Rockbottom Brewer's Blog

More Cask Ale!

2012-02-22T22:53:00.000-04:00

Ladies and gents,

We didn't have a cask on the bar last weekend due to a wee mishap - the Pin blew her bung! No worries though, nobody was seriously injured and we'll get back at it this weekend. It did cause a few tears seeing that tasty IPA go to waste though.

Saturday Feb 25th @ 2:00 pm we'll have a Pin filled with a modified version of our Fathom IPA. I filled it with IPA straight from the fermenter before any dry-hopping was done to the main batch, previous casks of IPA we've done were post dry-hopping in the vat. Not to worry though, it's still plenty hoppy! This week I dry-hopped the cask with Zythos then fortified the brew with Sinamar for colour enhancement. And enhance the colour I did.

This should effectively be an India Black Ale so come on down and check out the modded version. I predict large quantities of deliciousness will ensue.

And try a cheese plate on for size while you're at it, it's heaven with the beer and perfect for sharing!

Enjoy

Updated Bottle List

2012-02-15T20:12:00.001-04:00

We have a few new additions to our bottled beer line-up, here's the current list...

Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen
Smoked Märzen! - $7.99 - 500ml 5.4% ABV

Propeller Revolution RIS
Russian Imperial Stout - $8.99 - 500ml 8.0% ABV

Hacker-Pschorr Hefe Weisse
Hefeweizen - $7.99 - 500ml 5.5% ABV

Dieu Du Ciel! Corne Du Diable
IPA - $7.49 - 341ml 6.5% ABV

Traquair Jacobite
Scotch Ale - $8.49 - 330ml 8.0% ABV

Mort Subite Kriek
Lambic Cherry Beer - $10.99 - 375ml 4.5% ABV

Trappistes Rochefort 10
Quadrupel – $10.99 - 330ml 11.3% ABV

Caracole Nostradamus
Wallonian Brown Ale - $8.49 - 330ml 9.0% ABV

Saison Dupont
Saison - $8.49 - 330ml - 6.5% ABV

Brewdog Hardcore IPA
DIPA - $8.49 - 330ml - 9.2% ABV

Dieu Du Ciel! Peche Mortel
Imperial Coffee Stout - $7.49 - 341ml 9.5% ABV

Anchor Liberty Ale
IPA - $7.49 - 355ml 5.9% ABV

Harviestoun Old Engine Oil
Porter - $7.49 - 330ml 6.0% ABV

Hell Bay English Ale
English Pale Ale (Cherry Hill, NS) - $7.49 - 500ml 5.2% ABV

Duchesse de Bourgogne
Flanders Red Ale (sour) - $8.49 – 330 ml 6.0% ABV

Chocolate-Raspberry-Blueberry-Blackberry-Strawberry-Vanilla-Oaked-Russian-Imperial-Stout

2012-02-14T11:02:00.001-04:00

Today and today only we have.... Dessert In A Glass!

Chocolate-Raspberry-Blueberry-Blackberry-Strawberry-Vanilla-Oaked-Russian-Imperial-Stout. 10% ABV.

Our Wreckoning Russian Imperial Stout was aged on oak, re-fermented on berries then infused with caramelized sugar and handcrafted 3-fold vanilla extract. It's a sweet full-bodied brew with luscious layers of flavour and complexity. An after-dinner sipper.

Pair it up with our Tiramisu or Chocolate Brownie for dessert.

Enjoy.

Tippy Mao Feng Pin Cask - Saturday @ Noon

2012-02-09T20:32:00.002-04:00

Who's up for a cup of Firkin tea? Okay, this is better than tea, it's tea and beer! In your glass.

Saturday at 12:00 noon.

We're cracking a Pin (1/2 size Firkin) of cask ale, inside it is our Deadwood Wheat beer infused with Yunnan Tippy Mao Feng Black Tea. The little Firkin that could only holds about 21 L so come on down for a wee cup before it's gone. And check out our fresh hand-cut russet fries while you're at it.

What's all this brewer talk of pins, firkins and barrels anyways? Well, leave it to the Imperial measure system. Have a look....

Sunday Firkin - Game Day

2012-02-03T08:20:00.009-04:00

We're tapping another firkin of Brewnoser BPA, a Belgian-style pale ale. This week on Sunday Feb 5th at 4:00 pm for the Superbowl festivities.

We're gearing up some fun food to go along with the firkin and the game...

