Half Pints Brewing Company

Pothole season is just around the corner...

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:23:00 +0000

Yep, I said it - but with all this warm weather we've been getting recently, it's a good thing we started brewing the Pothole Porter early.

Just in time for the Winnipeg tradition that is pothole season, we've got our strong Baltic Porter styled beer coming out. As you all know, we're famous here in 'Peg City for potholes that could swallow your leg (or a car), and Half Pints loves to celebrate our oddities with this tongue in cheek beer featuring the tag line "stare into the abyss".

This year's Pothole is aged with toasted oak spirals, and has a lovely dark chocolate finish. It's just right for soothing your nerves after the drive home where it's entirely possible you tried to jerk the wheel like a madman while avoiding your rush hour neighbour's door panels by a half an inch.

And, if by chance you're one of those tail-gating, cell phone yapping, text sending morons, now is the time the rest of us get our sweet revenge because you can't see the crater sized opening in the earth below your soon to be replaced front axle. Victory is sweet so we raise this glass of black darkness to you!

On Saturday - March 6th we're doing a special release party at the Lo Pub for Jack's favorite beer. We'll be tapping 2 kegs of wonderfulness - one has been aged for 2 years, the other is from the new batch. We give new meaning to the term "2 fisted drinker".

Hopefully we'll see you there, if not, we know you got swallowed up by a Pothole of your own.

(Ol' Young Man; King of the Pothole, Knower of all Relative Pothole Volume within the brewery)

Bloodshot Bill Rocks

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:08:00 +0000

If you missed the Rock & Roll Weekender this past weekend, you missed out.

Check out this video. While I don't think the video does total justice to the surroundings at the Albert, with all the rockabilly kids out in force and so on, it does give you a bit of an idea that you should'a been there. Besides, as one of the sponsors for the night, I can personally guarantee you that the beer was good.

Hooray for Bill, hope to see you again!

Now, go buy his cd!

$old Out! January 16th $ellout $tout Wrap-up.

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:29:00 +0000

Well, wasn't that a bit of a crazy morning?

We're calling the $ellout $tout a complete success given that we were sold out by 10:30 am. Thanks to everyone who came out early and got their bottles.

Vanessa snapped off this shot early in the morning. If I could figure out photoshop, I'd give Ed (black hat in the background) the caption: "beer & wood, my two favourite things!" Thankfully, Ed has a good sense of humour.

A few things to note:

The lineup started at 7 am, proving the brewery motto "you snooze, you lose".

As some have pointed out, the doors were unfortunately opened at 8:45 am by brewery staff taking pity on cold beer lovers. This won't happen again, as we need more time in the morning to prepare for these special releases. Bring your toque next time!

We hadn't planned on putting a limit on the number of bottles you could purchase, but did so after we realized we'd have a lot more angry customers if we didn't.

The beer sold out so quickly, I didn't even have time to pull out the birthday cake that Vanessa so kindly picked up for me. D'oh! More cake for us!

Both CBC Radio and Global TV (click on the January 15Th newscast and ffw to the last minute of the program) came down and did interviews with us even though we didn't do a press release. I think this made the day even more successful and I thank them for keeping their ears to the ground and spreading the word for good local beer in Manitoba.

Our long distance award goes to Kyle from Andrew Hilton Wines in Lethbridge. He drove 13 or 14 hours from Lethbridge to check out the $ellout and trade some wonderful beers, too. Thanks Kyle for your dedication to good beer, not just Half Pints.

For those of you who didn't get any and were hoping, ask your friends and relatives, as it's possible they beat you to it and have a bottle they could trade you for something good.

Hopefully Winnipeg's beer lovers trust their favourite brewer's instincts. As we've noted on facebook and other social sites like BeerAdvocate or Ratebeer, we're proud to brew a beer like the St. James Pale Ale. It may not be every one's cup of tea, but that doesn't mean it's not a valid style in its own right and it's fans are just as valued to us as any of our beers' fans. This one beer alone brings so many new people into the Half Pints fold and they eventually try our other beers and spend time educating their palettes to good beer in general, not just ours. It's a total win-win situation, because educated customers are dangerous consumers when it comes to big brewery beer. They refuse to accept it anymore, much like I learned not to accept it years ago when my palette was expanded by beers that were considered weird or exotic.

Like I've always said, we're not here to make beer that absolutely everyone loves. In fact, we're going to make beer from time to time that certain people hate. I'm OK with that simply because: if our goal was to make beer for the masses 100% of the time, then all our beers would suck and we could sell out to a larger multi-national brewery and spend our time on a beach sipping mojito's.

For those of you who ask "What's next?" you could smell Chris' brew here on $ellout day. It's a Rye P.A. he's designed all by himself and it's fermenting away as you read this. It'll be transferred into the barrels that previously held the $ellout and will mellow for 4-6 months before we repeat this whole debacle again.

