Rebecca Atkinson owns Sober Island Brewing, located in Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia. Sober Island opened in May 2016 and serves brews infused with local flavours. Atkinson worked at the Henley House Pub and Restaurant (owned by her parents Meryl and Bradley Atkinson) for many years before applying her food and beverage expertise to Nova Scotia’s growing craft beer scene. Sober Island Brewing is a member of the Good Cheer Trail and Henley House Pub and Restaurant is a member of the Seafood Trail—two culinary trails developed as a partnership between Tourism Nova Scotia, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and Taste of Nova Scotia. Atkinson loves that owning a small business means she can thrive in her hometown, and encourage rural job growth. Read on for what else she loves about operating Sober Island.
What inspired you to create Sober Island Brewing?
My job in Sheet Harbour was seasonal, so I figured I would travel for the winter. While I was living in Wales, United Kingdom, my best friend and I walked into a typical Welsh pub and noticed an ale tap that read "Oyster Stout, brewed with fresh oysters." This instantly piqued my interest. I felt like Nova Scotia was missing out on this style, and it just clicked that this is what I had to do. I came home that spring and started working on Sober Island Brewing right away.
What do you enjoy most about operating a small business in Nova Scotia?
I love the fact that I can live at home. Every time I would move away, I would end up coming back to the small town where I grew up. You just can't beat living on the ocean like this—the quality of life is irreplaceable. I also love that I can inspire other small businesses in the area. Having someone come back here and say, "Well, Rebecca started a business here, so surely I can!" is one of the best feelings. I love Sheet Harbour and want to see it thrive, so the more small businesses we get here the better. We need more jobs in the area to get people coming back. Although Sober Island is a small company, I have four employees now. We live in a rural community with an aging population, but we have an incredible amount of potential and we need young people to see it and be a part of it!
What makes your Oyster Stout and Chanterelle Mild Ale unique?
We brew our Oyster Stout year-round, which to my knowledge makes it one of two oyster stouts brewed this way in Canada (the other is crafted by Barley Days Brewery in Ontario). We also don’t use a traditional stout recipe—we use flaked wheat, an atypical ingredient for stouts. And, of course, the oysters make it unique! We throw 20kg of Pristine Bay Oysters into our brew—shell, meat, juice and all. We believe this adds a true taste of the sea.
The Chanterelle Mild Ale is the first release of our foraged series. In this series, we’ll be using ingredients that have been locally-foraged from the land in our beers. I want folks to taste the region where the beer was brewed. It's all experimental and exciting. For this mild ale, we add 25lbs of locally-foraged chanterelle mushrooms, which gives it a unique, earthy and rich character.
What made you decide to partner with the Good Cheer Trail and Seafood Trail?
Being a part of these trails is about celebrating. Our local drink culture is thriving, and we're darn good at it too! I think Nova Scotia’s food and drink culture creates an authentic experience about what we have right here at home. I want to participate in that culture and be active within the beverage industry. There's no reason not to join. It’s an excellent promotion of Nova Scotia’s culinary and beverage offerings.
How do you see your industry and tourism continuing to work together in the future?
This is a loaded question for me because this is truly where my passion lies. I think the craft brewing industry and tourism go hand-in-hand. When you travel somewhere, you want to experience what's local because it's different from what you're used to. I think to stand out as a province, we have to bring experiential tourism—those unique local experiences—to the market. I believe collaboration is the way to do this. Small businesses collaborating can be so powerful, and it grows the services and products we can give visitors and Nova Scotians alike.
If you weren't making delicious local beers, what would you be doing?
If I wasn't making delicious local beers, well…I would still be drinking them! Now that I have that entrepreneurial spirit in my bones, it’s hard to think about what I would do otherwise, but I've always wanted to get into foraging. I would love to take a foraging course and offer foraging hikes where I could take people out, show them what grows locally, forage the item and then post-up on one of the 100 Wild Island beaches and cook our findings over a fire...maybe with a local beer in hand!
What is your biggest challenge as a small business?
As of late, I've struggled most with the mentality of being an entrepreneur. It can feel very lonely, so it's incredibly important to keep active and carve out a bit of time for yourself however you can. There's also so much going on that sometimes you just need to stand back and give yourself some credit. Take time to admire what you’ve built!
What advice would you give other small business operators in Nova Scotia?
Surround yourself with like-minded people. Whenever you feel lonely or unmotivated, get out there and feed off Nova Scotia’s entrepreneurial energy. Co-working spaces are great for this. See if organizations like the Centre for Entrepreneurship Education and Development (CEED) or Futurpreneur are holding workshops. There’s a lot of power in learning and in growing your network. Also, get a mentor (or two)!
Small Business Week runs from October 15-21. Check out bdc.ca for small business events in your area.
For more information on Sober Island Brewing, visit soberislandbrewing.ca.