Beer in the news

[BobbyOK]

Boxing rock was on maritime morning. Might be on the archive later today.

Sent from Tapatalk 2, a prick of a company.

They'll also be sampling at Premier on Saturday from 2-5.

[benwedge]

As an aside, ETA in years til Molson/Coors et. al. buy out Propeller? Is that their goal in moving into Burnside? Who else can buy that business with its current value?

Can't see that happening. Unlike Molson/Coors other craft purchases - Granville Island, Creemore - Propeller's beers don't lean as mainstream and Propeller's biggest fans would jump ship pretty quickly if they sold out. I've been speculating for a while that Molson would pick up Pump House though. Pump House has been pushing for National distribution while Propeller has been more picky and choosy about its exports.

I'd probably start drinking Garrison on a regular basis.

[brufrog]

According to the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp., which licenses and regulates the industry, there are 12 licensed microbreweries in Nova Scotia.

Along with Granite, Propeller and Garrison, they include Rudder’s Seafood Restaurant and Brewery in Yarmouth; Sea Level Brewing Co. in Canning; Alexander Keith’s Nova Scotia Brewery in Halifax; Hell Bay Brewing in Cherry Hill, Lunenburg County; Bridge Brewing Co. in Halifax; Authentic Seacoast (Rare Bird) in Guysborough; Big Spruce Brewing in Nyanza; Boxing Rock Brewing in Shelburne and Uncle Leo’s Brewery in Lyons Brook, which is opening on June 29.

They lost me after this part. Does that brewery actually produce anything?

They used to brew Keith's IPA down there, then dump it, since it wouldn't be the same as the real deal. Nothing brewed there would ever be sold, orders from headquarters (so I heard from an insider in the early 2000s). Turn me loose in there, I'll brew up some 1913 IPA. Fuck, I might even go 1860 on it for them

I asked them about it when interviewing about the Cascade/Hallertauer beers (why don't they brew those in there?) for my story in the latest TAPS, and as I recall they told me they brewed Keith's there, but I never thought to ask whether or not it went into their regular sales. I just assumed it did. Who in their right mind would make beer and dump it unless it was off? And yes NASH, I'd love to see you brew that there too. But I'm not sure even that beer would bring me into the horrific Red Stag, assuming I could also buy it is a real pub.

[brufrog]

Boxing rock was on maritime morning. Might be on the archive later today.

Sent from Tapatalk 2, a prick of a company.

They'll also be sampling at Premier on Saturday from 2-5.

Interesting. I plan a visit later this month to the brewery. Speaking of, i'm coming up with a list of new and soon to open breweries for an East Coast Living story on the amazing scene developing down east. Is there a complete, up to date, working list on here somewhere? I can't find one. Am I being an idiot? I want to mention the basics: the size,location, name and what style of beer they plan to brew or do brew.

I know Robert has a good handle on this. I have a good working list for NB but want NS to be as accurate. BTW Is Lunenburg County brewery really still a possibility?

Cheers!
Craig

[mr x]

Bobby O Keefe probably had the best list when he was doing some statistics on density in another thread. Search his recent posts. I'm not sure there is anything more up to date. You probably know them all. I do know darkside equipment is for sale. Not sure where Bad Apple and Schoolhouse are. Celtic Knot is legal, and canuck's place I think was legal too. Both in NB. Not sure on Lunenburg County. Haven't heard much lately. Greg might know.

I think Antigonish Townhouse is brewing now too.

[TheLocalTraveler]

Boxing rock was on maritime morning. Might be on the archive later today.

Sent from Tapatalk 2, a prick of a company.

They'll also be sampling at Premier on Saturday from 2-5.

Interesting. I plan a visit later this month to the brewery. Speaking of, i'm coming up with a list of new and soon to open breweries for an East Coast Living story on the amazing scene developing down east. Is there a complete, up to date, working list on here somewhere? I can't find one. Am I being an idiot? I want to mention the basics: the size,location, name and what style of beer they plan to brew or do brew.

I know Robert has a good handle on this. I have a good working list for NB but want NS to be as accurate. BTW Is Lunenburg County brewery really still a possibility?

Cheers!
Craig

Here's the list we've compiled:

Rudders - Yarmouth
Boxing Rock - Shelbourne
Hell Bay - Liverpool
Sea Level - Port Williams
Paddy's - Wolfville
Garrison - Halifax
Propeller - Halifax
Granite - Halifax
Bridge - Halifax
Hart & Thistle - Halifax
Rogue's Roost - Halifax
Rockbottom - Halifax
Uncle Leo's - Lyon's Brook
Rare Bird - Guysborough
Big Spruce - Nyanza
Townhouse - Antigonish

As for NB, we know of Pumphouse (Moncton), Picaroons & Grimross (Fredericton), Big Tide (Saint John) and Shiretown (Dalhousie). Plus Celtic Knot and Acadie Broue at the Laundromat, and Railcar. Throw in PEI Brewing Company/Gahan House in PEI.