He's currently thinking about names for it and we'll gladly take suggestions from anyone willing to post them in the comments section. Keep it clean folks!

Cheers,

Brewmaster Dave

I've always wondered what it was like to be a $ellout...

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:15:00 +0000

...it seems to be a bit of a sport amongst beer knurds to point the finger and call a brewery a sellout for making beer that sells.

"Gasp! Your brewery makes beer that the average beer drinker likes... that's so terrible!"

Yeah, right! Can you believe there's people that think like this? It is a craft brewer's responsibility to introduce people to a whole world of beer outside of their normal fizzy yellow industrial plonk. We take that reponsibility very seriously here at Half Pints which is why we took so long to design and brew our most drinkable beer ever.

Soon after we came out with our St. James Pale Ale - currently our best selling beer and the reason we can afford to do such ridiculous things like barrel aging beers for 6 months plus - there were some rumblings from them that we'd gone south like so many dodgy breweries and venture capital groups before us. I suppose if I'd never run a business or brewed for a living, I could point fingers, too.

Not so says I, and when we finally got the time this past summer we whipped out our stack of recipes and layed down multiple brews that the beer geeks (and we) love that we're so well known for. Humulus Ludicrous, Phil's Pils, Oktoberfest, Punk N' Fest, Sweet Nikki Brown, Bourbon Burlywine, and the 09 Burly, to boot. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it! And in that time, the St. James blew past our Stir Stick Stout in the number of total batches brewed so that by the year's end we will have brewed over 100 batches of it.

So the $ellout $tout has been a nose thumbing good time for us to brew which all started as a toungue in cheek joke I made back in late spring with Anthony.

Anthony - "Hey Dave, what will you do if the St. James becomes our bestselling beer and the knurds call you a sellout?"

Dave - "We'll brew a stupidly tasty stout and call it "The $ellout".

Then we got the call which became the seed:

rrrring, riinnng.

"Hello, Half Pints."

"Barrels. Address. Go. Now"

"Ok?!?"

..... click.

The next day, we zipped over to Dino's Grocery and picked up a couple of giant Jaggery bells for adding to the $ellout $tout during fermentation, brewed the ridiculously malty brew, and about two weeks later, we moved the bulk of the fermented goodness into those barrels for aging.

From there on in, it's all over but the patience. The barrels leaked a bit, so we topped them up with the leftover $tout we'd reserved in kegs. The stuff from the kegs tasted yummy, so the barrels can only add more yumminess to the brew.

We thought that a beer this special needed a special label. I remember Darren Merinuk from my days at the Pyramid Cabaret. His show posters are always so cool. I thought it'd be funny to have a punk themed label with an obviously sold out punk kid floating down a river of stout holding a fistfull of grain in one hand a fistfull of cash in the other. After some minor tweaks, Darren nailed it. The $ellout was complete.

In the next couple of weeks, we'll pull the $ellout from its whisky barrel slumber, blending it into a tank with the leftovers from the kegs, and fill the barrels up with another new beer that Chris is creating. It will be his first 100% Chris Young designed beer. I'm quite looking forward to tasting it.

January 16th, 2010 - you can come celebrate my 35th birthday with me in style at the brewery. You can see from the label that as a nod to our brewery's history, we'll be hand bottling this one in 660 ml bottles. Therefore, we will not be selling any of this beer at the liquor stores or vendors. As always, be here or be square.

So, I guess in a way we are $ellouts. Just not the kind the beer knurds expected. Not now, not ever.

Burlywine Day is Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:09:00 +0000

Our 4th Annual Burlywine Day Open House is well under way. Congrat's to Aaron Brown on winning the gift certificate for being first in line (7:30 AM -20C.). He had provisions for the wait - coffee and granola bars.

Congrat's also to the first 10 people in line who got free t's for braving the cold.

We've been sampling out our St. James Pale, Burlywine 2009, Bourbon Burlywine, and a special aged keg of our Pothole Porter. Hopefully you don't miss the day completely because the Porter and the Bourbon Burly are getting rave reviews right now!

Today's News:

We've been letting people in on the secret beer we've been working on. The release date is Saturday, January 16th. The beer is a strong, whisky barrel aged stout we're calling Sellout Stout. It's 8.4% a/v and uses Jaggery during the production. It had a very rummy flavour before going into the barrels for six months. Can't wait to see how it all comes together. Yummy!

There's only a few 6'ers left of the Bourbon Burlywine, so hopefully you get here soon.

Cheers,

Brewmaster Dave

Back In Black... Fishnets, that is!

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:38:00 +0000

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

Burlywine Day is on the horizon...

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:54:00 +0000

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:

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!

