Stillwell - Bar Volo type pub to open on Barrington

[Brewnoser]

All Nica Scotia reporting former partner in Bar Volo is planning a similar beer bar on Barrington in the former Captain Sub place. The work to do the fit up us being designed by Breakhouse (Propeller and Garrison front if house shops, Janes on the Common, TriBeCa, and new EDNA designers). Same guy who did EDNA apparently tapped to do the work.

Maybe a beer bar that knows beer?

[chalmers]

Excellent, let's hope it comes together.

[Tim Gregory]

Nice!

[mr x]

Seems to be a pretty tough market down there, but it could be a great addition if it can last.

[pet lion]

Obladee is doing well for themselves on Barrington. This could tap that same market and now that some of those Starfish properties are finally getting developed along that stretch things will pick up. Despite everyone saying Barrington is dead I walk along there on my breaks from work and there are plenty of people out and about (also because it is a major Metro Transit corridor downtown).

[Jayme]

It would be great if they carry some brands you can't get through the regular NSLC/Premier channels.

[BobbyOK]

This would be amazing. The combination of Volo's atmosphere and selection will be tough to emulate though.

[pet lion]

https://www.facebook.com/stillwellhfx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[BobbyOK]

Already getting a shout out from Volo too: https://twitter.com/barVolo/status/355183513768697856" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[benwedge]

Already getting a shout out from Volo too: https://twitter.com/barVolo/status/355183513768697856" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't really get the concept of endorsing a place before they open. I see it happening with the stubborn goat or whatever it's called too. I prefer to try it before saying how good it is, but maybe that's just me.

[brufrog]

Saying 'Bar Volo' style implies there will be a bunch of Cask ales and only Local wine - or has Volo changed that policy? I would say it is a good concept for a bar. Especially if they do Cask Days and fly in UK ales for it! (I know that goes agains the local concept, but it is the best way to see how we stack up)

[pet lion]

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1 ... craft-brew" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[BobbyOK]

Already getting a shout out from Volo too: https://twitter.com/barVolo/status/355183513768697856" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't really get the concept of endorsing a place before they open. I see it happening with the stubborn goat or whatever it's called too. I prefer to try it before saying how good it is, but maybe that's just me.

I'm presuming that means Ralph from Volo is probably involved as an investor or advisor.

[BobbyOK]

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1 ... craft-brew

And given the guy managed Volo, no surprise if Ralph is involved.

Saying 'Bar Volo' style implies there will be a bunch of Cask ales and only Local wine - or has Volo changed that policy? I would say it is a good concept for a bar. Especially if they do Cask Days and fly in UK ales for it! (I know that goes agains the local concept, but it is the best way to see how we stack up)

12 taps and 3 Casks, mostly local - can't wait for Bill Spurr's review simultaneously praising their local wines and condemning the pretentious beer selection.

[mr x]

Interesting they feel Barrington is on the upswing while others are moving out claiming it's a money loser. I see valid points in both arguments. Time will tell....

Sent from Tapatalk 2, a prick of a company.

[jherbin]

Interesting they feel Barrington is on the upswing while others are moving out claiming it's a money loser. I see valid points in both arguments. Time will tell....

Just think if they get that free coat of paint down there, the business value will skyrocket! This couple came to Bridge a while ago and seemed really nice, hope they can make it work.

[brufrog]

If they do real cask beer, and are serious about the place, ti will do well. Shitty bars close down all the time, like that other fake Irish pub on Barrington. Who needs them?

[mr x]

That may not be the only problem though. The Pogue owners made some good points about transportation. It would not be an after work destination for me. Maybe a Saturday afternoon, but that's it. Good businesses close down too. Nova Scotia is a crappy place to open a business afaiac. But the crowd might be there for it. The food concept sounds good.

Sent from Tapatalk 2, a prick of a company.

