Profiles

The Story of McAuslan Brewery – Montreal, Quebec

Posted by AtlCan BeerBlog on 2012-03-13
Posted in: Beer Travel, Profiles. Tagged: McAuslan Brewery. 1 comment

While in Montreal a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a brewery tour of the McAuslan Brewery famous for its St-Ambroise brand of beers.  The host for the tour was Taylor McAuslan, the son of owner Peter McAuslan and a man very well acquainted with the Atlantic beer scene. Taylor lived in Halifax from 2003 to 2010 and is the person responsible for introducing and growing the St-Ambroise brand in the region.  When Taylor looks back on his time in Halifax he lists Henry House, Foggy Goggle and Freeman’s as his favourite establishments.

This profile is based on information learned during the tour, emails exchanged with Dean Petty, the Atlantic Accounts Manager for McAuslan Brewing Inc., and other research.

Background
In the 1980s Peter McAuslan began considering opening up a brewery after 25 years as a home brewer.  In 1987, Peter and his wife and eventual McAuslan Master Brewer Ellen Bounsall, began serious research by looking into funding and equipment which included travel to Europe to visit small breweries.

In mid 1988, Alan Pugsley who was trained in England and had experience building, designing and installing breweries all over the world was engaged to help develop their initial recipe.  Ellen, who has was trained as a biologist, made a total of four batches of beer with the help of Puglsey and was then on her own.  In February of 1989 McAuslan enjoyed its first sales of St-Ambroise Pale Ale.

Production
McAuslan currently brews about 85,000 HL of beer per year or approximately 3,000 cases of beer per day.  Approximately 75% of their sales come in bottles with the balance coming in the form of draft sales.  Taylor explained during the tour that for the mega breweries this split is typically closer to 85-90% bottled.

McAuslan brews both ales and lagers.  The ales are for their St-Ambroise and Griffon brands with the lagers being for beers they make on behalf of other breweries.  McAuslan is the official brewer for New Brunswick’s Moosehead Brewery for its Quebec distribution.  Moosehead was actually a minority shareholder in the brewery from 2002 to 2008 before selling their shares to Les Brasseurs RJ which is the other company that McAuslan brews lager for (the Belle Geule and Tremblay brands among them). The ale to lager production is fairly evenly split.  From start to finish it takes about 12-14 days to brew the ales and about 40 days of total time for the lager which is why the lager tanks in the brewery are so much larger.

McAuslan uses about 8 litres of water for every litre of beer produced (the typical Canadian brewery uses about 10 to 1).  Taylor explained how the ratio can be as high as 20/25L to 1L or as low as 3 to 1 in countries where access to water is more challenging.  McAuslan is looking to reduce the amount of water they use in their production.   He also explained that each bottle of beer is normally good for 12 fills / bottle.

The hops they use for their production are mostly from the United States (Oregon / Washington) but also use hops from Southeast England.  They do use some adjuncts (mostly corn) in their beers.

Their operations are supported with approximately 80 employees.

Their Beer
McAuslan uses both the St-Ambroise and Griffon branding for their beers and has won numerous international and national awards.  St-Ambroise is their core brand and is used for most of their products.  Griffon was a brand that was developed in the early 1990s and geared towards the “less experienced” consumer pallet more accustomed to macro brews.

Now the really fun part….  Here’s an overview of the beers based on the sampling part of the tour:

Griffon Red Ale – This is an English style red and one of the first to be bottled and sold in Canada. During the tasting Taylor discussed how Richard’s Red really served as “training wheals for craft beer” by changing the perception of how darker beers taste and essentially helping out craft brewers with different looking and tasting beers.

St-Ambroise Pale Ale – This is the company’s biggest seller and is an American Pale Ale (APA). This has similar malting but higher carbonation than similar English ales in order to align with North American tastes.  This brew is made with two types of both American and British hops.

St-Ambroise Scotch Ale – This is essentially the McAuslan version of a winter warmer.  It is lightly hopped as they want to stay true to the style with a smokey flavour to balance the sweetness of the hops.  Taylor mentioned how this can be described as a “wee heavy” which is a Scottish way of describing a strong beer.

