Located in Liverpool, Hell Bay Brewing Company can be found on the waterfront in a brightly coloured orange building. When I arrived to conduct my interview, Melanie Perron beckoned me into the back area. She and business partner, Mark Baillie were hard at work in their Creating Space where much of the magic happens! Where science and art comes together to brew. This is the Magical Art of Brewing Beer.
Looking around you can see huge steel vats, lots of hoses, kegs, and so many other items it would take much too long to list. Even if I could remember what they all were. My head was filled with a thousand questions. And I’m sure I asked about 999! Melanie and Mark were very patient and answered the all! We started with some history.
Mark has been experimenting with brewing beer since 1995. He started out with a little brewing kit and things went from there! Trained at Holland College, Mark is a chef by trade, as is Melanie. The skills and experiences studying the culinary arts transfer well to making beer. We talked about the beginnings, why it started and more.
Melanie: I can remember Mark with that little beer kit. Tearing open the little packages of powdered malt. Yes, he got good at it! He was always thinking of new ideas! So good that we soon had more than we could drink or share with friends! I didn’t even enjoy beer that much in the beginning. It was not my thing. But as we went along I grew to appreciate it. Tasting new recipes and being able to assess them is important in the creation of new product.
Mark: Me, I really like beer!(laughing) Yes, that little beer brewing kit was the start. It was a cool thing to do! Fun seeing how I could adapt it. Once I saw what I could do and that I got good at it, off we went. Coming up with new ideas and maintaining quality and consistency of the product is important. The operation moved from the kitchen to the barn and then it was a hobby gone wild!
They were having success selling from their homestead to the public. Soon businesses started calling and they just couldn’t make enough in the barn! The journey from home-based/barn based business to storefront was one fraught with challenges, tons of hard work and learning experiences!
Mark: Sure there were the big companies but not many craft breweries when we started. At the time there were only 5 stand-alone brewers in Nova Scotia. We worked with South Shore Opportunities as we were planning. Eventually connecting with Elaine Callaghan who was so helpful to us!
Melanie: We knew we had a great idea. Susan Lane was one of our first business customers to carry Hell Bay in the restaurant at Lanes. Then the Knot Pub in Lunenburg. We needed a bigger space. January 2013 we took over this building. Lots of renovation later we were open April of that year.
In the early months they concentrated on selling growlers of beer. Although now they have much more, the sign at the top of the door still says Growler Store. What is a growler? Growlers are refillable, 64oz glass jugs. Customers purchase a jug, or two, filled with their favorite brew. Then would return their jug and pick up a refill. Since they are bringing a growler back, the bottle fee doesn’t apply. Returning growlers are washed and sanitized before being refilled at a later time.
Mark: We started with a pallet of 500 growlers. In a couple of months we needed more. People were very supportive. Businesses were getting on board too. Then we connected with the NSLC. We bottled beer for sale there and that also made things very busy. Now we mostly do cans of beer. Of course also the growlers!
Through the years there have been changes, more renovations and lots of listening to their customers. Also some new products that have opened up more creative opportunities. Melanie explains:
Melanie: You have to pay attention to customers. They are willing to try new things and they do have strong opinions. Some of our creations are definitely more popular than others. We keep track of that. There are seasonal preferences, for example people in the summer like refreshing brews for the most part. We started offering seltzers . Seltzers are a fermented sugar water with creative combination of flavours. All made in house. We were surprised at how popular they became!
She went on to explain that having an option for people who want something other than beer opened up more markets for them. In 2020 they acquired their distillery license. Less labour intensive than making seltzers and still an option when customers want to choose something other than beer. Experimenting with ideas for new tastes is something Melanie loves to do!
Melanie: I can get so into being creative with ideas! I’ve played around with lots of recipes. (Mango Berry Rum Punch, Margarita) Creating cocktail syrups from scratch to make new product is lots of hands on work and so fun. (smiling) I peel a lot of ginger when I make the Rum Ginger Twist. It has fresh ginger, demerara sugar, and lemons make the twist! It is a hand made, and labour intensive process for two 60 oz kegs. But worth the effort as the taste and the quality is maintained in small batches.
Mark patiently walked me through the brew process and I learned a lot! He showed me what 250 kilograms of mash in the boil kettle looked like. A far cry from a little package of powered malt he started with! As a chef you need to use all your senses to make a lovely meal. Of course I asked him about how much his sense of smell and taste comes in to play during the brewing process.
So this one, I’ve made it so many times! Its our English Ale, our biggest seller. But sure with others I taste as I go sometimes. It all depends on what I am making and my mood. Before I put anything in to the mix I do smell it to make sure it is right. I have always done that. Mistakes can happen and taking the time to be careful of quality all the way through the creating process helps.
The grains have to be crushed and brewed for about 8 hours. Then transferred to the fermentation tank for a week. Then it needs to settle, mature and have its temperature reduced. The whole process takes about 3 weeks.
The Covid pandemic interrupted business at Hell Bay as it did with many others. People were sheltering at home and not socializing. Hell Bay had to pivot and find a way to keep going. Their response was to offer a delivery service which was welcomed.
Melanie: Doing business in this pandemic is hard. We couldn’t have gatherings, open mikes, song circles as we liked to do. We had NSLC and deliveries, but people just couldn’t go out to be social for a long time. We are happy to be able to be open again. Its not back to normal but Covid protocols are in place and we can be open! We are getting through it and are happy the business is in Nova Scotia.
Creativity in business is required to make a business work, especially now. At Hell Bay, they are working hard at staying on top of pivots, regulations and protocols, all of it! Because that’s what it takes.
I think that out back, amongst all the vats and kettles, is where part of the the magic happens. The quality control, attention to detail and physical work aspect of Hell Bay mostly happens in that room.
But I have come to learn that the the heart and soul of Hell Bay, the magic of innovation, creativity and skill comes from the partners. Where ever they are. When they leave work and go to their respective homes they are still thinking of creating delicious beverages, about what is best for and how to take care of their clientele with warm and friendly smiles. The magic happens from the imagination and hard work of Melanie Perron and Mark Ballie.
Before I left, I was treated to taster flight of the following: Hibiscus-Rose Hip Mojito, Rum Ginger Twist, Tart Cherry Vodka Lemonade, English Ale and Dark Cream Ale. A lovely magical collection of what was available that day. It was tasty stuff! Even the Cream Ale, which I had always thought I wouldn’t like, was very nice.
Cheers! Doesn’t that make you want visit Hell Bay to see which one you would like best?
Make sure to check out some of Deborah’s other Creating Space posts, she has met with some truly interesting South Shore creators!
