North Brewing

[Graham.C]

Yup. That one went over my head. we need a face palm smiley.

[derek]

I do believe calling a 2L jug a firkin was a joke...

You're right that a firkin is a small keg, but it is a quarter barrel. I think it comes from some Dutch word that means 4th. The term Pony, I believe, is the American term for a firkin.
Also, bombers are considered to be 22oz or 650mL. 750mL bottles are called 'quarts'... even though they are not actual equal to either a US or Imperial quart. Go figure...

Long before anybody in North America was selling beer in 750ml bottles, 22 oz bottles were called "quarts" (back in the 70s, only Quebec was using them that I recall - and possibly only Molson in Quebec). They called them quarts, because 12 oz bottles were called pints.

[Jayme]

I do believe calling a 2L jug a firkin was a joke...

You're right that a firkin is a small keg, but it is a quarter barrel. I think it comes from some Dutch word that means 4th. The term Pony, I believe, is the American term for a firkin.
Also, bombers are considered to be 22oz or 650mL. 750mL bottles are called 'quarts'... even though they are not actual equal to either a US or Imperial quart. Go figure...

Long before anybody in North America was selling beer in 750ml bottles, 22 oz bottles were called "quarts" (back in the 70s, only Quebec was using them that I recall - and possibly only Molson in Quebec). They called them quarts, because 12 oz bottles were called pints.

I wasn't drinking at that time.. haha. This article corroborates my previous statements though: http://www.canadianliving.com/food/ente ... istory.php

This article is also interesting: http://www.sha.org/bottle/beer.htm Seems a little more comprehensive and also shows that 'quart' bottles have actually been many different sizes.

[mr x]

Reposting Leafman's OP.

http://halifaxmag.com/2013/02/blog/bridging-the-gap/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

While it’s disheartening to witness so many small businesses closing downtown, I can’t help but notice that the North End seems to be blossoming. One of the latest ventures is Bridge Brewing Company, a micro-brewery located on Agricola Street conveniently across from the liquor store. I’ve been anticipating their opening for a while now so I was excited to pick up a growler and try a sample for myself.

The modern exterior of the building is simple and perhaps a little deceiving. The space boasts a surprisingly large cinderblock warehouse in the back which holds the on-site micro-brewery. Owner, Peter Burbridge, was behind the counter when I stopped by and kindly offered to give me an impromptu tour of the building. Burbridge completed his MBA at Dalhousie and has been plotting opening a small business (either in coffee or beer) ever since. He tells me that the idea for Bridge Brewing has been percolating for about three years now.

The brewing room is quite spacious and Burbridge says that they can hold up to 300 liters of beer at a time. Brew-master, Josh Herbin, uses a natural carbonation process instead of forced carbonation (which can create bigger bubbles with less of a refined taste). The recipes are Burbridge’s own and he tells me that once the beer is fermented, it’s primed with a precise amount of sugar. Gus’ and Farmhouse Ales are the two varieties currently available and I snapped up a Farmhouse growler to take home.

I’m impressed by the constant flow of customers and although the business is small in scale they’ve been steadily busy since opening on January 20th. With their ales on tap at Gus’ Pub, Brooklyn Warehouse and Chez Tess, Bridge Brewing Company is quietly gaining speed and recognition. As for their location on Agricola, Burbridge couldn’t be more pleased.

“This is exactly where we wanted to be located,” he says with a content smile. “And I can honestly say that there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

Aside from my natural tendency to gravitate towards small businesses, there are a number of other reasons why I’m intrigued by Bridge Brewing. This grassroots business is striving to be a zero emissions brewery and they are also trying to source local ingredients whenever possible. Burbridge tells me that Herbin owns a hops farm in the Annapolis Valley and in the future they are planning to harvest these hops in new recipes. I’m also loving the simplicity of their logo and the quaint old-fashioned bottles.

Of course, the most important factor for most beer enthusiasts will be taste. Later that evening, my friend and I sampled the Farmhouse Ale, paired with sweet potato fries. This Belgian ale is crisp and unrefined and the little bubbles really gives way to a pure flavour of sweet malt and subtle fruits. Essentially, it’s a refreshing and slightly complex brew that we found to be memorable and delicious.

Needless to say, I will definitely be bringing my growler back for a refill. Bridge Brewing Company is another wonderful example of an ethical company helping to bridge the gap between big businesses and local start-ups… In the future, I will be happy to take a detour from the liquor store and visit this inspiring brewery instead.