Punk N Fest - Photographic Evidence

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:29:00 +0000

Check out some more photo's from the event. What a great day. Thanks to everyone who helped out - The Angry Dragons, Transistor 66 Records, staff @ Half Pints, and you for coming down and making the event fun. Lots of costumes, hard work on Pumpkins and one too many pixie stix make for a fun brewery event.

Punk N' Fest is Rolling!

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:30:00 +0000

We're having some fun today and everyone's getting into the spirit. You can see Nicole and the Kids dressed up, Kevin & Chris, and Princess Leia & the 30's Flapper Girl carving some prize winning pumpkins.

The pile of Punk N' Fest is dwindling and we should be out before long. As always, be here or be square - the band goes on at 2pm.

See ya soon!

Dave :)

Punk N' Fest

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:41:00 +0000

Hey all,
By now, most of you have heard that we're having some fun on Halloween this year. We've got a small run of pumpkin pie spiced Oktoberfest we're calling Punk N' Fest.

We'll be opening the doors at 9am that day, and the merriment will continue for pretty much the whole day. Best of all, we've got the Angry Dragons playing in the brewery at 2pm.

There'll be prizes for best male and best female costumes, a pumpkin carving contest, and we'll be handing out some treats for the whole day, or until the candy runs out. Be warned, we're candy monsters here at the brewery...

Dress up and come down for the fun. We'll see you this Saturday!

Click below to check out our campy ad for the day...

punk%20n%20fest.mp3

Cudos Ridiculoso

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:49:00 +0000

There's lots of good news on the beer front here at Half Pints, but I thought this one was particularly special. It comes from my old alma mater, the Bushwakker in Regina. They hold beer tastings from time to time and for this one, we had a beer in the running.

Thanks to Grant Frew for passing the results along:

The results of Tuesday night's IPA tasting event are as follows:

1. Half Pints Humulus Ludicrous Imperial - 100 IBU 41.19

2. Green Flash Imperial - 100 IBU 39.67

3. Green Flash West Coast - 95 IBU 38.22

4. Pike - 60 IBU 37.97

5. Lost Coast Indica - 57 IBU 36.42

6. Pyramid Thunderhead - 67 IBU 34.42

7. Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial - 90 IBU 33.24

8. North Coast Acme - 55 IBU 28.70

Beer Festing Across the Universe...

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:51:00 +0000

It's been a busy couple of weeks, with tastings, beer fests and brewing.

We hit the flatlanders last week with our brews, including this year's Oktoberfest. Lots of tasters enjoyed that one as there seemed to be no end to the keg switching routine as we'd run out.

You can see Chris here as he mugs for the camera with his imitation of how tough he'll be with the next person to ask him if we're gonna make a lime beer. Ha Ha.

Nicole joined us on Friday night and screamed herself horse over the hum from the crowd. You can see her here slaking her thirst for Fest and taking a much needed breather from the booth.

We got the chance to meet our booth neighbour, Andrew from Hockley Valley and tried his Stout and their Dark. We loved seeing his: "Oh my." face when he tried our Humulus.

Keep your eyes peeled for us at your next event. We've got a bunch set up right into October and will be pouring some interesting beers. Check our front page here on the website and we'll keep you updated with all the events.

Cheers!

Dave

Revolutionary Product

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:39:00 +0000

Our rally cry for the past few years has been:

Together we can

STOP

the evil spread of

LITE BEER

But lately, it's come to our attention that our focus has been wrong all along. So today, we're offering you the chance to get in on the ground floor of a revolution in brewing and t-shirt manufacturing.

For only $19.99 (plus S&H), we'll send you the finest quality, hand written letter "M" on a supremely manufactured duct tape backing. This "M" can be applied to your current Half Pints t-shirt and sported with pride at all future family gatherings, beer festivals, and outdoor patios.

No longer will you need to bear the shame of being a victim of the latest fad beer (red, hemp, maple, low carb, etc.). By making this statement you can warn the world, so future generations can be safe from the drivel foisted upon them. Call now and we'll include a second "M" for half price. But call quickly as supplies are limited and will run out when our 1000 foot roll of duct tape gives out.

Because together we can stop the evil spread of lime beer.

What's More Insulting?

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:09:00 +0000

It's time to play everyone's favourite gameshow: What's More Insulting?

Is it:

A) This billboard by a Toronto ad agency that's been causing a hubub in Vancouver?

B) The fact that some marketing genius thought it was a good idea?

or, C) That a beer company can claim to have the "colder beer" than the next guy, whatever the hell that means.

Any guesses?

No, sorry. You're all wrong. The answer was:

D) The fact that people continue to support a company that should be apologizing for its insipid beer not some stupid billboard.

