CRAFTED EXPERIENCE
Where the Wild Yeast Lives: From Story to Stein
Sussex Ale Works
This season, your journey begins in the community of Markhamville, where we gather around a storytelling circle to hear the memories, folklore, and everyday moments that define this place. These conversations are lovingly captured to create a legacy of local voices and shared history.
Next, we step into the fields and forests to forage wild botanicals and collect the natural microflora that shape the region’s unique terroir. From these elements, we help cultivate a one-of-a-kind wild yeast found nowhere else in the world.
Back at the brewery, you’ll experience how creativity and craft converge as these stories and foraged ingredients inspire a beer that expresses the character of Markhamville itself.
In the fall, the journey culminates in a community celebration where a short film premieres, the beer flows, local food and music fill the air, and you gain a deeper, more intimate understanding of this remarkable place.
This isn’t just brewing.
It’s storytelling rooted in land. Transformed from story to stein.
Sussex Ale Works
Sussex, New Brunswick
Rick and Alaina Lockhart, partners in life, in community, and in craft, are the guiding hands behind Where the Wild Yeast Lives: From Story to Stein. Together, they bring a rare blend of brewing artistry, storytelling expertise, and heartfelt community engagement to this one-of-a-kind journey.
Rick, the Alesmith of Sussex Ale Works, approaches brewing as a balance of curiosity and craftsmanship. He is endlessly fascinated by the flavours that grow from the land—wild yeast, foraged plants, and ingredients shaped by climate and community. His passion lies in transforming these elements into beers that express a sense of place.
Alaina, a lifelong community builder, designs the connective, human side of the experience. With a storyteller’s lens and deep roots in rural New Brunswick, she creates spaces where people feel invited to listen, share, and engage meaningfully with the communities they visit. Her work ensures that every participant leaves with a richer understanding of the land and the people who shape it.
Together, Rick and Alaina have crafted an experience that honours tradition, amplifies local voices, and brings people closer to the landscapes and stories that make New Brunswick extraordinary.