are meticulously kept, offering craft brewers an accurate snapshot of what products are popular and where their biggest markets reside — all important information when deciding on where to focus future marketing efforts. Morrow points out that direct deliveries to independent dealers are starting to make headway in the Halifax area as well. As the landscape begins to fill with these independent stores, the craft revolution will take on an even greater grassroots foothold on the market share. “Since we opened our doors, we have been embraced by everyone here, including people who have never had craft beer before.” Breton offers four flagship beers to the thirsty craft-loving public. Starting lightest to darkest, the Stirling Hefeweizen is a 4.6 % German beer that’s made from 60% wheat and 40% barley. MacDonald explains, “It’s made from a Ger- man-style yeast with a banana and clove characteristic. It just won Beer-of- the-Year at the Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards. So we’re pretty excited about that. That was one of the original beers we came up with and it definitely has a loyal following.” Like most craft brewers, Breton made sure one of their recipes was an accessible beer that could appeal to the newly-converted. Their Stirling is that beer. Next in line is their RedCoat Irish Red. It claims the brewery’s second most popular spot in sales. And while both co-own- ers attempted to accurately describe its unique character- istics, it’s their website that nails it. “There’s a bit of bite to Redcoat. That makes sense, really. There was a bit of bite to the Irishmen who stood up to the Redcoats, the British soldiers who invaded their lands. Those Irishmen were rebels. And if peacekeeping Irish Reds aren’t your thing, the Son’s of Hector is Breton’s Brown Ale. It has a chocolatey finish from the malt used in the brewing process. Once again,MacDonaldpoints out that this one has a loyal following amongst Cape Breton’s dark beer enthusiasts. It may also rope in a fewof the IPA lovers, as theyarenot shyabout itshoppy character. Of course, the hidden gem in the whole craft beer movement is the amazing small- batch experimental cre- ations produced by enthusiastic craft brewmasters. Breton is no different, offering up seasonals like: Celtic Colours Maple Lager, Pumpkin Ale, Storm-Chaser Oatmeal Vanilla Stout, Island Time Lager, and Seven Years Pale Ale (a recent Gold Medal winner at the Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards). They did things their own way. They feared no one. We appreciate those qualities. So we’ve brewed Redcoat the Irish way, hopped for balance and drinkability. May it be the pint that settles your quarrels.”
The popular seasonals get to stay on the roster for the fol- lowing year.
Leading us to the number one seller, Breton’s Black Angus IPA. It’s not only the brewery’s best selling beer, it also takes top honours as the best-selling IPA in tall cans at the NSLC for the last year-and- a-half. Morrow comments on its accessibility, “It’s a very drinkable IPA. I think most people get into it because it’s a 9 or 10 on the drinkability factor scale.” MacDonald adds, “One trend we’re noticing here at the brewery is that people who might start off with the lighter Stirling end up converting to the Black Angus. It’s one of those beers that has nice hop characteristics. Really well-balanced. I think where other IPAs might be really hop- forward, or higher in alcohol, this one is better balanced. It has gained quite a large following in Nova Scotia.” It should come as no surprise that a business that puts family first and is concerned about the welfare of their staff is also concerned about their community. Breton has mandated a community participation program and backs it up with their support and outreach. “The main thing we do here at the brewery is stay in touch and involved with the local community. We do a trivia night every week here and every month we pick a local charity. Everybody that comes through the door on trivia night pays $5 toward that month’s charity… So far, our trivia nights have raised over $30,000 for local charities.” “I think we’re in a privileged position, to be able to start a business and have such great community support. We like to give back and are very pleased to be able to do so.” MacDon- ald stresses that the support is symbiotic. “The local support that we get from the community has been exceptional. Since we opened our doors, we have been embraced by everyone here, including people who have never had craft beer before. They’re willing to give it a try because it’s local. We’re lucky to be in an area where people love to support local businesses.” Speaking with MacDonald and Morrow, one gets the impression that the sky’s the limit for the Cape Breton brewery. After only a couple of years in business, they have already established themselves as a communi- ty hub of activity. But they’re cautiously optimistic. They’re happy to take growth as it comes and not push the envelope beyond capacity. “We’re able to meet our orders for now, but we’ll have to expand. And we can expand in our current location, so we’re lucky that way,” MacDonald assures. All things in good time, as they say. But if their initial pop- ularity is any indication, expansion may come sooner than later. They have had to hire 10 employees in their short tenure and there are no signs of slowing down. And with their family- forward formula, the Breton Brewing Company sounds like a great place to hitch your horse! Their community focus has also included benefit concerts and charity beer festivals.
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NOVEMBER 2017 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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