North Brewing Expanding To Timberlea Area Of Halifax
HALIFAX — The North Brewing Company will open a new location in Timberlea this summer.
The Halifax-based craft brewery has secured a location for its latest expansion, at the intersection of St. Margaret’s Bay Road and Timberlea Village Parkway, and plans to break ground soon.
The brewery’s new home will start with a retail location opening mid-summer but will eventually expand to include a 2,000-square-foot, 60-seat taproom with a full kitchen.
However, opening dates are a “moving target” and the pandemic is impacting construction.
North Brewing’s Peter Burbridge says the new space will feel similar to North’s Cole Harbour taproom and will be designed by Maia LaPierre, the same designer responsible for the Cole Harbour space.
“The thing that we like is trying to create a nice, friendly space,” Burbridge says.
That means communal tables that let guests connect with people they otherwise wouldn’t meet and a comfortable atmosphere.
Burbridge says the menu will also feel similar, although, like the space itself, it won’t be a “cookie-cutter” replica of other North Brewing locations.
“It will definitely be burgers and all the things that people want, and it will be executed well,” he says.
The new space will also have its own small brewing system Burbridge says will be used to brew one-off batches that will only be available in Timberlea.
Burbridge says the new Timberlea location “ticked all the boxes ” for him and his partners but that they have had their eyes on the community for a while.
“We really value being part of a community, being a gathering place for a community, and being an inclusive space. With that in mind, we also like the idea of going to areas that are underserved and giving people a space to come and meet their neighbours,” he says.
He says that philosophy is part of the reason you will probably never see North Brewing set up on the Halifax Peninsula.
“For us, we kind of look at who are we as people and what our values are and where would we best fit,” he explains. “We’re not the super coolest, trendiest downtown people. We’re more suburban and family conscious and concerned with the community and issues of equity and social justice. These are issues that are more important to us than being like the trendiest downtown spot.”
North’s new Timberlea space will be its third location. The brewery also has a taproom and kitchen in Cole Harbour, and a retail shop in Dartmouth.
Burbridge says Timberlea will likely be the brewery’s last expansion.
“We’re thinking this will probably be the last location for us. Of course, we’ve said that before. I think every time we finish a build-out we always say we’ll never do it again,” he says.
“We don’t have any plans to start popping these up everywhere,” he adds. “I think, for us, it is about making strong connections in a community that we go to and trying to be a part of that community.”