St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout – This is their most decorated beer including winning two Platinum Awards at the World Beer Cup and is also extremely highly marked by the beer enthusiasts on ratebeer.com.  It is made with a mix of black and chocolate malts and is an excellent example of a difficult to get right style.  If you’ve never tried this beer, you owe it to yourself!

St-Ambroise Pumpkin Ale – Taylor described this as “pumpkin pie beer” and it is a very fitting description.  This is made with cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg.  It is brewed once a year starting in Summer and ready for sale in late Summer / early Fall.

St-Ambroise Apricot Wheal Ale – This is a product that they sell more of proportionally outside of Quebec that they do within.  They’ve used this beer to get their foot in the door with different liquor commissions due to its uniqueness and has helped get their brand established. Taylor commented that he figures that sales for this product are pretty evenly split between men and women and he’s surprised by how many “NASCAR / UFC type of guys” seem to really enjoy this beer.

I also asked about the St-Ambroise IPA that I was able to purchase at one of the Halifax private liquor styles last Fall.  This is a fairly new brew for them and one they plan on doing year round. When I commented that I was surprised it wasn’t hoppier Taylor described how they brewed it as a more traditional IPA and toned it down relative to many of the hop heavy IPAs you’ll find on the market now (somewhere Greg Nash is cringing). Apparently the tap version of the brew tastes quite a bit hoppier.

There are also a few other brews offered that we didn’t sample or discuss:  Griffon Extra Pale Ale and St-Ambroise seasonals:  Raspberry Ale, Strong Ale and Vintage Ale as well as their Cream Ale. There are currently no plans for any new brews.

Distribution
McAuslan beer is currently sold in all provinces but Newfoundland with approximately 70-80% of their sales within Quebec.  Overall, the Apricot Wheat Ale accounts for approximately 40% of their branded sales, the Pale Ale accounting for 30% with the balance coming from their other beers.  Within the Maritimes,  over 50% of their sales are for Apricot, with the bulk of the other half being made up of St-Ambroise Pale Ale and Oatmeal Stout.

They currently sell about 1700 HL/ yr in the Maritimes with their best clients being Henry House in Halifax, Brooklyn Warehouse in Halifax, Foggy Goggle in Halifax, Wooden Monkey in Halifax, Spitfire Arms in Windsor and Library Pub in Wolfville.  Unfortunately, Dean Perry informed me last week that the NSLC has decided to de-list St-Ambroise Pale Ale.  The beer will continue to be available at the Private Nova Scotia outlets (Harvest Wine and Spirits, Premiere Wine and Spirits, and Bishops Cellar).  If you would like to contact NSLC to pass on your thoughts about this great beer being removed from their shelves here is the link.

Brewery Tours
As mentioned at the start of this post, I gathered most of my information from a guided tour. The tour costs $20.00 and is worth every penny. The tour lasted about and hour and 45 minutes and was a guided tour throughout all areas of the brewery, detailed aspects of the operations discussed, a sampling of six excellent beers and a gift bag containing a glass, a winter scarf, coaster and two lanyards.

The brewery is about a 15 minute walk from the Place Saint-Henri Metro station (Orange Line). Tours are offered by appointment only on Wednesday nights at 6:15 and 8:00 pm.  There are 3 shifts / day other than Wednesday which is cleaning day which is why tours are only available then as there are less staff on the floor.

Internet presence
McAuslan was the first Canadian brewery on the internet launching their website in 1995.  They also have a Facebook page and can be followed on Twitter (@bierestambroise )

Atlantic Canadian Beer Festivals
St-Ambroise beers will definitely be available at three Atlantic Canadian beer festivals this year.  Dean has confirmed they will be attending the Saint John Beer Fest, Atlantic Beer Festival and Seaport Beer Festival.  They may also attend the PEI Beer Festival and OktoberFest des Acadiens but cannot confirm as of yet.

