Beer and bratwurst at Brauwerk Hoffman
When the calendar flips to September and the evenings start to get a bit cooler, I start thinking Germanic fare: schnitzel with sauerkraut and pickled red cabbage, hot mustards, spaetzle and grilled sausages. Maybe some sauerbraten.
For much of that – and German-style beer – there’s Brauwerk Hoffman in Rockland. Tucked into an industrial area a few metres from Highway 17 and the Canadian International Hockey Academy, the brewery space is 5,000 square feet of equipment and seating for customers.
The infrastructure was in place, the building permits submitted and the launch planned only days before the pandemic hit. This November, having weathered the Covid-19 storm, the business will be four years old.
Most of the facility and its industrial look is a row of large stainless-steel tanks and other brewing equipment on one side of the room, with glass windows, purchased during the pandemic, dividing seating for about 50 beer-loving guests in the dining area.
Brauwerk Hoffman is the brainchild of co-owners Eric Mainville, Todd Hoffman and Oliver Lemay with Mainville adding duties as head brewer. The three had plans in the works in 2019 and looked at three possible cities.
“Rockland came out on top. It’s a town that’s growing into a city, so it made sense for us to establish here,” says Mainville.
For more on this story, visit Andre Paquette Editions.
