When the calendar flips to September and the evenings start to get a bit cooler, I start thinking Germanic fare: schnitzel with sauerkraut and pickled red cabbage, hot mustards, spaetzle and grilled sausages. Maybe some sauerbraten.
For much of that – and German-style beer – there’s Brauwerk Hoffman in Rockland. Tucked into an industrial area a few metres from Highway 17 and the Canadian International Hockey Academy, the brewery space is 5,000 square feet of equipment and seating for customers.
The infrastructure was in place, the building permits submitted and the launch planned only days before the pandemic hit. This November, having weathered the Covid-19 storm, the business will be four years old.
Most of the facility and its industrial look is a row of large stainless-steel tanks and other brewing equipment on one side of the room, with glass windows, purchased during the pandemic, dividing seating for about 50 beer-loving guests in the dining area.
Brauwerk Hoffman is the brainchild of co-owners Eric Mainville, Todd Hoffman and Oliver Lemay with Mainville adding duties as head brewer. The three had plans in the works in 2019 and looked at three possible cities.
“Rockland came out on top. It’s a town that’s growing into a city, so it made sense for us to establish here,” says Mainville.
Mainville, 35, attended Niagara College’s teaching brewery in the “Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management” program.
Graduating in 2015, he then took an opportunity to go to Germany, with its rich beer history, to learn more about the craft and spent some time at a brewery that was founded in the Middle Ages.
“I was in Weihenstephan, which is just north of Munich, in Freising. It’s still one of the oldest continuously operating breweries,” he notes.
But as well as his knowledge and enjoyment of German beer, Mainville says it was something of a strategic decision to situate Brauwerk Hoffman as a Teutonic brewery, with its 15 or 16 styles.
“When craft brewing really took off in the late- to mid-2000s, Quebec was kind of known for more of the Belgian styles and Ontario for English or American styles such as IPAs, ales and stouts. But if you looked at the middle, there was kind of all this German beer that was missing.”
Adding that because lagers take more time to ferment, ales are more cost effective.
“Few craft brewers had a lager on the menu 10 or 15 years ago. Now it’s hard to find a brewery that doesn’t have Pilsners, ales and lagers.”
Brauwerk Hoffman has cited that part of its goal is to brew historic styles, predominantly German, for the region: beers such as helles, Marzen, Maibock and schwarzbier.
However, the brewery’s “Pardon My French” is a classic west coast IPA, says Mainville, and grew out of his final brewery-school project to design and create a beer from scratch.
“The story behind it was that I was the French guy in the brewing program in Niagara,” Mainville says.
As well as purchasing cans at the brewery, you can find Brauwerk Hoffman beer at local establishments like G.A.B.’s Restaurant and Bar and Friendly Restaurant and Pizzeria, at some LCBOs and on tap at venues in the Ottawa Valley.
As for hearty Germanic fare, the menu offers several German dishes including salty, hot pretzels and a version of schnitzel; the bratwurst with sauerkraut on a bun, served with potato salad, potato chips and mustard, was very good.
“We want to introduce people to German fare,” says Mainville simply.
But there’s also a few pizzas – the dough made with their beer – which have German names: Berlin, Bavaria and Hesse, for instance, the latter of which features, uniquely, white asparagus and ham with a green sauce and sour cream.
And in a town that certainly loves its pizza, the kitchen has perhaps thrown Rockland a curveball preparing a Windsor-style pie, an homage to chef Richard Bolton’s hometown.
You can experience some of the German culture that is always on display at Brauwerk Hoffman at a party inspired by the massive Munich Oktoberfest which runs at this time of year (and roughly the same time as Kitchener’s huge Bavarian Festival): the brewery is holding its second annual Oktoberfest, September 27-28.
A 19-plus ticketed event, the two-day festival is a collaboration between Brauwerk Hoffman and RiverRock Inn, where the indoor Bavarian beer-and-food extravaganza will be held: food trucks, local food vendors, craft beer, cider and wine and live music will be at the conference centre.
A portion of the proceeds from sales will go to Maison Interlude House.
The festival hours are 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. on both the Friday and the Saturday.
“Last year was great. With the help of our sponsors, we raised $3,000 for Interlude. We wanted this to grow into something big, which is why we’ve partnered with RiverRock,” Mainville says.
It’s part of the vision for the brewery to make a variety of contributions to Rockland and more than just as purveyors of German food and beer.
“We very much consider ourselves part of this community,” Mainville say. “We just hope everybody comes out, supports the event and has a good time. We’re setting up some long communal tables like a traditional beer tent in Munich. You can sit down, meet some people, have some beer and enjoy yourself on a nice evening.”
Food writer Andrew Coppolino lives in Rockland. He is the author of “Farm to Table” and co-author of “Cooking with Shakespeare.” Follow him on Instagram @andrewcoppolino.
