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Rebellion is fermenting among local wine-making retailers.
At least five shops in Halifax Regional Municipality offer in house brewing despite regulations under the Nova Scotia Liquor Control Act that prevent the service.
Wine Kitz owner Ross Harrington was fined $310 and paid nearly $12,000 in legal bills in 2009 when he was found guilty in Halifax provincial court of keeping liquor for sale — in the form of in-house brewing — at his Lacewood Drive store.
Demand for the service has since continued prompting Harrington to relaunch the in-store service in July. With about 70 kits on the go per month, business is booming and Harrington isn’t looking back. It’s a service he believes he has the right to offer, especially since it’s legal in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
"I’m a small business owner and I just thought, ‘If it works elsewhere, why not here?’ That’s the million-dollar question," he said. "I couldn’t wait so I thought, ‘It’s either push the envelope or die waiting.’ "
The majority of customers who use the service are condo or apartment dwellers and people unable to manoeuvre the heavy carboys alone.
As a lifelong home-brewer and lover of fine wine, Dorothy Hamilton-Pfeiffer, 70, says the service has allowed her to continue to economically enjoy the beverage she loves while keeping actively involved in the brewing process.
Customers using in-house brewing services offered by retailers are charged a fee. They are expected to set up the wine kit, add the yeast and return for bottling.
"I’ve had two hips replaced in the last five years and I used to find it very hard to lift the cartons," she said. "The service is really good because . . . I still get to bottle it but I don’t have to do all of that lifting.
"I think it’s also really good for people who live in apartments and don’t have space to make wine."
Meantime, rumours that government is reviewing the act are circulating.
Mary Martin of Wine Sippers in Dartmouth says without confirmation that the amendments to the act are on the way, retailers can only hope that any changes won’t be restrictive in other ways.
"If there were changes to the act, we’re hoping they’ll hear us as retailers instead of implementing changes that will hurt us in the future," Martin said.
In a letter to Halifax-Fairview NDP MLA Graham Steele, Harrington says he made it very clear that industry consultation is key.
"We may be a very small slice of the pie but we’re an industry unto ourselves and we deserve to be consulted if they’re making changes that affect us," he said. "It’s a golden opportunity for the private sector to work with government and we’d like to work together."
