just for the gimmick.

“It just seemed so wild. What we were dealing with and what we were living with, it felt so wild and like the Twilight Zone. I think everybody just needed a little bit of humour at that time.”

When the provincial restrictions loosened up last June, Schnurr and her team grew their operation outdoors. They expanded their patio into the adjoining parking lot, which opened up an additional 4,000 square feet of space.

Despite the pandemic, restrictions and safety protocols, Schnurr said they had their busiest summer on record.

“To re-open again with the patio after that first lockdown was such a breath of fresh air for everyone,” Schnurr said. “You reflect on those bits and it makes you realize why you've done what you've done.

“Why you've created the space that you have, and how impactful it is for people. And how important it is to have a space to be able to connect and wind down and enjoy some good beer and food.”

Ben Metcalf is Arabella Park’s cellarman, who has the distinction of curating the beers which get selected for the bar’s big blue wall. He samples countless beers to create a balanced tap list at Arabella Park, which runs the gamut of styles.

Behind the blue wall, there are three temperature-controlled coolers calibrated to each style of beer. One cooler mimics a cellar temperature, which is ideal for many stouts and 7-9% beers. Another cooler is chilled to 6-7 degrees, which houses most of the IPA’s and saisons.

They set the other cooler to 4-5 degrees for lagers, pilsners and sours. Schnurr said the purpose is to serve the beer as the brewers intended, and the proper serving temperature is a big component of paying the beer the respect it deserves.

“The priority is to get the highest quality products we can get our hands on, but we like to highlight those who are local, but supplementing those with some from overseas and America – whatever we can get our hands on to make things exciting and unique for people,” Schnurr said.

Recently, local bars, restaurants and tap rooms benefited from the provincial government relaxing its beer and liquor laws. Until late last March, restaurants couldn’t sell alcohol for takeout sales or delivery. Now they can, which has allowed places like Arabella Park to build their own boutique bottle shop.

In January, the government allowed bars and restaurants to offer takeout growler sales for beer. That means Arabella Park’s 18 taps are flowing once again and they’re offering 32 and 64 ounce growlers to take home.

“It is a little more exclusive than anything in a can or a bottle,” Schnurr said. “A lot of these breweries are doing one-off kegs or experimental kegs and it feels really good to have draft back to be able to offer these cool one-offs that may never return.”

Waterloo Region is a burgeoning area for craft beer, as the thirst for craft beer becomes stronger with locals. By constantly offering something unique, Arabella Park Beer Bar not only elevates the craft beer scene in KW, but in Ontario.

Arabella Park’s owner finds it rewarding to play a minor role in developing lifelong lovers of craft beer. Schnurr loved the excitement of discovering new beers with her father; a tradition she wants to pass along to guests at her bar.

“When you look around and you see the enjoyment on everybody’s face while they’re dining, and the discovery of a new beer is fantastic,” Schnurr said. “To further the industry of craft beer and the education of it all is very fulfilling.

“To see the growth and the attachment that people have to craft beer purely based on their interactions with us and exposure to craft beer through Arabella, that’s pretty rewarding as well.”