Hop in: Still plenty of room in booming brewery business, say insiders

The number of local brands may be growing by the month, but there's still lots of room to hop around in Newfoundland and Labrador's craft beer world, according to brewers.

Craft breweries in central Newfoundland say they are not worried that the microbreweryboom will push them out of the burgeoning market which grew by one more entrant this week.

Breweries don't close, for now.- Matthew Vincent

The Killick Stone Brewing Company submitted a proposaltothe provincial government, which will conduct an environmental assessment. Their prospective business in Petty Harbour hopes tojoinalready-operating shops in Port Rextonand Pasadena, and a long list of planned breweries that includes operations in Twillingate, Gander, Dildo,Milton and Corner Brook.

For those already on the inside, the news of yet more entrants into the craft brewing scene was welcome.

"I think it's absolutely fabulous, I think it's great. I think the more the better," said Chris Adams, one of the men behind a planned cider company in Milton. He says more breweries will only serve to spread the word of craft beer and ciders, which will bring people to the table.

• Apple of their eye: Cider business sprouting in Milton

That sentiment is echoed by Sam Newman, one of the faces of Scudrunner Brewing, which is hoping to open in Gander later this year.

"The more of it people see, the more they get into it."

Humble beginnings

The last few years have been quite the change in Newfoundland and Labrador, according to Mike Buhler, the province's first beer ciceronea designation similar to a wine sommelier.

When he first became interested in craft brewing in 2012, he said, it was pretty bare.

• Hopping east: Craft brewery sensation moves across Newfoundland

"The market, the consumer base, wasn't really there. It didn't really know a whole lot about what was going on in the world of craft beer," Buhlersaid.

The number of breweries has grown considerably in that time, but Buhler said the province is still just catching up.

• Tiny brewery, big dreams: Nanobrewery set to open in Pasadena
• Sip away the long weekend with a beer expert's advice

"I think the momentum is just,we got to that critical, critical point. Where everybody is like, 'You know what, I'm going to do this,' and they start putting their applications in," he said.

Buhlersaid there's lots of room left in the industry for other provincial players maybe two, three or four more in St. John's especially if they stick to a small-scale model.

A neighbourhood plan

That's just what Matthew Vincent, the brewmaster of the planned Split Rock Brewing Company in Twillingate, is counting on.

"In our first year, we don't foresee putting beer in cans or bottles or anything like that," he said.

"It's going to be pints over a bar [that's] really going to be paying our bills, right? I don't see a brewery in Gander or Port Rexton for that matter having an effect on those types of sales."

Twillingate's tourism market will only help him keep his lights on, he said.

In Gander, Scudrunnerwill be closely associated with aviation and the town's identity, according to Newman. He doesn't see the other regional players as threats either in fact, he said it is a great opportunity to work together to cut down on shipping costs.

"There's enough demand that our Gander market will be ours, Matt and the guys in Twillingatewill have their small market the girls in Port Rexton[Brewing Company], theyare far enough away."

Cash on the table

There is money on the line both public and private for the success of these breweries.

Newman said Scudrunner is expecting to receive grants from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. While he expects to keep his job as a pilot, his business partners are looking to go full-time, and hire staff, for Scudrunner.

Adams said while he is also keeping his job for now, it's still a "big risk" to start down the road towards launching a business.

Buhler's advice to a prospective brewer is simple: make good products.

And the three hopeful brewers? They're confident too.

"Breweries don't close, for now," said Vincent. "I mean, you look across Canada and there's breweries popping up every day and you never hear of one closing."