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The folks at Norse brewery don’t want to focus on first names.

They’re a family unit.

Every single one of the Rogozhkins is a founding member of Norse Brewing Company, and that’s how they’d like to be known – as a family team.

Father, mother, son, and daughter, each one of them contributes to the beer brewing effort in their own way, and have since the very inception of the business.

“We quickly figured out our strengths in the production,” the daughter chimes in. “If somebody is more into doing something or is better at it [we just] distribute the workload that way.”

Rewind a few years: the Rogozhkins enjoy spending their summers in the Parry Sound area, with its clean air, clear waters, and wildlife. They also enjoy craft beer, but can’t find any without driving at least an hour. The solution to this problem is more obvious than it is easy – they had to start their own brewery.

“You can imagine those are long hours for a team of four, but it’s something we all signed up for, and we enjoy it so far,” continues the youngest Rogozhkin.

Remarkably, when the family first founded Norse (the name is a nod to their northern heritage), there was nothing on the lot they purchased but trees. Given that the entire family moved to Canada from Russia, it almost sounds like the beginning of a pioneering tale.

The father was an engineer and helped design the facility and equipment, the daughter and mother had knowledge of biology and chemistry for brewing, and the brother studied computer science and helped design their point-of-sale systems and helps track stock.

A modern-day homesteading story if ever there was one.

“When it’s the same family and you’re all working at the same goal, there’s just no number of hours [that can tire you out] when you know you need to achieve something.”

Norse brewery has been open for seven months, and is now looking to start selling their beers in LCBOs across Ontario. At the moment, they offer a Dark Ale, Amber and a Blonde, but promise more variety to come in the near future.


Norse Brewery Photos by J.P. Nikota


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