Watch above: Throwing caution to the wind, two Saskatchewan entrepreneurs gave up their day jobs to pursue their craft beer hobby. Meaghan Craig introduces us to the pair behind the 9 Mile Legacy Brewing Company.
SASKATOON – It’s a little brewery with a big vision. On Wednesday, 9 Mile Legacy Brewing Company opened it’s doors in Riversdale just in time to quench your summer thirst.
“We love craft beer, we love making beer and you know the possibilities are endless with craft beer with the yeast, the malt, the hops, we can design very unique recipes,” said Garrett Pederson, owner and co-founder of 9 Mile Legacy.
His partner, a friend he’s known most of his life, couldn’t agree more.
“To do this well, you need to be passionate about beer first and passionate about business,” said Shawn Moen, owner and co-founder of 9 Mile Legacy.
READ MORE: Beer drink of choice in Saskatchewan
It’s a business that’s been brewing between the two for some time, generated in Moen’s garage after the two made their first batch of home brew.
“When we think back as to how long it’s taken us to get here it’s been a project for us for a decade, a serious business venture for probably a year and a half and then building out this space for roughly over the last four or five months,” explained Moen.
Throwing caution to the wind in the quest for the perfect brew, Pederson left an engineering consulting firm after taking an environment engineering technology course. Self-described as having a kitchen sink practice, Moen says he left his law firm after years of criminal prosecutions and corporate commercial work.
“Our names are on the licenses that’s how much we have riding on it, we have our reputations and well we have everything,” expressed Moen.
Everything for the pint-size or nano-brewery that is no more than 540 square feet in size.
A tenth of the size of a typical brewery, 9 Mile Legacy is a converted old kitchen located in the Ideas Inc. building next to the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market.
“It allows us to control our business and it allows us to control our vision by being small,” said Moen.
The small scale model also allows the two to manage their supply and they say the worst-case scenario would be to run out of one of their five signature beers.
“It takes about approximately three weeks to get it turned around,” said Pederson.
So what separates their barley pop from another? The two studied the craft when traveling and working at other breweries for the experience.
“We focus on quality, using a lot of local ingredients and especially balancing the beers so they’re not super sweet or super bitter, there’s a fine line between the alcohol and the hops,” Pederson went onto explain how their base malt comes from Biggar, Sask.
“At our core you’ll see our beer as very close to traditional style,” remarked Moen “but on the fringes I hope people will come to see 9 Mile Legacy as a place where we can go on a little bit of an adventure with beer.”
“We saw this as a continuation of a partnership and really two families that share values and ideals and a certain love for community,” said Moen.
Comments