Friday December 30th at 4:00 p.m. we're throwing a firkin of beer on the bar! For our first shot at cask ale I've got the firkin filled with dark lagered ale that's dry-hopped in the cask with several oz each of Cascade and Northern Brewer. Here's hoping the hops don't clog the spigot!
See you at the bar for some firkin great cask ale!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Holiday Cheer with Happy Hour All Day
Come on down for some cheer on Christmas Eve Day
We're open from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m only and we'll be running happy hour prices on our handcrafted beers alongside a limited food menu of mainly fryer items - chicken wings, fish and chips, nachos, potato skins and of course, our famous beer cheese soup.
Happy holidays and be safe!
We're open from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m only and we'll be running happy hour prices on our handcrafted beers alongside a limited food menu of mainly fryer items - chicken wings, fish and chips, nachos, potato skins and of course, our famous beer cheese soup.
Happy holidays and be safe!
Mmmmmm Beer
Well folks, it's been a great couple weeks since we launched the new beers. We've sold a load of beer and have a few tweaked backup batches in the fermenters, thanks to everyone for the support as always.
On deck we have a batch of RIS aging on oak where it will live for another few weeks, we plan to tap it in February and it's already tasting great so we're stoked for that one! I've also got a 'test' lager on - a dark lagered ale fermented on US-05 @ 55F just for giggles to see what this yeast can do. We'll have it on tap in early January. Should be interesting, and tasty!
I'm filling a firkin today so watch for an announcement about when it'll appear on the bartop in a week or so!
I've added a couple new guest bottles to the list, both are fresh and tasting great....
- Dieu Du Ciel! Corne Du Diable
- Imperial ESB Collaboration Ale - Propeller/H&T
Mmmmmm beer!
On deck we have a batch of RIS aging on oak where it will live for another few weeks, we plan to tap it in February and it's already tasting great so we're stoked for that one! I've also got a 'test' lager on - a dark lagered ale fermented on US-05 @ 55F just for giggles to see what this yeast can do. We'll have it on tap in early January. Should be interesting, and tasty!
I'm filling a firkin today so watch for an announcement about when it'll appear on the bartop in a week or so!
I've added a couple new guest bottles to the list, both are fresh and tasting great....
- Dieu Du Ciel! Corne Du Diable
- Imperial ESB Collaboration Ale - Propeller/H&T
Mmmmmm beer!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
On Tap!
Thanks to everyone for coming out to the brewpub yesterday for the beer launch! We packed the house and I hope everyone had a good time.
Apologies for the shortage of sampler glasses to any that had to wait, we're trying to rectify that and a couple other little hiccups today. We somehow failed to get the bottled beer list printed on time for the crowd last night but we have that taken care of now. For future reference here's our starting lineup on the bottled product....
Schlenkerla Märzen (Rauchbier) 500 ml, 5.4% ABV
Trappistes Rochefort 10 (Quadrupel) 330 ml, 11.3% ABV
Caracole Nostradamus (Wallonian Brown Ale) 330 ml, 9.0% ABV
Tracquair Jacobite (Scotch Ale) 330 ml, 8.0% ABV
Saison Dupont (Saison) 330 ml, 6.5% ABV
Duchesse De Bourgogne (Flanders Red) 330 ml, 6.0% ABV
Brewdog Hardcore IPA (DIPA) 330 ml, 9.2% ABV
Dieu du Ciel! Péché Mortel (Imperial Coffee Stout) 341 ml, 9.5%
Anchor Liberty Ale (IPA) 355 ml, 5.9% ABV
Harviestoun Old Engine Oil (Porter) 330 ml, 6.0% ABV
Hell Bay English Ale (English-style Pale Ale) from Cherry Hill, NS outside Lunenburg 500 ml, 5.2% ABV
Apologies for the shortage of sampler glasses to any that had to wait, we're trying to rectify that and a couple other little hiccups today. We somehow failed to get the bottled beer list printed on time for the crowd last night but we have that taken care of now. For future reference here's our starting lineup on the bottled product....
