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Saturday, November 28, 2009
Back In Black... Fishnets, that is!
Our beloved Christmas Tradition is Back!
Pictured here you see the venerable center of our favourite yuletide movie "A Christmas Story" - the fishnet clad leglamp. Remember? The one where Ralphie wants the Red Rider BB Gun with the compass in the stock and his dad gets an Italian prize marked FRA - GEE - LAY (Fragile).
Well, we got a full sized one, just like in the picture here, and we're giving it away. This MAJOR AWARD will be raffled off, with all proceeds going to Winnipeg Harvest.
Tickets are $2 each or 3 for $5.
Last time we did this, our customers raised $424 for harvest, and Mike won the lamp on the day of his daughter's birth. Rock on Stella!
In Other News:
Nicole and Zach have a soft heart and as such, we'll be selling the Bourbon Burlywine from behind the counter at the brewery on Burlywine Day. There's a limit of 6 bottles per person, and it's still only while supplies last, which will now be shorter than how I had it planned, but much more fair given that some of you may not want (gasp!) to buy a full case of Burlywine. I don't know why, but happy wife, happy life - I'll do it how she says.
Sweet Nikki Brown is now available at the brewery. We're doing a total of 5 batches this year and should run out sometime in mid January, unless the beer's fans clean us out faster. The beer has yet to be delivered to the Liquor Marts, so come down and say Hi at the brewery. We'll be stocking the stores next week.
Say Hello!
Nicole was out Christmas shopping yesterday and couldn't figure out why so many people were nodding, smiling and generally being friendly in traffic to her. Then she remembered she was driving the Half-Pints-mobile and not the family car.
Seems our fans are starting to recognize the vehicle and show their appreciation. To our fans, she says thanks - I think you made her blush a bit. That's cool. We love our fans and appreciate (and share) their passion. Cheers to you all.
Check out our Burlywine Day ads on Kick FM, UMFM, UWFM. Thanks to The Invisible Man for the shout out on yesterday's program. You're making the brewery guys so happy when we're working on Friday afternoons!
Minnesotans & more:
It must be because it's the Turkey Day weekend in the states, but we've had a lot of out of town visitors recently. Thanks for making time to come see us - we feel honoured that you figure we're worth it.
If you're coming to Winnipeg and plan on visiting the brewery...bring beer! We'd love to trade you for beers from your neck of the woods. We've had lots of Surly, and would never turn down a Furious, but would love some beers from some of the smaller, better micros and brewpubs in the states. Surprise us and we'll make a trade.
Cheers!
Brewmaster Dave
Labels: Bourbon Burlywine, Leg Lamp, Sweet Nikki Brown
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Burlywine Day is on the horizon...
Yep, that's true.
Another year gone - like sands through the hourglass and all that soap opera jazz.
Burlywine Day is coming up on December 5Th, 2009. For those of you unfamiliar with the craziness that takes the form of our annual open house, I'll make these suggestions:
Another year gone - like sands through the hourglass and all that soap opera jazz.
Burlywine Day is coming up on December 5Th, 2009. For those of you unfamiliar with the craziness that takes the form of our annual open house, I'll make these suggestions:
- Dress warm. Who knows if the current trend of having no snow will last? Hearty Half Pints lovers have been known to make coffee on camp stoves before the brewery opens.
- Burlywine has been recognized by the folks at Ratebeer.com, Beeradvocate.com, featured in "World's Best Beers" by Ben McFarland, reviewed on Vimeo by Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson, etc., etc. Essentially, it's good beer. We'd suggest you pick up a few, because invariably, people phone us looking for more when they've used up their stash.
- If you drank all your 2008 Burlywine (the one with the green wax cap), you may choose to line up early and get your hand on some of that vintage along with the new 09 vintage. One bottle will be included with the 24's we have for sale at the brewery. If so, refer to suggestion #1.
- We decided to have some fun and age some of last year's brew on Bourbon soaked French oak chips. The Bourbon Burlywine will be limited to two bottles per person and will only be included with the case (24) for those who buy directly from the brewery. Just like our Punk N' Fest release, if you snooze, you lose, as there's only so many bottles to go around. Once again, refer to suggestion #1.
- Bring a tin for the bin in support of Winnipeg Harvest. Tin bringers can enter to win a fantastic Half Pints prize pack. In all seriousness, we're drinking 10.5% a/v beer when there's people in Winnipeg that don't even have enough food to eat. Bring the tin or whatever the people at Harvest need. You can check their website here.
- We'll be giving tours all day, but be prepared to hang out for a while between tours. We'll try not to be as long winded as we usually are (Dave!), but it is an open house, and we will answer everyone's questions. See suggestion #7.