Community Involvement
Peter and Ellen have been heavily involved in their community supporting a variety of arts, educational and community development projects.

Peter has been the President of the Concordia Alumni Association, sat on the Board of Directors for the Empress Cultural Center and has been involved in projects related to the development of the South West sector of Montreal.

Ellen is a founding member of the Tree Within, a group dedicated to helping battered immigrant women and past member of the Board of Directors for the Montreal Chamber Orchestra.

McAuslen also randomly pays out 5 individual $1,000 bursaries to artists who perform at their Centre St-Ambroise throughout the year.

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This is the third in a series of profiles of breweries I’ve completed so far with the first two being for Shiretown Beer and Garrison Brewing Company.  If you’re a brewer and interested in being featured on this site please contact me.

Q & A with Atlantic Canada’s Rock Star Brewer Greg Nash

Posted by AtlCan BeerBlog on 2012-02-28
Posted in: Profiles. Tagged: Greg Nash, Hart & Thistle, Nash, RockBottom Brewpub. 3 comments

Photo credit goes to Andrew Murphy

Without a doubt, the most interesting person you’ll come across on the Atlantic Canada beer scene is brewer extraordinaire Greg Nash.  The man simply known as “Nash” has been described as “some sort of demi-god” and as a “hop genius” with “a national reputation for uncompromising, assertive, slap-you-in-the-face hoppy beer — he loves his hops and it shows”.

Nash and I have exchanged emails in order to complete the following Q & A:

Atlantic Canada Beer Blogger (ACBB): Tell me about yourself .

Greg Nash (Nash): I was born and raised outside Amherst NS in a little place called Nappan, we had a cattle farm down the road with a few other critters which were eventually replaced with Christmas trees and blueberries. I worked through a few professions before discovering the passion of great beer and brewing. That led me to working on craft brewery installations in the New England States during the early ’90s. I was really intrigued at this point so I set off to the American Brewer’s Guild for my formal training. After graduation and several years of brewing abroad I moved to Halifax and still call it home.

The American Brewers Guild (now based out of Vermont) was a fabulous experience no matter how you look at it! Sunny California, a ton of hard work and a ton of great beer and fun. The instructors and management were incredible, the President is still my go-to guy whenever I’m stumped with anything beer related.

ACBB: What breweries have you worked at over the years?

Nash:  I apprenticed in three breweries in the Sacramento, Ca area (‘The Rubicon’, ‘Sunrise At The Oasis’ and ‘Sacramento Brewing Co.’) before moving to Green Bay for a couple years to work at a small microbrewery with a pub attached: Egan Brewing Company.  I made it to Lambeau Field a few times. The owner of the brewery held multiple season passes and I was lucky to get the leftovers! The games were amazing as is the city particularly on game day, a city-wide tailgate party ensues.

I also worked at the River City Brewing Company in  Winnipeg Manitoba, before moving to John Shippey’s Brewery in  Halifax, followed by Propeller, Garrison, Pump House, the Hart &  Thistle, Rockbottom Brewpub also did stints at ‘The Queen Molly’ in Yarmouth (now Rudders) as well as a few others as consultant for staff training, brewing technique, recipe formulation etc.

ACBB: You’re a member of what beer related groups / associations?

Nash:  I’m a member of several home-brewing clubs including the local Brewnosers. I’m also a member of the Brewer’s Association and the American Brewer’s Guild.

ACBB: How do you juggle your time as Brewmaster between Hart & Thistle and Rockbottom Brewpub?  Do you know of anyone else who is Brewmaster at two different microbreweries?

Nash: There has to be other brewers out there working for more than one brewery, how they handle is a good question! So far it’s been fairly easy to manage but summer is approaching, I have been training a couple local brewers to step in and help with the workload on the soon-to-be busy waterfront. Working weekends is getting old quick!

ACBB: What are your future plans for your brews / career ?

Nash:  My only plans are to keep on brewing good beer covering all the flaws with hops for as long as I can! 0_o

‘Day of Wreckoning’ is fast approaching which is the release of our Imperial Stout at Rockbottom Brewpub on March 8th at 5:00 PM. I’m sure there will be more fun beers and collaborations at some point in the not-so-distant future.