Schlenkerla Märzen (Rauchbier) 500 ml, 5.4% ABV
Trappistes Rochefort 10 (Quadrupel) 330 ml, 11.3% ABV
Caracole Nostradamus (Wallonian Brown Ale) 330 ml, 9.0% ABV
Tracquair Jacobite (Scotch Ale) 330 ml, 8.0% ABV
Saison Dupont (Saison) 330 ml, 6.5% ABV
Duchesse De Bourgogne (Flanders Red) 330 ml, 6.0% ABV
Brewdog Hardcore IPA (DIPA) 330 ml, 9.2% ABV
Dieu du Ciel! Péché Mortel (Imperial Coffee Stout) 341 ml, 9.5%
Anchor Liberty Ale (IPA) 355 ml, 5.9% ABV
Harviestoun Old Engine Oil (Porter) 330 ml, 6.0% ABV
Hell Bay English Ale (English-style Pale Ale) from Cherry Hill, NS outside Lunenburg 500 ml, 5.2% ABV
Monday, November 28, 2011
3 - 2 - 1 - LAUNCH
Ladies and gentlemen, we have lift-off!
Our new beers launch 10:00 a.m. Monday December 5th 2011.
The beers for the initial launch are listed below and will be served in very reasonably priced 12oz or 18oz portions:
Deadwood Wheat - North American Weizen
5.0% ABV 12 IBUs
$5.25 small, $7.25 large
Big Water Brown - English style Brown Ale
5.5% ABV 17 IBUs
$5.25 small, $7.25 large
Fathom IPA - West Coast IPA
6.9% ABV 70 IBUs
$5.50 small, $7.75 large
Jacktar Stout - North American Stout
6.7% ABV 70 IBUs
$5.50 small, $7.75 large
Hop Warrior - West Coast Double IPA
8.0% ABV 100+ IBUs (305 Calculated)
$6.50 one size fits all (small)
Sampler boards will also be available.
A couple side notes that might stoke a few of you...
- We've added my vegetarian friendly roasted garlic beer cheese soup to the menu!
- We're adding a cheese plate to the menu! We're looking to hit complimentary textures and flavours that pair well with the beer across the board so expect to see nuts, bread, dried or fresh fruit and 3 or 4 cheeses including sharp cheddar, soft ripened and blue.
- We've been working at integrating beer into the main menu items starting with sauces, reductions, marinades and soups, more as we progress.
- We're adding a selection of bottled beers, 10 or 12 different beers to start. Possibly more as we gauge response moving forward.
I'm stoked!
And remember, beer is more than just food!
Our new beers launch 10:00 a.m. Monday December 5th 2011.
The beers for the initial launch are listed below and will be served in very reasonably priced 12oz or 18oz portions:
Deadwood Wheat - North American Weizen
5.0% ABV 12 IBUs
$5.25 small, $7.25 large
Big Water Brown - English style Brown Ale
5.5% ABV 17 IBUs
$5.25 small, $7.25 large
Fathom IPA - West Coast IPA
6.9% ABV 70 IBUs
$5.50 small, $7.75 large
Jacktar Stout - North American Stout
6.7% ABV 70 IBUs
$5.50 small, $7.75 large
Hop Warrior - West Coast Double IPA
8.0% ABV 100+ IBUs (305 Calculated)
$6.50 one size fits all (small)
Sampler boards will also be available.
A couple side notes that might stoke a few of you...
- We've added my vegetarian friendly roasted garlic beer cheese soup to the menu!
- We're adding a cheese plate to the menu! We're looking to hit complimentary textures and flavours that pair well with the beer across the board so expect to see nuts, bread, dried or fresh fruit and 3 or 4 cheeses including sharp cheddar, soft ripened and blue.
- We've been working at integrating beer into the main menu items starting with sauces, reductions, marinades and soups, more as we progress.
- We're adding a selection of bottled beers, 10 or 12 different beers to start. Possibly more as we gauge response moving forward.
I'm stoked!
And remember, beer is more than just food!
Saturday, November 19, 2011
We're Making Beer
You heard it right, we're making beer. As of Thursday past our five fermenters are full. Some of these will be moving out and into the conditioning/serving tanks by next week then we'll just keep making more beer until everything is full. This is no small task since we have ten serving tanks. Soon, soon, soon we'll drink the fruits of our labour, with love.