Humulus Ludicrous Day

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:23:00 +0000

The past week has gone by like a blur as we've been busy with the guys from the CCBA 30th Annual National convention. The brewerianist guys were a great bunch and seemed to enjoy the beer and our brewery quite a bit. I could tell because Friday night for me ended on a high (slightly sour) note with my rendition of "Cover of The Rolling Stone" at the hotel bar during karaoke. They didn't even boo me, but I think it's because I wasn't nearly as whacked out as Dr. Hook was... ever. Huzzah!

This Saturday (August 15th, 2009) we'll be celebrating the re-release of our Humulus Ludicrous Double IPA. For those of you unfamiliar with it, the Humulus is a hugely hoppy, bitter beer with intense citrus flavours from the ridiculous amount of hops we add to it.

It has been showered with critical acclaim since we first brewed it way back in 2007 for our first anniversary. A few months back, we received word that the Humulus was chosen as one of the Canadian representatives for authour Ben McFarland's new book, "World's Best Beers". Not so coincidentally, they chose our Burlywine too, but that's a story for December.

So, we've ordered up a few hundred soft pretzels from Lange's Pastry on Ellice, which we'll be serving out with some spicy hot mustard (preferably Elman's) on Saturday for all to enjoy. Come down to the brewery early and we'll make sure you get a quick tour, a small sample and a pretzel for your troubles. We're expecting a large crowd, given that the Humulus was so well received last time and we've been pestered incessantly since then as to when the next batch would be up.

Other News:
Phil's Pils fans (including Phil) will be happy to know that the yeast is scheduled to arrive later this week, and we'll be starting it up for brewing right away. We'll be blanketing the city with enough Phil's so you can all get your fix and then the Oktoberfest will arrive in mid-late September. Expect the Phil's to start showing up in late August at the stores.

Our special mystery beer is aging in the casks as we speak. The area around the casks is starting to smell like a distillery. Yum!

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:38:00 +0000

Nicole called me yesterday to not-so-subtly remind me that it's been too long since my last update. We've been busy with all things beer and today is no exception.

A few weeks ago we realized that we were going to run out of St. James boxes a lot sooner than we originally thought. It's been a popular beer over the last few weeks and with the hot weather, even more so. We were out of boxes for two weeks-ish and have now re-stocked the stores with their supply.

On the positive front, we've signed up for the Great Canadian Beer Festival in Victoria, as well as the Flatlander's Beer Festival here in Winnipeg. You'll be seeing the brewery at both in some form or other. It turns out Ethan's first day of Kindergarten coincides with the GCBF's first day so, Nicole and I will be staying home that weekend. Seems kinda odd that you'd have your first day of school ever on a Friday, but I'm not the one who runs the show there.

Tonight is the Zoo's Bear Social and we've donated a schnazzy stainless BBQ for the event that will help raise money for the Winnipeg Zoo. We've specifically kept our logo off it because we figure the last thing the winner will want is a "Half Pint's" BBQ. Well, that and the fact that we're not in the BBQ business. With all the talk recently in the papers about Zoo funding and such, we're happy to be supporting them as:

They need it. Seriously.
Our kids love it. And what Winnipeg 30 somethin' doesn't remember the time they almost slipped into the pond at Fanny's Farm while trying to avoid a friend during a game of tag.
It could be world class again if we all pitch in. This is just one way we pitch in.

Next week, we're the proud sponsor of the VIP Tent during Canada Day Festivities at The Forks. You'll see members of the Half Pints crew on site, making sure the beer flows and the stock is full. It's great to be a part of this event as the WSO is playing, and we know what fans they are of Half Pints.

On the brewery front:
We've brewed the Humulus Ludicrous again for a mid-August release. There will be a limited supply because other provinces (BC & AB for example) have asked for it, too. Keep your eyes peeled for the date and we'll try to make our hophead customers happy. FYI, we had a few of these stored away since the last time we brewed it, and have been slowly doling it out as critics, reviewers, and photographers have asked. We had a couple in from Pennsylvania the other day and during our quick walk around the brewery, we cracked open the second last bottle. For a beer that's two years old, it's held up quite nicely.

We've also been brewing up something new that you may be able to pry out of Chris, but not me. Suffice to say, it's gonna be a good one.

Roadtrippin'

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:08:00 +0000

The boys were off to Calgary this morning to rock the Calgary Beer Fest with our tasty libations. If you're in Cowtown and reading this, make sure you say Hi to Chris, Jarrod, Kevin and Zach. They'll be right beside the Big Rock booth, and you can drink Big Rock anytime... the choice is pretty obvious.

They'll be driving there in our schnazzy, newly decaled vehicle. Special thanks goes out the the folks at ATD Graphics on Dugald Rd. (right down the street from the maltsters!). You can see our truck and car from a mile away now, which helps for a prairie brewery.

On the way back from ATD last week we passed Mountain Equipment Co-Op and caught a few of you staring! I never was a head turner, so thanks for making me blush.

