Cambridge native Scott Pautler is the founder and brewmaster at Wave Maker Craft Brewery

To find your true passion in life, sometimes you have to go all the way down a road to discover it's a dead-end. For Scott Pautler, that dead-end was the world of accounting. Beer was his true calling.

Pautler is the founder and brewmaster at Wave Maker Craft Brewery. He's a proudly born-and-raised Cambridge native who opened his brewery three blocks away from where he grew up.

Pautler was an accountant in a previous life, but by the time he finished his accounting degree, he became fascinated with craft beer. “I couldn’t stop reading about it, couldn’t stop learning about it,” Pautler said. “I was studying that way more than I was studying for my accounting exams. So, I said, ‘I think I know where my heart is, so let’s see if I can turn this into a career.'”

A few months after graduating from Brock University, the aspiring brewmaster abandoned his accountant job and dove head-first into his passion project. He enrolled in the brewing program at Niagara College and honed his craft for formulating small batch beer recipes.

His first official job in the brewing industry was with the now-defunct StoneHammer Brewing in Guelph. He then interned at Lake of Bays in Muskoka and found himself brewing shortly afterwards at Oast House Brewers in Niagara. Eventually, Pautler leapt into Mill Street Brewery, where he was exposed to beer on a mass production scale.

“There’s a lot that goes into making a great beer,” Pautler learned at Mill Street. “You can make good beer, but making great beer is a challenge.”

From there, Pautler put his stamp on Old Flame Brewing in Port Perry as their head brewmaster. His fascination for brewing led to the creation of Wave Maker Craft Brewery.

The Wave Maker name spurred from a conversation Pautler had with his brother about the overarching theme of the brewery. “I want the beers to make waves in the industry on their own without some sort of marketing schtick”, Pautler recalled telling his brother. “That’s the name, Wavemaker,” Pautler’s brother declared.

Wave Maker Craft Brewery’s philosophy is to brew each beer with a purpose, not just for the sake of making it. “I find every beer should exist for a reason”, Pautler said. “It shouldn’t just exist to get it out into the market. We’re brewing it because we think it’s interesting and because it matters. I want to do everything authentically and everything well. I want every beer to be the best I can make.”

Since the doors opened in March, he's been overwhelmed by the support from nearby residents in Cambridge. “The community has embraced us so much. Seeing people in the space, having a good time, enjoying the beers, that’s what means the most to me.”

Wave Maker beer is on tap in a handful of restaurants throughout Cambridge, Paris and Stratford. For the next phase of the brewery, Pautler envisions installing an outdoor patio or beer garden to accompany the taproom. For now, he’s perfectly content brewing the best beer he can make.

Wave Maker’s newest offering is a raspberry fruit beer, just in time for the warm, spring weather. “We hope to do some more fruit beers in the summer. I’m really on a fruit beer kick right now," Pautler said. "We’ll do a sour beer in the summer and we’re going to do another big IPA soon.”

Wave Maker Craft Brewery is now open in Cambridge at 639 Laurel Street.