A few action shots starting with a 3500g first wort hop charge of Warrior at 17.2% AA ...
A few action shots starting with a 3500g first wort hop charge of Warrior at 17.2% AA ...
Graffiti
Well, when the new brewing system arrived it was covered in graffiti! The boys at the manufacturer, DME Brewing Services decided to have a little fun and just might have heard about my reputation for using plenty of hops! Ahahha
Progress continues....
Progress continues as we approach our launch date. I'll be making an announcement about that in the coming days so stay tuned.
Now here's a few more shots, remember that stairwell railing I mentioned....
Here's the mash-tun and kettle in their final resting place...
We had the system in place with the stainless steel hard-piping installed within a day or so then came the contractors. It was about three weeks later before we could actually turn the system on, plumbing became quite time consuming since we had planned to utilize the old existing glycol cooling header matrix, alas when we actually took a closer look it had been built incorrectly 3 years ago so we cut it all out and started from scratch.
Sourcing a large water filter also became a problem, estimates started coming in ranging from high to ridiculous and of course nothing was in stock anywhere. All I want to do is remove the chlorine form our city water, it's quite soft making for an excellent brewing water base since I can increase mineral content as required for specific beer styles. I made a couple calls and found a high-flow sand filter typically used to filter particulate from swimming pools, water is pumped through a bed of sand removing any particles in suspension. I found activated carbon locally and grabbed three cubic feet of it to use in the filter in place of the usual sand and voila, particulate and chlorine-free water.
Then came days and days of intensive cleaning, new tanks should be cleaned with a 5% caustic solution in a CIP loop for about 5 hours each, after that they should by passivated with an intense nitric acid solution. At this point the owner of the brewery is wondering what's going on - still cleaning!
Fast forward to last week, here's a few shots of the brewery after we got it cleaned up and ready to brew....
Now here's a few more shots, remember that stairwell railing I mentioned....
Here's the mash-tun and kettle in their final resting place...
We had the system in place with the stainless steel hard-piping installed within a day or so then came the contractors. It was about three weeks later before we could actually turn the system on, plumbing became quite time consuming since we had planned to utilize the old existing glycol cooling header matrix, alas when we actually took a closer look it had been built incorrectly 3 years ago so we cut it all out and started from scratch.
Sourcing a large water filter also became a problem, estimates started coming in ranging from high to ridiculous and of course nothing was in stock anywhere. All I want to do is remove the chlorine form our city water, it's quite soft making for an excellent brewing water base since I can increase mineral content as required for specific beer styles. I made a couple calls and found a high-flow sand filter typically used to filter particulate from swimming pools, water is pumped through a bed of sand removing any particles in suspension. I found activated carbon locally and grabbed three cubic feet of it to use in the filter in place of the usual sand and voila, particulate and chlorine-free water.
Then came days and days of intensive cleaning, new tanks should be cleaned with a 5% caustic solution in a CIP loop for about 5 hours each, after that they should by passivated with an intense nitric acid solution. At this point the owner of the brewery is wondering what's going on - still cleaning!
Fast forward to last week, here's a few shots of the brewery after we got it cleaned up and ready to brew....
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Progress!
Sorry for the delay getting around to updating here but I've been sort of busy building a brewery!
Tanks are in, contractors are done and we're making beer. At this point it looks like we'll launch 5 new beers the first week of December but I'll update as we approach the release.
As for the brewery build - there's been lot's of unforeseen fun going on. For starters somehow the wrong floor drains were installed, this held us up for nearly two weeks while the cement floors were cut out again, proper drains installed and cement re-poured.
The originals were tiny and the edging around them was metal carpet trim effectively creating a small dam around the troughs.
A couple weeks later we had drains that work great, no dams and a good deep trough to act as a reservoir. And apparently I failed to take comparison photos of the drains but you sort of see them in the background, they're lovely....
It was a blast getting the tanks in the building, it all went fairly smooth with no real issues. We did have to cut the stairwell railings down to get the mash-tun down but all in all no big deal.