- The Garlic Dog - a 1/4 lb all-beef Shopsy hammered with fresh garlic, Dijon mustard and beer BBQ sauce, topped with banana peppers and beer-braised apple & bacon kraut! Served on a bun with a side of 'Wreckoning Chili' made with our Russian Imperial Stout. This bad boy burns with flavour! Pair it with a Hop Warrior Double IPA.

- Smoked Chop Dinner - locally sourced and cured oak-smoked pork chops served on a bed of beer-braised apple & bacon kraut with a side of veg and roasted garlic & green bean smashed potato. These babies were smoked with the oak our Russian Imperial Stout was aged on. These ain't no ordinary smoked chops! Delicious with a 'Sports Beer Schwarzbier'.

4:00 PM

If you're not a football fan, come for the beer (and the craziest dog you've experienced)!

In other news....
A new tweaked batch of Big Water Brown hit the taps this week and is tasting fabulous.

It's Firkin Time!

2012-01-26T20:26:00.000-04:00

We're tapping a firkin this Saturday at 1:00 pm! This time around it's a Belgian-style Pale Ale. Brewnoser BPA - the first in a series of collaboration brews with individual members of the local beer club 'The Brewnosers'. This batch was the brainchild of 'Mr X', some of you may know him as Robert McGrath.

It was brewed with pilsner, aromatic, caramel and biscuit malts, imported German hops and fermented with a Belgian yeast strain. The result is an aromatic, estery, fruity, lightly phenolic easy drinking pale ale.

This should be an interesting preview of the main batch that will be on tap in a few weeks. At a small yet mighty 29 IBUs and 5.3% ABV you may want to stay for a few!

Kitchen is open at 12:00, firkin is on at 1:00 pm. See you at the bar!

News & Brews

2012-01-18T21:02:00.001-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen,

A few updates at the brewpub....

- Introducing.... Jacktar Nitro; Our big bold American-style Jacktar Stout nitrogenated and poured through a stout faucet for that rich, creamy mouthfeel, it's a whole new world. On tap NOW.

- This Friday we're tapping a fresh batch of Fathom IPA, after a few tweaks were made to the recipe of the inaugural batch it's tasting fabulous (and hoppy).

- This Saturday Jan 21st @ 4:00 pm we're tapping a firkin of Fathom IPA on the bartop, dry-hopped with Columbus. That's some firkin delicious beer!

- Sunday Feb 5th; Superbowl Sunday - we're opening the kitchen early and running some great food and beer specials all day.Deets to follow.

- Feb 14th we're tapping a keg of Russian Imperial Stout aged on raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. Luscious, luscious, luscious.

Seasonal brews on deck....

Wreckoning RIS (Russian Imperial Stout)

Brewnoser BPA (Belgian Pale Ale)

It's Firkin Time - Saturday Jan 14th @ 5pm

2012-01-11T18:26:00.000-04:00

It's almost time to crack another firkin on the bartop, this time around it's filled with fresh Fathom IPA dry-hopped in the cask with Zythos, a new West Coast hop blend from Hop Union. This should be fabulous.

We'll start pouring from the spigot at 5:00 p.m. this Saturday January 14th with Hoppy Hour prices running on it all night or until the firkin is drained.

See you at the bar!

Käpt'n Schwarz

2012-01-11T18:16:00.000-04:00

On tap tomorrow January 12th 2012 we have our new Käpt'n Schwarz, a Schwarzbier (black beer) fermented with the US-05 yeast strain as an experiment. We fermented this cold at 55 F to see how well this strain performs at such cool temperatures, and to see if it would give us some lager characteristics. It fermented surprisingly fast and displays some lager-y sulfur notes with a fairly clean finish. Is it a lager? No. A better descriptor might be a 'black lagered ale'. Whatever it is, it's delicious.

Come on down to see how the US-05 did at lagering for yourself.

Vital Stats:

Gravity - 12.8 P/1.052
IBUs ~ 31
ABV - 5.5 %
Hops - Warrior, Nugget
Colour ~ 29 SRM
Malts - 2-row, Melanoidin, Carastan, Midnight Wheat, Chocolate
Adjuncts - Roasted Barley

Time To Get Firkin Crackin'

2011-12-29T16:13:00.000-04:00

Friday December 30th at 4:00 p.m. we're throwing a firkin of beer on the bar! For our first shot at cask ale I've got the firkin filled with dark lagered ale that's dry-hopped in the cask with several oz each of Cascade and Northern Brewer. Here's hoping the hops don't clog the spigot!

See you at the bar for some firkin great cask ale!

