Half Pints Brewing Company

Tuesday's Friday Beer Break

2012-01-24T10:52:00.000-06:00

Here's a shot of the Friday Beer Break from last week. These beers were all picked up at Bridgeview Liquors in Moorehead, MN.

You can probably sense a theme since were towards the end of our brew day with the Saison De La Ceinture Flechee.

We opened the St. Feuillien Saison first and it was full, with sweet notes and flavour not unlike a lighter Belgian Dubbel. No real spicy notes or the dryness typically associated with the style.

The Dupont was next, and it had a skunk aroma, with a apple cider dryness to the body. Good spicy notes but not a fave since the skunk immediately tells us this beer off.

The Sierra Nevada Ovila was good with a fuller body, crystal clear (it's obviously been filtered) and missing a little of the spiciness associated with the style - partly due to the missing yeast. This was the favourite though, as it hit all the notes without being overtly one character over another.

The Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere was just OK. I think this example had a little too long for the brewery's natural bugs to work on the beer within. There was a sharp lactic sourness that almost had a fake, chemical addition flavour to it. I'm sure if the example was a little closer to the brewery it would be better. I've had this one before and it wasn't nearly as rank as this bottle. Last time, it was a nice peppery, lightly tart, smooth malted Saison - very drinkable and made me seek out this bottle. Better luck next time.

Oh yeah, as you can see, the bottling line staff are not to be trifled with. Consider yourself warned.

Inspiration is where you find it...

2012-01-19T15:10:00.000-06:00

Jimi Hendrix in a 1969 interview shortly after Woodstock:

Interviewer: So Jimi, what's it like to be the best guitarist in the world?

Jimi: I dunno, ask Rory Gallagher.

I've been thinking a lot about this quote lately. It's been an odd year, with Half Pints growing and really showing no signs of slowing down, it's easy to lose the inspiration that makes the brewing aspect of the business fun and simply get bogged down in daily routines.

Jimi's honest answer to the "greatest guitar player in the world" got me thinking about the people and breweries that I originally drew inspiration from.

One of those folks was Michael Jackson. No, not the glove wearing, burning hairspray Pepsi commercial guy.

The Beer Hunter: the REAL Michael Jackson (as far as I'm concerned).

I wonder sometimes who Michael looked up to when he wrote his first book about beer way back in the day. Was he crazy for some wine writer or was it the poetry of a drunken bar fly with his belt lashed to the brass that inspired him to inspire so many brewers to plainly be better at what they do?

Lo and behold, up pops a thread over on Beer Advocate about helping to fund a documentary about Michael and his work as the world's foremost beer writer, before his untimely death in 2007.

When I think about his writing style (pre-internet and its associated buffoonery) I'd have to say it was a simpler time. He gave breweries and brewers a chance regardless of preconceived notions or personal opinions. He was a JOURNALIST after all. Just the facts: here's what the beer tastes like to me. Was it good, yes. Was he interested in who was the "greatest brewer or brewery in the world", I dare say no. In his world, it seems that there was room for everyone, regardless of hype, marketing or rarity.

I never met the man, my only claim to Michael fame being the fact that he sat not less that 20 feet from my current brewing equipment when it was still installed at Brandywine Brewing back in Wilmington, Delaware. Having said that, you still end up with a sense of the man through his writing that makes you think he'd be an interesting guy to have over for Sunday dinner with your mom.

If I had met him, I suppose the feeling would have been a little odd, much like my meeting with another beer writer at the Great Canadian Beer Festival a few years back. I treated him like I knew him, even though we'd never met.

To me, that's the sign of a good writer! Small glimpses of personal anecdotes peppered with liberal additions of actual FACTS tend to make people pay more attention than the "this is crap cause I don't like +/or understand it" mentality of beer knurds around the interwebs.

So what's the point of all this rambling?

Inspiration truly is where you find it.

Be it in the sweeping curve of an old guitar or the blue sky over an ancient canyon:

1919 Gibson Style O at AJ's in Henerson, NV

Red Rock Canyon, NV

For the beer we'll brew tomorrow, it was the history of our province, the background of its people and the weave of a sash. Simple, yes but the challenge is there and we're inspired enough to overcome it.

In a few weeks, you can try it for yourself and see if we hit the target or need to get back to the range.

Obligatory New Years Post

2012-01-04T12:40:00.002-06:00

Chris inspects the Friday Beer Break beers.

This is the Obligatory New Year's Post with wispy looks back at the year that was...

Nope, you can search thru the last year's worth of posts if you want. We're moving on.

Coming Soon:

Black Galaxy - A slightly different take on the Black Scrapper we put out a while back. It's a hoppy, dark beer with boatloads of Galaxy hops in the finish. The tagline is "...and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space...". I'm sure you can figure out the reference if you look hard enough.

Saison De La Ceinture Flechee - An amber Winter Saison brewed with malted wheat, barley, goldings hops and a special blend of farmhouse yeast from France.

The ETA's are flexible, depending on when the labels come from the printer. If they're late, you'll see the Saison first, if they're early, you'll see the Galaxy first. We'll keep you posted, but just wanted to make sure you knew we weren't just slacking around here.

Gift Ideas For Your Beer Knurd

2011-12-08T10:37:00.001-06:00

Time is ticking down for all you Christmas shoppers out there. I thought it might make life easier if you had some ideas as to what to get your local Beer Knurd for under the tree.

Free (or relatively cheap) things:

A tour of Half Pints Brewing Company - it's free, you get to see the whole brewery, have the process explained, geek out with the brewers who lead the tour, and generally get some giggles from the same tired jokes we've been telling since we started giving the tours back in 2006. Bonus: you can drop your beer geek off, go relax and have a coffee somewhere for about 1 1/2 hours while he/she basks in hoppy goodness at the brewery.
Time - when was the last time you said to your lovable beer knurd - "Hey, you should take some time for yourself tonight, and open up a few of those uber-rare special beers you've been hoarding in our fridge. They're not getting any better, ya know - why don't you invite over some of your beer buddies and we'll make a night of it?" So simple, so effective...
A home beer dinner for two - Imagine the surprise on your beer knurd's face when they come home and find a three course, beer centric, cooked and served with beer meal. The interweb is full of recipes and suggestions for serving and pairing beers.
For the lady knurds, a membership in the local Barley's Angel's chapter would fit the bill. Contrary to popular belief, ladies love good beer, and the Barley's Angel's is a group of like-minded ladies who get together to chat about, taste, and get-their-geek-on regarding all things beer. You can find them on Facebook.
Does your geek brew their own? Why not a membership to the local homebrewing club, The Winnipeg Brew Bombers? First meeting is always free, but it's only $25 a season to come talk at the monthly meetings with other uber-beer knurds about brewing your own at home.

Things that cost money and result in squeals of geekery when unwrapped:

The Oxford Companion To Beer by Garret Oliver - this one scores a 100% beer knurd approved weighty tome of supreme geekery. You will be amazed and astounded at the riches this dictionary of all things beer has to offer. Available at McNally Robinson (and a couple of other non local, big box chains in the city who I won't mention).
Dried Malt Extract - For use in home-made chocolate malts, wicked chocolate birthday cakes and malted milk balls. Nothing says "I love you" like a bag of barley sugar. Available at local home brewing stores like the Grape & Grain and The Hop & Vine.
Cheese Making Kits - Your beloved beer knurd is always on the hunt for good cheese. Homemade is fresh, easy and something to be proud of while it goes great with any gathering of like minded beer geeks. Available at the Grape & Grain.
1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die by Adrian Tiereny-Jones. Self explanatory - humbles your beer knurd with how little beer they've really tasted in the world - makes them say things like "ooh, that one sounds interesting" or "honey, I think we need to take a trip to Lithuania."
Beer Glasses - Happy Harrys in Grand Forks has packs of Speigel tasting glasses that include many of the recommended glassware for international beers. If you're not hitting up the states for the deals (you're from Winnipeg, aren't you?) your local Stokes or similar chintzy kitchen store normally has a good selection.
A beer stein. Not the cheap one that comes from the dollar box at your local garage sale, but a good one from the German Butcher on the corner of Sherburn and Portage. Their wurst really is the best. most beer geeks prefer a simple stoneware version without all the goofy scenes of medieval Germany on them.
Dinner out at any of the local restaurants that carry Half Pints. There's quite a few of them now, across a wide variety of price ranges and flavours. Check out the "On Tap" section here on our site and maybe something will peak your interest. My last one was a lovely 1/2 duck with a cherry reduction and all the accouterments at Inferno's. Yummy!

So, as you can see, finding stuff is not really that hard, and you will endear yourself to your beer knurd for coming up with such wicked gifties. I'm perfectly fine if you take credit for any of these ideas.

2011-11-25T12:29:00.001-06:00

Here's a couple on snaps of the new Demeter's Harvest being bottled old skool style at the brewery. Love the second photo where you see the guys rifling off a tank of beer in the time it takes to do 25 cases in the foreground.

Ohh, my kingdom for a 22 oz. bottle filler - then you guys could have special beers like this all the time...

Rocking the stache, drumming up donations...

2011-11-23T11:47:00.001-06:00

Here's me rocking my Movember Stache!

$490.00 have been raised between our customers, my family, and friends.

Click here to donate now, please - every little bit counts...

I know for sure we're doing a dinner at Degrees (U of M)this Saturday, but still don't know all the details. I suggest you drop in or call there to make sure you haven't missed the tickets for the event.

See ya there!

Movember's Here

2011-11-10T13:53:00.001-06:00

Ok folks, time to get out your wallets! Movember is here and I'm growing the most ridiculous 70's porn star handlebar moustache. Check it out:

I know what you're thinking:
aren't brewers only allowed to grow crazy bushy livin' under a bridge beards?

Not this month my friends!

Please click here to make a donation to the Movember Cause.

That was not a request. You're not allowed to read anything about the yummy fantastic beers I'm about to tell you about until you donate. Otherwise, it's just like getting up from the table before you paid for a round.

Alrighty - you've donated right? You're awesome. You're helping to save the world. We'll drink beer and tell stories of Moustache glory together on the sand someday soon.

Since you were so cool, I'm gonna let you in on some fun stuff we've been working on in the brewery:

Tonight, Movember 10th we're pouring beers at the Scotch Tasting at the Winnipeg Winter Club. Darren Raeside puts these on with interesting finds from the reps around town. There's always something I haven't tried, which really is the point of any scotch/wine/beer event, isn't it?

Sweet Nikki Brown is coming down the red carpet for all her fans. Set to be released on Movember 19th for an extended run (we'll be brewing her till at least February), we'll be kicking off her highness in style with a Movember Cask of Pistachio Mustachio Ale at the Yellow Dog on the 17th.

Greg at the Yellow Dog has also asked me to remind you that he has the Smoktoberfest on tap at the bar, and if you haven't experienced the subtle kick in the head that is the Smoketoberfest, you're missing out. It does grow on you like hair on a lip.

Movember 26th we'll be doing a three course Movember Dinner at Degrees Diner at the U of M. We'll see a menu this weekend sometime and I'll post up the details as soon as we have them. Suffice to say, we always bring our A game to beer dinners.

Movember 30th we'll be sponsoring the wrapup for Movember at the Park Theater. Come be together with your Mo Bro's and we can all laugh at my pitiful excuse for a 'stache.

Leaving Movember behind, December 3rd is our 6th Annual Open House and although we've retired the Burlywine, be prepared for what is quite possibly the biggest beer we've ever done: Demeter's Harvest.

The Demeter's Harvest is a Wheatwine with local 2 row pale malt, hard malted white wheat, and many buckets of honey from our friends over at BeeMaid here on Roseberry. The beer is finished with multiple American citrus hop varieties for a strong snappy hop aroma.

So while not vegan, it is quite possibly one of the most interesting beers we've put out there to date and a serious contender for many best of lists in the coming year. I can't wait to see what you all think of it...

Cheers,
Dave

Sparge Water Lyrics

2011-10-18T11:41:00.002-05:00

Well, after a rocking night on Saturday, the requests have come flooding in for a peek at some of the lyrical genius of Sparge Water. If anyone has some clear photo's of the night, please send them to info@halfpintsbrewing.com and I'll post them up.

Sparge Water thanks the Lo, The Thrashers, The Vibrating Beds and of course Transistor 66 Records for helping to set things up with the bands as well. I think it was a perfect night of rock & roll that you had a tough time sitting on your ass for.

Here goes... full versions with links to sing along!

Bittering Hop
Hey you, let's brew x4
Wort is in the sight line,
my beer is in your draught lines,
beer geeks are losing their minds,
Bittering Hop
Hand is on the valve seat,
we're generating steam heat,
Sparge Water's got the back beat,
Bittering Hop
Hey you let's brew,
Shoot em down your neck now,
What they want, I don't know,
We're all stocked up and ready to go!

Beer Taster
Got me a dayjob, I want you to know
Sippin' on samples, make sure they're just so
Zahlm'n the carbo, not high, not too low
Don't know about you, but I'm here to:
Check carbonation
Test oxidation
Set the filtration
Drop fermentation
Wanna grow up to be, be a Beer Taster

“Beer Me”
I know I’m thirsty, I need a beer
But my bartender, he isn’t here
He knows my order, it’s always the same
No need to bother with another name

I drink the Scrapper ‘cause I likes the hops
Oh where is Jack man, yeah that kid’s the tops
No need to holler, no need to wave
We keep it simple with this three word phrase:

Chorus: It’s like beer me, beer me, beer me now...
And don’t you let me run dry

I’ve scanned your beer list – it’s uninspired
Pale Euro lagers undoubtedly expired
I say we take off, I say we go
And if we hustle we can make it for last call at the Lo

It’s unassuming, the feeling fits
A place where two pints can quickly lead to six
And when that happens, you call a cab
Well if a cab is on the way, how about a nightcap?

Half Pints
She was at the bar, she heard my guitar
She was long and tall, she was the queen of them all
Half Pints, talkin' bout' Half Pints
She was dark and discreet, she was malty and sweet
She was filled to the rim, on my lips was a grin
Half Pints, talkin' bout' Half Pints
Down below they danced and sang in the street
While up in the room was spinning with HEAT
Half Pints, talkin' bout' Half Pints

I was feeling no pain, feeling good in my brain
I looked in her eyes, they were full of surprise
Half Pints, talkin' bout' Half Pints
I asked for another, she smiled and filled up my glass
The party just beginning, this beer's gonna knock me on my ass
Half Pints, talkin' bout' Half Pints
Now I'm back at the bar, she went a little too far
she done me wrong, all I got is this song
Half Pints, talkin' bout' Half Pints

When I'm 64
When I get older losing my hair,
Many years from now.
Will you still drink Heimer in the month of May
Stand in line on Burlywine Day?

If I'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door,
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.

You'll enjoy our brew,
And if you say the word,
We could drink with you.

I could be handy, making some brews
When the nights are long.
You can sit drinking by the fireside
Designated driver, go for a ride.

Drinkin' Smoketober, Humulus, too,
Who could ask for more?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.

Hoo!

Reminder: Mise Dinner - October 12th

2011-10-11T10:49:00.000-05:00

Here's the menu for tomorrow night's dinner at Mise. For $50 (paired beers included) I'd say you'd have a tough time beating that deal for a 5 course meal in the city.

There are still seats available, call Sue now at 284-7916 to book your seats.

FYI - This will be your first chance to savour our newest creation: Smoktoberfest, which technically won't be available for sale till Saturday.

October Tasting

Steelhead Salmon with Maple Chipotle Squash with Sour Cherry Yogurt Cheese and Fresh Mint

Curried Pumpkin Soup with Crème Fraiche, Almonds and Peach Bourbon Drizzle

Braised Pork Belly with Roasted Apple, Parsnip Puree and Rainer Cherry Port Reduction

Cassolet Style Duck Confit with Chorizo Sausage and Fresh Rosemary

Wild Rice Trio

Vote, Dammit.

2011-10-04T09:48:00.001-05:00

The way I see it is this:
You really only have one true chance to make a difference with a tiny little x.

You don't have to work, pay taxes, feed, clothe, shelter or even wash yourself if you don't want to.

You can sit in an alley somewhere and watch societies crumble just for the chance to use that little x.

If you want to keep those little luxuries, you've gotta get your ass out there and pop that x on that card.

Today is that day. Today is your day to be heard.

