Beer in the news

[derek]

Brewers Association’s 2012 mid-year numbers: volume up 12%, dollar sales up 14%

For the first time, there are more breweries in the US today than there were in 1888. It makes trying to sample them all a little difficult.

[benwedge]

Brewers Association’s 2012 mid-year numbers: volume up 12%, dollar sales up 14%

For the first time, there are more breweries in the US today than there were in 1888. It makes trying to sample them all a little difficult.

Challenge accepted.

[mr x]

Boring beer business news.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... offer.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mr x]

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1 ... t-beerfest" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Beer guru on tap for Halifax Seaport BeerFest

Craft breweries are putting a new head on the flat traditional brewing sector, says Stephen Beaumont, co-author with Tim Webb, of The World Atlas of Beer.

“All across North America and much of the world, craft breweries are the proverbial tail wagging the dog,” Beaumont said in an interview Wednesday from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, where he was en route to Halifax for the sixth annual Halifax Seaport BeerFest.

The festival takes place Friday and Saturday, and includes samplings of more than 200 beers and ciders from 18 countries, most of which are not available from the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp.

Beaumont, who has written about beer for more than 20 years, said craft brewing, which he described as beer making that focuses on creativity rather than profits, has taken the world by storm.

“I knew this was coming, but I didn’t know how global it would be,” he said, noting that craft beers can be found in places like India, China, Italy and Mexico, where he was sampling some earlier this week.

“I’ve been surprised by the degree.”

The amount of beer sold in Nova Scotia dropped by almost three per cent in the 12 months ended March 31, compared to the previous year, according to the liquor corporation, due in part to poor summer weather and a shift to wine by older drinkers.

But Beaumont said the province, and Halifax in particular, has been in the vanguard of the craft beer movement.

“Nova Scotia is where craft brewing started on the East Coast,” said the Montreal native, who is based in Toronto.

Beaumont singled out the Granite Brewery, founded in 1985, along with Garrison, Propeller, Rockbottom Brewpub and Hart and Thistle Gastropub and Brewery as Halifax-based craft brewing innovators.

“Halifax is at the forefront of craft brewing in Atlantic Canada,” he said.

Beaumont, who doesn’t argue with those who say he has the best job in the world, said large-scale brewers aren’t seeing much or any growth for their mainstream products and are trying to capitalize on the global interest in craft brewing by offering new products to their customers.

“That’s the name of the game — providing new experiences for consumers,” said Beaumont, whose beer atlas will be in stores next month.

In addition to being on hand at the festival, Beaumont will host a rare beer dinner at Brussels Restaurant Thursday night. Tickets cost $59, plus tax, and are available at the restaurant.

Tickets for the beerfest, which also features local music and food, are available at select NSLC locations, at the Ticket Atlantic box office, by phone at 451-1221 (1-877-451-1221) and online at ticketatlantic.com. 　

The Saturday afternoon session, 2-4 p.m., costs $40 per person in advance or $45 at the door.

The evening sessions, 7-9:30 p.m., cost $45 per person in advance or $50 at the door.

Tickets at the door are limited as sessions sell out. Prices do not include tax and applicable surcharges. 　

For festival details, visit: seaportbeerfest.com, facebook.com/HalifaxSeaportBeerFest and twitter.com/seaportbeerfest.

(berskine@herald.ca)

[mr x]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -year.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The whole world loves beer: There's no quenching global thirst for the amber nectar as sales rise for 27th consecutive year

[mr x]

Time to release control of Ontario liquor sales from the state, sell booze 24/7: Tories

TORONTO — Progressive Conservatives say it’s time Ontario considered selling beer and wine around the clock in convenience stores.

The Tories oppose plans by the Liquor Control Board to spend $100-million over two years to build about 70 new stores, and say it’s time to review the government’s role in the alcohol business.

Convenience stores recently submitted a petition with over 112,000 signatures calling on the government to allow them to sell beer and wine.

Conservative Peter Shurman believes it’s time to let the private sector play a larger role in selling liquor, and says his party would consider making beer and wine available 24-7.

Convenience stores already sell alcohol in 214 Ontario communities that are too small for a regular LCBO outlet or a Beer Store, said Bryans.

Premier Dalton McGuinty shot down the idea of beer and wine in corner stores again today, saying the LCBO does a good job of preventing minors from buying booze and returns $1.6-billion a year.

The NDP has also consistently opposed the sale of beer and wine in corner stores.