Holiday Cheer with Happy Hour All Day

2011-12-21T13:23:00.003-04:00

Come on down for some cheer on Christmas Eve Day

We're open from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m only and we'll be running happy hour prices on our handcrafted beers alongside a limited food menu of mainly fryer items - chicken wings, fish and chips, nachos, potato skins and of course, our famous beer cheese soup.

Happy holidays and be safe!

Mmmmmm Beer

2011-12-21T12:25:00.002-04:00

Well folks, it's been a great couple weeks since we launched the new beers. We've sold a load of beer and have a few tweaked backup batches in the fermenters, thanks to everyone for the support as always.

On deck we have a batch of RIS aging on oak where it will live for another few weeks, we plan to tap it in February and it's already tasting great so we're stoked for that one! I've also got a 'test' lager on - a dark lagered ale fermented on US-05 @ 55F just for giggles to see what this yeast can do. We'll have it on tap in early January. Should be interesting, and tasty!

I'm filling a firkin today so watch for an announcement about when it'll appear on the bartop in a week or so!

I've added a couple new guest bottles to the list, both are fresh and tasting great....
- Dieu Du Ciel! Corne Du Diable
- Imperial ESB Collaboration Ale - Propeller/H&T

Mmmmmm beer!

On Tap!

2011-12-06T10:49:00.017-04:00

Thanks to everyone for coming out to the brewpub yesterday for the beer launch! We packed the house and I hope everyone had a good time.

Apologies for the shortage of sampler glasses to any that had to wait, we're trying to rectify that and a couple other little hiccups today. We somehow failed to get the bottled beer list printed on time for the crowd last night but we have that taken care of now. For future reference here's our starting lineup on the bottled product....

Schlenkerla Märzen (Rauchbier) 500 ml, 5.4% ABV

Trappistes Rochefort 10 (Quadrupel) 330 ml, 11.3% ABV

Caracole Nostradamus (Wallonian Brown Ale) 330 ml, 9.0% ABV

Tracquair Jacobite (Scotch Ale) 330 ml, 8.0% ABV

Saison Dupont (Saison) 330 ml, 6.5% ABV

Duchesse De Bourgogne (Flanders Red) 330 ml, 6.0% ABV

Brewdog Hardcore IPA (DIPA) 330 ml, 9.2% ABV

Dieu du Ciel! Péché Mortel (Imperial Coffee Stout) 341 ml, 9.5%

Anchor Liberty Ale (IPA) 355 ml, 5.9% ABV

Harviestoun Old Engine Oil (Porter) 330 ml, 6.0% ABV

Hell Bay English Ale (English-style Pale Ale) from Cherry Hill, NS outside Lunenburg 500 ml, 5.2% ABV

3 - 2 - 1 - LAUNCH

2011-11-28T21:21:00.005-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, we have lift-off!

Our new beers launch 10:00 a.m. Monday December 5th 2011.

The beers for the initial launch are listed below and will be served in very reasonably priced 12oz or 18oz portions:

Deadwood Wheat - North American Weizen
5.0% ABV 12 IBUs
$5.25 small, $7.25 large

Big Water Brown - English style Brown Ale
5.5% ABV 17 IBUs
$5.25 small, $7.25 large

Fathom IPA - West Coast IPA
6.9% ABV 70 IBUs
$5.50 small, $7.75 large

Jacktar Stout - North American Stout
6.7% ABV 70 IBUs
$5.50 small, $7.75 large

Hop Warrior - West Coast Double IPA
8.0% ABV 100+ IBUs (305 Calculated)
$6.50 one size fits all (small)

Sampler boards will also be available.

A couple side notes that might stoke a few of you...
- We've added my vegetarian friendly roasted garlic beer cheese soup to the menu!
- We're adding a cheese plate to the menu! We're looking to hit complimentary textures and flavours that pair well with the beer across the board so expect to see nuts, bread, dried or fresh fruit and 3 or 4 cheeses including sharp cheddar, soft ripened and blue.
- We've been working at integrating beer into the main menu items starting with sauces, reductions, marinades and soups, more as we progress.
- We're adding a selection of bottled beers, 10 or 12 different beers to start. Possibly more as we gauge response moving forward.

I'm stoked!

And remember, beer is more than just food!

We're Making Beer

2011-11-19T22:48:00.001-04:00

You heard it right, we're making beer. As of Thursday past our five fermenters are full. Some of these will be moving out and into the conditioning/serving tanks by next week then we'll just keep making more beer until everything is full. This is no small task since we have ten serving tanks. Soon, soon, soon we'll drink the fruits of our labour, with love.

