Canada, NS: Off Track Brewing already open in Bedford

Allan MacKay has been brewing beer for 10 years. His beer production grew from a small bar fridge and eventually took over the main fridge in the house. He often hosted parties for friends, offering them beer from the taps in that fridge.

“People would start saying, ‘You should sell this,’” he says. “It’s easy to say that when you’re getting it for free.”

Now MacKay, along with friends Jon Saunders and Matt Scott, are brewing their own beer at Off Track Brewing on Rocky Lake Drive in Bedford.

The brewery launched on Friday, Dec. 22, and had a busy start, even opening its doors on Christmas Day with about a dozen customers.

There are nine beers on tap, including a pale, a couple of IPAs and brown ale. They also brew a peanut butter stout inspired by a beer MacKay tried in Alberta.

“It’s been selling like crazy here,” MacKay says.

Eventually, they want to brew a cider, too.

Before they opened their doors, the trio spent hours on Skype planning their business. Those conversations often turned to other topics, such as Seinfeld or football, taking them off track from the conversation about the brewery. Those off-track conversations inspired the brewery’s name. It’s only coincidence the brewery is located near railroad tracks off Rocky Lake Drive.

Scott and Saunders are both from Bedford, while MacKay wants to move to Bedford, where he also works his full-time job. Scott’s been brewing beer for about six years.

Saunders brings business experience, since he previously ran a few businesses of his own. All three love beer, of course.

Scott and Saunders would work on brews together while they lived out west, Saunders in Winnipeg and Scott in Saskatchewan. Scott and Saunders went to university together. MacKay is Scott’s brother-in-law. Scott and Saunders moved back to Nova Scotia just to start the brewery.

“We always said we wanted to bring to Bedford something it doesn’t have,” MacKay says, adding they can serve Lower Sackville, Fall River, Waverley, Clayton Park and more.

MacKay says the appeal of craft beer is that it’s local and different.

“People are realizing there’s lots of flavour in craft beer,” MacKay says. “People will support the little guys, if they can.”

“We get everyone from 20 years old to 75 and everyone in between,” MacKay says. “There’s no target market.” One recent customer included a grandmother who bought a T-shirt for her granddaughter and a couple of growlers and tried some peanut butter stout while she was there.

MacKay says eventually they’d like to expand. Right now, they’re working on a system to increase production with the goal of eventually selling their craft beers to restaurants and farmers markets.

But they also want to be a part of the community of Bedford, too, and hope to take part in events such as Bedford Days.

“We want to be involved in the community as many ways as we can,” MacKay says. “We want to be known as Bedford’s brewer.”

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