The LCBO says it doesn’t make large capital investments unless it’s sure of a 12% rate of return, and projects its expansion plans will create 740 direct and indirect jobs across the province.

Former Liberal premier David Peterson promised to allow corner stores to sell beer and wine in the 1980s, but it never happened.

The last Conservative government also talked about privatizing the LCBO but never followed through with the idea, while the Liberals too toyed with some sort of privatization before rejecting it.

The LCBO turned over a record $1.63 billion dividend to the Ontario government for 2010-11 after sales of $4.7 billion.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/08/08/lcbo/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[derek]

5 Rabbit Cervecería hires Goose Island’s John J. Hall as new brewmaster

The first Latin craft brewery in the US, 5 Rabbit Cervecería is pleased to announce that John J. Hall has been added to its growing team as Brewmaster/Production Deity.

Wow. I want a job as a deity!

[mr x]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... oman-right" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A pint of beer is every woman's right

Drink up, sisters! Say no to generic lagers and sample the delights of a delicious real ale instead

[mr x]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... re-of-beer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yeast of Eden: the future of beer

Is the idea of a professionally made beer brewed to your own personal taste and specifications the holy grail of ale or just a bit creepy?

[BobbyOK]

Sad news - Jan Girardin, brewer/blender from the lambic producer Girardin has passed away at 55. Gueuze in his honour tonight.

http://www.ratebeer.com/forums/jan-gira ... 1143_2.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jayme]

That is sad - I don't know much about the guy, but I enjoyed his blends!

[KMcK]

5 Rabbit Cervecería hires Goose Island’s John J. Hall as new brewmaster

The first Latin craft brewery in the US, 5 Rabbit Cervecería is pleased to announce that John J. Hall has been added to its growing team as Brewmaster/Production Deity.

Wow. I want a job as a deity!

Sign up here!

[mr x]

Why smoked beer has its lovers and haters

[/b]

Nash in this one.

For a country that loves its bacon as much as its beer, you would think we would be raising pints of smoked lager at pubs across the country.

But in Canada’s most venerated brewpub, Montreal’s Dieu du Ciel!, even the beer-worshipping regulars are encouraged to taste the Charbonnière (Coalwoman) smoked beer before ordering a whole pint.

“It’s not a beer for everyone,” the brewpub’s president, Stéphane Ostiguy, says over a half-pint of the chestnut-hued brew. “But some people are addicted to it. They come in three or four times when it’s on tap.”

Instead of drying the malt using steam, smoked beer is made by drying some or all of the malt over a wood fire. Depending on the type of wood used and how much smoked malt is added to the recipe, the beer can have notes ranging from a hint of toast, to barbecue, bacon, smoked-meat sandwich, peat, campfire and, at its strangest, ashtray.

These days, that acquired taste is one that more and more malt fiends are clamouring for. Most craft breweries in the U.S. make at least one smoked beer – Rogue Ales, a popular craft brewer from Oregon, makes at least three smoked varieties. Canadian microbreweries are beginning to follow suit, producing seasonal or one-off versions from coast to coast.

Dieu du Ciel! was one of the first Canadian breweries to make the niche style. Mr. Ostiguy and his partner, Jean-François Gravel, were inspired by the “dense smokiness” of Schlenkerla rauchbier brewed by a family-owned outfit in Bamberg, Germany, that has been making the beer since 1405. They brewed the first batch of Charbonnière in 1999, making small tweaks to the recipe over the years. This year, they added a bit of malt cured over cherry wood for a bolder, more woodsy flavour.

“We really like smoke,” Mr. Ostiguy says.

Still, rauchbier virgins should be wary of starting with anything bolder than the Bavarian original. Made with 100-per-cent smoked malt, the beer is a bit like taking a bite of a double bacon and smoked-meat sandwich on rye and washing it down with a swig of cola.

“Drinking a Schlenkerla is like travelling through time,” says Matthias Trum, sixth-generation president of the brewery. “Before the Industrial Revolution, most brewers dried malt over an open flame, and 3,000 years ago most farmhouses had a grain house where they vented smoke from the kitchen to keep all of their grains, vegetables and meat dry and insect-free.

“So we all come from smoke,” he says.

As the craft beer market continues to boom, with a 45-per-cent jump in sales of microbrews from 2010 to 2011 at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, more and more Canadians are getting a thirst on for bolder, more flavourful beer. Rauchbier allows for a wide array of tastes, meaning that there’s a smokey brew out there for every palate.

