Lazy Bear Brewing and Roof Hound Brewing Co. are two microbreweries that share a craft yet produce distinct styles of beer. Both businesses have seen much success as a craft beer craze has swept the province and will soon celebrate their first full year of business.
As each settle into their respective brewing styles and niche flavours, new beers and more events are constantly on the horizon.
LAZY BEAR
Lazy Bear Brewing, owned and operated by Erin and Andy Norman, is known for it’s classic beers with top notch ingredients. The brewery was the first in the province to use Nova Scotian-grown oranges in a beer and uses the finest of stuff to make their small batch beers.
The brewery just had its open house for Nova Scotia Craft Beer week, which both owners see as a great week for breweries across the province.
The couple are gearing up for summer and are excited for new business opportunities, with the pub being built on Sydney Street and the Shoreline Restaurant both signing on to offer Lazy Bear beer on tap.
The brewery will also continue selling at the Annapolis Farmers’ Market, where they first began selling their beer. The market’s opening weekend May 20-21 will mark the brewery’s one-year anniversary.
They could not be happier with their business.
“It’s such a social thing. People drink and get together, and that’s a really cool thing to be part of from a business perspective,” says Andy.
A new beer called Brier Rose, brewed with rose hips from Brier Island, was created for the Horton House Tap Takeover event and is bottled and ready to be sold at the brewery.
“People are really enjoying it. We call it a fruit beer – a malty taste with a slight spiciness balanced with the rose hips,” says Erin.
The duo will also be at the Yarmouth Craft Beer Festival, a new event this year, on May 27.
ROOF HOUND
Les Barr, owner and brewer at Roof Hound, has a unique approach to brewing beer.
Never one to sit back, he’s always on the go with cool ideas and creative ingredient combinations. His hard work has paid off – the brewery was named one of Nova Scotia’s 15 breweries to visit.
Barr is keeping his beers modern but his building classic. Renovations are underway and will increase its size and production capacity by 125 per cent.
The brewpub also held an open house for Craft Beer Week, was at the Horton House Tap Takeover and will be at Yarmouth’s craft beer festival.
New beers include the popular Fuzzy Navel of the Classic Cocktail Series, made to look hazy peach puree, pomegranate juice and New Zealand hops, as well as the Harvey Wall Banger that will bring this latest series to an end.
Les Barr of Roof Hound Brewing Company says running a brewpub has been way busier and way more difficult than he expected.
The brewpub’s main ticket item this summer will be the Murphy’s Craft Beer Cruise in Halifax aboard tall ship Silva, an event Barr himself partook in two years ago.
“At that point I was dreaming of opening my own brewery and will now have my beer on the ship at the event. That’s pretty cool,” he says.
Despite this number of events, Barr says his focus is and will remain his brewpub in Hillgrove.
“We always make sure to focus on our home base and put our best foot forward. We keep our customers happy and that’s priority number one,” he says.
