What's up indeed...

The brewery is obviously busy, as many of you who have been calling for kegs can attest to. So, while we do have beer on hand at all times, sometimes the keg choices can be lacking given that we may not have "your beer" in stock. Today, for example, we're out of Bulldog Amber till next Monday(ish).

Oh well, more Phil's Pils for us.

Nicole was kind enough to buy us some wings for the BBQ at the brewery today, so after ripping off a ton of beer (IPA and Pils) off the bottling line, we had a bit of a Frank's Red Hot fiesta with wings. Zach was kind enough to show the brewery guys his one bite, completely clean wing sucking technique - I guess we all aspire to greatness in one way or another ;)

The news for right now is that we've got our big 2nd anniversary coming up and have brewed a strong Scotch ale called Grewsome for the occasion. Many of you have heard me reference the beer in relation to an off-color joke regarding kilts, scottsmen and what's missing under said kilts. Anyhoo - it's gonna be a tasty one. It's basically the polar opposite of the Humulus Ludicrous in that it's a malt barley sandwich with an extra side of malt.

It'll be released on August 9th at the brewery and will only be for sale from the brewery until it's gone. So, if you're a fan, come represent in all your glory on the morning of the 9th. We thank you for your ongoing support and have some big plans in the coming month that will amaze you.

Cheers,
Brewmaster Dave :)

$31.03 for the 5 liter Heineken mini keg

• non-recyclable
• needs at least 10 hours to cool before opening
• it's Heineken. nuff' said.

$45.31 for the 11.3 liter Phil's Pils freshKEG

• recyclable
• cold when you buy it
• available in other tasty flavours
• doesn't taste like fizzy corn water

So, using Molson's Math 101, we should be charging $70 plus for an 11.3 liter keg of our Phil's Pils.

Ha ha, what a bunch of maroons...

Labels: Ramblings

Hey all,
This past weekend, I spent Sunday and Monday sampling out our beer to the folks who came to Centrex. We had a portion of a booth sponsored by the Manitoba Food Processors Association. It was neat to see all of the different locally produced foods we can get, and surprising to see how many of those we already use.

Nicole and I were having a discussion this morning over bagels and coffee about the brewery, the 100 mile diet, organics and our carbon footprint.

Now, I'll be the first to say, I'm not terribly educated when it comes to some of the issues. I do know we get requests from time to time regarding organic beer. But, the discussion this morning lead me to wonder about the carbon footprint of breweries using organic malt.

See, there's really only two options open to me as a Canadian brewer. Gambrinus Malting Company of Armstrong, BC makes an organic 2 row barley. Some of you have heard me lament of my past dealings with Gambrinus (service is not their strong point, nor is sending the right colour of malt). The guys at Nelson Brewery in BC seem to be happy - they switched a while back to all of their beers being brewed organically - and I think they're getting a good percentage of their grain from Gambrinus.

Our other option would be to use the Biomalt (it's organic) from Weyermann Malting in Bamberg, Germany. Great malt, steep price, European grown.

So, if we were to switch to using these guys for the sake of organics alone, then we'd be cancelling out any good with the diesel fuel it takes to get malt from Germany or BC, rather than simply using the locally made 2 row we currently use.

Here also we're presented with the problem of the local malt being grown across western Canada, then being blended for consistency's sake. So, the 100 mile dieters get thrust out into the cold, too. I have a feeling some people out there think that malting your own grain is pretty simple (technically it can be), but when you're talking about the volumes of grain we go through, hooking up with a local organic farmer to grow grain for us just isn't feasible.

So, where does that leave us?

I figure a few of you out there may have some ideas. The idea here is to open the discussion and maybe find a way to make it work. The hop situation (or lack thereof) isn't going to work itself anytime soon, much less allow me to be picky and demand organics, but I think if we start leaning on our suppliers and come up with some homegrown ideas, we might be able to make it happen.

Thoughts?

Labels: 100 Mile Diet, Organic Brewing, Ramblings

Hey all,
Thanks to Colin for the reminder re: what new brew was coming out today. We were so busy bottling, I almost forgot!