PS. Don't come back whining that you can't get behind someone who's running cause they're all blah, blah blah, rhetoric rhetoric rhetoric... the only person who's gonna help you get what you want is you. If you can't get behind someone, sign yourself up to run in the next election and change the world how you see fit. Then we can all complain about you.

Kevin, just hangin' with the Bieb's

2011-09-29T14:54:00.002-05:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Jusitin's been working on a song for Sparge Water. We sent Kevin to spend some time with him so the Biebs can teach him some moves.

Don't forget to mark October 15 on your calenders - see ya at the Lo!

Sparge Water World Tour 2011

2011-09-27T11:17:00.000-05:00

Remple pre-debilitating-near-amputation of his fingers.

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of Half Pints Brewing Company, the world's greatest brewery band, Sparge Water will be gracing the folks of Winnipeg with their presence on October 15, 2011 at the Lo Pub in Winnipeg.

While the band is currently on tour, we figured that it would make sense to inform everyone ahead of time so you can start camping out and lining up. There may still be some rooms available that night in the hostel for those of you without your own cookstoves, portable latrines, and tents.

While not an operating member, Schoney is the inspiration

for everything Sparge Water does. All men should aspire

to his level of cool sauveness. Here he's showing Kevin

video of his exploits on the Paris leg of the tour.

Here's some photo's of the band's tour bus, which was built to be an exact replica of our brewer, Chris' basement so he would feel less homesick while rounding out the tour of the pacific rim nations.

The band has been having a great time on this tour. While living in five star hotels and using our private jet to get from gig to gig can get a little old, it is nice to know that some of the world's greatest names in music have been busy writing songs for us.

The calls from Dylan, Petty, and Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV have been never ending - even the executers for Joey Ramone (who willed us a song before his untimely passing) were getting in on Sparge Water's Bieber-esque success.

Here you see Jeremy and Chris (before Chris found out we
took him on the extra shows thru Mongolia) happy as
clams practicing on the bus.

The first thousand people in line will recieve the undying appreciation of the band, and possibly some deodorant by Mennan for enduring the wait.

Be at the Lo Pub on October 15, 2011 to see Sparge Water, along with The Thrashers and The Vibrating Beds.

Zach Mesman uses his commanding position to make
sure the crew rocks. This is the face he made
for most of our swing thru Dubai.

Friday's Beer Break - Post #100

2011-09-16T18:25:00.000-05:00

Five years in and I'm just getting to post #100, well it's a good one regardless cause we're talkin' bout beer.

Here's Vanessa, Ryan, and Jeremy.

Vanessa's happy cause she's been dragged away from her computer and been asked to drink beer,
Ryan's all business with that serious "I'm really thinking about this beer face,
Jeremy (in today's role as Price Is Right girl) is also smiling cause he brewed the Smoktoberfest today.

In Jeremy's hand is today's first beer break beer, Creemore Springs Kellerbier.

OK, so this beer is a prime example of the difference in opinion when it comes to the words "generously hopped".

More power to you, Creemore for making a beer that tastes not unlike water with a little munich malt thrown in.

That said, it was clean and crisp lager, which are both ridiculously generic flavour descriptors for a ridiculously generic beer.

Now here, we're speaking my language.

Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest is a beer brewed with hops from New Zealand when the hops are fresh picked off the vine at the end of their growing season.

A citrusy aroma, led me to believe that this is, in fact, a generously hopped beer. Not to be outdone, the woody, herbal hop finish and the lingering rosemary/thyme notes came through in spades. Once again, Sierra Nevada knocks one out of the park. Not bad for a bunch of Dead Heads.

In other news:
Tomorrow is the release of the Humulus Ludicrous at the brewery. The doors open at 9am, and we have plenty of beer, so there's no danger we'll run out in the first hour. We've got one more batch coming down the pipeline in the next three days, so if we do happen to run out, we'll have more bottled next week.

In Winnipeg, the Humulus will be on tap sometime soon at the Yellow Dog Tavern

Regina will see not one, but two pubs serving the hoppy amber goodness with Beer Bros and Bushwakker both taking kegs. The fellows at Beer Bros. also managed to snag themselves a keg of Rigamarole Rye that will be shipped out sometime this week.

Friday's Beer Break

2011-08-19T14:36:00.000-05:00

We figured since Zach was away for a few days that we could have a really fantastic beer break today. This is only partly to pay him back for opening a bottle of Ballast Point IPA without me...

Our Friday Beer Break actually started on Thursday this week. We tried the Ghosttown Stout from the Brasseur De Montreal. A tasty beverage it was indeed with lovely sweet chocolate notes and a distinct Jagermeister twang due to the Absinthe they use in it.

Compared to many of the overly bitter, terribly acrid Stouts I've tried from the belle province, this one was quite the charmer. Nothing brash about it, just a well balanced, well brewed, properly understood take on the style.

Good job, Brasseur De Montreal!

Today, we opened a bottle of the Oak Aged Un*earthly from Southern Tier which was almost like a tropical fruit salad. Not a lot of Oak character, but definite mixed salad of hops and everyone here seemed to enjoy it. There was a solid backing sweetness that led it to be more drinkable than it should be when it clocks in at 11%.

The other bottle we opened was the Carnegie Stark Porter which exhibited a lovely smooth dark malt presence. The aroma is the kicker in this one and given that the bottle was the 06' vintage, was a real surprise. Kevin described it as a softer, less metallic tasting molasses.

He also said this would be the perfect beer for after a long cross country ski thru the bush to some remote cabin. Ohh Kevin, somehow, someway, the conversation always returns to your cross country skiing. Winter's coming man, winter's coming...

All the news that's fit to print...

2011-08-17T12:17:00.000-05:00

It's been busy at the brewery lately and the guys are chugging along with packaging while trying to keep their heads above the beery water. I can see that we're catching up, but with all the events coming in the next few weeks, we'll be running right up until the last second anyway.

The Flatlander's Beer Festival beer list was put out a week ago or so. Here's a truncated list of some of the new beers that the distributors/MLCC are bringing. No point in giving the full list since it's got so many tired old beers on it:

BOOTH BRAND Country Style

5 Du Moulin Pilsner France Pilsner

5 3 Monts Golden Ale France Ale

6 Bitburger Premium Draft Germany Lager

6 Thwaites Wainwright Ale England Ale

6 Thwaites Very Nutty Black England Ale

12 Rolling Rock USA Lager (a classic example of DMS in beer)
25 Tatra Poland Lager

27 Russell Brewing IPA Manitoba Ale

27 Fort Garry Brewing Blonde Manitoba Ale

27 Fort Garry Brewing Special Dark (whiskey infused) Manitoba Ale (probably just their Dark Ale aged in Crown Royal barrels)

30 Brooklyn East India Pale Ale USA Ale
31 Black Boss Porter Poland Porter

33 Box Steam Dark & Handsome England Ale

35 Broeder Jacob Brown Ale Belgium Ale

35 Urthel Saisonniere Ale Belgium Ale

35 St. Louis Kriek Belgium Lambic Fruit (not a real lambic - don't get your hopes up)

36 Half Pints Brewing Stir Stick Stout Manitoba Stout

36 Half Pints Brewing Cask Ale Manitoba Ale

We'll be bringing our A game, even if others aren't. As a beer drinker, it is maddening that the best that the local beer festival can come up with is 3/4 of the beers that have been on the shelf for a year or more. If you go to any other beer festival on the planet, this situation would be unacceptable. I will give bonus points to Fort Garry and a couple of the better beer distributors for stepping up their game in recent years, with some interesting finds.

We have to think like a customer at these events, and if you could buy all of the new beers at the event for less than the price of the ticket to support the Yearling Foundation, then going to the fest is pointless. Unfortunately, that viewpoint tends to be lost on a great many of the distributors coupled with the lazy mentality of the big boys. Face it guys, just cause you advertise it 4 million times a day, doesn't make it any good.

We'll have a cask of our famous Five-Al-IPA for sampling on both nights. For those of you unfamiliar with the beer, it's our IPA dryhopped with 5 different citrus peels and a boatload of extra dry hops. The peels make for a very smooth and oily hoppy ale. Tasty stuff that most of the guys at the brewery have never tried because we've only taken one cask to Regina with us before. Good times were had by all.

We'll also have with us our newly reformulated Stir Stick Stout, which has been beefed up with more caramel notes and more chocolate malt for a decidedly fuller bodied drink. Hopefully many of you out there are enjoying it as much as I have been recently - especially as a float like we had it at the Rigamarole release day/Anniversary Day.

Speaking of our Anniversary, the real celebration is being planned as we speak, with Nicole and Zach taking the reigns and running with a full out party at the Lo Pub sometime in October.

We've got some events lined up for the first week of September for the students at the UofM. We are the beer supplier for quite a few of the first week's events so hopefully the new students learn to pace themselves and enjoy something different than their usual.

The Humulus Ludicrous has been brewed and will be released at the brewery on September 17th at 9am. We will be sending some to Regina and Alberta, though we'd appreciate patience from them since we will be hand bottling the run in 660 ml. bottles and that takes time.

On October 15th, we'll also have a special NEW BEER to release. Yummy stuff on the horizon, and a good time to be a beer lover in Winnipeg...

Friday's Beer Break

2011-08-05T14:58:00.000-05:00

Castle Milk Stout from South Africa (thanks Ben) was a lovely soft and roasty beer with a good dose of sweetness from the Lactose sugar added during the process.

The can says it's 6% a/v but it tastes more like a 3%. So suffice to say that at the end of a hot day in South Africa, this would make a lovely nightcap

The description of how we came by this one will warm the hearts of hippies everywhere.

This bottle of Tyranena Brewing's Chief Blackhawk's Porter came to us from a fellow who came to town for Folk Fest. Since there's no good beer on site, and everyone had brought their LOCAL FAVOURITE - Half Pints - he ended up enjoying real local beer at everyone's campsite.

We got a call on Monday morning saying he was bringing us treats and wanted a tour of the brewery before he left town.

This is one awesome porter with all the soft malt toastiness and acrid burnt malt backbone that a real porter has. Very tasty stuff, Mr. Outtatowner! If anyone here could remember your name, we'd say: thank you, you've made this beer break a memorable one.

Friday's Beer Break

2011-07-29T13:24:00.000-05:00

Today's FBB is a Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary beer.

Charlie, Fred and Ken's Bock - Imperial Helles Bock.

This is a collaboration between two homebrewing gods Charlie Papazian & Fred Eckhart with Sierra Nevada's owner, Ken Grossman.

It's dry with a sweet malt aroma, moderate hop bitterness and a warming alcohol finish with a little paint thinner touch.

Next Saturday is our 5th anniversary, and we'll be releasing the Rigamarole Rye - brewer Chris Young's barrel aged, hoppy lovelyness. Be here at 9am or be square. This will be a brewery only release, and any leftovers will probably be shipped out to Alberta.

Friday's Beer Break

2011-07-22T12:55:00.000-05:00

Today's Friday Beer Break first beer comes again from Deschutes - Twilight Summer Ale.

Not the type of beer that Bella drinks when busy being angsty and choosing between vampires or werewolves, the Twilight was a lighter, hoppy pale ale with a peachy hop flavour from the Amarillo hop.

A lightly grassy and biscuity malt backbone made this a very drinkable beer. Good job Deschutes' brewers!

Avery Brewing Company's Maharaja was the second beer for the break today.

It had a snappy, pineapple and orange peel hop flavour with a lingering metallic bitterness. Stong alcohol is well hidden and leaves a long, herbal aftertaste with a little sweet toasted malt.

Both very tasty - Zach says the Maharaja was better on tap - it'd be tough for me to argue that one since most beer is better when it's on tap anyways.

Anyhoo, back to the salt mines!

Friday's Beer Break

2011-07-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

We've decided that we really must be forced to drink more beer from time to time. What better than to have a Friday Beer Break to make the day go a little smoother.

Being the typical procrastinator that I am, I've got a couple beers to share with you all, starting with last week's Beer Break, where the idea was hatched, but I ran out of time to share it with you.

Stone Smoked Porter

This beer was a little chocolaty, with light hints at smoke. Not what I would call a knock it out of the park type brew, but the bottle was probably older so I'll just have to keep it in mind to seek out another in the near future.

Stone Brewery is situated in San Diego and most well known for their Ruination or their Arrogant Bastard (ahh, a brewery after my own heart on that one)...

Deschutes Brewing - The Abyss

We like Deschutes beers here at the brewery since there seems to be no end to the fun these guys have with new versions or different takes on traditional beers.

The Abyss is a partially barrel aged Imperial Stout. I'm sure you can go to other sites where they'll give you the full rundown on all the spec's for the beer, but this is the Beer Break, not the Bru U - we mostly drink beer, tell dirty jokes and let the beer speak for itself.

It's a dry, malty, burnt roast and alcohol burn sensation. Kevin tells me that he had to bring this in because I'm so tight fisted with my bottle (thanks Ted!) that he had to open his.

Cantillon Gueuze 100% Lambic Bio

I picked up this traditional Lambic from Regina last time I was there. A Gueuze should be more heavily carbonated than this was, and it certainly shouldn't taste like skunk as this one did.

Underlying, there was the lovely cherry pie flavour and sour twang I expected with a subtley sweet malted grain background.

Unfortunately this bottle cost me $30 for 750ml. and it's too bad, since we know damn well what this brewery is capable of. This is what happens when you have people who don't care about storage issues selling truly premium beers. Keeping these beers cool and dark, in clean cellars, with more reasonable prices would help with stock rotation. The surprising bonus is you wouldn't have the unsuspecting public buying the beer and thinking this is what it should taste like.

Chris was just at this brewery a few weeks ago and enjoyed the hell out of touring and sampling their wares while he kicked back in Belgium. Someday, Younger, someday...

"...and Manitobans like lighter tasting beers."

2011-06-10T10:56:00.000-05:00

The quote in the title is from a major brewery's salesperson from way back in 2004. Other people have made the same mistake as well. Fortunately you - being the beer lover that you are - don't believe it's true.

Thankfully, neither do we.

'Cause local music is just so damn cool.

2011-06-02T14:37:00.000-05:00

TRANSISTOR 66 RECORDS COMPILATION “THE FAMILY” INCLUDED IN HALF PINTS BREWING COMPANY’S TASTING PACKS IN WESTERN CANADA!

WINNIPEG, MB (MAY 31, 2011) – Transistor 66 Record Co. and Half Pints Brewing Company, both of Winnipeg, are pleased to announce THE FAMILY: a compilation album featuring artists from the label’s roster. The download card will be included in Half Pints’ Tastings Packs, currently distributed across western Canada.

“We believe we have some of the best artists on the planet, and Half Pints makes some of the best beer on the planet,” says Art MacIntyre, founder of Transistor 66 Record Co. “Nothing goes together better than great beer and rock n’ roll.”

Artists featured on THE FAMILY include entries from acclaimed roots singer-songwriter Scott Nolan, searing femme-fronted rockers Miesha & the Spanks, and rockabilly stalwarts The Farrell Bros., to name a few. The record is available exclusively in Half Pints’ Tastings Packs

“Winnipeg’s music scene means a lot to us personally, not only as brewers,” says Nicole Rudge, CEO of Half Pint Brewing, who met her husband and Half Pints business partner/brewmaster at a punk rock show in Winnipeg. “Supporting our local artists has always been a priority for us, and it always will.”

Included in the 12-bottle Taster Packs include four varieties of Half Pints’ flagship brews, including the Bulldog Amber Ale, Little Scrapper IPA, St. James Pale Ale and Stir Stick Stout, a bold, coffee-infused brew with a distinct chocolate flavour.

Transistor 66 and Half Pints Presents: THE FAMILY Track Listing

Miesha and the Spanks – Leather Jacket

Scott Nolan – 90 MPH

The Vibrating Beds – What You Do To Me

The Angry Dragons – Snake Apartments

The Farrell Bros. – Breakin’ Out of Here

This Hisses – Swagger

Kids on Fire – Grand Mystifier

The Blowholes – Don’t Need your Love

Crooked Brothers – Buried Alive

The Lonely Vulcans – The Lonely Vulcan

SubCity – Too Loud For This City

The Thrashers – Deathbox Jungle

For the full release in downloadable MP3: http://halfpints66.transistor66.com/

Transistor 66 Record Co.: http://www.transistor66.com/

Half Pints Brewing Co.: http://www.halfpintsbrewing.com/

For more information, please contact:

Lindsay Hutton, Publicist

Red Pillar Media

lindsay@redpillar.ca

905.518.9725

RED PILLAR MEDIA

media@redpillar.ca

http://www.redpillar.ca/

The Half Pints Movement

2011-05-06T11:38:00.000-05:00

There's been some talk in the blogosphere recently about customers requesting that their local bars promote half pints as an option. The subject is key in mature beer markets in the States where the choice of beers is dizzying and the strength of interesting beers keeps climbing to ridiculous heights.