ACBB:  How do you come up with your ideas for new beers?

Nash:  I draw a ton of inspiration from the home-brewing community, once a homebrewer always a homebrewer! There’s a ton of online resources to peruse as well but when I want to brew something different with herbs, spices, fruits or other odd ingredients I think of how the flavours interact more from a food standpoint. Most people don’t think of Brewers as Chefs but really that’s what we do: we’re liquid Chefs.

ACBB:  Are you planning on being at any beer festivals / conferences this year?

Nash:  I will but I’m still on the fence as to which ones!

ACBB:  How many different brews would you say you’ve brewed professionally and as an amateur?

Nash:  As a homebrewer with a ton of thirsty friends in rural Nova Scotia I logged close to 600 batches before I finally packed up to head to brewing school. Since then I brewed somewhere around 1000 – 1100 batches professionally. As for how many different styles of beer I have made, I’m not sure really. There’s 30 or more style categories, I’m sure I’ve hit most of them and several of their sub-categories over the years.

ACBB: Are there any awards you wanted to mention regarding your brews?

Nash:  Awards can be rewarding and I have won several but at the end of the day the real reward and satisfaction is in watching people enjoy the product, they are effectively voting with their wallet.

ACBB: What do you like to do in your spare time?

Nash:  Currently most of my time is spent working in one way or another but when I have spare time I relax with the culinary arts. I cook, often, usually with beer or hops infused somehow. Charcuterie, coffee roasting, espresso making, BBQ. Mmmmmm. Okay ya got me, I love food. And beer.

The Story of Garrison Brewing Co. – Halifax, NS

Posted by AtlCan BeerBlog on 2012-02-13
Posted in: Profiles. Tagged: Brian Titus, Daniel Girard, Garrison Brewing, Halifax Beer. Leave a Comment

Garrison Brewing Company of Halifax, Nova Scotia has enjoyed a tremendous amount of both commercial (sales grew almost 25% this past year) and critical (a combined 29 awards between the Canadian Brewery Awards and World Beer Championships including the two time Canadian Brewery Awards Beer of the Year in both 2007 and 2008) success.  I’ve gone back and forth over email with various members of the Garrison team  in order to complete this profile.

Background
President Brian Titus founded the company in 1997 with an inaugural batch of Irish Red Ale.  Brian was formerly a diving officer in the Navy, but always had a love of craft beer and was an avid home brewer. When he came to the East Coast and noticed there wasn’t much of a craft beer scene so he decided to start one. Coincidentally, both Garrison and Propeller Brewery opened up in Halifax within 2 weeks of each other.

Brewmaster
Daniel Girard has served as the Brewmaster for Garrison’s since March 2008 (here’s a link to a video interview from the Great Canadian Beer Blog).  Daniel received professional training in Berlin as “Brewmaster (VLB)”, and gained experience in  Japan and Canada as well.  He has written and spoken extensively on beer (here is a link from the NSLC site of Daniel explaining brewing flavored beers and another from the same of beer making).  Daniel previously worked at the Pump House Brewery in Moncton, N.B. where production increased drastically and the beers received a total of 18 awards including the 2005 Brewery of the Year award during Daniel’s stay in Moncton.  Daniel recently went to Victoria, B.C. to work with Philips Brewing on a Mash-Up Baltic Porter.  Another collaboration with another brewery is being planned for 2012 with details being ironed out.

Production
Garrison currently produces about 6000 hectolitres or two million bottles per year (volumes fluctuate month to month based on demand).  Brewing capacity increased by 50% in April 2011 by installing two new tanks.  Garrison is looking to expand again.  They are currently seeking out a secondary building for manufacturing of beer in the Halifax core.  If all goes well it should be up and running in 12 to 18 months.