On the subtle side, Bellwoods Brewery, a new brewpub operating out of a converted garage on Toronto’s hipster-fied Ossington strip, has a smoked Berliner Weisse on tap. At just 3.6 per cent alcohol by volume, this straw-coloured wheat beer has a funky sourness: Add a bit of smoked malt and the resemblance to smoked gouda is uncanny. It’s a tart summer sipper with just a hint of smokiness, a perfect accompaniment to barbecued chicken or white fish.

In Halifax, Greg Nash, the brewmaster for two brewpubs in the city, also likes to keep smoke in the background of his brews. “People who love stouts and porters go crazy over it when I add a little smoke,” he says. These black lagers already have natural roasted notes and hints of smoke, “so adding beech-wood-smoked malts simply enhances that flavour,” he says.

Each April at Rockbottom Brewpub, Nash releases Balticus, a deep black Baltic Porter that is reminiscent of dark chocolate melted beside a campfire, and he is planning to put another black, smokey brew on tap there this fall. And at the Hart & Thistle, a gastropub on Upper Water Street, he brews a few smoked lagers every year. Past creations include a smoked-beech-wood porter “fortified” with the addition of Smokehead Scotch whisky and a thick, Scottish Oatmeal Stout.

Mr. Nash recommends trying his porters with a triple chocolate cake with raspberries on the side, or using it as a marinade for ribs with some garlic, ginger and soy sauce. When pairing with dark smoked brews, a good rule of thumb is to choose red meats, strong cheeses and other rich and intense flavours that can stand up to the roasted, tobacco notes.

On the extreme end of flavours sits Holy Smoke from Church-Key Brewing, a veteran craft brewer housed in a former Methodist church outside Campbellford, Ont. Owner and brewmaster John Graham was inspired by his love of peat-heavy Scotch from the Lagavulin and Laphroaig distilleries. He ordered the same malt as the Islay distillers use – smoked peat from British maltster Thomas Fawcett & Sons. His Scotch Ale is made with 10 per cent of that malt, giving the deep-red brew a rough, earthy flame-like flavour that scratches the back of the throat.

Holy Smoke was – and continues to be – a divisive brew. “It’s our most award-winning beer, but not our biggest seller by any means,” Mr. Graham says.

“If we run low, it’s the one people ask for the most, but other people say it tastes like an ashtray,” he says. “I don’t take offence, though. People say the same thing about Scotch.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/foo ... le4481638/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jayme]

Not a bad story but this paragraph has me scratching my head on where they got their facts from:

Each April at Rockbottom Brewpub, Nash releases Balticus, a deep black Baltic Porter that is reminiscent of dark chocolate melted beside a campfire, and he is planning to put another black, smokey brew on tap there this fall. And at the Hart & Thistle, a gastropub on Upper Water Street, he brews a few smoked lagers every year. Past creations include a smoked-beech-wood porter “fortified” with the addition of Smokehead Scotch whisky and a thick, Scottish Oatmeal Stout.

Pretty sure since he hasn't been brewing at RB for a full year yet, stating each April he brews Balticus is a bit premature

Has there been a lager at the H&T at all, let alone a smoked one? I could be wrong on this one, but I don't remember any, but I do remember the kick ass RIS with whiskey added.

[BobbyOK]

That twitter intro turned into a Globe and Mail story? Nice! How have I not heard of Crystal before? I see she's also involved in the Ontario Brewmaster's Cup a few folks are putting on in response to the LCBO's shitfest earlier this summer. http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2012/08 ... sters_cup/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting though, even with all those big name macros, Sam Adams won that competition.

[chalmers]

Saw a new free magazine at the YHZ airport yesterday, "Soar Halifax". The cover story, Home Brew: Craft Beer Thrives in Canada, caught my eye.
Full online of the mag is at: http://goo.gl/dh5ns" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, article begins on p. 24.
Also, 2for1 lunch coupon from Rockbottom on p.27 (might need to be from original magazine).

[bluenose]

I didn't know Obama was a homebrewer... he's got my vote

http://www.kegworks.com/blog/2012/08/17 ... ew-081712/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pictures like this one have been surfacing a lot on the internet in the past few days. Oh, and there’s also the suds-soaked news about how for the first time in the history of this country, there is beer being brewed inside the White House.