Good on ya internets, you're finally picking up on what we've been saying for the last five years: a half pint of good beer is better than six lousy pints anyday.

What I don't agree with is bars charging me extra for the privilege of giving me less. A half pint of beer should cost me half of what it costs for a regular pint of beer. Obviously if your idea of a pint is 16 ounces and a half pint is 12, then yes, it should cost me more. But real pints are 20 ounces and halves are 10, so if it costs me $5 for a pint, it certainly should not cost me $3 for a half. Hell, I don't even need fancy glassware - serve it to me in a full sized glass so I can swirl the beer around (though not like this guy) and actually get the aroma of the beer.

As a beer lover, Half Pints started from the idea that I'd have a half of one beer and if I felt like another, I'd go ahead and have a half of something else - usually in a progression of softer to stronger, less hoppy to more hoppy. If I was really in the mood for stupidity, I'd order a side of good Scotch as well.
As pubs get more beer savvy, there needs to be a way for patrons to explore the world of beer without feeling the need to polish off a whole pint. And as well, people need to get tuned into the idea that leaving beer behind in a glass and not finishing it is OK! (Gasp!)

Did you ever get 1/3 of the way into a pint and realize that the beer was crap? It's happened to everyone out there - so what'd ya do about it. You drank the beer! That's crazy - life's too short for bad beer. Leave it behind and move on.

If the beer was bad because the pub doesn't clean their lines, send it back. If the beer company promised you that the beer in question would get you chix in bikini's and it tastes like uncarbonated watery yellow corn, send it back. If the beer was obviously flawed - as our tasting course grads will tell you - SEND IT BACK.

The beauty of half pints of Half Pints is that you allow yourself more of a chance to experience all that the world has to offer you. No longer are you hamstrung into a single pint of beer thru a whole meal - that's asking too much of a beer. With half pint measures you can pick something that goes well with your appy and main, then switch it up for dessert. Et Voila - an experience you can enjoy without getting totally sauced.

That's something I can get behind.

Dinner at Mise

2011-05-01T10:15:00.005-05:00

Hopefully, you're all as excited as I am about our upcoming dinner at Mise. Don't sit on this one for too long... it will sell out and will be a fun evening of amazing food and beer. Call them at 284-7916 to reserve your seats.

Mise

Thursday May 26, 2011, 7:00 pm, 842 Corydon Ave

Beer Battered Prawns with Seared Scallop with

Rabbit Spring Roll and Mango Chutney

Phils Pils

Caribou Wonton Soup with Julienned Vegetables,

Miso Marinated Pike and Crispy Noodles

St. James Pale

Grilled Maple Chipotle Salmon with Grilled Pineapple,

Crispy Bacon, Almonds and Watercress

Little Scrapper IPA

Maple Beer Sorbet

Cassolet with Chorizo Sausage, Duck

Confit and Concasse Tomatoes

Bulldog Amber Ale

Grand Marnier Crème Brulee, Chocolate Brownie with

Praline Ice Cream, and Cappuccino Cheesecake

Stir Stick Stout/ Sweet Nikki Brown

$40.00 per person (taxes & gratuity not included)

A Day Late, and A Dollar Short

2011-04-19T12:11:00.000-05:00

Alright, so maybe not a dollar short, but a late update is better than no update.

I spent last week in Regina at the ALES Club National Homebrew Open 2011. You can see the results here.

It was a good week, though I was a tad nervous when I hit Grenfell and the RCMP sent me to Melville before going back down to Regina. I thought I might get stuck in Saskatchewan and not be able to return until the flood waters subsided. As it was, the Qu'Appelle Valley was gorgeous and warm, if not a little soggy with plenty of spots where the water lapped the #10 right at the sides.

I actually took it pretty easy, with only the odd beer here and there aside from judging. I think if I wanted to drink more, I should be a competition steward. I always seem to see those guys with beers in hand!

Friday we judged beer twice and then we had a beer dinner to do over at Beer Bros. in the Scarth Street Mall. A great time was had by all - if anyone has photo's, please shoot them over to me at the brewery, I'd be glad to put them up.

We also had a lovely cask of Five-Al-IPA (5 citrus fruit zests, coriander and dry hops). Lots of good comments on that one from the ALES Club volunteers. That makes two casks of the Five-Al-IPA that we've brewed up and almost nobody at the brewery but me has tasted them. I guess we might have to work one up for the next Friday the Firkinteenth.

Thanks to Dave Neilly (Brewmaster @ Wild Rose on the left here - Gary's on the right) I got the chance to try the ridiculous Tactical Nuclear Penguin from the goof balls at Brew Dog.

TNP clocks in at 32% and after some recent pissing matches with other breweries about making the highest alcohol "beer" on the planet, I really don't care who came out on top. Click here if you do.

I can't say I really liked it, since pretty much everything I've ever had from them has been undrinkable. At least they're consistent! Dave assures me that the 5am Saint is drinkable, so I guess I'll have to keep trying their beers one at a time until something actually hits. I imagine that when Brew Dog figures out how to brew beer that matches their marketing genius, they'll take over the world.

Saturday morning we were up early for the traditional morning at Regina's premiere haute couture food establishment, Mr. Breakfast. With a name like that, it's hard to imagine all the goodness that goes on within those walls, but I find too many locals don't know and love this awesome greasy spoon as much as I do.

The giant Molson M billboard above the place is just a bonus.

Here you see Dave and Nathan K. late Saturday night after the Bushwakker Brewer's Dinner. Lots of beer with the meal, plus an import list of impressive girth = happy boys.

Given that Nathan took one for the team with the Half Pints W, I only thought it fair to vindicate his beer loving spirit with this shot for all of you to enjoy.

Hey Ken, that's your bottle of Pickard's in the bottom left corner, too. It's famous!

All in all, a fun week topped by some silliness and general good times. Thanks to the ALES Club for being the gracious hosts that they are and making the week fun to work at.

Nathan Takes One For The Team

2011-04-02T09:18:00.000-05:00

Here you see Nathan K., illustrious President of the Winnipeg Brew Bombers, taking one for the whole team. Hopefully, more of you will want your photo taken with

W

We also recieved this very interesting e-mail this morning regarding bulk packaging of W:

We are so pleased that ordering the revolutionary new Half Pints W is so easy. How you folks managed to allow us to bottle our own is brilliant. We have now become a bulk Half Pints W store. Regrettably, we are unable to offer Air Miles Reward Miles with purchase.

Our only issue is from our Quality Control department who, being very vigilant, alerted us to the very alarming amounts of dihydrogen monoxide contained in every bottle of Half Pints W. You may consider being proactive, and removing this nasty chemical from your fine product, since it has been scientifically proven time and again that water insects, and indeed, eels and fish procreate within vast amounts of this pervasive liquid. A suggested alternative may involve dehydration of the product, which may make it easier to bottle.

Thanks again for introducing such a brilliant product that will no doubt put Winnipeg on the map for generations.

Ben Rusch, Store Manager

River + Osborne Liquor Mart

Our Newest "Beer"

2011-04-01T08:53:00.002-05:00

Half Pints is pleased to announce the release of our newest world class brew,

W

What is W you ask?

It's our fantastical first foray into the world of macrobrewing. We figure we've dominated the craft beer realm for much too long, what with our beers garnering attention in various books, magazines, and websites.

W

is produced using only the finest malt, hop and yeast as per our regular brews, but the thing that sets W apart from all the rest is its smooth drinkability and its crisp, clean finish. We've never heard a beer described like this ever before.

Here's what our fans have to say about their first taste of W:

"This is by far the most thirst quenching beer I've ever had!" - Jeremy W.

"The specially patented fizzeration-nation-carbonation in this is so smooth, you'd be hard pressed to get bloated on it. Hell, I could drink eight glasses like this a day!" - Zachary M.

"This beer is so light, I bought a whole tank so I could use it to blow up ballons for my kid's parties" - HR Puffinstuff

Here's our original concept art for W:

As you can see, the styling is truly original. We decided not to use our regular designers so we could come up with something so cool that everyone would want to run to their kitchen and grab one right now. Oh, sorry, you didn't hear?

Yes that's right. Half Pints W is now on tap in your house! Get to your kitchen and try it now!

Click this video below for a commercial. We've spared no expense with this one, and spent over ten billion dollars getting it just right, since it was editied by faeries of the wood.

FOR TODAY ONLY: stop by to have your photo taken with the newest world class beer from Half Pints Brewing Company and we'll post your photo up here for everyone to see!

W, you can't live without it! (TM)

Sometimes, I really feel sorry for their brewers...

2011-03-04T12:33:00.000-06:00

What does it say about a company's beer when the best the marketing department can come up with is some bs about the carbonation?

Think I'm biased?

Click here or here.

Suffice to say, pulling full page ads in the FP isn't going to make public sentiment any better for these guys. People aren't stupid when it comes to beer anymore. They know when an ad man is trying to stick his hands into their pockets while offering nothing but snake oil in return.

Here's the long and short of it:
No matter how you add co2 to a beer, it will normalize at a specific volume in a beer in relation to temperature and pressure. Breweries test for co2 absorption all the time. We spec our beer at 2.4 - 2.7 volumes. Your standard macrobrewery beer like Molbatt's will usually have a co2 level of 3 to 4 volumes of co2 in solution. Soda pop clocks in at around 4 to 5. So for years, big breweries have been skating the hairy edge of soda pop territory.

Obviously, carbonating a beer less is going to give you less of that gassy full feeling that everyone knows is a classic character of mega brewery beer. It's possible that their taste panels at the brewery are becoming more educated in regards to what real beer tastes like and having a gassy, bloated feeling after too many beers at the hockey game is finally unacceptable.

So, while the geniuses at this company were trying to sell their fizzy yellow water, along comes someone who screws up carbonating the beer one day.

"Hey, try the beer in that tank, it's our regular beer, but less carbonated"

"That's not bad, and it's not as gassy so lets have six more"

And so the marketing department jumps all over it like white on rice and the rest of us are left shaking our heads because now they're pumping millions into an ad campaign to sell yellow water.

The real interesting thing is this:
Given leftover sugars and bottled or filled into a cask, those amazing yeast cells in beer will gobble up the sugar and produce co2 on a molecular level, thereby microcarbonating a beer. But of course, that's how beer has been made for five thousand years, so there was no need to patent it as an industrial process.

The unfortunate thing is that yeast can't do anything if you've clairified the beer with gelatin or isinglass, filtered with diatomaceous earth, micro/sterile filtered, added chemical yeast inhibitors like sulfites, and finally pasteurized the beer for an extended shelf life. All or some of these methods are what's used by large breweries to "help" their beer through the process.

If you ask me, the ancient sumerians have a case on their hands. This young, upstart company based in the USA is trying to profit from centuries old technology.

Imagine how ridiculous it would look if your local baker came up to you and said "Hey, I've got this new bread that I used less flour in than yesterday's bread. Pay me like you would for my regular bread because I've got ads running in all the local papers today."

Fail

Flavour Training Success!

2011-02-25T11:28:00.002-06:00

By all accounts the first Flavour Training Course was a rousing success. We actually ended up shortening up the number of nights and took on a few more flavours on the second and third nights so everyone could free up their Thursday evening.

Click here to see the view from Colin's tasting notes.

Thanks to all who participated - we're really looking forward to the next course in March.

In other news:

The Growing Local conference is this weekend and for those of you local foodies and farmers, we're happy to provide some tasty beverages to this intelligent local event. Say hi to Chris at our booth during the dinner this evening and grab yourself some local treats from the Chefs.

$ellout $tout release day is on Saturday. Doors open at 9am, while we do have about 20 cases more of it this year vs. last, don't expect it to last the whole day. Be here early, or sleep in and hear the never ending stories about how great it is from your friends who know how to set their alarm clocks and are strangely unwilling to share their bottles. The way I see it, if Kyle can be organized enough to make it here from Lethbridge, surely some Winnipeg folks can be here to huddle up and keep him warm out there!

The week of April 11th, I'll be in Regina judging beers for the ALES Club National Homebrewing Competition. Those of you out there who brew beer at home can send their entries into the Regina competition for judging. Winners automatically advance to the NHC First Round in the states, and winners from Regina have done quite well on the international stages in the past.

On Friday evening, April 15th, we'll be hosting a beer dinner along with the Chefs and staff at Beer Bros. Half Pints' beers are on tap there regularly, so we'll have plenty of interesting pairings for the crowd.

Catastrophic Failure and New Date Coded Cases

2011-02-18T15:16:00.000-06:00

For those of you who haven't heard, we had a batch of St. James Pale Ale that decided it would give us some trouble during fermentation and make life generally miserable. We pulled the pin and dumped the whole 4000L. rather than make our St. James fans suffer the unbearable horrors at the drinking of this off-spec beer.

This is the first time in Half Pints' history that we've decided to dump an entire batch cause it didn't meet our specifications, and rather than hide that fact away and let you all wonder why the hell you can't find the beer on the shelf or at your favourite local pub, we wanted everyone to know why.

So there you go. Quality not quantity - says it right there on the box, it's not just lip service. It tasted nasty, so we dumped it.

Moving on...

On that subject, it just so happens that at the same time, we've been working on a method of batch tracking and labelling our cases. This week, we started labelling all the 6 packs that are coming off the bottling line with a "bottled on date" in a clearly legible form. This way, real beer lovers can see clearly when their beer was bottled.

Look for the stickers on the bottom left of the beer description panel.

For example, a St. James Pale Ale 6 pack labelled with this sticker:

15.02 pkg1

2011.246

was bottled on:

15th February - 1st tank of the day

2011 - Batch #246

Over the next couple of weeks as the stock is depleted at stores, you'll see these new labeled cases popping up.

All this begs the question: why we haven't decided to put a best before date on our beer?

Ideal storage conditions are dark, cold, free from vibrations and free of wild temperature swings. So basically, a fridge. When was the last time you went blindfolded and shopped for beer in a walk in cooler? My last venture was in Edmonton at Sherbrooke Liquors, but Jim there was at least kind enough to turn on the lights for me. That's one store out of 1500 I've been to over the last 18 years - not exactly great odds there.

Simply put, we have no control over how our beer is treated out in the trade. Besides, no one can predict how quickly any beer would go off because every store treats beer differently. And, rather than add sulphites, sorbates and subject our beer to the evils of micro filtration, our method has always been to brew great beer first.

Cause in the end, brewing great beer is what it's all about. No more, no less.

2011-01-27T10:46:00.004-06:00

Flavour Training

Thanks all for the great response to the Flavour Training Courses.

We've sold out both courses we had planned quite quickly. We're taking names now for a potential course in late March, and if we have 20 people to take it, I'll go ahead and run the course for them.

Cask Nights

As you can see on the front page of our website, there's a of cask night coming up in the near future. For those of you unfamiliar with cask ale here's the Wikipedia definition:
"Cask ale or cask-conditioned beer is the term for unfiltered and unpasteurised beer which is conditioned (including secondary fermentation) and served from a cask without additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure."

Some breweries like to serve their cask ale through a "beer engine" which is basically a hand pump to get the beer into a glass. We prefer the gravity method because it's relatively idiot proof. Pop a cask on the counter, hammer the tap into it and serve directly into glasses via gravity. This also leads to some interesting keg tapping routines where everyone gets sprayed with beer. Check out a video here.

$ellout $tout

There's a batch of our $ellout $tout that will be wakened shortly from its six month + slumber in the barrels. Now that we've got the labels here and some time, we'll be getting down to business and bottling the beer up. Keep your eyes on our front page for a date.

For those of you who preferred Chris' Rigamarole Rye, we'll be filling the barrels with one more batch of that beer before we retire them. It won't be ready till sometime in late August, though.