Tanks are in, contractors are done and we're making beer. At this point it looks like we'll launch 5 new beers the first week of December but I'll update as we approach the release.
As for the brewery build - there's been lot's of unforeseen fun going on. For starters somehow the wrong floor drains were installed, this held us up for nearly two weeks while the cement floors were cut out again, proper drains installed and cement re-poured.
The originals were tiny and the edging around them was metal carpet trim effectively creating a small dam around the troughs.
A couple weeks later we had drains that work great, no dams and a good deep trough to act as a reservoir. And apparently I failed to take comparison photos of the drains but you sort of see them in the background, they're lovely....
It was a blast getting the tanks in the building, it all went fairly smooth with no real issues. We did have to cut the stairwell railings down to get the mash-tun down but all in all no big deal.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
The New Rockbottom Brewpub
Welcome to my new digs!
Over the coming weeks we're installing a new brewing system at Rockbottom and I think you'll experience some very positive change in the glass. I'll attempt to document progress through photos and text as we progress through this demanding yet oh so satisfying project.
I'm excited to be onboard here and am thrilled about this project - time to build a new brewery!
The beer will be brewed from grain to glass onsite, bursting with flavour and freshness. I'll be brewing something for everyone with several staple beers on tap as well as rotating specialty and seasonal brews that will push the boundaries wide open on beer as you know it. We've already started construction to make room for the new brewhaus and fermenters, we don't have a lot of space to work with but we've had the new system custom built specifically for our space, it's going to be a beautiful little brewery. Okay maybe not that little... we'll be whipping up 900 - 1000 L batches utilizing five fermenters and ten serving tanks, that's a substantial quantity of beer, each batch is equivalent to ~ 225 dozen or so bottles of beer.
For those that don't know me here's a quick mini bio:
I was born and raised near Amherst, Nova Scotia. After contracting a severe case of the homebrewing bug in the late 80's I decided to ruin the worlds best hobby and turn pro. I started working professionally in the industry in 1994 and received my technical training at the American Brewers Guild in California, class of '96. I brewed abroad like a Bohemian for craft breweries in the US and Canada for several years before heading back to the homeland. I've been brewing in Halifax for over 10 years now, most recently at the Hart and Thistle. In my spare time I'm a bit of a foodie and love good espresso and variants thereof. I cook, a LOT. I dabble in charcuterie and attempt to infuse beer or hops into most any type of food. For anyone interested you can view some photos of my cooking adventures right here.
Time to finish building a brewery.
Over the coming weeks we're installing a new brewing system at Rockbottom and I think you'll experience some very positive change in the glass. I'll attempt to document progress through photos and text as we progress through this demanding yet oh so satisfying project.
I'm excited to be onboard here and am thrilled about this project - time to build a new brewery!
The beer will be brewed from grain to glass onsite, bursting with flavour and freshness. I'll be brewing something for everyone with several staple beers on tap as well as rotating specialty and seasonal brews that will push the boundaries wide open on beer as you know it. We've already started construction to make room for the new brewhaus and fermenters, we don't have a lot of space to work with but we've had the new system custom built specifically for our space, it's going to be a beautiful little brewery. Okay maybe not that little... we'll be whipping up 900 - 1000 L batches utilizing five fermenters and ten serving tanks, that's a substantial quantity of beer, each batch is equivalent to ~ 225 dozen or so bottles of beer.
For those that don't know me here's a quick mini bio:
I was born and raised near Amherst, Nova Scotia. After contracting a severe case of the homebrewing bug in the late 80's I decided to ruin the worlds best hobby and turn pro. I started working professionally in the industry in 1994 and received my technical training at the American Brewers Guild in California, class of '96. I brewed abroad like a Bohemian for craft breweries in the US and Canada for several years before heading back to the homeland. I've been brewing in Halifax for over 10 years now, most recently at the Hart and Thistle. In my spare time I'm a bit of a foodie and love good espresso and variants thereof. I cook, a LOT. I dabble in charcuterie and attempt to infuse beer or hops into most any type of food. For anyone interested you can view some photos of my cooking adventures right here.
Time to finish building a brewery.
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