Brightwood Brewing
Brightwood brewery started back in 2016 and is the baby of co-owners Ian Lawson and Matt McGrail.
Ian and Matt met at the University of New Brunswick where they completed their mechanical engineering degree. Both lovers of beer and home brewing, they put together a 1BBL electronic brewing machine and started brewing in the basement of Ian's house on Brightwood Avenue in downtown Dartmouth. Eventually they decided to start a small nano-brewery and licensed it as Brightwood Brewery. They then started at the Alderney Farmer's Market on Saturdays in 2016 and started to build a following selling their locally made craft beer over the next two years. Eventually they were able to build the brewery of their dreams and opened the doors in August 2018 at 35 Portland Street with a 10BBL (1200L/2400L) brew house.
What is great about our unique brand is the constant promotion of the downtown Dartmouth community. Whether its hiring local artists to do our growler or can artwork or putting on local events from amazing Dartmouth talent. On our growlers and cans, you can find images of the famous Tuft's Cove smokestacks, the MacDonald bridge, the Alderney Ferry and John's Lunch picnic tables. We are all about the up and coming amazing scene currently being created in downtown Dartmouth. In our tap room you will see our tap handles, which are representative of the Tuft's cove candy cane stacks, handmade by Ian's neighbour.
Ian Lawson is a 35 year-old mechanical engineer and father of one little boy! He was born in Wellington, Nova Scotia and raised there until he went to University of New Brunswick. While running the Brewery he still continues to do some side engineering work for the company he works for, along with making time for his family and walking his best friend, Ben, his huge German short-haired pointer.
Matt McGrail is a 35 year-old mechanical engineer as well. He was born right here in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and also attended the University of New Brunswick. He is the new father of a little girl and is a surfer/golfer at heart. He is now officially full time at Brightwood Brewery so you can usually find him in the back of the brewery everyday filling kegs, canning or brewing up a storm.
"Passion for beer drives Brightwood, but one of the biggest aspects we're excited about with a brick and mortar shop is the chance to do right by the community that helped us so much" - Ian
Regarding our products and brewery, you can find our six rotating Brightwood beers on tap along with 4 rotating guest taps. Our styles include our unique "Smokey the Beer", a honey smoked ale. "Rosé IPA", Belgian style IPA with hints of rose hips and hibiscus. "John's Punch", a New England style IPA. "Voice of the Doggos', our traditional saison. "Big Lift", our American IPA. "Portland St. Porter". and "Minutes", our lighter style lager. We also offer locally produced red and white rotating wines by the glass. Besides coming in to enjoy a pint, we offer 750ml ceramic growlers, 2 litre glass growlers for fill up and take out and four different style beers in 473ml cans. We also offer delicious local foods including Dartmouth's famous New Zealand style meat hand pie company - Humble Pie, along with Bagel - Montreal Style, Staff of Life foods and other small snacks. During the day we are computer friendly and have paired up with Alderney located company Port City to bring you their tasty medium and dark roasts by the french press here at the brewery.
Our various cans are currently located in Harvest stores, Bishop's, Westside, Rockhead and Liquid Assets. Our Big Lift cans will be available at various NSLC stores beginning in May.