Published by Leonardo Calcagno
Who are you and what is your background?
Hello, my name is Serge Nadeau and my partner’s name is Serge Basque. We are two air traffic controllers who started homebrewing about 20 years ago.
Your job and current title?
Air Traffic Controller and Co-Owner of Cavok Brewing Company.
In what city?
Dieppe NB
A word to define what type of worker you are:
Passionate and hard worker willing to learn new things all the time.
Where does your interest in microbrewery come from?
Since 1997 I’ve been visiting breweries all over the world and have always been passionate about beer since then especially microbrewery/craft beer.
What is the size of the brewery (number of barrels per year, etc.)?
15BBL brewhouse with 6×30 BBL fermentors 2 brite tanks.
What tools are essential to your life (app, software)?
Excel spreadsheets! Google Drive.
What does your office space look like?
We have a two chair office that is used as storage lol! Our brewer has a desk made out of 50L kegs 🙂
Do you have a way to organize your days to optimize your work?
Since I have two jobs, it is very important to organize my work. I use to-do lists every day.
Any “tips” to improve productivity?
Good staff 😉
Can you give us a tour of your local craft beer brewery scene?
The craft brewery scene in the Greater Moncton area is starting to boom.
How do you control the growth of your microbrewery?
We like to take things one step at a time. We don’t want to grow too fast. We want things to be done well and not be done on the fly.
What is your strategy for making your beer known?
Social media, beer tastings, festivals, word to mouth, etc… Because we think using a good variety of marketing tools is effective.
About design, what does your brand represent/reflect?
We are two air traffic controllers, the logo/brand represents aviation but not too deep in the aviation theme.
Design: how was it designed? By who?
Mistral communication here in Dieppe with a lot of our input
What inspires you and motivates you to go to work every day?
Craft beer is a passion so it’s easy to get motivated
What is the best advice given to you?
Be genuine and honest and the thing will work out 🙂
What are your end and start routines?
They are not always the same.
What were your biggest challenges as an entrepreneur?
Keep a balance between my other work (job) and the brewery. All this while raising a family.
What advice would you give someone who wants to start a brewery?
Be ready to do a lot of paperwork. Whether it is with the government, accounting, brewery related, paperwork is a big part of operating a brewery. This I had not expected before we started this project.
Apart from your computer and your phone, what gadget cannot you do without?
Not sure!
Any new projects coming soon?
Nowadays breweries need to come up with new products, new project all the time to keep up to the consumer’s demands.
At the end of the day, what kind of beer do you drink to relax?
I don’t have a go-to product. I like trying new things. So mostly anything that is craft beer.
#cavokbrewing