February 1st, 2006

Remember that day? We certainly do!
It's the first day that Half Pints officially began business in our location on Keewatin Street. We've come a long way in the five years since the days of staff meetings at the picnic table.

We don't count our official anniversary until August 9th, since that's the day that we actually started selling beer to the public.

The first few months were a maddening salad of inspections, red tape, contractors and planning. Looking back it's hard to believe we got through it without killing someone.

We're planning our some beers for the coming year and have some fun stuff coming down the pipeline.

Cheers! Brewmaster Dave

Flavour Training Course Info

2011-01-18T14:00:00.014-06:00

One of the most important things I learned at brewing school was to identify flavours in beer and be able to competently speak about them and get what I tasted across to others.

A few years after I finished my schooling, these same flavour training courses came in handy as I wrote my BJCP exam while living and brewing in Regina.

We're running a Flavour Training Seminar here at the brewery on February 21st, 2011 thru to February 24th, 2011 at 7pm - 9pm each night. During the four night course, we'll tackle 24 different flavours in beer, using a sample spiking kit that replicates the abuses that beer can be subjected to.

The cost is $60 + taxes per person and the class size is limited to 20 people total.

We'll taste the beers, discuss the samples, go over where the flavours tasted might be appropriate, and go into some solutions regarding the avoidance of off flavours in beer.

If you'd like to sign up, drop into the brewery and pay for your spot - Vanessa will have a sign up sheet so we know who's reserved their seat by paying. You can also reserve by phone by speaking with Vanessa and giving her your VISA or Mastercard numbers.

If there's enough interest, we'll also run a course on March 7th - 10th, 2011

FAQ:

Why do I want to train my palette to pick out off flavours in beer? Simply put, an educated palette raises the bar for everyone when it comes to beer. You can help spread the word for good beer everywhere.
$60? That's a lotta scratch - why is the course so expensive? To cover the cost of the beer we need to use to do the spiked sampling, the kit to do the spiking, as well as the course handouts, and some palette cleansing breads/crackers and such, not to mention my time for the course prep and teaching. How much do you think accepting bad beer will cost you over your lifetime?
I've got too much going on that week, why don't you run the course on ______ date? Read above - we'll be having another course in March to accommodate more people. If there's enough interest after that, we'll even run another course in late March.
If I train my palette to pick out all these off flavours, then how am I ever going to enjoy my ______ beer again? You probably won't look at beer the same again after this course, but it pays to have the knowledge to know the difference between good and bad beer.
I once got served a beer at a pub that tasted "funny", how can this course help me avoid this? If you've been trained, you can pick out dirty beer lines, bad glass washing techniques, and old, stale draft, etc. You'll learn how to send the beer back and make suggestions as to where the problem might stem from, without sounding like a jerk.
I brew my own beer at home. Will this help me improve my homebrewing skills? Knowing why your beer tastes the way it does is the first step towards improving your brewing skills. We started as homebrewers and know the value in being our own worst critics. You can brew world class beer at home but sometimes it helps to have a little push in the right direction first.

Any other questions regarding the course can be posted here or sent to info@halfpintsbrewing.com
Hope to see you there,
David Rudge,
Brewmaster/President
Half Pints Brewing Company
EDIT: FAQ #7 - Why don't you offer the course over 4 weeks? 4 days in a row is too hard to block out - c'mon man I'm busy!
You'll find that tasting the beers gets easier after the first night and you become almost hyper sensitive to faults. With a week off in between, the learning is more difficult. 4 nights in a row hammers home the learning and makes you a better taster.
FAQ #8 So why not just do the whole course in one night? Pallete fatigue sets in and you can't taste much after 6-10 small samples. Ever try to drink a St. James Pale Ale after having 6 Little Scrappers? Same deal.

January 20, 2010 UPDATE: There's been plenty of interest in the February course so we've added a second session in March

March 7th - 10th from 7pm - 9pm each night we'll be running the Flavour Training Course again. Same details as above, call Vanessa at our front desk (832-7468) or stop by to register.

Regional Differences

2011-01-13T13:59:00.010-06:00

Canada's a big place, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that breweries from coast to coast exhibit vast differences in brewing ideology. There's an odd mix of politics, the local water's mineral content, the provincial liquor authority, and so much more that all play into the unique quality of a beer.

We see these differences played out in the mature American craft beer market with East Coast IPA's like a DFH 60 Minute vs. West Coast IPA like Green Flash IPA. Worldwide, we see the differences with a great malty example of an English Barleywine like JW Lees vs. a ridiculously hoppy American Barleywine like Avery's Hog Heaven which verges on Double IPA territory.

What got me thinking about this was the recent release of the Brewer's Association's 2011 Style Guidelines. This nifty document serves to neatly classify beers for judging purposes at competitions in the states such as the World Beer Cup or the Great American Beer Festival. Every year, brewers look at these guides and scratch their heads wondering where they could classify some of the beers from their roster if they were only willing to pigeonhole their creations and try to win a medal of some sort.

What the guide doesn't do is seriously take Canada into consideration when formulating their opinions of what differentiates certain beers from others. Quite honestly, that's a great thing because as Canadians we're likely to never be subjected to an awards ceremony where someone says "and the award for the best Prairie-Style Northern English IPA Whisky Barrel Aged On Apple Wood with Fresh Lakeside Hops goes to:"

Such is the strangeness of the Brewer's Association's task: every year, some brewery puts out an unclassifiable boundary pushing beer that beer lovers rave about and the constant one-upsmanship generally ends in a pissing match over that particular beer's defining characteristic. So they throw in a new category until slowly they have 140+ styles defined where once there were 8-12. I was kinda hoping that this year, they'd classify the freeze distilled slop that was bottled in a taxidermist's squirrel from the guys at Brewdog in Scotland. God knows what the world needs is all the brewers trying to one up each other with their taxidermy skills rather than their actual brewing.

Having worked in three different western provinces, I can safely say beer lovers in Canada have been more willing to accept these regional differences for the sake of better DRINKING beer. You know, the kind of beer you'd prefer to have a few pints of rather than a few ounces because it's just that good. People from all over Canada travel and are surprised that somewhere like (insert Canadian city name here) has something decent to drink.

It's not like the brewery they "discovered" was the best or better than any local brewery, it's just that it's different.

And in true Canadian form, simply being different is worth celebrating.

The Sigh of Relief

2010-12-30T14:18:00.005-06:00

We're coming to the end of this crazy year. It's been a busy one with the expansion of the brewery capacity - so much so, it could drive one to suck on fake cigarettes like you see Chris doing here.

Somehow, I imagine him as a french film noir superstar with such artsy shots like this one.

Those two massive (to us) new tanks made it easier for us to keep up with demand during the past few weeks. It also helps that we're not having to mess around with pre-labeling bottles anymore. Sure makes the finishing processes easier when you don't have to scramble to label bottles just to get the beers out of the tanks.

It's almost like we're a real brewery these days!

Hopefully you get to relax with your family during this time. Thank you for making us a small part of your year.

On January 3rd, we'll be back at it and planning the next few months worth of beers. Stay tuned kiddies, there's some fun stuff coming.

5th Annual Burlywine Day!

2010-11-29T12:37:00.013-06:00

For those of you in the dark about our Annual Open House, I'll give you a bit of a run-down as to why you might actually want to brave the snow and cold on December 4th, 2010 to join us for some or more of your day:

Since the first year (pictured here on the left), we've brewed one of our most recognized beers for release on the first Saturday in December. Our fans have treated this day as a bit of a reward for their fiercely loyal stance, where they get to come and sample some brews, munch on some food pairings and generally talk beer with the staff and other like minded beer lovers.

Part of our mission as brewers since day one has been to introduce Winnipeg's beer lovers to a higher consciousness regarding their favourite tipple. It's our opinion that an educated beer drinker is dangerous to the large multi-national swill factories that now produce the bulk of our nation's beer. It's not like there's a conspiracy theory involved, it's just plainly obvious what good beer tastes like and we think that if you're reading this (even if you've never tried our beer) you probably already agree.

This being our 5th year, we've gotten a little misty eyed remembering how hard it was to start up where others had failed. There have definitely been times when we thought a 5th Burlywine Day would never come, then suddenly, like a startled waking from a dream, it was upon us once again. We've come a long way since the days when Nicole could deliver beer in her old mini van.

The dream was and always has been to produce great beer right here in Winnipeg, knowing full well that it would catch on, and with the help of our customers we could educate even more people as to what goes into making that happen. I think we've achieved even more than we could've dreamed and it's time for the next step.

When we first started selling beer, Nicole and her brother had designed the original labels and boxes for the brewery in our basement at home. While they worked great for our formative years, as some of you well know, we've recently refreshed the look of our beer with help from the good folks at Guppy Graphic Design here in Winnipeg.

They look sharp, and while we go through the last of the old labels and boxes, there will be a bit of an odd switchover cause hey(!) we're from Winnipeg where waste not, want not is more than just lip service.

We'd really love to have you join us for this 5th Annual Burlywine Day. We've brewed up a special limited release of our Bourbon Burlywine using oak spirals soaked in bourbon that were added to our 2009 vintage of the Burlywine and aged for a year in our coldroom.

In the past we've raffled off leg lamps a-la "A Christmas Story". This year Nicole has ordered a Festivus Pole to raffle off in support of Winnipeg Harvest. Bring a tin for the bin and we'll give you an entry for free! Who ever wins must accept the responsibility that comes with the pole, such as the "airing of grievances" and the "feats of strength".

All this longwindedness comes down to this:

Nicole and I have decided that next year, we'll have our open house again, but it will be much longer until we brew the Burlywine again. When, we cannot say but for us, it's time we moved on and pushed some new boundaries with next year's beer. There's just so much that we haven't done and this way, we can make room for something new.

So grab your long undies, minus 40 rated boots and toques, and join us for an honest to goodness Burlywine Day one more time. We'd love to see you there so we can say thanks in person for being the wicked fans that you all are.

Cheers!

Brewmaster David Rudge

New Labeler For Movember

2010-11-16T13:52:00.024-06:00

Movember is here and while the staff are rocking their cheezey stache's, Kevin has the new labelling machine up and running. Over the next few weeks as we weed out the supply of the "vintage" labels, we'll be switching each beer over to the new designs.

Our fans have probably already noticed the new designs in at the Liquor Marts and here at the brewery. In the words of Trevor Wideman they're "fucking gorgeous" - his words, not mine, though I can't disagree with the choice thereof - especially since my wife's face in on the front of the first set to go out.

So here's the part where we ask for donations towards the cause. Click Here to make a donation to the Half Pints Movember Team and help save someone's ass, literally.

On November 27th, 2010 we'll be having a Movember Cask Night at The Lo Pub to help raise some more cash for the cause. Drink beer, save the world. Could it really get any easier?

The British Are Coming!!!!

2010-11-02T11:53:00.011-05:00

We wanted to give you some info about the upcoming British Bulldog Amber Ale so that you had all the know-how and why we gave it a shot so here goes.

We wanted to brew a 100% British ingredients version of our Bulldog. To do this we needed to get out mitts on a few different things than the tasty original brew.

We special ordered some floor malted Marris Otter 2 Row to build the base malt flavour. Why is that so special you ask? Well, malting can be a very un-romantic, heavily industrialized process. Especially when your talking large scale like our usual maltster from right here in Winnipeg does. The malt needs to be consistent so it can be relied upon to perform a certain way in the brew house. BUT, floor malting is about little inconsistencies that make for huge flavour impacts in the final brew.

Normally malt is grown in a large box of sorts and turned with giant screws, to keep it from growing together into a tightly woven mat. In floor malting, the grain is spread out on a huge floor and turned with rakes by hand. Some maltsters have automated this process slightly by introducing motorized rakes pulled along on a clothesline type device, but the principle is the same. The grain grows in a shallow heap on a floor, and needs to be turned to oxygenate it and keep it from matting.

Obviously, the process is quite expensive to do, given the space, and the manpower needed to pull off the job. However, the resulting malt is usually toasted a little deeper and the Marris Otter variety already has quite a bit of flavour given that it's generally reserved for fuller flavoured British Ales.

So we replaced the normal pale malt we use with this floor malted grain and then mashed our Bulldog as per normal.

When it came time to add the hops in, we went with 100% East Kent Goldings hops at 25% more than we usually use during the boil. We also added a larger addition of aroma hops to give the beer more punch in the glass.

The real kicker came with our yeast choice.

We chose to use a particularly finicky British Ale yeast strain that is well known to produce heavy malty flavours in beers, but also very well known for dropping out of the beer before it's finished completely fermenting. So essentially, it's like babysitting your fermenting vessel for 2 weeks, opening it up, rousing the yeast back into suspension (usually a strict no-no) just to get it to finish the job. The brewery that this yeast originally comes from has developed an elaborate system for rousing the yeast and pumping it to spray the yeast back on top of the brew for the whole day.

Finally, we chose to carbonate this beer naturally in the bottle, thereby lending a softer carbonation, but leaving a heavier skiff of yeast than normal across the bottom of the bottle. Due to the yeast's nature, it forms a thick, sticky sediment on the bottom of the bottle, that should stay put while you're decanting it into a glass.

The bottle conditioning process can be a little tricky in a large scale brewery environment. Homebrewers do it all the time, and it's relatively easy to stir some sugar into a 23 liter batch and bottle it up, but when your talking about 1000 liters of beer, it can be a nightmare to get every bottle to carbonate evenly.

This beer is REAL ALE in it's truest sense of the term, and something that enthusiasts seek out regularly because the flavours really are quite different than your average everyday beer. Hopefully you get a chance to come here on November 6th, 2010 to pick up a case of the beer for yourself.

We'll release the beer at 9am that day, and we're not limiting how much people pick up for themselves.

In Other News:

There's still lots of Punk N' Fest beer in case you missed out. Thanks to all who came out and enjoyed the bands!

The Sweet Nikki Brown will be ready to go this weekend, check out our snazzy new boxes that it'll be packaged in. We've labeled the new run with some older labels simply to help use up the stock. The new labels will be in and on the beer shortly.

Burlywine Day is coming December 4th.

Photo's From The Road

2010-10-15T11:18:00.006-05:00

Here's just a couple of quick photo's that Erika took during our tour of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Here you see the lucky cask tapper at The Sugar Bowl in Edmonton. Spraying beer is just part of the fun of tapping a new cask. He actually got a pretty sweet hit on the tap head and lost very little in the way of precious brew.

Here you see the gang's got their pints of uber hoppy Oktoberfest to enjoy during the evening of conversation. Thanks go out to the folks from the Edmonton Homebrewer's Guild who were there, as well as the folks from Alley Kat who came to support the evening. Alley Kat are usually the ones who supply the casks for these events at The Sugar Bowl.

Here's a snap of our tasting at Kawa in Calgary. Much thanks to Alex for being a gracious host, and to the folks from Wild Rose and Brewster's who came to enjoy an evening of tasty brews, too.

There were definitely some faces I recognized there and I'm sure the more often I come out, the more names I'll remember!

Our tasting in Lethbridge was well attended, with members of the Werthogs coming out to support, and lots of fans there to try some of the rarities we brought. We finished the night off at Plum, which was a wonderful local restaurant. Thanks go out to the folks out there at the Andrew Hilton store. Next time I'm out, I definitely have to make time for a side trip for the fly fishing. I'll bring my hip waders!

The Medicine Hat Beer fest was a blast with about double the attendance originally expected. I've made note elsewhere that it was a bit of a more refined crowd, so there were less drunken frat boy antics, which I appreciate immensely. I was also surprised at the roving groups of ladies searching out the darkest beers on every table. Good on ya!

The trip wound up with an evening of fine food and beverages at Beer Bros. in Regina. Thanks go out to the whole crew there for running an magnificent event. We packed them into the dining room, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Each course of the five course meal was presented as a trio on the plate. We were able to give some beer history as it relates to Half Pints, and Chef BJ Byrne was able to wax poetic about his choices for the food pairings and special techniques involved.

Highlights from the event were:

Royal Miyagi Oysters with gastric (a white wine and shallot broth of sorts) paired with Humulus Ludicrous
Thai vegetable curry with sweet sushi rice paired with Little Scrapper
Sea Bass ale ceviche with Bulldog
Rabbit Rouladen with Oktoberfest
a toss up between Almond frozen Souffle and Stir Stick Truffles paired with the Stir Stick

Thanks to our Alberta sales force of one, Erika for helping to organize the events and timing. Thanks to Nicole for helping me get my act together while on the road. Without her, I'd be sleeping in a box in some dark alleyway.