- Nicole

[mr x]

I think I might move these posts over to a new thread for better discussion. See here.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4014" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[LeafMan66_67]

http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/battle-o ... id=3733709

Battle of the Belg

The instant popularity of Bridge Brewing has Craig Pinhey thinking about Belgium’s complex and memorable brews.
by Craig Pinhey

It is difficult to tell whether the immense popularity of Halifax's newest craft brewery, Bridge Brewing Company, is due simply to its newness, or to the fact that it specializes in Belgian-style beer. But one is tempted to conclude that the enigmatic nature of Belgian ale is the carrot.

Since opening in January, Bridge has been selling out reguarly, opening to lineups of beer lovers looking to refill or purchase Belgian-themed, ceramic swing-top bottles of its Farmhouse Ale or Gus' Belgian Blonde Ale. At last check Bridge has two taps in the city, at Gus' Pub and Brooklyn Warehouse, and they too have been selling out regularly. Clearly, Haligonians love Bridge beer, but what exactly makes a beer Belgian-style? For starters, a continental lager like Stella Artois, though made in Belgium, isn't Belgian-style.

"I love the inventiveness of the Belgian brewing tradition," says Bridge's Peter Burbridge. "While many other European countries restricted the ingredients that could go into beer, in Belgium they continued to add spices, sugars and fruits to create unique beers."

He also points out the romantic nature of Belgium's Abbey beers that are brewed by monks in Trappist monasteries, and the spontaneously fermented sour lambic beers, made famous around Brussels. "The lambics are probably as close as you can get to reaching back in time and tasting what beers may have tasted like hundreds of years ago," Burbridge adds.

Belgian beers are often strong---deceptively so---and tend to be very food-friendly, matching up as well as wines. To try some of the classic Belgian ales, check out Premier Wine and Spirits, which carries hundreds of specialty beers and currently lists dozens of Belgian-style brews, including some made in Canada and the US.

One common thread that connects classic Belgian beers is that they are largely defined by their fermentation moreso than the base ingredients. Whether it is the potpourri of wild yeast and bacteria that give lambics their strangely appealing flavours, the sour nature of flanders ales like Rodenbach or the spicy and fruity flavours arising from the classic Belgian yeast strains used in Abbey beers and saisons, Belgian ales are undeniably the most complex and memorable brews in the world. Indeed, enthusiastic homebrewers and craft breweries often attempt to duplicate iconic brews by using the exact yeast strain---or mix of strains---that the Belgian breweries do. But, if you want to make a true clone of Orval, you need its yeast, and the same goes for Belgian brews like Chimay and De Koninck. To this end, Bridge has been using specific yeast strains to duplicate Belgian ale.

"We have used three strains so far," explains Burbridge. "Our Farmhouse beer is brewed with an amazing farmhouse strain that Wyeast has recently made available. It produces a wonderful fruity tartness that you don't find in many beers. We also used an Abbey yeast strain for our Belgian blonde and have used the Belgian ardennes yeast strain."

This is why Bridge's beer tastes authentic. That is the essence of Belgian style. If Bridge brewed those beers with a Canadian ale yeast, they would taste completely different, more neutral.

Not surprisingly, given the great response, Burbridge is considering other classic Belgian styles. "We would love to experiment with a brettanomyces strain to produce a sour beer," he notes. "But that is probably a year or two away right now. We are very busy with the two beers we are doing now, but we are working on an Abbey-style double that we are quite excited about. We would also like to do a strong, dark Belgian and perhaps an Abbey triple as well."

Haligonians will await, ceramic bottles in hand.

[LeafMan66_67]

[mr x]

Interesting, but she needs to start doing better research, maybe here would be a good start.

As far as The Coast article, it seems to be missing something.....hmmmmm, maybe a review of the product.

[LeafMan66_67]

Interesting, but she needs to start doing better research, maybe here would be a good start.

As far as The Coast article, it seems to be missing something.....hmmmmm, maybe a review of the product.

The you tube one isn't that great - more of a what's happening kind of thing vs a beer article. And you're right ... no review of the product by the Coast article is odd.

[Dirt Chicken]

[jherbin]

Hi all.