This isn’t the first time the president’s made the news for his homebrew. At last year’s Super Bowl, he offered the house-brewed beer to his guests at the White House, and also reportedly shared some at a St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

Now, Obama’s bringing the beer with him on his campaign bus. After visiting a coffeehouse in Iowa, he talked beer with the owner and even left the guy with a bottle of his homebrew, causing the press to go wild.

From what we know, the beer is a honey ale, brewed with honey from the presidential garden’s beehive. That’s pretty cool. Democrat, Republican, Tea Party Activist – I don’t care who you are, beer is its ability to stick a social glue between adversaries. And who even knew there was a presidential beehive?

Let’s be honest though, in an election year, almost anything can be made political. And beer is perceived as an "every man’s drink." So, if the president is drinking it, he must be just like that Joe Sixpack guy everyone was talking about last time around – right?

The Washington Post has gone so far as to give this theory a name. They called it the "beer vote" and claim that it’s crucial among Independent voters – a sector being targeted by both the Romney and Obama camps.

Why Independents? Well, the Washington Post wrote this: "According to a survey conducted by Scarborough Research, 47 percent of independent voters drank a beer in the past 30 days, while just 40 percent of Republicans and 39 percent of Democrats did."

When White House Press Secretary Jay Carney addressed a few of the questions regarding the beer, he was probed about the brew being brought across state lines by the campaign bus. A direct answer wasn’t given, but if the prez is sneaking beer over state lines, that’s not a classic case of political conundrum, but a rather rare case of political badassery.

[mr x]

London's beer renaissance

Logan Plant, the son of Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant, is at the forefront of a niche movement that’s reviving London’s brewing industry. Adrian Tierney-Jones raises a pint glass to the capital's beer renaissance.

Late afternoon at Duke’s Brew & Que in Hackney, east London, an old-school boozer that has recently undergone a cool and elegantly scuffed makeover (bare floorboards, elemental wooden furniture, comfy sofas). It’s also the home of Beavertown Brewery, the latest addition to London’s beer renaissance.

Next to the open-plan kitchen, several stainless-steel vessels stand idle waiting for the following morning’s brewing. The brewmaster and Beavertown founder is Logan Plant, a tall, easy-going thirtysomething whose enthusiasm for the beers he makes is infectious.

You might have heard of his father Robert, the Led Zeppelin frontman. Logan initially took off in the old man’s footsteps, fronting the rock band Sons of Albion. This took him gigging around the world where a passion for beer, initially nurtured in Black Country pubs, turned into something more serious.

“On my last schlep across the pond, I found myself in Brooklyn,” he says. “After coming offstage, a local hipster directed me to a late-night joint where ales flowed from the walls and pulled pork was served until the early hours. Three lashings of pork later and half a yard of ale down my neck, I knew what I wanted to do. This was it. I had found my calling!”

He pours me a glass of Beavertown’s rye IPA 8 Ball, a robustly hopped beer with ripe orange skin and spicy rye on the nose, orange and lemon on the palate all held in line by a firm backbone of rye crispness. The dry and bitter finish chimes away like a constant peal of bells.

“To me London was – and is now becoming again – a serious brewing capital,” Plant says. “The heritage is huge and stimulated the beer world as we know it. The pale ales, IPAs, stouts and porters in particular were created in and for London and its people. It’s important because it’s a dying industry that is being invigorated and brought back to life, and by God is it kicking and screaming…”

He’s right. London is currently undergoing a heady beer and brewing renaissance. It now has nearly 30 breweries, most having blossomed in the past three years or so. Capital beer-lovers are now spoilt for choice as fragrant pale ales, robust bitters, creamy porters, slinky lagers and powerfully hopped IPAs spill over into their glasses.

Yes, the former brewing capital of the world is definitely making a comeback.

London had always been a beer city. Courage used to brew at its massive Thames Shad complex – this now houses luxury flats and the beers are made in Bedford by another brewery. Whitbread had its home in the Barbican, where it started brewing in the 18th century, while Truman and Charrington served bibulous Londoners in the East End. Smaller breweries included Fuller’s in Chiswick and Young’s in Wandsworth.

This started to change in the Sixties as breweries merged, closed or moved out (their names lingering like ghosts on pub facades) and, by the end of the 20th century, only Fuller’s and Young’s remained, along with the odd brewpub (Fuller’s still make magnificent beers; Young’s moved to Bedford). It was a sad time. But now the tide is turning again.

