Scott Nijman
Scott is our brewer with the most claim to fame. When he’s not hanging around the brewery, he is usually at the Oscars for his work on The Revenant. Okay maybe not the Oscars, turns out he was just a Grip for one day – but he held a ladder for Leo, and that’s pretty neat. I guess that means he’s basically best friends with Leo.
He has also worked on Hell of Wheels, Heartland, and Fargo season 2. In addition to his experience being a Grip, Scott has had about 20 different jobs - everything from farming, to roofing, to working in clothing stores, to running geological operations, to working in exploration in Australia, to holding ladders for famous actors, and brewing of course. He says he like brewing beer best, and we like that because he’s pretty great at it.
Scott is also a plant dad with his wife, using his green thumb to take care of many cacti around his house. This means working hard to diligently ensure they are watered about once a month. We are unsure how he keeps up with the rest of his responsibilities.
How did you get your start in the industry?
I was a self-employed geological contractor and also worked part-time in film production (worked on Revenant, Fargo, Hell on Wheels, Alpha, War for the Planet of the Apes, and so forth) so with these two jobs I actually had some spare time. I love craft beer and I was following Village on Twitter back in 2014 and saw that they were looking for casual staff to work on the bottling line so I called them up and started working shortly thereafter. At first it was a hobby job but very quickly I wanted to be more involved in everything. After about a year and a half on the bottling line I finally moved into a full-time role!
What does your day to day at Village look like?
Brew beer, centrifuge beer, filter beer, make cider, keg beer, and clean clean clean.
What is the best part of your job?
Being surrounded by beer and good people all the time.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Search for cool deals at thrift shops and antique stores. Day trips to the mountains and small towns. Play hockey. Check out new coffee shops. Try many of the new beers in Calgary. Yoga. Listen to records.
Fav memory since joining the team?
Brewing my first recipe. Black Rye IPA!
Favourite Village beer?
Neighbour/Blacksmith. Gin Saison.
Favourite non-Village Beer?
Don’t have a favourite beer but I love Ballast Point, Modern Times, Hopworks Urban Brewery.
First Album?
Dangerous Minds soundtrack!
Who are you cheering for?
Montreal Canadiens.
Hidden Talent?
I can sometimes juggle for very short periods of time and I can also play hockey at a mediocre level.
By Rebecca Skinner