About
The Legend of Sober Island
Legend has it Nova Scotian sailors would toast the discovery of new lands. As you can imagine, navigating the eastern shore archipelagos led to more than a few raised glasses.
By the time they reached our home, supplies were understandably short and only one name seemed appropriate: Sober Island.
Today, warm hospitality and craft ale await all those with adventurous hearts.
How We Do What We Do
Imagine how easy it’d be to just brew beer in a factory, using ingredients from a catalog. Ugh, we’d rather not. We do things the hard way. Which is usually the right way too. Every 800-litre batch starts with well water, and every ingredient is locally sourced whenever possible. The oysters in our stout are from nearby Pristine Bay. And every can is filled by hand (which is totally as painstaking as it sounds), but it’s worth it. Our recipes are built from scratch and are the products of a full-mash process, which means that you’ll never see us use an extract in our production.
Seas are never 100% calm when you’re brewing in small batches & using high-quality local ingredients, but we only do things the hard way. It’s tastier like that.
Our Bold Captain, Rebecca Atkinson
There was once a time when “Oyster Stout” wasn’t a term you’d hear over on this side of the pond... In a Welsh pub where she was born, Rebecca Atkinson knew that Nova Scotia was missing out. Thanks to her deep love of food and drink, this determined woman built the craft known as Sober Island Brewing Co. and set sail in 2015. Rebecca Atkinson has proven that the historically male-dominated industry of brewing is a welcome space for all. Her influence on the beer industry in Nova Scotia has passed far beyond the Eastern Shore where her brewery resides.