Take the overground to Kentish Town West, and in an arch below the railway line you will find Camden Town Brewery. Jasper Cuppaidge started it in 2010, and you could say he was born with beer flowing through his veins: his grandfather owned a large brewery in Brisbane, Australia. Before he started Camden, he was the landlord of the Horseshoe in Hampstead. Alongside standard real ales, he also sold American pale ale and Bavarian wheat beer, and it struck him that somebody should start making these beers in London.

“It was time for me to make my own beers,” he tells me when we met at the Great British Beer Festival. “So I started the brewery in these rail arches. London was the home of so much great beer but then it died. It’s fantastic to be a part of the movement that’s bringing great beer back to the greatest city in the world – London deserves better beer.”

In his quest for great beer, Cuppaidge’s brewery looks to America and the European mainland for inspiration. Beers brewed include a zingy, Bavarian-style wheat beer, a fruity American-style pale ale and a rich, dry stout called Ink.

South of the river in Bermondsey, it’s brew day at Kernel Brewery and a sweet, fruity, tea-like aroma drifts through the air. The brewery, also housed under a railway arch, is noted for its assertively hopped IPAs, most of which use New World hop varieties such as Citra (this hop packs a Tysonesque punch of pungent tropical fruit on the nose). Historical styles of beer such as London Porter and the luxurious Export Stout also appear alongside more experimental brews (an Imperial Brown Stout aged in oak, for instance).

Evin O’Riordain, Kernel’s founder, started his working life with cheese at Neal’s Yard Dairy, and he, too, underwent an epiphany in New York. “I had my own cheese stall in Borough Market for three years,” he tells me in between checking the temperature in the brewing kettle, “but then during a stay in New York, in the evening we would go out and I would be taught about beer. It was amazing to discover that you could treat beer in the same manner as we treated artisanal cheese. One afternoon in the beer garden of a Manhattan bar, the thought occurred that I should make beer back home.”

Later on, I gather my thoughts in the nearby Dean Swift. Kernel’s beers are regulars here, as are other London ones, including Redemption’s chestnut-coloured Urban Dusk (brewed in Tottenham). I order a pint of it.

It’s a marvellous beer with bright citrusy notes and hints of caramel on the nose while the dry, crisp nutty palate leads to a long-lasting bitter finish. I toast London’s new wave of brewers while remembering the ghosts. They can rest now: the baton has been taken up. As Logan Plant’s father might have sung: there’s a whole lotta brewing going on.

Three of the best London beers

1 Camden Town Pale Ale, 4.5%

Bright amber in colour, this juicy pale ale has a fragrant nose of ripe peach skin with orange pith in the background. The palate is a fruit bowl of ripe mango and passion fruit plus a hint of grapefruit; a crisp graininess stops the fruitiness from going overboard. The finish is long and dry.

2 Beavertown Smog Rocket, 5.4%

The colour of midnight, this is inspired by the London porters of the past. The nose is smoky and chocolatey, while the palate is creamy and subtly smoky with mocha notes in the background. Dangerously drinkable; Logan Plant suggests it as a partner to Gorgonzola or oysters.

3 Brodie's Hackney Red IPA, 6.1%

American hops give this amber-coloured beauty slinky ripe pink grapefruit notes on the nose, while there is more grapefruit on the palate alongside a well-balanced caramel sweetness before its generous bitter finish.

Where to drink in London

• Craft Beer Company, Leather Lane Clerkenwell (thecraftbeerco.com)

• The Rake, Winchester Walk, Borough (utobeer.co.uk/aboutus_rake.html)

• Euston Tap, Euston Road, Euston (eustontap.com)

• Dean Swift, Gainsford Street, Tower Bridge (thedeanswift.com)

• King William IV, High Road, Leyton (williamthefourth.net)

• Duke’s Brew & Que, Downham Road, Hackney, (dukesjoint.com)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink ... sance.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[derek]

I didn't know Obama was a homebrewer... he's got my vote

He isn't. He has a professional brewer (though the beer is brewed in the Whitehouse). It would be like me getting Nash to come over here and brew for me.

Unfortunately trying to google for the name just gets me to numerous pages about Obama and Governer Brewer of Arizona. Funny that everybody is writing about it this week, as if its news, because the beer news had it months ago.

Correction: it was Feb. 2011
White House Honey Ale: homebrewing is back in style

It just says that the brewer is "one of the White House chefs".

[TJ Brew]

Big Spruce Brewing - Cape Breton's first microbrewery in the works

http://ow.ly/ddrwb

A couple living just outside of Baddeck are growing organically certified hops and building a brew pub, giving Cape Breton its very first microbrewery.