As an aside, this is our first post on the Brewnosers forum, but we've been lurking for a bit. We've met several of you in person. We don't claim to be beer experts, but we enjoy craft beer, and have visited many of the breweries and brew pubs in the region. You can find our posts on local craft beer here: http://thelocaltravelerns.com/?s=craft+beer&submit=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, and more to come.

We are not currently brewing anything ourselves, though we do have a home kit. We've used it once, and have a definite interest in learning more about brewing.

[brufrog]

We? Who are you and who do you work for?

[brufrog]

PS you are missing some!

[TheLocalTraveler]

We? Who are you and who do you work for?

This explains who we are: http://thelocaltravelerns.com/about/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. And we work for ourselves.

[TheLocalTraveler]

PS you are missing some!

Ones that are currently operating? Help us out, always looking for more excuses to get around.

[mr x]

I's looking at that NS list, and don't see anything missing in NS that is operational, but I maybe overlooking something. I don't think Jost is running, and the hop farm people are having issues....

[mr x]

Who is the Toronto millionaire buying up businesses in rural Nova Scotia?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... e13331176/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As a commission of experts tries to figure out how to revive rural Nova Scotia, a multimillionaire from Toronto has plowed $8-million of his own money into a down-on-its-luck coastal town.

Glynn Williams is a one-man development commission for Guysborough, a community of about 400 across Chedabucto Bay from Cape Breton: He has restored part of Main Street, where half of the buildings are for sale or empty, by transforming a 1929 general store into a pub. He converted a 1917 dry goods store into a café and shop. He runs a 10-room, 4 1/2 star inn built in 1837 as a home, and now the former convenience store, which had languished on the market for nine months, is a coffee roastery and bakery. And that’s just the beginning.

No wonder locals – in jest, but with an undercurrent of hostility – have accused him of trying to buy up the town. While civic leaders look at zoning, land-use planning and megaprojects in an attempt to halt the slide, Mr. Williams is putting his money in small businesses.

“This is a totally gorgeous place,” says Mr. Williams, an engineer by training who, after 20 years on Bay Street, runs his own private equity firm. He is a self-described serial entrepreneur with a high tolerance for risk – which is good, given the gamble he’s taking reinventing this out-of-the-way town.

Subscribing to the Field of Dreams theory (“ if you build it, they will come”) isn’t working so far: He hasn’t made any money. But he’s in for the long haul and is seeing some modest victories. Along with his real-estate developments, his Full Steam fair trade coffee is now sold in Sobey’s stores across the Maritimes and in Halifax’s Pete’s Frootique, a high-end grocer. He is in partnership with the province to build a whisky and rum distillery. His microbrewery produces about 60,000 litres a year of Rare Bird Craft Beer, which he hopes to get into liquor stores soon. He owns the town’s nine-hole golf course.

He’s created about 40 jobs and hopes for 30 more in five years. And the grand vision: To take his suite of small businesses under his Authentic Seacoast Company brand and build in other struggling coastal towns as well.

To succeed, the 57-year-old who flies his own plane from Toronto will have to learn from his mistakes.

“He’s got that ‘come from away’ aspect,” says Lloyd Hines, the Warden of Guysborough County. “Let’s face it, he’s a Toronto Bay Street man. … Custom, culture and what’s perceived as country civility is very important in communities, and so Glynn has had some different managers in place representing him here. There were some clashes in the community as there are inevitably when you are trying to do anything, and so that has left a bit of a taste.”

However, Mr. Hines adds, “at the end of the day, the reality is we’re fortunate in my opinion to have somebody like this guy who is willing to invest in the community. It is very important that he understands and respects the community and I believe that he does.”

Raised in Montreal and Toronto, Mr. Williams and his wife fell in love with the picturesque seascapes on a bicycle trip about 25 years ago. When he saw an ad in The Globe and Mail for a five-bedroom farmhouse on 100 acres of oceanfront, he jumped at it.

His family has spent summers on the property since then and was anonymous until 2005 when he started to buy businesses, beginning with the old inn. A German couple had partially restored it, before giving up; Mr. Williams saw potential, not only in the inn, but in the community as a whole.

Guysborough, the county seat, was a vibrant port when the ocean was the world’s highway. But as fish stocks declined along with the forestry industry, so did the town – in fact, it’s been hit even harder than most.

“We are at the bottom end of all the metrics in terms of lowest income, lowest education, highest unemployment. … Guysborough County, though it is an absolute paradise, is the victim of rural decline over an extended period of time,” Mr. Hines says.