Dr. Half Pints and The Medicine Show

2010-09-02T14:40:00.008-05:00

Half Pints On Tour

It has come to our attention that not everyone wants to visit Winnipeg in the middle of January for beer releases, or even just to experience the crunch of bone dry snow in the minus 40 weather. With that in mind, Brewmaster Dave Rudge will make a whirlwind tour of the prairie provinces in late September.

After being in business for 4 years, we thought it was about time we took the show on the road. We get emails every day saying "we discovered your beer in X town" (not Winnipeg) "and we really wish we'd drank more then or brought more home". Fear not Half Pints lover's, cause we're bringing the Medicine Show to you!

September 28 - Edmonton Cask Night @ The Sugar Bowl

Thanks to our good friend Jason Foster at onbeer.org, the folks in Edmonton now enjoy cask beers on a monthly basis at the Sugar Bowl. If you've never had cask beer, you're missing out. Good cask beers are like angels pissing on your tongue (as a fellow from Herefordshire once told me) and the search for them is a lifelong mission for some.

Given that we're straddling the Oktoberfest weekend, I figured we should bring some dry hopped Oktoberfest in the cask. Last time tried a cask like this (in Regina) we had much too much of a good time.

September 29 - Calgary Beer Tasting @ Kawa Espresso Bar

Alex and crew at Kawa Espresso Bar have got some good beer events going and we're coming to give the people of Calgary a show they'll never forget. Here's the beer list:

Bulldog Amber Ale, Phil's Pils, Punk N' Fest, Rigamarole Rye, Humulus Ludicrous, $ellout $tout.

Yep, you read it right. Not one, not two, but three relatively rare beers in that tasting for all to enjoy. Beer tickers be warned, these are only available that night at Kawa Espresso Bar. We will not be retailing Punk N' Fest, Rigamarole, or the $ellout in Alberta.

September 30 - Lethbridge Tasting @ the Andrew Hilton store

Kyle from Andrew Hilton drove 14 hours to Winnipeg in the dead of January to get our $ellout $tout so, if I'm only a couple hours away, I figured we best get on down to Lethbridge for an in store tasting to say thanks. We'll have some regulars, plus a few oddities for the folks there to enjoy.

October 1- Medicine Hat Medicine Hat Beer Fest

Trackside Liquors in Medicine Hat carry all our beers, so when they asked if we'd like to come out to a beer fest they were working on with the Medicine Hat Lodge, we set up the whole Travelling Medicine Show around it. Erika and I will be pouring beers at the fest and answering questions for the beer lovers of the Hat and all points beyond.

I will remember fondly my summer spent living in a tent on the side of the hill in Veinerville over looking the valley and Medicine Hat. We drank pitchers of beer at the Captain's Cabin with multiple pounds of hot wings. We dared to eat the 25 cent hot dogs at the Corona when we bought our $2.25 beers. I played a punk show at Big Log and laid sod in Veinerville cause Tony needed it done. Good times for all.

October 2 - Regina Brewer's Dinner at Beer Bros.

Matt, Chef Malcolm and the crew at Beer Bros. in Regina will welcome us again with open arms for a beer dinner at the popular downtown destination. For those of you unfamiliar with Beer Bros., it is the only beer bar I know of in Western Canada with such an extensive and ever evolving beer list. Guaranteed they're going to have something on the menu I've never had, and just have to try. And I'm sure you can imagine, I've had a few different beers in my day.

We've done multiple beer dinners now at the restaurant, and all have been fantastic, with each better than the last. Matt assures me that if the sold tickets burst past the capacity of the events room, they'll be opening up the dining room for the event. Come on people, let's show em' some love for being the sweet beer bar that they are!

Pictured here is one of my favourite courses from a few dinners back. Stir Stick Stout Stew with Oven Fresh Biscuits and a Bacon Stir Stick.

Come with an open mind, leave satisfied.

Regina will be the only Canadian city with Humulus Ludicrous on tap. The last one at Beer Bros. sold out in under three hours. And just cause that's how we roll, they'll be getting the Oktoberfest Lager on tap, too. There'll be 4 kegs of each since Matt already has them ordered.

In other news:

Punk N' Fest

Mark October 30th, 2010 on your calender for this year's Punk N' Fest. We'll be bottling up a whole tank (2800 bottles give or take a few) and will release them at 9am that day. Stick around though, as we'll have our Pumpkin Carving Contest again, prizes for best costumes, and a few bands playing in the warehouse for your enjoyment.

We've got Transistor 66 labelmates on board and we'll be announcing the bands once we've confirmed 100% with them. Suffice to say, they all kick ass and you would be remiss in sitting at home waiting for the snow to fall.

Brews We're Working On:

Humulus & Oktoberfest - September 15th

We've been putting together the ingredients for a new batch of a one off beer in the same fashion as our Black Scrapper IPA. The British Bulldog will be a 100% British Real Ale using floor malted Marris Otter, crystal malts, and goldings hops. The kicker for this beer will be the fact that it will be a traditional English ale yeast, and then bottle conditioned. This will leave sediment in the bottle, but is a more traditional method of carbonating beer of this style. No release date yet, but we'll keep you in the loop.

Sweet Nikki Brown - early November

Burlywine, Bourbon Burlywine, Vintage Burlywine - December 4th

$ellout $tout - January 15th

All the cool cats dig Half Pints

2010-08-24T09:36:00.003-05:00

Hi,

I thought you would be interested to see the attached picture. We picked up a case of Half Pints to take back to friends in BC and our cat decided that it makes a great podium – without any prompting from us!

Jane and Les M.

Vacation Time...

2010-08-17T14:23:00.003-05:00

Nicole and I really enjoy being able to get away sometimes. Thankfully the folks at the brewery know what they're doing and can be left to their own devices these days with little to no worries.

We're not fancy about it. Trips usually involve a car and road trip mentality that results in some interesting finds. Last time out we found the best Mexican food we've ever eaten... in Fergus Falls no less. How is it that this tiny town with boarded up fast food joints can support such a sweet restaurant? Hmm... THE FOOD DOESN'T SUCK!

Wouldn't that be a great rule for business?

How to succeed in business:

Don't suck.

Class dismissed, hand in your exams at the front for me to grade. If they don't say "Don't Suck", you fail, better luck next time.

So the main crux of this rant is that with the help of Scott, I came across a highly recommended beer store in Moorhead. They had a small, but relatively aggressive selection of tasty beers for sale. The beauty is that they also had Surly beers available, too. So nut's to you Minneapolis - I don't have to drive 8 hours now to get a fix of Furious, just to Fargo where the weather was fine this weekend, donchya know?

It always amazes me the choice in a free market system when it comes to craft beer. This would explain the growth that craft beer segment of the market has attained in the last 5 years. What was previously thought of as impossible has been surpassed by growth while the bikini ad foisting drivel brewers keep having to consolidate just to keep their heads above water.

How does this relate to us? Well, Rule #1 states "Don't Suck", so we don't. It's a pretty simple outlook. People have their faves they stick with and every once in a while we send out something different just for the hell of it.

We're proud of Chris and his Rigamarole Rye as it was a resounding success. Folks seem to be enjoying it, and for that, we thank you all.

We've got some Humulus and Oktoberfest coming down the pipe on September 15th. Both beers will be shipped to Alberta in small quantities, while Saskatchewan will be seeing both on tap at Beer Bros. in Regina.

Check out the front page here at the website for details and dates on Dave's whirlwind Western Canadian tour. Hopefully you live somewhere close so we can chat beer together.

Cheers!

Rigamarole Day!

2010-08-04T11:49:00.008-05:00

Saturday, August 7th is Rigamarole Day.

This is the first beer out of Half Pints that Brewer Chris has completely designed and brewed from the ground up. Its a rye beer with boatloads of caramel notes from a 31 hour boil (standard is 1 hour-ish) and hopped up with Willamette and Centennials. It clocks in at 9.5% a/v and 58 IBU.

The coup de grace with this brew is the 6 months this one spent in our oak barrels, just maturing, taking up that lovely vanilla note from the wood, and mellowing the hop bitterness.

Come congratulate Chris on his brew and all the hard work that went into it, then celebrate Half Pints' 4th anniversary. Its supposed to be a warm day, so don't forget your sunscreen if the lineup is huge.

Other News
Looks like we'll be taking the show on the road in late September for a Western Canadian tour. Medicine Hat on October 1st is a shoe in given that there's a cool beer festival going on. We'll keep you posted as to further dates as they firm up.

Phil's Pils is coming down the pipeline. We've currently got kegs available in limited quantities, but another tank full will be ready shortly and we'll be bottling it for sale from the brewery only.

Photo Dump

2010-07-08T11:12:00.015-05:00

It's been a while since I dumped the photos from my crackberry, and in that time, we've done too much to remember. Thankfully, I have this evidence to remind me...

Here we see Chris brewing up his batch of Rigamarole Rye - set to be released on August 7th, 2010 at 9a.m. Be here or be dissapointed. Notice the intense concentration: after all, he did design and brew this one all by himself.

Here's Ethan and I at the Snake Pits by Narcisse, Nicole and Conor were behind the camera.

Delivery day for the new 40 Hl. fermentation tanks. Here you see the guys getting set to turn the second tank and attach it to the forklift.

Here you see the tanks upright and in place after a relaxing breakfast with Ami, on a particularily busy, rainy morning.

The photo of the Chicken Hat/Bison's Hat and the lovely hand shaped bottle opener were from our Garageland Scavenger Hunt with the University Radio Station. Two hilarious items, but I didn't get a picture of Qwesty the question mark (our week 2 winner), sorry!

Slam That, Try This

2010-06-03T14:31:00.002-05:00

We had a bit of a shaker over at ours last night for the brewery staff - using the Stanley Game 3 as an excuse... like we need an excuse to drink great beer.

Fun was had by all, even though the game didn't turn out as we'd hoped.

Our trading rule at the brewery worked out well, as we tried a few great beers from around the world. I was particularily impressed by the folks at Railway City Brewing for their lovely Dead Elephant Ale.

Keep us in mind if you find tasty beer on your summer travels.

In the news
Look for my goofy mug in this weekend's Free Press - I'll post a link to the article when I'm back from the weekend. Basically, we don't do lime beer - I've ranted here about it before, so I won't subject you to more. Suffice to say, micro's need to be leaders in the beer community, not blind followers. For all we know, the big guys bought stock in lime fields and they're trying to jack up the prices.

Black IPA News
Our Black IPA should be ready for release on the 19th of June. This is a limited beer release, with approximately 120 x 24's of the beer available. We'll open the doors at 9a.m. sharp, and I think it'd be reasonable to put a 24 bottle cap per person on the purchases.

We're not doing any fancy packaging or labels with this one, since it is the Scrapper recipe we used as a base, that's what we're labeling it as and charging for. It does however, have a boatload of finishing hops in the brew and as such is much more aromatic and oily than the regular scrapper.

Missing the point...

2010-05-07T13:05:00.005-05:00

This story ran in the Free Press this morning.

I wholeheartedly agree with MyhonestOPINION and certainly not just because we own the last of Manitoba's ONLY locally owned and operated breweries.

As my lovely wife, Nicole pointed out to some folks at a business meeting not too long ago, it's silly to feature Homecoming commercials, advertising, and propaganda that make people who've moved away think things haven't changed here since 1975. With that attitude, you'd be further ahead to stay wherever you've moved to rather than coming home for a much needed visit. God knows with all the big box outlets, super centers, and chain restaurants you might as well stay home, since you'd be hard pressed in some areas of the city to think you're not in the same nameless decrepitude of sameness in any number of North American cities.

Instead of featuring places that Manitobans remember as being better than they really are, it'd be nice if they'd feature the future of Manitoba. I can think of a few off the top of my head, as I'm sure you can, too.

To put this in terms that Mr. Walters (a former music industry guy) might understand:

Would Manitobans really be having a social featuring Nickelback instead of The Weakerthans?

I seriously doubt it.

So why should they expect anything less in their beer?

Brews News

2010-05-03T13:40:00.005-05:00

All is right with the world of beer, although you never guess it given how quiet it's been on our blog here.

Over the past few weeks, we've been on a whirlwind tour of all points so I'll try to sum it up best I can.

A.L.E.S. Club NHC 1st Round Qualifier Competition
For the last few years we've sponsored the Sour Ale category at this national homebrew competition held at our old stomping grounds in Regina. This year's competiton took a decidedly relaxed position to judging the beers and there were some real quality entries as per usual.

As a beer judge, sometimes you get to taste some really amazing beers and sometimes you have to troubleshoot problems for homebrewers. Thankfully, we had more of the former, and you can see the level of competition getting stiffer as the event matures. We specifically sponsor the Sour Ales category to get people brewing these "throw caution to the wind" syles, and I dig em, even if I'd probably never unleash the bacteria required to brew them in my own brewery.

You can check out my Sunday morning lowdown on the event and our wicked brewers dinner at Beer Bros. right here. Chef Malcolm's a delight to work with and the type of guy you just wanna drink beers with. Great attributes for a passionate chef!

Brew Ha Ha @ the Winter Club
We had a great meal at the Winter Club for the annual Brew Ha Ha event. Fortunately, we were able to tag team the night and sample some beers out at a Scotch tasting right across the hall from the dinner. Fun was had by all, and designated drivers were certainly a requirement for the scotch folks.

In other news:
Turns out that Fritz Maytag has sold his stake in the Anchor Brewing Company. While this isn't news in itself and may seem too far away to make a difference, it is important to understand the maturity of the craft beer market in the good ol' USofA.

Mr. Maytag has been a tireless champion for craft brewing in general, and as such has earned his stripes (so to say) and his retirement in fine form. Congrat's on sticking to your guns, Mr. Maytag and saving a piece of brewing history for another generation to enjoy.

Wheat Chiefs:
The Weizen Heimer is making waves at the Liquor Marts and further, with plans to ship a few out the Alberta way. If you're in Calgary this weekend, don't forget to stop by the Palomino for the Transistor 66 Rock and Roll Weekender. 2 nights, good bands, no kidding. Something tells me they won't be doing any line dancing or "booty shake competitions" at their Palomino. Not like Winnipeg's Palomino at all, there's probably less cougar print halter tops to boot. WOOO!

Closer to home:
Chris has tasted his brew from the barrels and says he's getting close to wanting to release it. We'll keep everyone updated as to when so they've got fair warning. In the meantime, we'll have to get some labels together for it and get another brew ready for the empty barrels.

It's interesting to note how many of the $ellout bottles are making their way across Canada and the world. If you check out the reviews for it on Ratebeer or Beeradvocate, you can see people from everywhere are enjoying it. For those who aren't, they've proved my reason for brewing it in the first place. It's fun to brew beers that don't arbitrarily fit beer geek definitions. Does it fit a style, no. Is it an enjoyable romp in the beery hay, yes!

Tank you, tank you, tank you:
A brewery upgrade is in the works with a couple new quadruple sized unitanks in production as we speak courtesy of our friends at Newlands in Abbotsford, BC. It'll be about 4 weeks before the new tanks come online and will help to ease the summer pressure and demand for the St. James Pale Ale a bit.

Ontari-ari-o:
Still waiting for the LCBO to release the shipment of beer that's been pre-ordered and pre-paid for by our beer fans in "central Canada" <--- that makes me smirk every time I hear it. Sorry, I couldn't resist. In actuality, it's only been booked in their system since April 12th, but it seems longer given that in other provinces we can ship out an order on Friday, and have fans drinking it by the next weekend. I have a feeling that beer fans in Ontario feel a lot like Mr. Miyagi trying to catch houseflies with chopsticks. Every once in a while they get one, and yet somehow, it still feels like beginners luck.

Let's hope everything shakes out before too long. In the meantime I plan on standing around like Daniel LaRusso, waiting...

Cheers,
Brewmaster Dave

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2010-03-29T03:14:00.001-05:00

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One outta 1001 ain't bad.

2010-03-25T14:58:00.003-05:00

I picked up a copy yesterday of "1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die" and thanks go out to Stephen Beaumont and the publishers who felt inclined to recognize our Humulus Ludicrous as one of those 1001.

