Chances are if you’re Albertan and you drink beer, at some point in your life you’ve cracked a can of Big Rock.

Equally as likely, at least recently, it hasn’t been your go to beer at the liquor store and when you think craft beer, probably hasn’t been the brand that first comes to mind.

But on the Big Rock’s 40th anniversary as not only Canada’s second oldest craft brewery, but also the oldest Canadian craft brewer still operating, the aim has to return the firm’s lineup of beverages into the consciousness of consumers.

Recently Big Rock underwent a complete re-brand of their beers, with modern redesigned packaging and logos and a more streamlined portfolio of beers that was completed earlier this summer. Gone is the rooster logo which had been the face of Big Rock, instead replaced with the big rock erratic outside of Okotoks, which gave the brewery its name.

“Rebranding is a great way to find a reason to talk about yourself. People are launching new beers all the time, and so that’s not necessarily newsworthy anymore. Once upon a time, say, 10 or 12 years ago, the launch of a new beer was something that I might be able to get your attention for,” said Brad Goddard, Vice President of business development and government relations for Big Rock.

“Nowadays, people are launching new beers with such frequency that it is just this big noise, and it’s actually part of a consumer expectation that they’ll always find something new. And so you have to do something a bit more dramatic.”

Goddard used the example of travelling to trade shows, where Calgarians would come up to Big Rock representatives and ask them where the brewery was located because they didn’t know it was right there in their hometown.

“It just goes to show the changing demographics of Alberta at large, and Calgary in particular, is now there’s people from all over Canada and literally all over the world. For years, we had taken for granted that we’ve been in Calgary for 40 years or 39 years at that time, of course, people know who we are,” he said.

Rebranded for a new generation of beer drinkers

Flash forward, after 18 months of behind-the-scenes work, the brewery is once again beginning to make a splash with advertising around Calgary promoting brand awareness, and more than a few Big Rock cans at almost all major music and cultural festivals over the summer.

“We’ve spent a few years doing the boring stuff to prepare for our spotlight. Largely capital improvement, getting machinery that was more flexible to meet modern consumer demands. It can fill the can sizes and the pack sizes that a modern consumer wants, and refining our portfolio of recipes and our portfolio of brands so that it meets modern consumer needs,” said Goddard.

“You want to kind of get all of those things in place before you say, ‘Look at me. I’m here. I’m still alive.’ Not only that, ‘I’m exciting.’ We were wise enough not to focus on a work in progress, but to really spend money and draw attention to ourselves when I really feel we were ready for our solo.”

He said that the rebranding was more than just putting pretty art on the labels of cans; it was recommitting to Alberta.

“We’ve opened breweries in other provinces and we’ve done it and spent a lot of money and a lot of time and treasury focusing on trying to be successful in BC and in Ontario, and say, ‘I built a brewery here, I’m a BC brewery,’ and ‘I built a brewery here, I’m an Ontario brewery,'” he said.

“Time and again, as if it were a shortcoming of ours, those regions, particularly the government retailers, would say, ‘Oh, you’re an Alberta brewery.’ Finally, the penny dropped. Why masquerade in BC as a BC brewery when we are an Alberta brewery? So, this rebrand is a recommitment to our roots, our authentic roots.”

Financial reports showing improvements during rebranding period

Although the numbers haven’t yet come for the entire year, Big Rock has already demonstrated the effects of the renewed presence in its Q2 earnings report.

In that quarter, according to the firm’s financial results for the three months ended on June 30 in 2025 vs 2024, wholesale sales volumes increased by 20.2 per cent year-over-year, while the contract sales volumes increased by 103.6 per cent for an overall 45.3 per cent increase in sales volumes for the quarter.

EBITA for Big Rock also improved to $1 million, an $800,000 improvement over Q2 2024.

“In an economically challenging and uncertain time, I am delighted to release our second quarter 2025 results. Directionally, we are building on 4 consecutive quarters of year-over-year quarterly sales volume growth,” said Big Rock CEO David Kinder on the results.

“In 2025, we are incredibly proud to be celebrating our 40-year anniversary and to have successfully launched our new branding and updated product portfolio, which no doubt have contributed to our success so far this year.”

Goddard said having beer in cans instead of being poured as draft at venues like the Calgary Folk Music Festival and at the Eastern Slopes Music Festival has helped the recognition.

“The brand feels more present, particularly when you’re holding the brand in your hand. In years past, at some of these events, when you’re not holding a branded can and you’re holding just a plastic beer cup, it just doesn’t feel as present or as recognizable as it did this year,” he said.

“We’ve been doing all of these same things in terms of community for a very long time, including hosting Barn Burners, which we’ve done for a long time here. It just feels fresher. It feels newer because we had been quiet for a bit. You know, we did these things, but we weren’t pushing it. We weren’t looking for media attention. We were just getting our ducks in a row.”

As a celebration of the 40th, Big Rock is once again holding an annual Barn Burner concert at the brewery in southeast Calgary.

“I just so firmly believe, and this is probably the best thing about the modern craft beer movement, the one we’re living in today is that breweries are places that communities gather. We have this embarrassment of riches. We got around 14 acres with no neighbours to upset when we play musically,” said Goddard.

The lineup for the Big Rock Barn Burner is equally as fresh as the rebrand.

Juno Award–winning rocker Matt Mays, acclaimed Daniel Romano’s Outfit, and much-in-demand Kue Varo and the Only Hopes are set to headline the festival, which runs from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sept. 13.

Kids 12 and under get in free, and food will be provided by Big Sky BBQ.

For more details, see bigrockbeer.com.