New merch now in!

We just received a top up order of new merch for the summer:

Hoodies are back in stock (A.K.A. Bunny hugs if you're from Saskatchewan).

All sizes of t's are refilled.

New green t's with no slogan on the back are in for the less militant Half Pints lovers. This begs the question: is there really a less militant Half Pints lover?

T-shirt prices are still dirt cheap at $10 plus taxes, so you can afford to look like you know what the hell you're talking about when you scold your frienemies like idiots for actually trading down because they want to wear the free shirts that come in the cases of crap beer from multi-national brewing conglomerates.

Photo Contest in Full Swing

The "Show Us Your Half Pints" photo contest is up and running over on our Facebook fan page. Send us a photo of you, your friends, your horse, whatever, enjoying Half Pints and at the end of the Summer we'll pick a winner from the bunch to receive glorious prizes.

W.E.C.C. Celebration Ale

This week's Winnipeg Free Press ran a story about the re-vamped West End Cultural Center and there was a few lines about how we brewed up a special beer for their opening. The first night, it was a Hibiscus Pale Ale we (brewer Chris Young) did as a special cask for them, so if you weren't there, sorry, it was real good (so says Mr. Mathers).

Since we're the exclusive beer on tap at the WECC, we also did up 4 kegs of a dryhopped and oaked Bulldog Amber. You'll find this on tap there until it runs out. Which after tonight's show with the Farrell Bros. and the SubCity Dwellers, I doubt you'll see again. Enjoy it while you can and we'll have to whip up something in the near future for the folks at the WECC.

Running Back to Saskatoon...

We know our friends and fans in Saskatchewan will be proud of this one... Half Pints will soon be a regularly available listing at the SLGA stores throughout Saskatchewan. After seeing the line-ups at our Festiv Ale booth and trying our beers at the Beer Bros. in Regina, the powers that be in their infinite wisdom have decided to give our Bulldog Amber Ale and our Stir Stick Stout a spot on the shelves at their stores.

To that end, we'll be supporting the beer with a Saskatchewan sales team, "the army of one" also known as Jarrod Schoenau. When Jarrod's wife Marietta is finished her Occupational Therapy program here in the province, they'll be moving home to SK. We'll still be heading out for fun beer events and to visit friends so lets all raise a glass to SK.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We can now stand on the roof of the brewery and see all the places where Half Pints is available (if it wasn't for those pesky Rocky Mountains). Not too shabby for the tiny brewery from Winnipeg.

None of this would be possible without support in the form of "hey try this beer" from our accounts across western Canada or from people like you. Thank you. We look forward to giving you your next beery permasmile.

Schnazzy Van

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:15:00 +0000

Check out the schnazzy new van decals. That's right, it's a giant St. James logo on the back.

We can now deliver in style.

Stay tuned to our facebook fan page next week and we'll run a "find the van, win the schwag" contest.

Tunes, Taps, and Snow - not necessarily in that order.

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:11:00 +0000

May long weekend is slowly becoming the weekend of snow. Hell, it's almost too chilly for me to run out and throw something on the grill, never mind my usual May long practice of firing up my smoker for a whole day. Looks like it's gonna be a strong beer weekend for me with multiple sippers under a cozy blanket.

Regardless, last weekend we cleaned up the neighborhood with our singular volunteer - Miles! Thanks Miles for being a stand-up guy. Miles took the prizes for being the only volunteer to show up. It was bloody cold then, too - so I can't exactly blame the neighbors for not showing up. Our guys in the brewery were there to help out so thanks to them for putting up with being bolonteered (volonteered by your boss) to do the job. If you drive down Ellice from Ferry Road to Barry, you'll see the difference in the north side of the street from the south side. Sweet!

Rock over London, Rock on Chicago:
On the brewery/music front, we've got some cool events coming up that we've been asked to sponsor - like a Transistor 66 show at the Lo on June 13th. More info to come...

The guys at AM Glory will be enjoying some Half Pints in their video for Dance All Night.

We heard through the grapevine that nomeansno enjoyed the hell out of our brews when they played Winnipeg a couple weeks ago. I shot them an e-mail to say thanks and received one back professing their love for any well crafted beer.

We'll be sponsoring the Winnipeg Ska and Reggae Festival in August. Check out their website for details. Suffice to say, Greg Crowe will be involved and I can only hold the threat of releasing our kindergarten picture over his head so far, given that I'm in the photo, too. I don't think Greg's glasses have changed. How cool is that? The kid had (has) style!

New accounts:
Tom has been busy and we've seen a jump in draught accounts around the city. Carlos & Murphy's picked up the St. James and it quickly jumped to their top three spot and is still climbing.

We also started on tap at The Belgian Club - which should make the guys at the bike club happy as they've been wanting our beer on tap for at least a year.

