For years, Nova Scotia craft brewers have felt that the market is saturated with too many breweries. Add to that the COVID-19 pandemic and it supposedly meant doom.
“We have a say in the industry,” said Brian Titus, president of Halifax-based Garrison Brewing and president of the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia.
“They say they’re wrong. Rumors of saturation and disappearance of local craft beer are greatly exaggerated.”
Two years after a pandemic, only three breweries have closed in recent years, Titus said. These closures have been offset by three breweries that opened, which Titus described as “really remarkable.”
There are about 70 microbreweries in the province, which employ about 1,150 people, according to the association’s statistics.
Brian Titus is the owner of Garrison Brewing in Halifax. He says it is “really remarkable” that the total number of breweries in the province has not changed during the pandemic. (Blair Sanderson / CBC)
Nova Scotia craft beer sales through the NSLC rose 11.3% to $ 6.7 million, according to its latest quarterly financial results.
“I think an industry like this that can withstand a pandemic of more than two years is a good sign of a strong industry,” Titus said.
The pandemic redefined what breweries do
He said the pandemic forced breweries to look at how they do business and make big changes. For some, this included creating online stores, home delivery, and diversifying product lines to include options other than beer.
But Titus said some others have made big moves to grow their business.
Halifax’s Good Robot Brewing recently announced that it will move beer operations from its Robie Street home to a location in Elmsdale that will increase production.
In part, the goal is to get their beer to other provinces. The new facility will also offer contract brewing: brewing for other breweries.
“We’re always looking for a future test in some way,” said Lindsey Davidson, director of marketing for Good Robot.
Lindsey Davidson is the marketing director of Good Robot Brewing. He says that while the company had always wanted to offer home delivery, the pandemic made them do it. (Submitted by Lindsey Davidson)
The Elmsdale site will also host a garden brewery and a shopping area. The company’s Robie Street location will still be used to brew some beer and retail and box office spaces will be maintained.
It’s been quite a fortune change since the pandemic hit and the company had to lay off most of its staff.
Good Robot will continue to use its location in Halifax, but most of the beer production will now be done from a facility in Elmsdale. (Anjuli Patil / CBC)
Good Robot has about 60 employees today, which is larger than its pre-pandemic numbers.
Davidson was a long-time client before he started working for the company recently.
“They’ve made some really impressive jumps and gotten things going on, keeping people busy, they’re growing at a crazy pace,” he said. “We’re hiring new people all the time.”
Tusket Falls Brewing shares some elements. When the pandemic struck, they had to lay off a lot of staff and move to online orders and deliveries, said owner Melanie Sweeney.
Melanie Sweeney is the owner of Tusket Falls Brewing. With its location in the south west of Nova Scotia and the geographical challenges it presents, it says opening a local in Halifax has always been part of a growth plan. (George Sadi / CBC)
Each block was harder than the last, he said.
Sweeney said the business especially felt the pinch when officials told residents to stay close to home.
“We definitely felt like people weren’t coming to pick up the retail trade, even from neighboring communities for 15 minutes like before,” he said.
Tusket Falls advanced with the opening of a corkscrew last September on Gottingen Street in Halifax, far from its base in south-west Nova Scotia.
A server pours a beer at the Halifax location of Tusket Falls Brewing. (George Sadi / CBC)
“We found a great space and we did it [hunkered] down and we decided to go straight, go ahead and work hard and wait for the best and do the best we can and try to make it work, ”Sweeney said.
He said the company has always made big changes to its operation, and that is no different. When they opened in December 2017, they built a building and bought beer equipment that far exceeded their immediate production needs.
After two years of pandemic restrictions, people in the craft beer industry are optimistic that brighter times are coming.
“We are waiting for what everyone is talking about, [this] being the best summer for our industry in a few years, ”Sweeney said.