New craft brewery opens up shop in Peterborough’s south end

A love of local suds has brought three beer enthusiasts together to open Peterborough’s newest craft brewery and taphouse called “Beard Free Brewing.”

Technically, they’re not completely beard-free, as brewer and marketing manager Steveon Zablonsky fits the craft brewer form with his long red beard, but president John Rozema and head brewer Nyckolas Dubé are clean-shaven — but what they all share is a commitment to creating fresh and local beer.

“We have beer and we’re ready to go,” said Rozema. “This is our soft launch today but we’re going to have more of a grand opening around the May Two-Four (sic) weekend.”

Share this on X Click to share quote on X: "We have beer and we're ready to go," said Rozema. "This is our soft launch today but we're going to have more of a grand opening around the May Two-Four (sic) weekend."

Beard Free Brewing is the third craft brewery and taphouse to open up shop in Peterborough and by noon on Friday afternoon at their soft launch, more than 20 customers had already come through the doors to sample and take home some of their craft beer.

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“We are getting some excellent feedback already,” said Rozema. “Last night, we had members of the local home brewers association in for some feedback and they were quite impressed.”

Beard Free Brewing will showcase four mainstay beers including the Simcoe St IPA, Lock 21 Cream Ale, Little lake Saison, and the Harstone Red Amber Ale, along with their seasonal rotation taps, it’s their goal to provide fresh beer for the local market from their in-house tap and bottle room.

“People like local and when people buy a beer from us, the money stays right here in the community,” said Rozema. “And not only can you get fresh local beer, you can also meet the people who make your beer and that’s important for people. It’s the same as a farmers market.”

Beard Free Brewing is located a 649 The Parkway unit 4 and offers samples and bottle sales from its tap room. Their beer is on tap and available at the Publican House and they hope to expand soon into other local establishments.