[LeafMan66_67]

That may not be the only problem though. The Pogue owners made some good points about transportation. It would not be an after work destination for me. Maybe a Saturday afternoon, but that's it. Good businesses close down too.

Sent from Tapatalk 2, a prick of a company.

Yep - transportation is an issue. Living in Lower Sackville, we can bus home easily on weeknights up until 10pm so after work on Friday is a possibility, except I use my vehicle for work and would need to somehow ditch that. After 10pm, it's a long 55 minute ordeal on the bus and then still a 15 minute walk back to the house. Saturday's there are no express busses running, so it is always the 55 minute trip, both ways. Cabs are an option if you can find one, but that adds another $40 to your night. Certainly doesn't make it worth it for us to go downtown for a few, even when we want to.

[mr x]

Cabs are a real issue for sure for me. I've walked home more than a few times. I just don't bother going downtown in the evenings anymore. This was the Pogue's take (and possibly the same rationale for The Palace and fid):

If you look at the consumers, you want, say the 25 to 45 year old with a full-time job. Most of them are living in the suburbs, and there’s no public transportation to bring them in and get them home after hours.”

Cask beer won't fix that issue. The menu might be the biggest asset for me, but strictly as a beer bar, I've already got enough. Local beer is available locally already, and some of it not centralized downtown. A real game changer for me would be beers from outside Atlantic Canada on tap. But the price point/availability might be a killer on the bar side. At any rate, it's good for somebody to give this a try.

[mr x]

Full article posted from petlion's post above.

Three beer lovers are planning to bring a bit of Brooklyn to Halifax.

In September, Laura MacDonald, Andrew Connell and Christopher Reynolds are set to open Stillwell, a family-run beer bar where local craft brew will be the star.

Connell, a native of England, said the idea behind Stillwell is rooted in the numerous trips he and MacDonald, his girlfriend, have taken to Brooklyn, and that will be reflected in everything from the decor to the menu.

“A lot of our inspirations come from American beer bars, where the focus isn’t so much on big session drinking like it is in England,” Connell said. “It’s more of kind of a night scene. I think that’s kind of going to be the focus here as well.”

Even the bar’s name takes its cue from Brooklyn. Stillwell is the subway stop on Coney Island, an area in southwestern Brooklyn.

“One particular trip that the two of us took to Brooklyn to explore, we ended up in Coney Island and just had a fantastic day,” MacDonald said.

The bar, which the three partners hope will become an after-work destination, will include a rotating menu featuring local ingredients.

But it is clear that the focus will be on the suds.

They plan to start with 12 beers on tap and three cask-conditioned ales, with new ones rotating in and out of the selection.

“We really want to work with local craft brewers,” said Reynolds, MacDonald’s brother. “The scene is really exploding, and we want to celebrate that.”

Connell said the emphasis will be on quality over quantity.

“Anything that we think is great beer that we can put on draft, that’s what we’re going to do.”

The genesis for the bar had come over — what else — a pint of beer, and it is an idea that has been fermenting between MacDonald and Connell for the last two years.

After moving back to Halifax from Toronto six months ago, the couple decided to make that vision a reality.

“In our trips throughout the States, and in Europe a bit, we’ve really gone to seek out the best bars that we can find, and we kind of thought that that was something we wanted to bring to Halifax, our kind of favourite style of bar,” said MacDonald, who grew up in Halifax with her brother.

Connell envisions the space as being something similar to barVolo, an establishment he managed in Toronto for three years.

“They almost exclusively began to serve beer in wine glasses. So that kind of wine-ification of beer is something that we experienced first-hand where I worked and bars we went to. So that’s definitely going to carry over to this place.”

Breakhouse is designing the interior and Andrew Flood of Five by Five Renovations will build it. They are the same team that worked on the recently opened Edna restaurant in the north end.

“We’re aiming to have a space formed that really promotes kind of interaction between customers and bartenders, and just a very social, relaxed atmosphere where people can come and try things they have not had before, things they have not seen in the city, and things that we just personally love and want to bring to our customer base,” MacDonald said.