A few action shots starting with a 3500g first wort hop charge of Warrior at 17.2% AA ...

Graffiti

2011-11-19T22:25:00.000-04:00

Well, when the new brewing system arrived it was covered in graffiti! The boys at the manufacturer, DME Brewing Services decided to have a little fun and just might have heard about my reputation for using plenty of hops! Ahahha

Progress continues....

2011-11-19T22:12:00.000-04:00

Progress continues as we approach our launch date. I'll be making an announcement about that in the coming days so stay tuned.

Now here's a few more shots, remember that stairwell railing I mentioned....

Here's the mash-tun and kettle in their final resting place...

We had the system in place with the stainless steel hard-piping installed within a day or so then came the contractors. It was about three weeks later before we could actually turn the system on, plumbing became quite time consuming since we had planned to utilize the old existing glycol cooling header matrix, alas when we actually took a closer look it had been built incorrectly 3 years ago so we cut it all out and started from scratch.

Sourcing a large water filter also became a problem, estimates started coming in ranging from high to ridiculous and of course nothing was in stock anywhere. All I want to do is remove the chlorine form our city water, it's quite soft making for an excellent brewing water base since I can increase mineral content as required for specific beer styles. I made a couple calls and found a high-flow sand filter typically used to filter particulate from swimming pools, water is pumped through a bed of sand removing any particles in suspension. I found activated carbon locally and grabbed three cubic feet of it to use in the filter in place of the usual sand and voila, particulate and chlorine-free water.

Then came days and days of intensive cleaning, new tanks should be cleaned with a 5% caustic solution in a CIP loop for about 5 hours each, after that they should by passivated with an intense nitric acid solution. At this point the owner of the brewery is wondering what's going on - still cleaning!

Fast forward to last week, here's a few shots of the brewery after we got it cleaned up and ready to brew....

Progress!

2011-11-16T21:42:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the delay getting around to updating here but I've been sort of busy building a brewery!

Tanks are in, contractors are done and we're making beer. At this point it looks like we'll launch 5 new beers the first week of December but I'll update as we approach the release.

As for the brewery build - there's been lot's of unforeseen fun going on. For starters somehow the wrong floor drains were installed, this held us up for nearly two weeks while the cement floors were cut out again, proper drains installed and cement re-poured.

The originals were tiny and the edging around them was metal carpet trim effectively creating a small dam around the troughs.

A couple weeks later we had drains that work great, no dams and a good deep trough to act as a reservoir. And apparently I failed to take comparison photos of the drains but you sort of see them in the background, they're lovely....

It was a blast getting the tanks in the building, it all went fairly smooth with no real issues. We did have to cut the stairwell railings down to get the mash-tun down but all in all no big deal.

The New Rockbottom Brewpub

2011-10-15T10:34:00.004-03:00

Welcome to my new digs!

Over the coming weeks we're installing a new brewing system at Rockbottom and I think you'll experience some very positive change in the glass. I'll attempt to document progress through photos and text as we progress through this demanding yet oh so satisfying project.

I'm excited to be onboard here and am thrilled about this project - time to build a new brewery!

The beer will be brewed from grain to glass onsite, bursting with flavour and freshness. I'll be brewing something for everyone with several staple beers on tap as well as rotating specialty and seasonal brews that will push the boundaries wide open on beer as you know it. We've already started construction to make room for the new brewhaus and fermenters, we don't have a lot of space to work with but we've had the new system custom built specifically for our space, it's going to be a beautiful little brewery. Okay maybe not that little... we'll be whipping up 900 - 1000 L batches utilizing five fermenters and ten serving tanks, that's a substantial quantity of beer, each batch is equivalent to ~ 225 dozen or so bottles of beer.

For those that don't know me here's a quick mini bio:

I was born and raised near Amherst, Nova Scotia. After contracting a severe case of the homebrewing bug in the late 80's I decided to ruin the worlds best hobby and turn pro. I started working professionally in the industry in 1994 and received my technical training at the American Brewers Guild in California, class of '96. I brewed abroad like a Bohemian for craft breweries in the US and Canada for several years before heading back to the homeland. I've been brewing in Halifax for over 10 years now, most recently at the Hart and Thistle. In my spare time I'm a bit of a foodie and love good espresso and variants thereof. I cook, a LOT. I dabble in charcuterie and attempt to infuse beer or hops into most any type of food. For anyone interested you can view some photos of my cooking adventures right here.

Time to finish building a brewery.