Official Stillwell Thread

[Toni]

A BA member from Ottawa is in town and was heading to Stillwell for around 7 tonight (Monday). I told him I'd pop by for a bit. His name is Conrad, older gentleman, and will be wearing a denim vest.

[mikeorr]

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[Brewnoser]

Couldn't make it down. Happy to see it so popular.


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[toddthebeerdude]

hearing mixed reviews about the beer garden, have to check it out myself

[BobbyOK]

hearing mixed reviews about the beer garden, have to check it out myself

Really? I haven't seen/heard anything but praise. Except from other restaurants and prohibitionists, but even that's been mostly third hand. If anything I'd think the Beergarden will at least make it less busy at the full bar.

[GAM]

I enjoyed it. Nice to sit outside and have a decent beer. The seating leaves a bit to be desired but I wasent going to stay the night.

Ben W was the only BN'er I ran into there.

S

[Jimmy]

We enjoyed it down there on the weekend.

-It's an awesome spot, and it was great to drink some decent* beer on the waterfront.
-I didn't find the seating bad - I generally prefer to stand, but the picnic tables weren't bad.
-The container looks awesome..good job on it!

-Could use some umbrella's for those who like to a little shade. The tree covered area would work, but it was so full that it wasn't an option for us.
-The lineup for beer was quite long. Hopefully as things progress this will improve - I suspect it will

Look forward to spending more time down there this summer

*The beer lineup when we were there was just OK. I'd like to see one or two solid go-to beers for the beer nerd crowd. While there, I found myself drinking Propeller Bohemian Pilsner, but would have loved a solid IPA, APA (Unfiltered, Bad Apple???), or something refreshing like a Berliner Weisse.

[darciandjenn]

Was at bar on Friday night and I can definitely confirm that the bar was way less busy than usual. Could just be everyone enjoying novelty of the beer garden on opening day, though. Looking forward to checking it out for myself once the crowds die down a bit.

[Brewnoser]

hearing mixed reviews about the beer garden, have to check it out myself

Only RANS members would be slagging it. It's an outdoor venue. Wooden seating area and picnic tables. Some in the shade, some not. Public washrooms on each side a short walk, with three portapotties on the site, on barrier free. Aim carefully guys.

There have a maximum allowable occupancy of 300 I am told. Don't think they can keep up with 300 people drinking like we do - 3/hr means a beer every 4 seconds. At 6 taps that's 24 sec a pour. No time to change kegs. Maybe need to sell a lot more lemonade, coffee and wine. Can you say "keg caddy" Billy?




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[chalmers]

Had a great time there Sat afternoon, agree with Jimmy's points exactly. The taps are very close together, so they were getting in each other's ways to pour beers. May need to have someone *just* pouring beer.

I had a pretzel, which I enjoyed very much (Gingerbread Haus). The Choritzo sausage tasted great, if a bit dry, and the bun was not interesting. Toasting it, and/or having one with poppy seeds or other interesting characteristic, would have hit it out of the park.

[Jayme]

I think I saw some umbrella stand bases there - hopefully they'll be put to use for sun shade soon. I managed to snag a piece of shade by chalmers & co. on Saturday, but would not have stayed as long as I did if I had to sit directly in the sun. Brenna still managed to end up with a sunburn haha.

[mr x]

From what I saw of online pics, the beer lineup needs work.

[RobD]

Before they officially opened on Friday, I saw a couple of the umbrellas get blown out of their bases by the wind. I assume they took 'em all out after that, and will put new ones in when they get a solution to prevent people from being speared by them.

[CPR]

From what I saw of online pics, the beer lineup needs work.

We always laugh when people say "the selection could be better" because it quite simply cannot, especially at the Beergarden where we're (self) limited to our (ever-improving) local scene.

You might not realize it from the posts, but we've probably gone through 25 different NS beers on those six lines in the four days we've been open so far. And I hear you for sure, I too want more variety, but this tap list is quite literally a reflection of the best NS has to offer at this moment. If you want a better line-up then please open a new/great NS brewery. A berliner weisse? Yes please—on day 1 we had Big Spruce's raspberry version but sold out within a couple of hours. As for hoppy beers, the Propeller single-hop thing and Hell Bay's OPA have been good, but we'd love some serious west coast-style hoppy beers (perhaps someone should open a Halifax brewery to cater to this need... ).

I'll say, too, as beer fans we're pretty excited for what the Beergarden will allow us to do with Barrington over the summer. With so much NS product being highlighted down there, we feel like we can free up more space at the mothership for imports. We've got some great stuff from Le Trou du Diable landing now, our first ever regular berliner on draught from LTM these past few weeks, and several new beers/breweries lined up for the summer/fall that have never been on tap on the east coast, including at least three great events for August/September. One of our favourite US breweries is making the trek for an event Sept 1. Hope to see you out!

Cheers

[chalmers]

[mr x]

I didn't say the selection could be better. I said the lineup could use some work. QC work. While we could probably use another brewery, what we need is for the existing breweries to start taking quality control seriously. Local does not equal awesome. I have found that as the number of breweries has increased in this province, the number of beers I go looking for from local breweries sadly has not.

[CPR]

Man I hear ya. Some of the newbies have genuinely been good, imho, though, and have created a situation for us now that we don't HAVE to carry every local brewery just to get enough liquid through the lines. This is progress!

[toddthebeerdude]

had a few people who I asked say they were disappointed, don't think they are the type to sharing it on social media. Like I say I am going to have to check out myself

hearing mixed reviews about the beer garden, have to check it out myself

Really? I haven't seen/heard anything but praise. Except from other restaurants and prohibitionists, but even that's been mostly third hand. If anything I'd think the Beergarden will at least make it less busy at the full bar.

[GAM]

[, but we'd love some serious west coast-style hoppy beers (perhaps someone should open a Halifax brewery to cater to this need... ).

I think I know a guy, oh wait you do too. Now if he would just get off his arse and brew!

S

[Brewnoser]

Went into the Barrington St location Saturday aft - sunny weather meant it was almost empty. Hoping it's not a cannibalization strategy.


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[GAM]

Went into the Barrington St location Saturday aft - sunny weather meant it was almost empty. Hoping it's not a cannibalization strategy.

I like the way you think.

S

[chalmers]

Went into the Barrington St location Saturday aft - sunny weather meant it was almost empty. Hoping it's not a cannibalization strategy.


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Not going to lie, we were on Barrington Saturday from 12-2, while we waited for the Beergarden to open. But honestly can't see ending the Sat afternoon hangout on Barrington while the fries and Diner burger are only available there.

[Jayme]

Went into the Barrington St location Saturday aft - sunny weather meant it was almost empty. Hoping it's not a cannibalization strategy.


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Not going to lie, we were on Barrington Saturday from 12-2, while we waited for the Beergarden to open. But honestly can't see ending the Sat afternoon hangout on Barrington while the fries and Diner burger are only available there.

Can't? or can?

[chalmers]

Can't. But maybe I was being too sure of myself when I wrote that. Still love the mothership.

[Jayme]

My bad - I misread. Didn't realize the diner burger and fries were all that were available at the mothership!