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In Sooke, local brewery earns the nod as ‘top dog’

Bad Dog Brewing Company takes home chamber’s best business award
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Bad Dog Brewing Company co-owners Rosie and John Lyle earned the Business of the Year award for 2022 from the Sooke Region Chamber of Commerce and placed second in the People’s Choice category. (Rick Stiebel - Sooke News Mirror)

For the record, every Bad Dog has its day.

Bad Dog Brewing Company took home the Sooke Region Chamber of Commerce’s Business of the Year award and also placed second in the People’s Choice category.

“I didn’t expect to win at all,” said John Lyle, who co-owns Bad Dog Brewing Company with his wife of 37 years, Rosie Lyle.

“I was surprised to win one award and even more surprised to come in second for another because I didn’t even know we’d been nominated. I told them they made a mistake and there’s something wrong here on the way back to our table, but we’re certainly honoured and humbled by the award.”

Brewing has been John’s passion for a long time.

John started home-brewing 20 years ago, and it’s always been a dream to turn it into a business where he can share his creations with friends, family and the community.

The opportunity to open the business came to fruition in December 2017, when the Lyles opened Bad Dog Brewing Company on their property in Otter Point.

There was initially “some barking” back and forth before deciding what to name the business.

“The area we live in on Tugwell Road is nicknamed Dog Patch,” John said. “We thought about that for a name at first, but didn’t think it had enough edge. There are a few bad dogs in the neighbourhood, including our own, Duke and Molly, so we decided to go with Bad Dog.”

It is a home-based business in every sense, Rosie explained.

“Our son Chris does all of the label designs, and our other son Paul is our brewer’s assistant. Our food truck operator, Fe’, also does a great job. We’re really starting to see more people coming out for the food, adding to our business.”

Bad Dog Brewing crafts 16 different types of ales, with at least a dozen available on tap. While they all have a devoted following of regular customers, the couple believes the Honey Blonde and 642 ales are the most popular so far.

The business is celebrating five years in business with an event on Dec. 10.

“We’ll be serving our anniversary ale, Dog’s Breakfast, and the food truck will be serving breakfast from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” Rosie noted. “We’re also going to have some draw prizes you can enter to win by making a cash donation to the Sooke Food Bank.”

Bad Dog Brewing Company at 7861 Tugwell Rd. is open Tuesday to Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. For more information, please visit www.baddogbrewing.ca.



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