The young people haven’t stayed – and only 20 students graduated from its high school in June.

And a wave of passive investors about 15 years ago, many from Germany, eventually left, unable to make a go of their businesses.

This year, the province formed a commission led by Ray Ivany, president of Acadia University, dedicated to reviving rural Nova Scotia. In Guysborough, Mr. Hines and his council have been trying to attract a mix of businesses through zoning and land-use planning, and have pinned their hopes on some mega-projects on the horizon, including a proposed $350-million container terminal and two multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas plants.

Mr. Williams, however, sees the road to renewal through small business.

“In rural Nova Scotia, or any place that is challenged by geography, you have to think about making stuff that can transcend our geography,” he says. “When a big industry goes, there goes the town. I think small business, if it’s a diversified ecosystem of small and creative business that provides stability … [is] the route to self-sustaining it and reversing the demographic changes.”

He’s conscious of the snickers – at a recent comedy event, there was a reference to Mr. Williams trying to buy the town. But he hopes that others will see the potential, and start rebuilding too.

[canuck]

Good to know. My car is in for service Thursday so I was just going to stop into the Moncton store in the evening, but it looks like I should try to make arrangements to get there during the daytime.

Yeah, it might be a good idea......just in case. I only have the quantities for the Rothesay store, but I'm assuming the other 3 stores will be similar.

[CurtisD]

Mostly larger bottles or any 6 packs or cases too?

[canuck]

Mostly larger bottles or any 6 packs or cases too?

It's actually a pretty even distribution of singles (large and small) and 6 packs and cases. If you're interested in a few particular ones, I can tell you what our store is bringing in.......at least it might give you an idea of what Moncton is bringing in as well.

[Marc-NS]

A buddy of mine mentioned the York street store (Fredericton) will get the largest amount including all loose single bottles (341 ml) and cans (333 ml). The other three stores will receive various amount of cases of product.

[canuck]

A buddy of mine mentioned the York street store (Fredericton) will get the largest amount including all loose single bottles (341 ml) and cans (333 ml). The other three stores will receive various amount of cases of product.

Yep, my sheet indicates that York will receive singles only with no 6 packs or cases.

[CurtisD]

Yeah, mostly interested in the Driftwood, Howe Sound, Beau's, Mcrobrasserie Charlevoix, and Le Trou du Diable.

Specifically, the Dominus Vobiscum Saison and Dominus Vobiscum Lupulus from Microbrasserie Charlevoix.

[mr x]

How to start your own brewery
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... wn-brewery" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Britain is full of breweries. According to figures from the Campaign for Real Ale, there are now 1,009 in the UK, more than double the number a decade ago. A nation with one of the richest brewing heritages in the world has fallen back in love with beer.

But how easy is it to set up on your own? Evin O'Riordain, founder of the Kernel, based in Bermondsey, London, knows better than most. Opening in 2009, he has become one of the most respected small brewers.
Brewing begins at home

O'Riordain, 38, began homebrewing after a trip to New York in April 2007. Trying it out himself was crucial to discovering how to reproduce the intense, citrus-hop flavours he had enjoyed in the US. "It took me a while," he says. "The first batch was decent, but it was only after about 12 brews that some started coming out really well."
Make new friends

O'Riordain also learnt some key lessons as a member of London Amateur Brewers. There are brewing faults you might miss, he says, such as diacetyl (a buttery taste caused by a flawed fermentation) that others are more sensitive to. "It's important to have people who critique your beer in an honest way," he says. "The first rule at London Amateur Brewers was: don't say anything nice. Be slightly harder than you would be normally, so we can dig out what's happening. How do we fix it, make it better? That's how you improve."
But don't forget your old ones

Having been a cheesemonger at Neal's Yard Dairy, O'Riordain knew people in the food industry and those contacts helped him find a site for the brewery. "Neal's Yard let us know that there was an arch going in Druid Street, next to where they were," he says.

At first, he brewed once a week while continuing to sell Gorwydd caerphilly at Borough Market on weekends. "The only way people knew about us was word of mouth. That first year, Neal's Yard sent 10 bottles to all their favourite customers at Christmas. There's quite a few who are still customers now." He has since repaid that kindness to fellow brewers: last year he donated his first professional brewing kit to fellow Bermondsey brewery Partizan.
Find the right kit

O'Riordain bought his brewing equipment from Porter Brewery Installations, whose smallest kit – containing everything you'll need to get started, and producing 400 litres of beer with each brew – costs £10,600. The Kernel started on a slightly larger, four-barrel kit (600 litres a brew), which costs £15,100. The price includes a demonstration brew, crucial for those whose experience of professional breweries is non-existent. If you're short of funds, it's possible to start even smaller: down the road from The Kernel is Brew By Numbers, who began with a tiny kit in a Southwark basement, which allowed them to build a reputation before any serious investment.
When it comes to flavour, keep it simple

The New York trip helped O'Riordain decide the sort of beer he wanted to make: clean-tasting and hop-forward, unlike most of those then available in the UK. "American hops have a certain intensity," he says. "You use a very clean yeast and it becomes a platform for the hops."