This is the third time in less than a year that Half Pints has ended up in print as part of the national history of beer by being included in the conversation about what makes real craft beer in Canada so damn good. You can see that where a national identity with regards to craft beer had been lacking due in part by the majors sucking so hard at brewing anything worth drinking - case in point. While the big guys continue to grasp at straws like an 18 year old at a 80's dance party, craft brewers continue to hone their skills and stick it to them.

Congratulations therefore are offered to all the Canadian breweries mentioned in the book, but especially:
The Bushwakker for their Palliser Porter - my old Alma mater has brewed this dark porter regularly since day one. It's from an old homebrew recipe that Bev had won a national award for. Just like Mozart never goes out of style, so it is with the Palliser Porter.

Wild Rose for their Cherry Porter - Brewmaster Dave Neilly has some really good brews up his sleeve so we should keep our eyes out for whatever comes next.

King Brewing - my favourite Pilsner - alright Summit does a wicked one, too - but this is my favourite Canadian Pils.

In Other News:
Beer Wars is officially available for rent on MTS VOD & Shaw On Demand. Despite there being some minor quibbles about who should've or who shouldn't have been included in this look at the American Brewing industry, it's not a bad documentary overall.

The film takes a look at the American brewing industry from a craft oriented standpoint. The big guys play the Snidely Whiplash to the craft industries Dudley Do-Right, always tethering store owners to the rail lines to get market share and such.

It's interesting to me to note just how ass backwards the American three tiered distribution system is compared to the few in Canada that work the same way. It makes me feel lucky that we have the MLCC, even if it does have its faults (not unlike everywhere else).

Pothole season is just around the corner...

2010-03-03T12:23:00.006-06:00

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

2010-02-10T12:08:00.003-06:00

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.

2010-01-20T10:29:00.008-06:00

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...

2009-12-09T15:15:00.007-06:00

...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!

2009-12-05T12:09:00.005-06:00

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!

2009-11-28T12:38:00.010-06:00

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...

2009-11-17T11:54:00.009-06:00

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

2009-11-02T11:29:00.006-06:00

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!

2009-10-31T12:30:00.005-05:00

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

2009-10-27T13:41:00.008-05:00

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

2009-10-21T09:49:00.002-05:00

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...

2009-09-21T11:51:00.006-05:00

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

2009-08-29T09:39:00.005-05:00

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?

2009-08-22T11:09:00.004-05:00

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

2009-08-10T12:23:00.015-05:00

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!

2009-06-26T11:38:00.006-05:00

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'

2009-05-28T12:08:00.013-05:00

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

2009-05-16T12:15:00.003-05:00

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.

2009-05-15T13:11:00.005-05:00

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

2009-04-24T15:39:00.005-05:00

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

2009-03-19T15:20:00.002-05:00

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

2009-03-12T14:25:00.003-05:00

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?"

2009-03-09T10:53:00.008-05:00

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!

2009-02-19T11:14:00.007-06:00

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...

2009-01-21T12:14:00.011-06:00

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 ;)

Burlywine Day Photo's

2008-12-31T11:28:00.003-06:00

Kevin and Matt rock the bottling line. Rage Against The Meheen...

Dave tells the viewers how bottling by hand can cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Zach, Zach, Zach... always at the taps... Scott, too!

Special thanks to Dave Craig for these photos from Burlywine Day.

Burly Bear Hugs

2008-12-16T16:55:00.005-06:00

Hey,
Thanks to everyone who attended Burlywine Day. Our annual open house was a blast and we think it was made even better due to the new digs. As you can all see, windows in the brewery are a good thing, as well as a sweet Foosball table. Not to mention the increased space for everything which leads to a better working environment for all.

Nicole and I, along with the brewery staff - Matt, Kevin, Jeremy, Jarrod, Anthony, Will, Zach, Chris, Evan and Tom - think that you've all been pretty cool to us and we thank you for your continued support. Moving an existing business hasn't been easy, but as we work out the kinks in the new place, we think we can make you all proud that we're your local brewery.

For those of you who were worried we'd get too big for our britches, you can see we're still keeping the small brewery, BIG FLAVOUR mentality. It's what makes Half Pints the fun little craft brewery we always have been.

I'll post up pics in the next few days, and if you've got any you want to share, feel free to e-mail them to us at the brewery.

Cheers!
Brewmaster Dave

PS There's a digital camera that's been found in the upstairs tasting room. If you've mysteriously lost one, just call up and identify it. Thanks!

PPS Click here to check out the Free Press' Wine Writer Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson's review of the 2006 Burlywine as he drinks fireside a-la Stephen Colbert.

Long Live Roseberry!

2008-11-24T11:53:00.004-06:00

After a particularly trying November, the brewery is now up and running at 550 Roseberry Street.

Brewery fan and beer label collector, Dave Craig came by the other day and took these photos.

Our sign from Keewatin followed us over to the new brewery, so at least our fans will know us by sight.

You can see all the natural light in the warehouse and what a difference it makes to everyone working in the brewery.

In the coming days, the brewery staff will polish and scrub the place from the top down and we'll get brewing so we can start selling draught beer again - we've still got lots of bottles, but it seems everyone misses the draught. Go figure!

So, now that the brewery is built, that means plans must start for Burlywine Day. We've set a date of Saturday, December 13th. No so coincidentally, this will be the day we resume our regularly scheduled Saturday tours.

Some things to make note of for Burlywine Day this year:

Burlywine was recognized this past year as one of the best beers brewed in Canada by the folks at Ratebeer.com.
We always age some Burlywine in kegs and let the first people in line get a crack at it. Last year, we saved 2 kegs, but it's still not enough for everyone. As always, be here early or be square.
We've got TONS of parking at the new brewery, so it'll be easy for you all to come down and check us out. Dress warm, the lineup starts early.
Phil (of Phil's Pils fame) has convinced us that having a few of the 660 ml. bottles for sale from the brewery only is a good thing. He did not volunteer to fill them by hand, but he's the idea guy, not the logistics guy. There will be a total of 50 cases available in this format.
The rest of the Burlywine is being packaged in a snazzy 4 pack for all to enjoy. Whatever is left over at the end of the day will be sent out to our accounts, but we make no guarantee that they'll get any if the locals are thirsty.

In other news:

The constantly growing list of accounts that carry Half Pints is about to get larger. With our increased ability to supply the previously overwhelming demand, we've decided to start shipping beer out to Selkirk, Portage, and Brandon Liquor Marts. If you're a fan of Half Pints in these locales, we thank you for your patience. We know two years was a long wait, but we also know our beer is worth it. We look forward to spreading the frothy love.

As always, we listen to our fans and if any of you know another place you'd love to see our beer, please just call or drop an e-mail (info@halfpintsbrewing.com). Remember, if you don't ask for it, you'll never get it.

Local sultan of suds sees summer sales surge

2008-09-18T09:50:00.002-05:00

For those of you who haven't seen the Winnipeg Free Press this morning... here's the link.

The straight goods are that we've outgrown our facility on Keewatin Street and will be moving in the next few weeks to larger, more accomodating digs on Roseberry Street near the airport.

We've seen and done a lot of things in the past two years, but this is by far one of the most daunting tasks to date. Now that things are moving and we're starting to have the build out completed, it's all coming together.

The new location on Roseberry (soon to be renamed Rosebeery - I've made that typo several times in the last while) is not only larger for warehouse space, but for office space, parking, and easier access for all our customers and deliveries, etc. etc. etc. Hopefully, you're as excited as we are - we've even got windows in the warehouse so the beer (and the staff) doesn't get a vitamin D deficiency. Ha ha. Natural light rocks.

S'up?

2008-07-24T17:19:00.004-05:00

What's up indeed...

The brewery is obviously busy, as many of you who have been calling for kegs can attest to. So, while we do have beer on hand at all times, sometimes the keg choices can be lacking given that we may not have "your beer" in stock. Today, for example, we're out of Bulldog Amber till next Monday(ish).

Oh well, more Phil's Pils for us.

Nicole was kind enough to buy us some wings for the BBQ at the brewery today, so after ripping off a ton of beer (IPA and Pils) off the bottling line, we had a bit of a Frank's Red Hot fiesta with wings. Zach was kind enough to show the brewery guys his one bite, completely clean wing sucking technique (affectionately known as The One Suck Wing Shuck technique). I guess we all aspire to greatness in one way or another ;)

The news for right now is that we've got our big 2nd anniversary coming up and have brewed a strong Scotch ale called Grewsome for the occasion. Many of you have heard me reference the beer in relation to an off-color joke regarding kilts, scottsmen and what's missing under said kilts. Anyhoo - it's gonna be a tasty one. It's basically the polar opposite of the Humulus Ludicrous in that it's a malt barley sandwich with an extra side of malt.

It'll be released on August 9th at the brewery and will only be for sale from the brewery until it's gone. So, if you're a fan, come represent in all your glory on the morning of the 9th. We thank you for your ongoing support and have some big plans in the coming month that will amaze you.

Cheers,
Brewmaster Dave :)

Daft draught (draft if you're 'merican)

2008-05-13T16:16:00.003-05:00

$31.03 for the 5 liter Heineken mini keg

non-recyclable
needs at least 10 hours to cool before opening
it's Heineken. nuff' said.

$45.31 for the 11.3 liter Phil's Pils freshKEG

recyclable
cold when you buy it
available in other tasty flavours
doesn't taste like fizzy corn water

So, using Molson's Math 101, we should be charging $70 plus for an 11.3 liter keg of our Phil's Pils.

Ha ha, what a bunch of maroons...

Responsible Brewing

2008-04-16T11:34:00.004-05:00

Hey all,
This past weekend, I spent Sunday and Monday sampling out our beer to the folks who came to Centrex. We had a portion of a booth sponsored by the Manitoba Food Processors Association. It was neat to see all of the different locally produced foods we can get, and surprising to see how many of those we already use.

Nicole and I were having a discussion this morning over bagels and coffee about the brewery, the 100 mile diet, organics and our carbon footprint.

Now, I'll be the first to say, I'm not terribly educated when it comes to some of the issues. I do know we get requests from time to time regarding organic beer. But, the discussion this morning lead me to wonder about the carbon footprint of breweries using organic malt.

See, there's really only two options open to me as a Canadian brewer. Gambrinus Malting Company of Armstrong, BC makes an organic 2 row barley. Some of you have heard me lament of my past dealings with Gambrinus (service is not their strong point, nor is sending the right colour of malt). The guys at Nelson Brewery in BC seem to be happy - they switched a while back to all of their beers being brewed organically - and I think they're getting a good percentage of their grain from Gambrinus.

Our other option would be to use the Biomalt (it's organic) from Weyermann Malting in Bamberg, Germany. Great malt, steep price, European grown.

So, if we were to switch to using these guys for the sake of organics alone, then we'd be cancelling out any good with the diesel fuel it takes to get malt from Germany or BC, rather than simply using the locally made 2 row we currently use.

Here also we're presented with the problem of the local malt being grown across western Canada, then being blended for consistency's sake. So, the 100 mile dieters get thrust out into the cold, too. I have a feeling some people out there think that malting your own grain is pretty simple (technically it can be), but when you're talking about the volumes of grain we go through, hooking up with a local organic farmer to grow grain for us just isn't feasible.

So, where does that leave us?

I figure a few of you out there may have some ideas. The idea here is to open the discussion and maybe find a way to make it work. The hop situation (or lack thereof) isn't going to work itself anytime soon, much less allow me to be picky and demand organics, but I think if we start leaning on our suppliers and come up with some homegrown ideas, we might be able to make it happen.

Thoughts?

Pothole Porter

2008-04-01T15:02:00.002-05:00

Hey all,
Thanks to Colin for the reminder re: what new brew was coming out today. We were so busy bottling, I almost forgot!

HALF PINTS BREWING COMPANY
CELEBRATES EXPANSION AND SPRING
WITH POTHOLE PORTER

March 26, 2008 – Half Pints Brewing Company has a lot to celebrate this spring.

In the past year and a half, the staff hand labeled and bottled over 210,000 660ml bottles. Recently, the brewery purchased and installed a new bottling machine for 341ml. bottles. This new machine allows the three beers brewed throughout the year (Bulldog Amber Ale, Little Scrapper IPA, and Stir Stick Stout) to be packaged in 6 packs. While most other breweries are raising prices with the increase in costs (malt, hops, water, gas, and wages) we have reduced the prices to reflect our new efficiencies.

While based in Winnipeg, Half Pints Brewing Company is getting noticed and celebrated all over the world. Demand from outside Manitoba is high with unsolicited orders coming in from BC, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Here’s what Stephen Beaumont, beer writer and drinks expert, had to say, “the new standard-bearer for good beer in Manitoba, Half Pints Brewing of Winnipeg``.

Half Pints was also a huge hit at the Great Canadian Beer Festival in Victoria this past fall. See what North America’s longest running beer magazine, Celebrator had to say http://www.celebrator.com/archives/2007/12/gh_victoria.html . Based on the beer rating websites, ratebeer.com and beeradvocate.com, Half Pints is clearly the brewery of choice for real beer lovers in Manitoba and is certainly making its mark all over the beer world with its seasonal offerings.

Half Pints Brewing Company is celebrating spring with a brand new beer – Pothole Porter. This beer is a strong, dark ale brewed using pale, crystal, chocolate and melanoidin malts. It is finished with UK Fuggles hops, aged with French Oak, and cool fermented for a sweet, toasty malt finish.Pothole Porter will be available Tuesday, April 1st, 2008, so prepare for a total front end alignment of your senses. The beer will be available for sale in single 341 ml. bottles fresh from the brewery on Keewatin St. as well as Winnipeg’s Liquor Marts and select vendors.

Prepare thyself...

2008-03-17T20:32:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since my last update, though we've not been idle. You'd think that since today is St. Patrick's Day, I'd be out getting likker'd. Nope, sorry to disappoint you, not really my scene.

I really like the King's Head's stance regarding NO GREEN BEER. When the Free Press was reporting on all the fun stuff to do tonight, they made a point of mentioning the anti-green stance at the Head. For god's sake, who in the world thought this travesty would make you Irish for the night? Now, St. Brigid, there's a saint I can get behind. But, you never hear mention of the lady's fine deeds - turning bathwater into an endless supply of beer - I'd vote for that!

Last year, we released the Weizenbock on this day. This year, we've got the Weizenbock already out there in our snazzy new 341 ml. bottles. Apart from a few minor guffaws at the start of the week, we've got the bottling line pushing out the beer well, and tomorrow we'll give it the first full day of running, and see what it can really do.

We're down to about 12 cases of empty 660ml. bottles right now, and that means that by the end of this week, we'll be clean out of the beer in that format. For those of you (MIKE!) who will lament the passing of the large bottles... feel free to open two small ones, I won't judge you. The rest of you know that these small bottles will mean you'll be able to have a Half Pint at your favourite local watering hole, restaurant, etc. - thanks for understanding.

When the prices for every raw ingredient in beer have gone up, we could have passed along a price increase and kept bottling in the large bottles. Instead, we decided to become more efficient, and slightly more nimble on our toes, so to say. All the other breweries have been passing along increases, and for us, it just seemed to make more sense to intelligently work with what we have, and trim the area that represented the most frustrating part of our days - hand bottling.

So, how do we celebrate this vast leap forward in technology? We brew a new beer, of course.

In the tanks right now, we have a malty mouthful so black and so devastatingly delicious, it could only have been brewed in Winnipeg. The soft, roasty sweet liquid unexpectedly pulls you down into layer upon layer of flavour.

On April 1st, 2008 prepare yourself for a total front end alignment of your senses.

Regina Festiv Ale

2008-02-05T14:06:00.000-06:00

Yowza! Do the folks in Regina know how to party or what?

We had a great time at the Festiv Ale this year. Organizers Margret M. and Adele L. are a couple of classy ladies who really know how to make the participants and sponsors feel welcome. We appreciated the new venue (Connexus Arts Center) immensely, with it's brightly lit wide open spaces, tons of free parking for the DD's and easy loading/unloading space for us. I sound like a festival ad, but hey - we had fun!

Our neighbour's from Nature's Own Sausage & Meats (the booth next door) kept us filled with tasty treats while we gave the locals a taste of Winnipeg with our Bulldog Amber Ale, Stir Stick Stout, The Father and The Holy Spirit.