Jeremy White and his wife Melanie honeymooned in Cape Breton years ago. Eventually they decided to come back and buy a farm and now, build a brewery overlooking the Bras D'or Lakes.

The brewpub is called Big Spruce Brewing.

"We're looking at our inaugural hopyard. This is where it all started for us, I wanted a crop of fresh hops to support my home brewing habits and it grew from there," said White.

Melanie, a chef, will be looking after the second floor of the building, which will be a restaurant.

"Wine and food dinners aren't so unusual to make the combination so we didn't feel as though it was such a leap to jump from beer to food," said Melanie.

White says the craft brewing industry grew 28 per cent in Nova Scotia from 2010 and 2011.

Their brewery is being built to produce about 800 litres of beer at a time. In addition to their own restaurant, they plan to sell kegs to bars around the province.

White says they're confident their dream will become a reality.

"It's a risk but we felt we had an ideal piece of land suited to growing the hops, we knew we had the kind of beer flavors people want to enjoy and really this is about a passion for better beer," he says.

White says they plan to open for business in January.

[benwedge]

Big Spruce Brewing - Cape Breton's first microbrewery in the works

http://ow.ly/ddrwb

A couple living just outside of Baddeck are growing organically certified hops and building a brew pub, giving Cape Breton its very first microbrewery.

Jeremy White and his wife Melanie honeymooned in Cape Breton years ago. Eventually they decided to come back and buy a farm and now, build a brewery overlooking the Bras D'or Lakes.

The brewpub is called Big Spruce Brewing.

"We're looking at our inaugural hopyard. This is where it all started for us, I wanted a crop of fresh hops to support my home brewing habits and it grew from there," said White.

Melanie, a chef, will be looking after the second floor of the building, which will be a restaurant.

"Wine and food dinners aren't so unusual to make the combination so we didn't feel as though it was such a leap to jump from beer to food," said Melanie.

White says the craft brewing industry grew 28 per cent in Nova Scotia from 2010 and 2011.

Their brewery is being built to produce about 800 litres of beer at a time. In addition to their own restaurant, they plan to sell kegs to bars around the province.

White says they're confident their dream will become a reality.

"It's a risk but we felt we had an ideal piece of land suited to growing the hops, we knew we had the kind of beer flavors people want to enjoy and really this is about a passion for better beer," he says.

White says they plan to open for business in January.

I had a sample from them (I think?) and it tasted pretty good. Brewnoser likened it to good homebrew, I was inclined to agree. DC & KMcK & Brufrog were all party to the tasting. Anyway, good to see progress up there.

[Jmac00]

Thought it was being called 'The Kilted Moose brewery' ???

[Dirt Chicken]

Big Spruce Brewing - Cape Breton's first microbrewery in the works

http://ow.ly/ddrwb

A couple living just outside of Baddeck are growing organically certified hops and building a brew pub, giving Cape Breton its very first microbrewery.

Jeremy White and his wife Melanie honeymooned in Cape Breton years ago. Eventually they decided to come back and buy a farm and now, build a brewery overlooking the Bras D'or Lakes.

The brewpub is called Big Spruce Brewing.

"We're looking at our inaugural hopyard. This is where it all started for us, I wanted a crop of fresh hops to support my home brewing habits and it grew from there," said White.

Melanie, a chef, will be looking after the second floor of the building, which will be a restaurant.

"Wine and food dinners aren't so unusual to make the combination so we didn't feel as though it was such a leap to jump from beer to food," said Melanie.

White says the craft brewing industry grew 28 per cent in Nova Scotia from 2010 and 2011.

Their brewery is being built to produce about 800 litres of beer at a time. In addition to their own restaurant, they plan to sell kegs to bars around the province.

White says they're confident their dream will become a reality.

"It's a risk but we felt we had an ideal piece of land suited to growing the hops, we knew we had the kind of beer flavors people want to enjoy and really this is about a passion for better beer," he says.

White says they plan to open for business in January.

I had a sample from them (I think?) and it tasted pretty good. Brewnoser likened it to good homebrew, I was inclined to agree. DC & KMcK & Brufrog were all party to the tasting. Anyway, good to see progress up there.

The link to the article is broken!!

[Jayme]

The link to the article is broken!!

You're broken!

[pet lion]

http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningcb/ ... robrewery/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;