HALF PINTS BREWING COMPANY
CELEBRATES EXPANSION AND SPRING
WITH POTHOLE PORTER

March 26, 2008 – Half Pints Brewing Company has a lot to celebrate this spring.

In the past year and a half, the staff hand labeled and bottled over 210,000 660ml bottles. Recently, the brewery purchased and installed a new bottling machine for 341ml. bottles. This new machine allows the three beers brewed throughout the year (Bulldog Amber Ale, Little Scrapper IPA, and Stir Stick Stout) to be packaged in 6 packs. While most other breweries are raising prices with the increase in costs (malt, hops, water, gas, and wages) we have reduced the prices to reflect our new efficiencies.

While based in Winnipeg, Half Pints Brewing Company is getting noticed and celebrated all over the world. Demand from outside Manitoba is high with unsolicited orders coming in from BC, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Here’s what Stephen Beaumont, beer writer and drinks expert, had to say, “the new standard-bearer for good beer in Manitoba, Half Pints Brewing of Winnipeg``.

Half Pints was also a huge hit at the Great Canadian Beer Festival in Victoria this past fall. See what North America’s longest running beer magazine, Celebrator had to say http://www.celebrator.com/archives/2007/12/gh_victoria.html . Based on the beer rating websites, ratebeer.com and beeradvocate.com, Half Pints is clearly the brewery of choice for real beer lovers in Manitoba and is certainly making its mark all over the beer world with its seasonal offerings.

Half Pints Brewing Company is celebrating spring with a brand new beer – Pothole Porter. This beer is a strong, dark ale brewed using pale, crystal, chocolate and melanoidin malts. It is finished with UK Fuggles hops, aged with French Oak, and cool fermented for a sweet, toasty malt finish.Pothole Porter will be available Tuesday, April 1st, 2008, so prepare for a total front end alignment of your senses. The beer will be available for sale in single 341 ml. bottles fresh from the brewery on Keewatin St. as well as Winnipeg’s Liquor Marts and select vendors.

It's been a while since my last update, though we've not been idle. You'd think that since today is St. Patrick's Day, I'd be out getting likker'd. Nope, sorry to disappoint you, not really my scene.

I really like the King's Head's stance regarding NO GREEN BEER. When the Free Press was reporting on all the fun stuff to do tonight, they made a point of mentioning the anti-green stance at the Head. For god's sake, who in the world thought this travesty would make you Irish for the night? Now, St. Brigid, there's a saint I can get behind. But, you never hear mention of the lady's fine deeds - turning bathwater into an endless supply of beer - I'd vote for that!

Last year, we released the Weizenbock on this day. This year, we've got the Weizenbock already out there in our snazzy new 341 ml. bottles. Apart from a few minor guffaws at the start of the week, we've got the bottling line pushing out the beer well, and tomorrow we'll give it the first full day of running, and see what it can really do.

We're down to about 12 cases of empty 660ml. bottles right now, and that means that by the end of this week, we'll be clean out of the beer in that format. For those of you (MIKE!) who will lament the passing of the large bottles... feel free to open two small ones, I won't judge you. The rest of you know that these small bottles will mean you'll be able to have a Half Pint at your favourite local watering hole, restaurant, etc. - thanks for understanding.

When the prices for every raw ingredient in beer have gone up, we could have passed along a price increase and kept bottling in the large bottles. Instead, we decided to become more efficient, and slightly more nimble on our toes, so to say. All the other breweries have been passing along increases, and for us, it just seemed to make more sense to intelligently work with what we have, and trim the area that represented the most frustrating part of our days - hand bottling.

So, how do we celebrate this vast leap forward in technology? We brew a new beer, of course.

In the tanks right now, we have a malty mouthful so black and so devastatingly delicious, it could only have been brewed in Winnipeg. The soft, roasty sweet liquid unexpectedly pulls you down into layer upon layer of flavour.

On April 1st, 2008 prepare yourself for a total front end alignment of your senses.

Labels: Ramblings, The Beers