We found the crowd to be a knowlegeable bunch with plenty of questions for Chris and I about the beer. I have the distinct feeling that some of them were trying to test us, but unlike booths from the major brewers, we don't send tarts to do the pouring. When you see Half Pints at your local fest, you can bet someone who had their hand on your beer will be there to answer even the smallest question.

I think the relaxed atmosphere from the crowd is part of what makes this festival so fun. Yes, there were the odd comments about the Blue Bombers from the die hard watermelon heads, but they were taken in stride. It was interesting to note (and tough to miss) the giant billboard by Rawlco Radio's all talk station above Mr. Breakfast that reads: "More issues than a Bomber fan at Grey Cup." That's fine by us... every twenty years or so, the green and white go from all talk to action, so it's really fitting. We'll let them eat their cake for now.

It was good to see the brewers from Picaroon's in town as well as the crews from Paddockwood and the 'shwakk. Our assistant brewer, Chris was introduced to the craziness of a First Firkin Friday with the associated hutzpah of the mighty Firkin Wakker/Bagpipe ceremony just before we hit the festival to pour beers.

On Saturday night, we started blowing through the kegs in record time and the night was really a blur until we snapped the photo here and had a round of cheers from the crowd. We went through so much beer, we'll have to make sure we bring more next year.

Thanks to our host's, the Falkenstein family for being so welcoming - we promise to bring more coffee from Black Pearl when we're back in April for the judging of the A.L.E.S. Club National Homebrew Competition.

Toot, toot

2008-01-23T14:59:00.000-06:00

The worldwide results are in for another fine year in craft brewing and the membership at Ratebeer.com have recognized some of the hard work by Half Pints.

Click here for the skinny on the Ratebeer Best Awards 2008.

Click here for the lowdown on the Best Beers in Canada.

You'll notice that two of the award winners from Half Pints - Humulus Ludicrous and Burlywine - are not available year round. They're bigger beers (both hop and malt wise) and that's what the beer knurds tend to go for when recognizing better beers. But, we're the only western Canadian brewery with two beers on the gold medal side. Huzzah!

Looking deeper into the top 50, it's interesting to note the diversity of styles, showing that Canadian micro's aren't just one trick ponies. The range runs from something as soft as the Grand River Mill Race Mild (at 3.5% alc./vol.) all the way up to the Charlevoix Tomahawk Triple IPA (@ 11.0%). There's a big world of beer between those two beer styles.

The real shining star for us is that our Stir Stick Stout was recognized at all. Unlike the other coffee beers on the list such as the #1 rated Dieu Du Ciel Peche Mortel or even the #50 rated Yukon Brewing Midnight Sun Espresso Stout, the Stir Stick tends to lean on the softer, drier side of stout country. Maybe it's got something to do with the coffee we use! Given that it's one of our year round beers, we welcome the recognition.

Regardless, we're honoured to be even considered to be among the best in Canadian craft beer and appreciate the time the folks at ratebeer have dedicated to searching out small breweries like us and championing the cause.

My "if there was a ceremony" acceptance speech:
I'd like to thank my loving wife Nicole for her unwavering support, my boys Ethan and Conor, the crew here at Half Pints (Chris, Zach, and Jarrod), our shareholders for believing in the dream, and last but not least, the fans in Winnipeg for accepting nothing less than the best we can give them. Now, where'd I leave my beer?

Cheers, Brewmaster David Rudge

What's new?

2008-01-03T11:17:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year to one and all.

We had a great time this holiday season and were thankful to even get some time to relax at home and hang out with the family. It's kind of odd when we get a few days in a row off and you're not really sure what to do with yourself. So I baked some tasty sourdough baguettes which actually had the rank sourness I was looking for - it's taken my culture 2 months to develop right.

On the brewery front, the "Beer Olympics" were held and my lovely assistant brewer Chris took home the 12 year old bottle of Rum. Trash talking the athletes and placing hexes on the beer are strictly encouraged during this event. To achieve this greatness, Chris bottled a case of beer in less than 4 minutes and 33 seconds. However, I believe the hexing worked, as the first bottle I tried to fill blew up all over the place. I think it was rigged, but I'll try to outdo the guys next year in some equally idiotic task like keg hurling or bottle juggling.

This will be the last year we'll be able to have the Case bottling event for our Brewlympics. The guys have been mighty patient and in early December, we bought a used bottle filler for them. We're just in the process of getting the labels, boxes and logistics worked out so we can get down to the real business and start filling bottles automatically. By the time we're finished with the hand bottler, I estimate we'll have filled 210, 000 bottles one at a time by hand. We've had enough 14 hour days, and hope you appreciate the carpal tunnel syndrome we've acquired by keeping you stocked with real craft beer.

Our Burlywine is now sold out at the brewery. You may still find the odd bottle at your local Liquor Mart but I'd suggest you mark December 6, 2008 on your brand new calender right now. That's the day that we will release the new vintage of Burlywine at the brewery. I do think we need to provide some flapjacks and coffee for those in line so we'll try to plan that party well in advance.

Speaking of providing, our fine customers managed to raise a total of $424 for Winnipeg Harvest through the Leg Lamp Draw. The winner, Mike Harris was happy to have the lamp and celebrate the arrival of a new baby girl on the same day. Congratulations Mike!

Chris and I will be heading out to Regina for the Festiv Ale on February 1 & 2nd. We'll be bringing a couple of beers from the upcoming Holy Trinity Series of Belgian inspired ales, plus a couple of our regulars.

The Father is to be release this weekend (January 5th) with the Son following on January 19th, and the Holy Spirit on February 2nd.

FYI for everyone: this year's version of the Father has a slightly revised malt bill for it. Rather than going for a totally Vienna Malt based brew, we mixed it up and used some pale malt, with a larger percentage of Munich malt for the grain. This brings the Father more in line with the traditional flavour of a true Belgian style Dubbel and will let the fruit/spice character of the yeast shine through the glass a bit better. While I was happy with last years version, I do think we needed more balance between the toasted malt character and the alcohol. It looks like some of the online raters agreed so I'll encourage them to give the new version a re-rate, too.

New Year's Resolution:
I hate em' with a passion, but I think I need to lay down the gauntlet for myself by professing in print that I plan on putting out three new beers this year. The first of which, you'll all be seeing in early spring. No hints yet, but suffice to say we'll all get to have a good chuckle and a mighty tasty brew too...

First in line for Burlywine!

2007-12-13T14:32:00.000-06:00

Special thanks to the brave souls who came and froze their keesters off for a case o' the Burlywine. I think Ian (first in line) needs a Half Pints touque.

It really is quite heartwarming to see how prepared some of you were - there was coffee, conversation, and conviviality all around. Maybe next year we can cook up a batch of Grandpa Farley's Flapjacks (the ones with Stout in the mix) for the lineup. Good times.

If you're not busy this Saturday, we'll be hitting the Yellow Dog for pints around 8ish. See ya there!

Dave :)

I'm wasn't gonna say it but...

2007-12-06T15:27:00.000-06:00

... I told you so. That's really the last time I'll say it.

Shortly after last years Burly Wine sold out, there was a rumbling amongst Half Pints fans that we had given beer lovers in Winnipeg something to be proud of. "Please hold onto a bottle or two for next year," we urged. Some beer lovers listened, and others still itched to crack open the tasty goodness.

And then, over the next year, we slowly saw the bottles with the tan beeswax caps come back home to the brewery through the vendors, or even the people who returned the bottles to the brewery wondering "do you have any more of this?" More recently, they've slowed to a trickle so that when we do get one, we immediately want to know what you thought of it.

In its youth, the Burly Wine exhibited a raw, biting hop flavor with a peppery alcohol burn down the middle. And now, those of you with patience have been rewarded as the 2006 vintage takes on the rum-raisin flavours and the slightly sweet caramel backing of a classic English Style Barleywine. How many of you can keep it up for another year to see if it starts to show its wisdom?

When we released the 2006 vintage of Burly Wine, it was many people's first experience of just how big we were willing to go with our beers. I think you've all seen that even that boundary can be challenged with a little imagination and insight.

And isn't that really what craft brewing is all about?

So, what can you expect from the 2007 vintage?

The description is the same but there are some differences in how this year's brew came together. The first being that on brew day, I fell asleep at the kettle and forgot a portion of the final hop addition (d'oh!). Being the hophead that I am, we simply decided to take that addition and add it to the final tank in the form of a dry hop addition. Seems simple enough, until you take into account what it did to the finish of the beer.

Oddly enough, it's smoother with less of an up front hop bite. Hooray! I can't say that's a bad thing.

This year's version was also bottled a little sooner at the brewery to help us deal with the initial crunch of orders that we will invariably see on Monday morning. So a little extra time in the bottle will help to smooth out some of the peppery alcohols a little earlier, too.

We also gave the new vintage some snazzy burgundy waxed tops, so that if you're one of the few who did manage to keep stock on hand, you can tell those from the previous year's bottling. And, as I said previously, the first 40 cases contain 1 bottle of the 2006 vintage for those of you who missed out, or prematurely enjoyed your stock.

I'd just like to say thank you to our fans. It's keeping up with your expectations that makes it fun for us at Half Pints Brewing Company.

If you find yourself in Winnipeg this Saturday December 8th, 2007 stop into the brewery for our open house, take the tour, and taste the 2007 Burly Wine with a slice of fruit cake.

See you there,

Brewmaster David Rudge

Enter to win a MAJOR AWARD!

2007-11-28T14:57:00.000-06:00

Hello all,

No kidding! We've got a fantastic MAJOR AWARD to give away at Half Pints Brewing Company.

This special lamp is featured in our favorite holiday movie "A Christmas Story". It lights three ways (leg only, shade only, or both) and has a lovely plaque engraved with Merry Christmas from Half Pints Brewing Company.

Best of all, this is all for charity. We're selling tickets at the brewery $2 each or 3 for $5 - and all proceeds will go to the fine people at Winnipeg Harvest. Draw date is December 21st and we'll deliver it personally in a box that's marked "Fragile".

Sweet Nikki Brown Delivers!

2007-10-17T14:44:00.001-05:00

Announcing the arrival of two new members of the Half Pints family. Conor John and Sweet Nikki Brown.

Those of you who have been following Nicole's progress during her pregnancy will be happy to hear that she delivered Conor John on October 4Th, 2007. The lil' scrapper came in at 7lbs. 10 oz. with a full head of dark hair. He's a real sweetie and he's even letting us get some sleep when he feels it's necessary.

And, even though his big brother Ethan was less than enthused about Conor's name at the start, he's warmed up nicely to the idea of having someone around who can eventually play trains with him.

For those of you who remember, Sweet Nikki Brown is my lovely wife's beer. A little sweet, and a little bitter, just like her. It's brewed and will be available starting this Saturday, October 20Th until the end of December. We figured we'd be kind and allow those of you who've been so patient the chance to enjoy this one for a little longer - especially since it's one of our most requested seasonal beers.

For those of you who've never tried it, the Sweet Nikki Brown is an American style brown ale. It's dark with hints of chocolate, honey, and fresh bread in the malt profile. The hops kick off the finish of this beer and are prominent in the aroma with citrus, too.

Its a great cold weather beer and goes fantastic with those typical fall dishes like roast turkey, smoked ham, etc.

In further brewery news:

We've got the Burly Wine brewed and it's currently aging in the cold room to smooth out the rough edges. That said, I'd like to give fair warning to fans of this beer that if they're not here in line on the morning of December 8Th at 9 a.m. it is entirely possible that you may not get the chance to have any of this year's batch. Due to the immense popularity of this beer, we have been letting our customers know this since February of last year, so bundle up, and you will be rewarded. By the way, our Burly Wine is currently rated #10 world wide in the English Barleywine category on Beeradvocate.com.

The guys from Beer for Breakfast on 92.9 Kick FM are holding their annual awards show soon. We're sponsoring the Brewno's at the King's Head Pub on November 3rd, and as part of that sponsorship, we'll be bringing along a cask of real ale for the event. Past gems include Mocha Stout, Vanilla Stout, Oktoberfest with Hallertau dry hops, and The Son (for which the brewery van got towed). What will we do for an encore? You'll just have to show up and see! Click on the link above to vote for your favorite local acts.

So... How are you REALLY doing?

2007-09-20T14:22:00.001-05:00

This seems to be the overly-concerned look from some customers lately regarding the state of affairs at Half Pints. Answer: We've been busy! That's a good thing. Our Phil's Pils is rated as one of the top Pilsners in the world by ratebeer.com users. And, our Burly Wine recently made the list of the top 10 English style Barleywines in the world over at beeradvocate.com. Yep, we brew world class beer, thanks for noticing.

The boys have had a bit of a struggle to keep up with the bottling for the busy summer season. After all, we are still bottling one at a time by hand, and hand labeling each one. This has lead to the odd day at the most popular Liquor Marts here in Winnipeg where there may be a few scant bottles of our beer left on the shelf until the van shows up and loads in the beer. Note: we've always got beer at the brewery, AND you get the bonus of seeing our smiling faces. Why don't you come here and introduce yourselves?

Possibly some of the concerns come from people who are slightly confused as to the future of Half Pints. We've heard rumours about us being bought out by Fort Garry - which is totally incomprehensible from our point of view. In case you haven't heard, it's Fort Garry being bought out (amalgamated, if you will) by Russell Brewing Company. You can read about it here. Basically, the guys from Russell recently got the contract to supply the beer to BC Place Stadium. Congrats to them for working the deal, but they didn't have enough capacity in their draught only brewery to supply the deal, so they were looking in Canada for a brewery with excess capacity. Low and behold, here sits Fort Garry with tons of extra space, a fancy bottling line, and a new canning line to boot. As long as their shareholders accept the deal, we'll soon see Russell beers in Manitoba, and Fort Garry in BC. Back to the salt mines, boys.

Speaking of Russell, Half Pints was at the Great Canadian Beer Festival recently and we were tent mates with Heads Up, Dead Frog and Russell. All great guys and we had a fun time serving the thirsty throngs on what someone told me was the nicest weekend Victoria had seen all summer long. I didn't really get to taste much beer, as I was working in the booth for the whole weekend, but what I did have at Phillip's Brewing on the Friday night, was a chocolaty dry Longboat Porter, and the ever-tasty ESB. I even got to see some old friends - Dave Neilly, who's now the top beer dog at Wild Rose in Calgary.

My Saturday night was less adventurous, but I did end up at Canoe Brewpub by the harbour for a perfectly done steak and many glasses of ice tea to ward off the heat stroke from my newly acquired sunburn. Note to self: when in Victoria, prepare for everything - cold rain or burning heat. A simple note to brewpub owners in general. Canoe has it right, we could all learn a thing or two. Efficient, friendly, clean, reasonably priced, & a fantastic location. You can see why people rave about this place. It instantly felt like home.

While I was playing Canadian traveler Chris, Zach, and Nicole were serving many small glasses of brew to the crowds at the Flatlander's Beer Festival here in Winnipeg. Supposedly, the Vanilla Stout was a hit and we'll continue to offer up these specialty casks of real ale to keep our fans intrigued. It kind of makes the ticket worth while if you're guaranteed at least a few new beers to wet your whistle.

The Humulus Ludicrous has some of you puckering up with a hoppy face. We like it like that. In case you didn't know, it now holds the record as our fastest selling beer. We moved through the first tank in less than a four days. That's a heck of a lot of bottling for an 8% a/v beer with a ludicrous amount of hops. We're sold out at the brewery now for 660ml. bottles, but still have a few 2 liters here. Perhaps the naysayers will think twice next time they say that Manitobans aren't fans of beer with balls. If you fall into the latter camp, I'd suggest you look what Canada's premier beer writer had to say.

So to summarize: we're as passionate as ever about making world class beer in Winnipeg.

That's how we're REALLY doing.

Oktoberfest is Back!

2007-09-05T13:10:00.000-05:00

Yes kids, it's that time of year again. The weather turns cooler, the leaves change colours, construction workers put their shirts back on, and our Oktoberfest Lager makes its first appearance of the season.

Check out Oktoberfest History here.

For those of you unfamiliar with it, the Oktoberfest is one of our most requested seasonal beers. It's currently rated as the 18th best in the world by ratebeer.com. So this year, we decided to reward our loyal customers by giving you all a better shot at finding this sweet nectar. We'll be brewing it right until the middle of October!