Stella's on Grant (the one across from the Superstore) just started with our St. James on draught and we've lent them a fridge until theirs shows up.

We're the beer of choice at the new and improved West End Cultural Center. For those of you who don't know, Nicole and I met because of the WECC (at a Gob show!) and it holds a special place in our hearts. We've seen many a fine show there - I've even played a few of those myself! Ask me sometime to see my collection of early to mid nineties (mostly punk) bands on VHS. I should do a greatest hits on DVD.

The Albert added St. James Pale to their roster of draught brews as well as our beer in bottles for their vendor. While at the Lo last week, we (Lynne, Jack and I) were lamenting the loss of past Thursdays that were Draught night. Social responsibility aside, the craziest stories all seem to start with "So I was standing there with my pitcher on draught night..."

J. Fox's on Academy has our bottles for those of you who love our Stout, IPA and so on, or our St. James Pale on draught. They'll be playing their own brand of Little Scrapper as they take on the city to have their patio approved. Politics aside, I'd have to say that drinking and driving issues could really be curbed if we had more mom & pop style neighbourhood pubs like this.

The University Club at the University of Manitoba now has four Half Pints beers on tap for the membership. There's something to be said for a board of directors and a chef who give a damn about good beer. Thanks to Derek and Josh for choosing better beers and making an impression on the members.

Festival Fun

We'll see our Alberta fans in Calgary at the end of the month for the Calgary Beer Fest. We hope you're prepared to love our beer even more than you already do. Kevin, Chris, Jarrod and Zach (who's in town for a family wedding that weekend) will be there to rock your world.

That it!

Na-nu Na-nu. Mork out.

I Am A Craft Brewer

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:39:00 +0000

Check out this video posted at Vimeo from the Craft Brewers Conference down in the States.

Kinda makes a hard working craft brewer like me misty eyed. In the video you'll see brewers from around the states. The conference is open to Canadians, too - but given the slant towards the maturing American market, it makes more sense for me to stay home and brew beer.

It's been a while since the last update, and I'm going to go over the goings on for the last couple of weeks.

I went to Regina to judge in the A.L.E.S. Club National Homebrew Competition. As a certified beer judge, it's important to keep up my judging points, but mostly, it's just fun to hit Regina and drink some wicked beers.

Here you see Grant from the Bushwakker obsessing over the Best of Show beers during the final judging. Sue and Mark are in the background discussing the finer points of the Mead category.

I had a great time as always. It was a wonderfully organized event with the Best of Show Gold medal going to an Old Ale (brewed by the Biergotter Club - T.O.). Good beer guys, send me a 6.

We did another fabulous beer dinner at our home away from home, Beer Bros. located in downtown Regina in the Scarth Street Mall.

Check out the presentation on the Stir Stick Stout Stew course. Sous Chef has a good sense of humour.

I did the Chef Malcom Show on Sunday A.M. where we discussed the finer points of aging beer, some history and shared some giggles about late night sessions.

Here you see dessert in all its glory. A fantastic Sweet Nikki Brown Praline Ice Cream with a reduction of Sweet Nikki used for the caramel over the top. Yikes, Brenda and I were raving about that one for the whole weekend.

For those of you living in Regina, you'll be pleased to hear we've got the Bulldog Amber Ale shipped out and it should be on tap soon at Beer Bros. and the guys at my old alma matter, The Bushwakker, are carrying our Stir Stick and our Scrapper in bottles for the locals.

Test Video Post

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:20:00 +0000

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?

Big Beer Breakfast

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:25:00 +0000

Hey all,

We had the crew down from The Big Breakfast show (City TV) today. Hopefully you got a chance to see our bottling line in action live on the air. Here's some photo's from the day:

"When are we going to be in Cowgary?"

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:53:00 +0000

Ahh, the infinite question: "Dad, when are we going to be there?" Except for one distinct difference: Ethan thought we were going to "Cowgary". After a short explanation and small pronunciation lesson, he's got it straight.

So, we set out in the family vehicle before dawn for Calgary - Nicole, the kids and myself. I'll spare you the details of the drive. It's long. Very long. The kids were angels, though.

On Thursday, we got the chance to meet with some accounts. Thanks to the crew at Kensington Wine Market who Ethan entertained with stories of the "Cars" movie while I shopped for tasty beers I can't get at home. Next time we're out I'll have to do a tasting there for everyone. So many good beers, so little time.

On Friday, we skipped over to Banff and when we asked the boys if they'd like an adventure, the word was yes. It's not very often the boys feel up to new things, but they were excited and open on this trip, so we took the gondola to the top of Canada and peered out across the Rockies for a decidedly fresh perspective on life.

