WOLFVILLE – Wolfville may be small, but its craft beer scene is growing – and it just grew a little bigger with the addition of Bad Apple Brewhouse’s new location.
Craft brewers and Bad Apple owners Jeff and Kari Saunders hail from Somerset, where their main brewing and previous retail locations are inside a large brewing area inside a barn.
The couple says the move is a big one, since they now have a retail-only dedicated space. And it’s also allowed them to hire new staff, including Cameron Cook, a L’Arche core member from Wolfville.
“We were looking for a space that promotes acceptance and inclusion, and Wolfville is perfect for that. We didn’t create this job for Cameron – it’s a real job, and he really seemed like the perfect fit,” says Kari Saunders.
The new location is located on Elm Street, right around the corner from the existing Library Pub. It is now open, and offers beers that are bottled and on tap, whether in a flight for tasting or full pint for swigging.
And instead of growlers, the business will offer ‘bottle rockets’ – a one-time use plastic bottle alternative that is cheaper, still reusable, but replaced each time a customer returns it.
Even with their strong Somerset pride, the couple feels excited for what will come in Wolfville.
“We’d been watching for some retail locations we felt fit our design – small, low-key, unpretentious – and we jumped when this came up for rent,” says Jeff Saunders.
One of the brewers’ beers has a special connection to their commitment to inclusion. One of their sons, Hunter, has Mosaic Down Syndrome. They have created a beer, the Mosaic Double IPA, and donated all profits from it toward sending kids with special needs to Camp Brigadoon.
“I’ve been advocating for my son since day one – it comes naturally at this point,” she says.
Jeff Saunders jokes that anyone who comes in and disrespects any staff member will be given the ‘Jazzy J’ treatment, a reference to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air when a character gets thrown out for being rude.
He says he and Kari hope they’re “setting the bar high for other businesses in the area” to look at hiring employees of all abilities and backgrounds to give everyone a fair chance at a job.
“To give somebody else the opportunity to be included in what we’re doing, and inspire the community too – that’s the goal here,” he says.