In a week or so, you'll also find this brew on tap at The King's Head.

Humulus Ludicrous

2007-08-09T08:47:00.001-05:00

This Saturday, August 11Th at 9 a.m. Half Pints will celebrate its 1 year anniversary by unleashing our craziest beer yet.

Our Humulus Ludicrous is a Double IPA, loaded with over the top hop character and thick malts. This is the true hop head beer.

For those of you who don't know, Double IPA's are becoming increasingly popular in North America. Breweries across the continent are showing their flair for this diverse style. Some of the ones we've enjoyed have included Bell's Hopslam, Phillip's Amnesiac, and the Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA.

So, what has Half Pints achieved in the last year? Glad you asked! Here's a list for your perusal.

We opened. A small victory for good beer was scored.

We've brewed 13 distinctly different beers. Actually, no small feat if you take into account that some breweries don't do that in their entire lifespan.

It's actually 15 beers if you count our cask of "Mocha Stout" at last years Flatlander's Beer Festival and our cask of Double Dry Hopped Oktoberfest at our Grand Opening Party.

We went from supplying a limited number (16) Liquor Mart to supplying all 24 in the city of Winnipeg plus a couple of vendors.

We went from 3 draught accounts to 17 and various restaurants serve our beer in bottles. You could help with this. Just make it known that you'd love to see our beer at your favorite place.

We've had 52 Saturday tours and 2 rocking open houses where we've demystified the process for hundreds of people (and had some tasty munchies to boot). Now that you know what goes into making your Half Pints, doesn't it feel great to support your local brewery?

We've bottled and labeled over 100,000 660 ml. bottles by hand.

We've created one part-time and four full-time jobs in our favorite city.

Our customers expect more from their beer now. Thanks to them, we exist.

We've made our parents proud.

By the numbers (if that kind of thing matters to you):

According to BeerAdvocate.com, we hold the highest average score (3.87/5) for our beers across the three prairie provinces (AB, SK, and MB).

Our Weizenbock is rated 8Th in the world (out of 147 listings) by that same website.

According to Ratebeer.com our beer is the best in the province, but you already knew that.

Over the past year, three of our beers have made it into the top 25 in the world (by style) on Ratebeer.com - Phil's Pils, Oktoberfest, and The Holy Spirit (which was recently bumped from 19th - oh well, can't win em' all).

Overall, it had been a trying experience getting the place up and running. However, the rewards of waking up and wanting to be in the brewery, creating new brews and introducing Winnipeg to our world of beer have been well worth it.

Soldier on...

Brewmaster David Rudge

Half Pints On Tap In Candahar

2007-07-25T08:35:00.000-05:00

Yep, you read that correctly.

We always knew that Half Pints was art in a glass, we just wondered how long it would take others to figure it out.

Half Pints Brewing Company is now supplying beer to The Candahar Pub, an art installation at the Plug In Gallery (286 McDermot Avenue). You'll find our Bulldog Amber Ale and Phil's Pils on tap inside the pub.

Read On:

www.plugin.org

286 McDermot Ave. Winnipeg Manitoba R3B 0T2 t. (204) 942 – 1043 f. (204) 944 – 8663

Plug In ICA premieres renowned performance-based work to
coincide with the Fringe Festival

Pretend: Theatre & Video
Exhibition runs July 20 – August 18, 2007
Open LATE every night of the Fringe Festival 10AM – 10PM

** A New Opening Reception every Thursday Night from July 26 – August 16: 7–10PM **
· July 20 (Friday): Tellervo Kalleinen (Finland)
· July 26: Theo Sims (UK/Canada) [Artist in Attendance]
· August 2: Nathalie Djurberg (Sweden/Germany)
· August 9: Omer Fast (Israel/Germany)
· August 16: Coco Fusco (USA)

In conjunction with the 2007 Winnipeg Fringe Festival, the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art will present performance-inspired works by a group of renowned international artists working in the fields of video and installation. Combining elements of theatre, animation, and journalism with collage, melodrama, and confession, Pretend will extend many of the themes inspiring the performers of the Fringe. And in keeping with the rigorous schedule of “fringing,” each of these artists will present their work for a single week over a four-week period, next to an in-gallery pub that turns audience members into the actors of an imaginary place.

From July 20-29, Tellervo Kalleinen will present In the Middle of a Movie: her cinematic entry into the lives of individuals around the world. From Tallinn, Estonia and Seydisfjördur, Iceland to St. Petersburg, Russia and Los Angeles, USA, this intimate sociological survey began when the artist posted ads asking people to: “Plan a movie scene that takes place in your own home and write a part in it for a Finnish woman.” The ensuing series of 61 short films (filmed in six cities) delve into the eclectic, and sometimes disturbing cinematic fantasies of everyday people.

From July 31-August 4, Nathalie Djurberg will present animated shorts that use plasticine characters and handmade sets to illustrate the untamed impulses of humanity. Through a crude, yet compelling form of claymation, she creates vignettes that revel mischievously in everything from the forbidden romance between a fox and a girl (There Ain’t No Pill), to the demeaning parade of New Movements in Fashion, to the politically incorrect disintegration of a Victorian home – and its community – In Our Own Neighbourhood.

From August 7-11, Omer Fast blurs the borders between acting and living in the dual-channel video installation Godville. In this disorienting portrait of a community straddling historical periods, Fast interviews people living, and playing the role of characters, in Colonial Williamsburg (Virginia, USA). In this seemingly documentary context, Fast cuts and re-cuts his footage to create unsettling collages of people whose words reflect a time better left to the past.

From August 14-18, videos by Coco Fusco turn shadowy political operations into the raw material for real-life screenplays. Based on disturbingly true stories of government surveillance, interrogation, and intimidation, she casts people in the lives of fugitives and prisoners. The resulting mix of re-enactment and role playing casts a disturbing light on the backstage activity of politics.

All of this work will play out next to Theo Sims’ The Candahar, which is simultaneously an artwork, a theatre, a prop, and an intersection between art and life. On the outside, a simple wood frame reveals a surprising reconstruction of a pub based loosely on a now defunct Belfast bar called The Blackthorn. The Blackthorn was remodelled in the 1980s to look like a Georgian bar (and has since become a chic martini bar), but its memory is resurrected in Sims’ contemporary recreation.

Plug In ICA gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of the Manitoba Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Winnipeg Arts Council.

EQ3, Imperial Flooring and Buckwold-Western have provided generous assistance in making this exhibition possible.

For more information please contact Steven Matijcio or Anthony Kiendl at (204) 942-1043
steven@plugin.org or anthony@plugin.org

High resolution images available on request.

What's that, over the horizon...

2007-07-23T15:19:00.000-05:00

Egad's! It's a monstrously hoppy Double IPA we're calling Humulus Ludicrous. We'll be releasing this beer at the brewery on August 11, 2007. So be there, or be disappointed when your buddy grabs the last bottle from the shelf.

We've brewed this one specially for the hop heads and there's no doubting from our initial sample from the tank that this will be a swift kick in the teeth from our beloved hop. We'll also be serving this at the Great Canadian Beer Festival in Victoria, BC.

In other news:

For those savvy Fringe Fest'ers who want to avoid the lager louts in the beer tent:

the King's Head Pub has been serving our Phil's Pils on the patio

The Royal Albert has Bulldog on tap.

Mondragon carries our beer in bottles (mostly for the vegan's) but they'd never turn away a thirsty fringer

just a stone's throw away, the Yellow Dog has the IPA and Amber on all the time. Tell Greg we sent you!

The East India Company is now serving our Stir Stick Stout and Little Scrapper IPA.

Thanks to the tenacity of some of our loyal customers (Q!, Bill, and Derek) The University Club now has our Stout and IPA ready to serve on tap - they've just got to finish off some other brewery's beer first. If ever there was a use for light beer, I'd suggest it now - go water the ficus with a pitcher or two!

Did you catch us on the Big Breakfast last week? Bill did and he sent this screen shot for us. Thanks Bill!

That's it for now, keep cool, and we'll see you at the campground this weekend!

Photos From Open House

2007-07-03T13:26:00.001-05:00

Brewer Dave Gives The More Hops = Better Beer Speach.

Photo Credit - Chris Young - Assistant Brewer At Half Pints

Open House

2007-06-13T13:03:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody,
Thanks to all who attended our second open house. We had a great time showing everyone what makes Half Pints so cool.

A special thanks to everyone who brought donations for Winnipeg Harvest. There was a total of one heaping keg bin full of food donated. You rock!

Stay tunes for updated photos from the event here on the blog.

Cheers!
Brewmaster Dave

Open House

2007-06-04T15:31:00.000-05:00

Yep, that's right - it's time for another fantastic open house at Half Pints. Bring your friends and family for a frolic amongst the tanks - much like you see Chris doing here.

Saturday, June 9th, 2007 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Bring a tin for the bin in support of Winnipeg Harvest, and we'll fork over one of our cool bottle opener keychains.

See you there!

Phil's Pils is ready!

2007-05-14T16:03:00.000-05:00

The photo above is from the Festiv-Ale in Regina way back in November. You may recognize me on the left, but the main thing here (and the whole point of this new beer) is the guy on the right. More specifically, it's what our good buddy Phil is holding - HOPS!

We met Phil shortly before we opened the brewery here in Winnipeg. He's a great guy and he loves the hop. I have been known to partake in the hoppy stuff, too - and it's no coincidence that Phil's favourite Half Pints beer is the Little Scrapper IPA. He's a member of the Great White North Brewerianists Club and has a collection of classic breweriana to rival the best of them. He specifically searches out good beer & good beer breweries - so naturally he found us before we found him.

So being a man of infinite good taste, when I decided I would make a hoppy Pilsner for the duration of the summer, I thought to myself:

"Self! Why don't we make this beer for Phil because doesn't he deserve it as much as anyone?"

I answered: "Of course we can, 'cause that's how we roll at Half Pints, and we can call it Phil's Pils!"

Anyhoo, check out the label description:

Our buddy Phil is a friend of good beer, so Phil’s Pils must be impressive ode to good taste. Thankfully (Phil would say) it’s the polar opposite of most Pilsners available today. Brewed using two-row pale, melanoidin, and crystal malts, this lager is chock full of malty goodness on top of German Hallertau and Czech Saaz hops. This brew is also dry hopped with a blend of Mount Hood and more Saaz. Our Pils actually tastes like malt & hops – what a novel idea! Try it with a slow smoked rack of ribs or a wedge of Pepper Jack cheese. Serve at 6 C. in a Pilsner glass. 5.2% a/v 30 IBU

Now, I wasn't kidding when I said this is summer beer - but rather than foisting another wishy washy Pilsner on the world, I thought it more prudent to put the Half Pints seal of approval on this much maligned and often bungled style. Pilsner should be drinkable yes, but the most refreshing part of its flavour profile is a snappy hop flavour. It dries out the tongue and gets you longing for the next sip. Unfortunately, this is something that large scale breweries omit.

Instead, they choose to focus on maximizing profits, appealing to the dumbed down market of beer drinkers who think a wedge of lime shoved down the neck of a bottle constitutes a higher form of "taste". Often their brews reek of corn and skunk. Or worse, taste distinctly of table sugar and chemicals.

Then, they throw millions of dollars at their marketing department to spin the beer in a positive light - playing on national pride, vacation memories, and best of all, dressing up low grade swill as a "premium beer".

Obviously, this isn't our goal when producing beer. We brew for flavour first, price the beer fairly, and accept that we're never going to be able to afford the mansion on Wellington Crescent. We're just not that kind of brewery.

So, stick it to the man, and try Phil's Pils, and if you happen to meet him in a darkened alley, you better be ready to wax poetic about the hops!

The T-Shirt Trade Results

2007-05-10T14:06:00.000-05:00

Well, well, well. I think we touched a bit of a nerve with our April T-Shirt Trade In. The response was cool - some of you just giggled at the idea, and others took us up on it. Either way, we had some fun (even if it was at the expense of the big guys).

The first thing I noticed is the percentage of Molson t's. We got two shirts from them that hadn't even been unwrapped from the plastic they originally came in and two that had clearly never been worn before.

Thanks go out to all of you who wear their favorite local beer-T with pride. Spread the word!

Weizen Heimer

2007-04-11T15:18:00.000-05:00

Well, we've received a ton of fantastic complements on our Weizenbock - to which we all say thanks!

It seems that Peg City beer lovers are ready for beers with more flavour and are starting to expect it. Great, we're doing our jobs then.

I'll be heading to Regina this weekend with a few members of the Winnipeg Brew Bombers to judge in the A.L.E.S. Club's National Homebrew Competition. So this announcement for our next seasonal beer is a little early.

This Saturday (April 14th), we'll be releasing our new Weizen Heimer. This hefeweizen(hefe=yeast, weizen=wheat in German) is a traditionally styled brew native to Bavaria.

From the label:

Nothing beats kicking back on the deck at the cabin and taking in a classic Manitoba sunset. Our Hefeweizen captures that jovial atmosphere with a hazy golden body from a blend of wheat, two-row pale, and Munich malts. German grown Hallertau hops balance the fruity wheat malts with a light, spicy character. Finally, a burst of banana and clove aromas fill the air due the specially selected yeast culture. Try it with a light meal of grilled bratwurst, hot mustard, and potato salad. Serve at 6 C. in a tall Weizen glass. Bottle will contain sediment – which should be poured into the beer. 13 IBU 5.0% a/v

We'll be brewing a total of three batches of this beer, so there's no danger we'll run out of it that day. The MLCC stores will start receiving their shipments the week of the 16th.

Summer's almost here and we've got another tasty seasonal in the works after the Weizen Heimer, just in time for the may long weekend...

In other news: April is 20% off all Half Pints t-shirts - but there's a catch. You've got to bring me one of those cheap, barely passable for a shop rag t-shirts that the other breweries give away for nothing to get you to buy their barely passable as a cleaning fluid beer. You know the ones we're talking about. Trade it in for 20% off one of our t's and you can wear your local pride. We're hearing that people get stopped when wearing our t's out around town, so be prepared to spread the word!

Finer Dining with Beer

2007-03-30T14:46:00.000-05:00

Remember a few weeks ago when I ranted on about beer choices in some of Winnipeg's high end restaurants? Well, I think now I must eat crow and let you know that there's more than a few who have listened! If you look closely at this list, it really does read like the who's who in Winnipeg's "foodie" scene. I applaud these Chef's (and others) for choosing real craft beer with flavour over marketing hoopla.

Most of you know that we've had a few different beers (Oktoberfest, Bulldog, Sweet Nikki Brown to name a few) available at the Winnipeg Winter Club due to the incredible passion of Chef Craig Geunther from The Market 520. I really do love Chef Craig's willingness to try new things, and to constantly challenge himself to be creating. In the coming weeks, we'll be partnering with the Winter Club again to pair some of our beer with a special dinner they've been working on. I'll keep you posted on that one!

On Thursday morning, I dropped off the first shipment of Bulldog Amber Ale to Mise, just south of Osbourne Village. Sue & Terry Gereta own this little slice of heaven that my Mom and Dad have been talking about ever since they went for their anniversary. They've got the beer on tap, so when you're out with your sweeties, you can enjoy the fruits of their/our labour.

We've had a very excited call from the people at In Ferno's Bistro, too. Seems that Chef/Owner Fern Kirouac understands and appreciates our willingness to offer seasonal fare as well. They've been stocking bottles of our brew and the selection has been rotating with our various seasonal beers.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a nice couple come into the brewery from St. Paul, Minnesota. They had been at Bistro 7 1/4, where they were introduced to our Stir Stick Stout by Chef Alexander Svenne. I'm told he's very knowledgeable about the beer, but I've not yet had the chance to get there to eat - the couple said the food was amazing, though.

Over the last few month's, owner Scot McTaggart at Fusion Grill has been serving our beers from the bottle. Try the Paella with our Little Scrapper IPA.

And finally, near & dear to my heart - Gasthaus Gutenberger has previously stocked our various German offerings such as the Oktoberfest Lager. I can safely say that when I do brew certain German styles, I specifically pair that beer with food readily available from the Gasthaus. Bayriche Grillhaxe (Bavarian Pork Hock) is a fantastic example of this. Slow roasted and falling off the bone. Another great example is the Hazelnut Torte I suggest you try with our Weizenbock. To die for... tell Chef Kurt Wagner I sent you!