In the afternoon, I stopped in to Willow Park Wines & Spirits for a sampling of our fine brews. It's interesting to note that in a mature market such as Alberta just how little time I need to spend educating people about good beer. The questions are so different than at home.

For example:

"How many IBU's in your IPA?" not "What the hell is an IBU?"

You can see the private market has given beer lovers the choice, and while I was there, maybe 3 x 24's of mediocre beer (Kokanee, MGD, Corona) went out the door, while multiple customers were shopping from the ridiculous selection to be had on the local, Canadian small brewery, and import side of things. It's also good to see so many people who work in the business and are passionate about it in one place.

Suffice to say I was impressed.

After the tasting, I was starving and we mapped out a trail to a southern BBQ joint just up the Crowchild Trail called Big T's. It was funny because the drive there was a little weird and when we arrived, I said to Nicole "hey, this area looks familiar" and she says "no wonder, that's the back of our hotel." Ha Ha! You think I'd have been able to sniff it out from our hotel.

Word to the BBQ savvy amongst us. If your brisket doesn't melt under the slightest pressure from a fork, you haven't smoked it right. This brisket was tasty, and fork tender as it should be. Good food, but the kids were tired and caused a ruckus (as my mom used to say) so we promptly got the bill and headed back to the hotel for a snooze.

On Saturday we hit the Bottlescrew Bill's 15th Annual Beer Festival like nobody's business. Special thanks to Brad (from Steam Whistle) and a wandering customer who helped us move our beer from under the crazy hot patio heater. Wow, I almost had a tan on my head from the heat. Thankfully, we moved across the porch, and managed to squeeze in between our buddies at Wild Rose and Tree Brewing. We drained the better part of a Sweet Nikki Brown and Little Scrapper IPA in freshKEGS, as well as our not so secret behind the booth stash of 08 Burlywine. Thanks to all who enjoyed and began to spread the word of Half Pints.

Fe-brew-ary Insanity!

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:14:00 +0000

Holy smokes, it's been a crazy month. Nicole and Tom have set up a boat load of events to beat the Winter Blah's. One thing I can say for sure is I'm not feeling them this year as badly as I have in the past. We've got windows in the brewery, and now that the sun's up a little earlier, I find I can come in, throw on a batch of beer, and by the time I'm done my breakfast, the brewery is bright enough to not need these terrible orange gym class lights.

Chris was kind enough to forward on his photos from our weekend in Regina so I can post them up. We drove out to Regina on Thursday morning (Feb. 5th). Thanks to all the Manitoba highway workers for finally twinning their little stretch of the number one. Special thanks to the Saskatchewan workers who pretty much did 4 times as far in the same time span. It really does make the drive pleasant, regardless of which ex-mountain dweller/new Manitoban you speak with.

On Thursday night, we had the pleasure of being the "show" at Beer Bros. Bakery & Cuisine, located in the Scarth Street mall dead center of downtown Regina. You've really got to know that you're in the right venue for beer when this is the attitude of the owners (see photo at left).

Being a high end, yet comfortably casual place has done the folks at Beer Bros. proud. We had a fantastic Brewer's Dinner that should make anyone jealous.

The event was held in their private room for 30 people total - no small feat when the restaurant was really hopping (pun intended).

First course up was an Amuse Bouche of Little Scrapper IPA Beer Battered Pickerel Cheeks served with Belgian Pommes Frites. Let it be known that there is something to be said for knowing what the hell to do when you're making proper frites. They were so crispy and tasty, I could've just sipped IPA and munched on those alone.

Second course was their cheeky version of Chicken Pot Pie. The mood was set by the Chef coming around and placing a Half Pints coaster at each place setting while explaining what earthly delights we were about to partake in. Classy.

These Caramelized Chicken Pint Pies were a blast to eat, and as you can see Brenda Falkenstein and I were loving the presentation. We had these served with Bulldog Amber Ale and the pairing was perfect.

Third course consisted of a Coriander Candied Seared Salmon on a bed of smashed potatoes and spinach puree. We had brought our new St. James Pale Ale as the pairing for this course and the chef came up with this all at the last minute after he tried the beer. I can hear him now "must drink beer to perfect recipe". Not a bad mantra if I do say so myself.

Fourth course was a fantastic Stir Stick Stout Braised Short Rib with a chocolate and stout sauce over a roasted beet hash. This by far was one of the highlights of the night. Served with the Stir Stick on the side, the ribs were fork tender and perfectly done.

Finally, the piece de resistance was the fifth course dessert of a Goat's Cheese and Caramelized Onion Cheesecake. A rich, caramelly, savoury delight if there ever was one and served with the Sweet Nikki Brown as a foil to the goodness of the caramel notes throughout.