Thanks for your reviews and criticism about the work we are doing at Bridge. My name is Josh Herbin and I am doing most of the brewing for Peter. My background began in home brewing, but I have also worked in the dairy industry for a number of years, have been growing my own hops for six years (Lazy Acres), and worked at Propeller as a brewer for a year (2010-2011). I just wanted to register and say that I do value the feedback of many of the people who are posting here, and I know that we have an undertaking ahead of us to develop our styles and our brand into a mainstay of the craft brew industry.

Belgians are regarded for their complexity and the challenge of execution, and with the bulk of my 'professional experience' being from Propeller (Ringwood/English primarily), I have a lot to learn about the styles, the yeasts, and so on. I know that 'beer culture', if I can liken it to coffee culture or other artisan/craft products, is experiencing a resurgence in popularity in North America, but I don't think Peter and I aren't just trying to hop on the bandwagon, so to speak. We are trying to create a real hand-crafted product in our own neighbourhood and I think we are being pretty upfront about our goals, our capacities, and our vision. I agree that the media blitz has been a little much, but papers and TV jump on any new thing and we certainly aren't seeking out such promotion - we're too busy trying to hold it together producing and packaging around 900L weekly with 5 taps in town. Since some of these reviews were written, we've made some significant equipment improvements in wort aeration, temperature control, yeast selection, and keg conditioning techniques. It is a backwards learning curve for me coming from Propeller where we had a pretty good spread of gear and would brew around 300hl weekly (edit, at most during summer months), but the beer that I make at Bridge is more sincere and is the product of a contented brewer. This gear at Bridge is a little finicky but I am working with what I have and re-learning the ropes, so to speak, and feel like I am more connected with the brewing process than I was at Propeller, where there was no room to experiment on the flagship styles (production brewing).

There was a comment about tartness in the beer, which I won't search to locate, and a followup post suggesting it must be wild yeast or bacteria. I would like to say that we are working primarily with Wyeast Farmhouse, which has a temperature range of 21-35 Celsius and is 'working as intended' to develop a tartness to balance the malt sweetness of that particular beer. We are doing a short generation cycle (6 gens to be exact, vs 15 from other breweries) and I am a meticulous cleaner, a skill I developed from working at Propeller. Our brew house and cellar are also quite immaculate compared to others I've seen in the city and abroad, but I won't rant anymore about our hygiene.

I am fine with criticism about the beer as neither Peter or I are done tinkering with the recipes and we can appreciate that we have room for improvement. That said, we are happy as a nano to create a number of job opportunities in the neighbourhood and to be receiving a vast majority of positive feedback as we build a regular clientele and expand our taps in town. Please continue to post, PM, or email with your feedback, and if anyone ever wants to see our setup just let me know. I will forever be in search of the better brew.

Regards
Josh Herbin
Bridge Brewing Co.

[mr x]

If it's the wYeast 3711, I've always gotten more fruitiness than tartness at every temp from low 60's to over 85f, but that's not to say it won't do tartness under the many different conditions it could be used. But that's not to say there wasn't some stress/bacteria/wild yeast either. Between brewnoser and the boogieman, they've probably sampled more sour beers than I've ever heard of, and would know the taste. At any rate, if you ever want to acid wash the yeast, I can give you a hand there. Well proven method for keeping things nice and clean (with the exception of wild yeast).

At any rate, welcome to the site!

[jherbin]

Its not 3711, but I do expect it to mellow a bit now that we have the O2 issue resolved. The system we are working with came with an improperly installed plate chiller/oxygen stone, so upon resolving that issue we are much happier, as is the yeast. Thanks for the welcome

[Jimmy]

[jherbin]

Thanks! Looking forward to engaging with this community.

Josh

[Jimmy]

How did you hear about us?

[jherbin]

The forum? Its been around forever hasn't it? Word of mouth I guess, never registered, just creeped until I had something to say

[Jimmy]

Well at least you're not lurking anymore

[2Hands-1Mouth]

welcome to the forum, there's more than a few people on here looking at starting nano's - your operation is definitely the root of some jealousy around here lol. Belgian styles are definitely a tasty beer, and I hope that the popularity of your brewery in the media around here steers people away from the big breweries' bland rice beers and onto some good stuff. Hope the best for you, and welcome

[LeafMan66_67]

[RubberToe]

Welcome, Josh!

[LiverDance]

[jeffsmith]

[bluenose]

[whisle pig]