Beer was one of the first things Sonja Mills and Alicia MacDonald bonded over, and soon it will be part of their daily lives as they work toward opening a brewery.
While living together in Halifax, the couple was immersed in the city’s booming craft beer culture, attending openings and events.
MacDonald frequently brewed and tried out recipes and met others involved in the culture.
As time went on, they got to know enough about brewing that they decided to jump into the business themselves.
Research showed many breweries in rural areas are flourishing, and after factoring that into their business plan, they decided Port Rexton would be an ideal spot.
“We do have tourism down here and the government has done a lot of research. We were able to look at that and a lot of people are coming to the Bonavista Peninsula every summer. People are coming from places where craft beer is well-established,” MacDonald said.
They discovered there were a lot of people already brewing and were interested locally, meaning there was already a market, without factoring in tourism.
When the brewery was first announced this past October, they were pleased to get a positive reaction. They set up a Facebook page which quickly gathered a following and attracted encouraging comments.
“I mean, it’s beer. It’s a pretty happy product,” says Mills.
MacDonald jokes that Mills, with her law background, is the brains of the operation and she is the brawn with her background in brewing.
“I would be the hands-on brewer doing a lot of the work. The day-to-day operations would be on a small scale, brewing on average three times a week. It will depend on demand, so we can only guess,” says MacDonald.
They plan to produce roughly 300 hectolitres of beer per year — that’s 1,000 pints per run.
The pair says they have a number of types and styles of beers and the beer-drinking public can expect a series of limited edition beers, so there will always be something new to try.
“It’s just the excitement of trying out a new beer. We want to try lots of styles that aren’t brewed here,” says MacDonald.
They plan to use an open concept where people can view the tanks, watch the brewing and enjoy a beer.
“We really want to create a space that’s inviting and hands-on and gives an atmosphere that’s relaxed, chill and you can learn stuff,” says MacDonald.
They want to create an experience that’s more than just popping open a beer bought at a liquor store.
“It won’t have the same pub atmosphere, but I think it will be equally fun, sociable and enjoyable,” says Mills.
The building which will house the brewery is also a point of pride for the duo. It was built as a schoolhouse in 1841 and became a community centre. It still has much of its original architecture, which they hope to incorporate into the experience.
“It was all very much part of the community,” says Mills. “Every one that comes to do work on it now will say they remember going to dances there. There are still people who went to school there before it got passed over to the town because it was still a school until sometime in the ’70s.”
*This article has had a surname corrected.