While this will be their first entrepreneurial venture, they don’t have to look far for role models, as Reynolds noted that they are inspired by Barrington neighbours such as Obladee wine bar and the Middle Spoon Desserterie & Bar.

Stillwell will be occupying the space in the historic Marble Building that Greco Pizza vacated earlier this year.

They looked at a myriad of places, but landed on Barrington Street because they believe it is on the upswing.

“We’re excited to be part of that Barrington Street renewal,” Connell said. “With Obladee, Middle Spoon, hopefully us, that’s three pretty good bars all on the same street downtown. So we’re very excited about that.”

[brufrog]

Beaumont told me today that this October's cask days at Volo will have over 20 UK Cask ales. Holy shit.

Can we dream Stillwell will bring in UK cask ale? I love our local beer, but I'd drive down every time they got a new UK cask.

[mr x]

That's kinda funny, as I recall Beaumont mentioning on his blog about a CAMRA event in the UK, where too many of the cask beers tasted like Orville Redenbacher's...

Call me crazy, but wouldn't it make more sense to get casks from NA breweries? I mean seriously, there's nothing magic about putting beer in a cask.

Two trips ago in London, Jay Brooks and I went on a tear of tasting during which every single cask-conditioned brew we tasted for about ten or more in a row was badly affected by diacetyl. I’m talking serious butter bombs! After which a glass of clean, good quality, keg-dispensed pilsner would have gone down a treat. And CAMRA, that occurred at your flagship event, the Great British Beer Festival!

Bottom line, for this CAMRA member: It’s what is in my glass that counts, not how it got there.

http://worldofbeer.wordpress.com/2011/0 ... -the-pond/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[brufrog]

That's kinda funny, as I recall Beaumont mentioning on his blog about a CAMRA event in the UK, where too many of the cask beers tasted like Orville Redenbacher's...

Call me crazy, but wouldn't it make more sense to get casks from NA breweries? I mean seriously, there's nothing magic about putting beer in a cask.

Two trips ago in London, Jay Brooks and I went on a tear of tasting during which every single cask-conditioned brew we tasted for about ten or more in a row was badly affected by diacetyl. I’m talking serious butter bombs! After which a glass of clean, good quality, keg-dispensed pilsner would have gone down a treat. And CAMRA, that occurred at your flagship event, the Great British Beer Festival!

Bottom line, for this CAMRA member: It’s what is in my glass that counts, not how it got there.

http://worldofbeer.wordpress.com/2011/0 ... -the-pond/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There is magic, though, to doing it properly. I had more fun drinking cask beer in Scotland last year than I did anytime since the last time I was in England. So, I guess I just love butterscotch.

[brufrog]

Oh, and Beaumont was on the trip to Scotland with me, although i went early and did some pub crawling around St. Andrews before meeting him in Edinburgh. We didn't have any bad cask beer in Scotland. I'll be honest - I still haven't found many North American breweries that do cask beer properly. So, I must conclude that it isn't easy. I haven't found any in the US. I've had some - that claimed to be cask specialists - that were extremely disappointing, unbalanced to the bitter side, and often terrible. Cloudy, too warm, no fine bubbles, filled with "sea monkeys." Wellington County in Ontario does it well sometimes, but some pubs that serve it mess it up. Too warm, etc. The Woolwich Arms in Guelph is good. Granite in TO and Hali sometimes is really good, but again, you need the pub on board. They need people who know how to prep the cask in the days before tapping, and serve it properly. Cafe Volo takes pride in it. The Moose Cask right now at Saint John Ale House is the best example I've had in NA of what I would consider proper cask conditioned real ale, but theirs is prepared by a guy who worked most of his career for a large cask ale producer in England. I guess there is a disconnect between what NA craft breweries (and enthusiasts) think cask beer should be like, versus the tradition in the UK. Most have not been to the UK to really get to know it, I suspect.