- We will be offering small samples (no more than 2 oz. as per our license) if you do get stuck having to wait. We've also got a cool Foosball table to challenge your friends. You can't sit around and drink pints here. We don't even get to do that. And pints of Burlywine would just be silly.
- Rejoice that Manitoba's only locally owned and operated brewery makes something that people across Canada want! That said, there's only so much to go around. We've currently got orders from four other provinces. If you want Burlywine, come grace us with your presence. We can't guarantee that every single Liquor Mart, vendor, etc. will get enough to satisfy the demand but, we can guarantee that without beer lovers such as yourself, Half Pints wouldn't be quite as cool as it is, and for that, we thank you.
- We'll have lots of parking in the lot directly south of our building, with vehicle entrances/exits on the East and West sides this year. Remember, the brewery is on Roseberry Street now, don't go lining up at the old Keewatin Street address!
- Did we mention to dress warm?
Other News:
A few of the Bombers were down to take a tour of the plant for the Fabulous Blue Bomber Show on Shaw.ca Our portion starts around the 6:00 minute mark. The guys had some fun, tried some beers and made a mess, which Chris got stuck cleaning up. Fun times!
Sweet Nikki Brown is running through the brewery as we speak. It will be available for sale on November 26Th. We'll be running 5 batches total through the brewery, so it should last us until the end of December or the middle of January, or some time in there.
Some of you have pressed the secret beer we mentioned a few posts ago from Chris, and some of you have just figured it out on your own. Regardless, it's coming out sometime in the middle of January, so you won't have to wait that long.
The Angry Dragons rock the brewery.More fun stuff is coming down the pipe and we'll keep updating as needed here. Hope to see you all on Burlywine Day.
Cheers!
Labels: Bourbon Burlywine, Burly Wine, Sweet Nikki Brown
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Test Video Post
Hey all, we just wanted to test out the video option for blogger. What you should see here is our guys Kevin & Jarrod raging against the Meheen.
Kevin's been working on getting our bottle filler to pump out beer cleanly and efficiently every single time. Last week he replaced a bunch of seals, added a rinser for the bottles and now the Meheen will pump out four new bottles of fine Half Pints beer in less than 11 seconds - if we want it to go that fast. Summer's coming so we've got to be prepared.
We'll be working on bottling the St. James next week in anticipation of the release date in the first week of April. We know we're going to have to be ahead of the game or we'll just fall behind - tough problem to have when you brew such wicked beer - eh?
Labels: Sweet Nikki Brown, Video
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Sweet Nikki Brown Delivers!
Announcing the arrival of two new members of the Half Pints family. Conor John and Sweet Nikki Brown.Those of you who have been following Nicole's progress during her pregnancy will be happy to hear that she delivered Conor John on October 4Th, 2007. The lil' scrapper came in at 7lbs. 10 oz. with a full head of dark hair. He's a real sweetie and he's even letting us get some sleep when he feels it's necessary.
And, even though his big brother Ethan was less than enthused about Conor's name at the start, he's warmed up nicely to the idea of having someone around who can eventually play trains with him.
For those of you who remember, Sweet Nikki Brown is my lovely wife's beer. A little sweet, and a little bitter, just like her. It's brewed and will be available starting this Saturday, October 20Th until the end of December. We figured we'd be kind and allow those of you who've been so patient the chance to enjoy this one for a little longer - especially since it's one of our most requested seasonal beers.
For those of you who've never tried it, the Sweet Nikki Brown is an American style brown ale. It's dark with hints of chocolate, honey, and fresh bread in the malt profile. The hops kick off the finish of this beer and are prominent in the aroma with citrus, too.
Its a great cold weather beer and goes fantastic with those typical fall dishes like roast turkey, smoked ham, etc.
In further brewery news:
We've got the Burly Wine brewed and it's currently aging in the cold room to smooth out the rough edges. That said, I'd like to give fair warning to fans of this beer that if they're not here in line on the morning of December 8Th at 9 a.m. it is entirely possible that you may not get the chance to have any of this year's batch. Due to the immense popularity of this beer, we have been letting our customers know this since February of last year, so bundle up, and you will be rewarded. By the way, our Burly Wine is currently rated #10 world wide in the English Barleywine category on Beeradvocate.com.
The guys from Beer for Breakfast on 92.9 Kick FM are holding their annual awards show soon. We're sponsoring the Brewno's at the King's Head Pub on November 3rd, and as part of that sponsorship, we'll be bringing along a cask of real ale for the event. Past gems include Mocha Stout, Vanilla Stout, Oktoberfest with Hallertau dry hops, and The Son (for which the brewery van got towed). What will we do for an encore? You'll just have to show up and see! Click on the link above to vote for your favorite local acts.
Labels: Brewno, Burly Wine, Sweet Nikki Brown