Experimentation has its limits, he believes: "There's something very engaging about it, but the results aren't always there."
The costs can mount up

High rents can be a problem when looking for a space. "Initially it's a bit tough, but as long as your rent is fixed for the foreseeable future, you can plan for it."

O'Riordain also spent £15,000 refitting his arch: this included electrics, flooring, plumbing and drainage. The most basic bottling equipment costs £500 and even the bottles for his initial brew cost £200.

Then there's beer duty, something that is partly offset by small breweries' relief, which gives a sizeable tax break to smaller breweries. It's one reason why it's important to have people around you who understand the financial side. "I rely on my accountant," O'Riordain says. "We're making enough money to survive, to pay everybody who works here a good wage. That's the bottom line."

Bottling is a tedious business

Initially The Kernel bottled by hand, which means labelling, cleaning, filling and capping each one. "It's the banality of it that sticks out," says O'Riordain. "You get to know the person next to you very well when you're bottling." He now has a bottling machine, which cost £65,000.
Trusting people pays off

The Kernel's approach is about transparency: the brewery is open to the public on Saturday mornings, they don't advertise, and deal directly with many stockists. Even the labelling is functional: sparse black printed on brown paper.

Remarkably little promotional work has been done, considering the brewery's level of success (he's now brewing four times a week). "It's to do with having a little bit of faith in humanity," says O'Riordain. "We don't tell people what something is going to taste like: people can make that decision themselves."

Not all modern brewers are so laidback and there are other, more obvious routes to success. Fraserburgh's Brewdog has used humorous, sometimes aggressive marketing to make its point. It's worked: Brewdog recently opened a new £8m brewery and has 11 bars in the UK and one in Stockholm.

[RobD]

Here's the inventory sheet for all 4 stores getting the Brewer's Bash beer. ABNL gave me permission to share it.

Prices are $14 for a 6 pack
$3 for product under 500 ml and
$4 for product over 500 ml.
Sale starts 10am Thursday.

They also have some beers that product that they couldn't ship with the stuff going to stores. They're considering making up some surprise mix 24's, and sending them to the F'ton York St store. They are going to keep me in the loop. I'll post here when I hear back on it.

[CurtisD]

I assume that though what is shown to be shipped to the stores are cases, that they will be broken up and sold as singles to the consumer?

[dean2k]

Wow, don't get your hopes up outside of Fredericton.

[canuck]

I'll be there tomorrow morning when the doors are open, and will probably even be there an hour or so beforehand.

[canuck]

Came across this in Here magazine today! Good stuff, Bruce!

[mr x]

Beer company Brewdog brawls with ASA over web swearing
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... b-swearing" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Beer company Brewdog is embroiled in a bar brawl with the UK's advertising watchdog after being reprimanded for using "offensive" language on its website.

The ASA said that an asterisk in the independent Scottish company's description of itself as "a post-punk apocalyptic mother fu*ker of a craft brewery", was not sufficient to disguise a swearword which was "generally regarded as highly offensive and unlikely to be acceptable in marketing communications."

It ruled that the web page featuring the term should not appear again in that form. "We considered that the other language used on the page, such as 'corporate beer whores', 'rip you straight to the tits' and 'drill the bastards', was also likely to cause serious offence to some people," the ASA said.

But James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog which is in the process of raising £4m from its fans via its Equity for Punks crowdfunding scheme, responded: "We have thousands of craft beer fans who have invested in what we do and how we do it – they are the people we listen to – not the killjoy, self-important pen pushers at the ASA in their Burton suits. Those mother fuckers don't have any jurisdiction over us anyway."

The brand and its fans responded to the ASA via twitter using the hashtag #KissMyASA.

Gareth Williams@GRW_84 tweeted: "Thanks to @ASA_UK I know that @brewdog are an uncouth bunch of vagabonds with a sweary website. Turning in my share(s) #NOT" Raphaël a. gagliano@faderskepp tweeted: "I'd like to thank @ASA_UK for giving my favorite brewery @brewdog some free publicity today! Cheers!"

The fast-growing company, which trumpets its punk credentials, has made 42,000 shares available to the public at £95 each, to fund a sevenfold increase in production at its Ellon brewery near Aberdeen and to open more bars.