Our Story

TL;DR:

Must be something in the water is said when the incredibly uncommon occurs.

Incredibly uncommon is kind of our thing.

You bet your sweet bippy there’s something in our water.

Drink Curious.

Something in the Water is a curious beverage company based in Toronto. Co-founded by Steve Waugh, Mike Lee and Rick Tanton, 3 former advertising agency executives with a passion for branding, and of course beer. Sour beers were rocketing through the Canadian market. We loved how curious these beers were. So much so that we started our own beer company to make them. We had a curious name, 7' fish mascot named Colonel Troutman, our launch beer (Lee River Blackberry Vanilla sour) and distributor. We were ready.

It was March 16, 2020 and we loaded our cars, ready to sell through to bars and restaurants throughout Ontario....perfect timing...We navigated the pandemic and home delivery for six months before securing our LCBO listing. But that's when things really got going. 

In 2021, demand was high and we found the perfect location in Toronto's Liberty Village to build our flagship brewery and taproom. We sought to develop a very different sort of taproom; one that felt more Barcelona café then Munich beer hall. Flanked by a pink velvet banquette, our taproom featured stemmed glassware, a quartz countertop, and enough nautical cues to deliver on our brand name. Every beer was crafted in our Liberty Village brewery with five cents from every can sold going to Swim Drink Fish to support clean water accross Canada. That same year won Double Gold for branding at the Craft Beer Marketing Awards and Silver at the World Beer Awards for our Pancake Bay Sweet Brunch Stout in a blind tasting in London, England.

It was now 2022 and with a second beer in the LCBO it was time to truly become a curious beverage company. We launched our Grace Bay Rum Cask Whisky, receiving a Silver at the World Spirits Championship in San Francisco.  That same year we opened our second location in Kingston, a fittingly a nautical town with a thirst for IPAs.

Rolling into 2023, we were awarded Canada‘s New Brewery of the Year by our peers at the Brewers Choice Awards. With wind in our sales, we continued to innovate and launched over 30 new beers and a new line of non-alcoholic hop waters. The company continued to grow and curiosity ensued. 

2024 continues to be our most notable year yet, when we graced the stages at the CBC building in downtown Toronto and faced the fire on Dragons Den. Sworn to secrecy and bound by an NDA, we continue to pursue our multi-location business model with curiousity permeating everything we do. What was not in the business plan, but is our most exciting endeavour yet, is our partnership with NHL Hall of Famer and Toronto Maple Leaf legend Darryl Sittler, releasing Sittler 10 Point Lager in some of the most famous bars and restaurants in Ontario.

Will add a nice paragraph about 2025. In 2025.

What’s next for something in the water? Stay tuned or watch this video for hint: