If one should partake of the Nelson
Heritage Motoring Tour, one would eventually come across this 1899 brewery:
"R. Riesterer's brewery, established in 1893, became known as the Nelson Brewing Company in 1899, the year this Victorian Utilitarian building was constructed. This massive wooden structure had its own ice manufacturing plant and refrigerated warehouse where fine beer and porter were stored. The pure water used in brewing the lager produced a beer "pronounced by connoisseurs to be equal in flavour and in keeping qualities to the best beer made in Canada or the United States". The company later expanded to include N.B.C. soft drinks."
Though they're not the original brewers, the Nelson Brewing Company is ensconced in the 114 year old brewery building built by the defunct brewing company of the same name. The original Nelson Brewing Company folded in the late 1950s/early 1960s, leaving the building empty. In 1992 a group of local business people started the new Nelson Brewing Company. It is a specialty brewer, producing hand crafted beers.
For their efforts in the restoration of the brewery the Nelson Brewing Company was awarded the "Heritage Building of the Year" award in 1999.