morALE brewsters is a team of 4 serving military members and one military wife. Rémi Lévesque, Nicholas Matheson, Bruno Plamondon, Samuel Roy and Johanna Osborne. We are from different areas within Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, but some of us have been in Oromocto for over 15 years.
How did you get into the world of beer?
Seeing as we are five individuals, we all have a different story. But in the military culture, beer calls, special events or even payday were always all good reasons to share a cold one with friends. Funnily enough, I remember when Jo and I started dating, we both liked beer, and together discovered micro brews initially through Picaroons‘ Simeon Jones and Irish Red and I think this was a turning point for myself. There was that sweetness I was not able to describe but that I was fascinated with. At that point I was making wine and I figured that it would be great to try to make beer too. So like many, we started with beer kits and progressed all the way to all-grain brewing. And that’s when I realized that I knew nothing! There is so much to learn and to experiment with.
I remember in December 2015, Bruno and I were talking about homebrewing at work, he suggested that it would be fun to gather a small group of craft beer fans to start brewing together. To experiment with different recipes with the idea/hope that if we come up with some good ones, we could transition into a real side business. So we approached some friends and I told my wife the news. By January 2016, we officially sat down and all 5 joined together. In the summer of 2017, we were very happy with our recipes and we decided to get more serious equipment and here we are today! The real reason I think is that we observed the reactions of our friends when we were sharing our beers and their comments were so positive that it convinced us to try one step closer to a real brewery!
What is the culture or ethos of the brewery?
We definitively have a soft spot for our military background. Having all our beer names related to some military expression or slang within the community. We started with “Brewed by the troops for the troops” but we wanted to share our culture with the rest of the population too. Knowing that at any point in life, everybody needs a morale boost!! And there it was, morALE brewsters! Good beer, shared with people that understand that we don’t need to take ourselves too seriously all the time.
We are starting with a Cream Ale (Cornflake) because that seems to be the fan favourite and the perfect introduction for us. We actually have 7 registered styles of beer available at this time, that we will soon be able to offer by the keg, limited to local pubs in the Oromocto area. Those include a Red IPA (Red Over Blue), an APA (Hops Honour), a Brown Ale (Boot Camp), a Milk Stout (Bug Out), a Belgian Blonde (PTE Bloggins) and a Seasonal Cucumber Wheat Ale (9ner Domestic). We kept our list within classic styles that we were confident to reproduce with consistency.
The morALE Brewsters brewhouse
What are your plans for distribution (aka, how can people enjoy your beer)?
At this time, it is a nano brewery right in Jo and mine’s basement! For now, all we are able to offer is kegs. Local pubs in the Oromocto area is where we want to be involved in the community.
Our first account will be starting Friday August 31st, and will be at Griffin’s Pub in Oromocto, NB. Being very new in this venture, we want to start slow and make sure that we will be able to provide to those we offer our product to.
Have you had any assistance from other breweries/people in Atlantic Canada?
Everybody is so awesome in the craft beer community. There is always someone that knows someone they think you should meet! Recently, Jeff Saunders from Bad Apple Brewhouse in Somerset, NS, was of incredible help with knowledge and introducing other brewers in the area of NS. Keith at Ol’Biddy’s Brewhouse in Sackville, NS, Sean at Lunn’s Mill in Lawrencetown, NS, Mike Doucet and Francois Chabot at CCNB for all of the Beer Education days! Sébastien Roy at Fils du Roy, NB. And all the brewers at the different breweries are just so awesome at sharing their knowledge. I guess we are still shy at asking for help since we are at a very small and early stage but we are grateful for anyone recognizing and supporting us. (Thanks Atlantic Canada Beer Blog 😉 )
Having an actual taproom in Oromocto, NB to serve Growlers and enjoy a pint on location, would be a great next step for us. This includes the expansion of our equipment. We would love to eventually have our product in cans to be seen on the shelves beside all the other great craft breweries. Hopefully we can manage our expansion to occur within the next 3 years. Most likely, our capital will dictate a lot of our developing schedule. Plus add 30%, right?!!
The morALE Brewsters Brewhouse (click for full panorama)
We are currently brewing on a 1 BBL (120 litre), all electric system, with 2 fermenters and one brite tank. We fill and sell in 19 litre kegs. Our expected output for our first year is 5000 litres.
Care to share some info on your brewing history?
All of us started with the fool-proof beer kits. And honestly, we all thought that brewing from scratch couldn’t be much harder…
So I guess you could say, our history could be described as countless hours of trial and error!
Do you have a favorite beer style, beer, or brewery you enjoy drinking?
We are beer fans that is for sure! In the specifics, it is hard for me to pin point a style or a brewery in particular. All of them! I think that should be the goal, to try them all!
We are very happy to be entering the brewers community and we can’t wait to get to know you all and get your feedback!