Breton Brewing Co. to open craft brewery in Sydney area

Craft beer is continuing to grow in Nova Scotia, with Cape Breton's second small brewery opening this spring.

Breton Brewing Co. will be the first craft brewery in the Sydney area, said co-owner Bryan MacDonald. Big Spruce Brewing opened in 2013 near Baddeck.

MacDonald and his partner, Andrew Morrow, are originally from Sydney.

"The craft beer scene is definitely taking off and becoming more popular, and we've noticed it around this area," MacDonald said.

He has been home-brewing beer for about five years and has visited different breweries to learn from them, he said.

However, the engineer plans to give Breton beer at least one special edge, purifying water by the relatively uncommon method of reverse osmosis.

The two are fine-tuning their recipes, but the details of their facility are laid out.

The 5,000 square-foot space on Keltic Drive will include a tasting area where the public can fill growlers, and visitors will be welcome to tour the brewery.

They plan to sell their brews mostly to restaurants and bars to offer on tap. The model, similar to Big Spruce's, avoids the need for a high-volume bottling operation.