All in all, as I said to Darren and the crew: for $50 plus taxes and gratuities, you'd never find a better way to spend the night. I swear that the meal in Winnipeg would've set you back $100 BEFORE drinks were added to the bill. Special thanks to the staff and all the attendees at this event. We're already making plans to do another one when I'm back in mid-April for the A.L.E.S. Club National Homebrew Competition.

Friday night, we kicked into high gear for the Festiv-Ale, Regina's annual beer festival put on in support of the Legion.

Here you see Gary Falkenstein and I pouring brews for the locals. Thanks for the help, too - Gary, as it made it a little easier to get out from behind the booth to try a couple of beers I'd been looking forward to.

Of specific note were the Mill Street Wit (possibly past it's prime but the spice flavours were there), the Dogfish Head 60 Minute (others I spoke with said this had a dodgy/spotty character depending on what bottle you had - the one I tried was excellent), and the Phillips Amnesiac (supposedly a Double IPA but quite soft for the style - maybe a little older too?). Regardless, finding beers of this caliber at the Festiv Ale is common and thankfully not the exception to the rule.

The beauty of this festival also lies in the fact that it's not all about beer, so everyone feels welcome. The food booths (non-existent at our own local Flatlander's Beer Festival) seem to go out of their way to offer something tasty. We were located beside the Nature's Own Sausage guys who gladly trade mixed skewers of sausages for beer. Hey, the taps are busy so you need sustenance.

Saturday afternoon, Gary, Chris and I headed over to the Bulk Cheese Warehouse for some tasty nibbles. I picked up a Truckles with Malt Whisky that is just wonderfully creamy and peaty to boot. I also got some Sticky Toffee Cheese (a fine little number Gary introduced us to) and they helped us find a washed rind soft cheese I can't for the life of me remember the name of, other than the fact that we wolfed it down Saturday night at Gary's with some wicked beers. The fellows at the Warehouse were also keen to make sure I tried their smoked steak and Bleu Cheese Butter sauce that evening at the fest. Worth it in Spades. We made my obligatory stop in to see Tony at the India Spice House. I got my Lalah's Curry Powder, some tandoori spice blend and a jerk chicken sauce I've yet to try. The Lalah's I've already made a Mulligatawny Soup with and plan on doing some more curries with for quick lunches at the brewery. Yummy!

Anyhoo, while we were gone, we heard that Jack at the Lo Pub straddled the Firkin of dryhopped St. James Pale Ale on top of his bar a-la Dr. Strangelove while Jarrod hammered the tap home. Pictures to follow...

All this and the month isn't even close to being done yet. We'll see our Alberta fans next week at Bottlescrew Bills 15Th Annual Beer Fest, and we'll be stopping in at a few accounts on a whirlwind tour of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Hope to see you all at the next events, as it always makes it more fun.

Cheers,
Brewmaster Dave

How to make friends with the locals...

noreply@blogger.com (Brewmaster Dave) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:14:00 +0000

For some time now, we've been working on a new beer for draught only distribution. Obsessing over recipe design is a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.

We've had a bunch of new accounts sign up recently that really want two of our beers on tap to support the only remaining locally owned brewery (US!) but their customers find our Scrapper or Stout a little much for their palettes. Who can blame them, as we've always brewed ballsy beers and made no apology for them. They're lovin' the Bulldog - hey, who doesn't? - and they'd really like something along those lines with a touch less caramel character. So, for a brewery that doesn't brew "lite beer" what's the solution?

Listen to our customers, but don't brew a lite beer. That would just be nasty.
Be the inventive little brewery we've always been.
Make something that tastes distinctly like Half Pints, and drinkable to a fault.

Enter the St. James Pale Ale; the newest member of the Half Pints family of beers.

This brew is gold in colour with a tight white head. The aroma is of sweet grain, while the body has a toasted honey character from the melanoidin malt we add. There's an herbal hoppy nose from the Mount Hood hop (a Hallertau variety grown in the NW United States) and a fruity finish from a cool ale fermentation.

Stylistically speaking, this beer straddles the guidelines between a German Helles (a soft, grainy lager) and Kolsch (a lagered ale). It is an ale, but with a refined, almost lager-like finish from the cool fermentation.

Last night we carbonated a bottle to share amongst the brewery staff. We were kicking ourselves for not making up more than one bottle. It's nice to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done, but we really want to see reactions in a crowd. So, we're bringing the St. James Pale Ale with us when we rock the crowds at the Festiv Ale in Regina again this year. If you find yourself in Regina on Febrewary 6th and 7th, stop by the booth, you won't be disappointed.

EDIT:
We got the St. James Pale Ale into the final carbonated form the night before our regular Saturday tour. By all accounts it tastes like a winner! The guys at Luxalune will have it on tap in the next few days. Stop by and try a pint, order the buffalo spring rolls and shoot some pool. Tell them we sent you!

Brewmaster Dave ;)