Distribution
Garrison Beer is currently available in bottles in all provinces other than Quebec and Newfoundland.   They currently have approximately 100 draft accounts in Nova Scotia, six in New Brunswick and the Pilot House in Charlottetown, P.E.I. offers a couple of their products (Tall Ship and Hopyard).  Their products are currently not available in any foreign markets.

Their Beer (in below section, NB=Available at ANBL, NS=Available at NSLC and PEI=PEILCC – Garrison products are also available at the Garrison Beer Store and private outlets in Halifax)

The following are their year round beers (check this link for descriptions, specs and awards won by beer):

  • Raspberry Wheat (NB, NS)
  • Tall Ship Amber (NB, NS, PEI)
  • Irish Read Ale (NB, NS)
  • Nut Brown Ale (NS)
  • Imperial I.P.A. (NB, NS)
  • Hop Yard Pale (NB, NS, PEI)
  • Jalapeno Ale

A Garrison “Mixed 6” pack is also listed in NB and NS.

Here’s a list of their seasonal beers and when they are expected to be out (check this link for descriptions, specs and awards won for these seasonal brews):

  • Pils (December to February)
  • Spruce Beer (December)
  • Grand Baltic Porter (December to February)
  • Winter Warmer (November to February) (NB, NS)
  • Black I.P.A. (November to April)
  • Martello Stout (October to May) (NB, NS)
  • 3 Fields Harvest Ale (September to November)
  • Oktoberfest Brau (September to November) (NS)
  • Honey Lavender (August to October)
  • Blackberry Wheat (May to September) (NS)
  • Tilford’s Nit-Wit (March to July) *Ultimate Brew Off 2010 Winner
  • Sugar Moon Maple (March to June)
  • Ol’ Fog Burner (February to April)
  • Ol’ Fog Burner (Barrel-Aged) (February to April

The next new beer slated to be produced is a batch of Schwarzbier using the recipe of last year’s Ultimate Brew Off* Winner.  Follow Garrison on Twitter (@GarrisonBrewing), Facebook or their website to get updates on any new brews they have coming.

Atlantic Ingredients / Suppliers
In terms of ingredients, they are sourced locally whenever possible (i.e. Maritime Malt from NB, lavender from Meander River Farms for their Honey Lavender Ale, N.S. freshly harvested hops for 3 Fields Harvest Ale, Spruce and Fir tips harvested by Garrison employees at Meander River Farm, and so on).  Garrison partners with Nova Scotia growers for fresh or wet hops, used in their 3 Fields Harvest Ale, which they’ve released mid-September for the past two years. They have also used hops from P.E.I. in the past, but not a huge percentage, just what local growers have available.  They hope to see their use of local hops increase in 2012 but don’t expect it will be a huge percentage.   The growers they’ve partnered with, like Fiddle Hop Farms and Meander River Farms, are still expanding their fields and trying to maximize their hop harvests.

Garrison purchases all of their equipment / tanks from DME International in Charlottetown, P.E.I.  Feedback from Garrison is that they’ve been excellent to deal with in terms of attention to detail and customer service.

Beer Festival / Conference Plans for 2012
Garrison will definitely be attending the Atlantic Beer Festival & Halifax Seaport Festival this year.  Brian Titus is a co-founder of the Halifax festival and typically brings a dozen offerings to the event including cask ales & limited releases.  Garrison will also be represented at the Craft Brewer’s Conference in San Diego this May as the crew will take in all the talks & events.  Their participation in other festivals this year will be determined closer to the festival dates by their supply of beer at the time, staff schedules, and other factors.

*Ultimate Brew Off
This year will mark the 4th year of the Garrison sponsored Ultimate Brew Off.  This year’s style of Rye I.P.A. was selected by Daniel and Brian.  Each year they come up with a style they think would be fun yet challenging to brew.  The Grand Prize includes a day brewing a full batch of the winner’s recipe with Daniel and releasing the beer in bottles as a seasonal.  They typically average 30 entries per year, but are anticipating more this year.  Last year, Scott Tilford’s Nit-Wit was such a success, they had to brew it multiple times!

Get brewing! The deadline for entry is February 27th. 

Brewery Tours
Brewery tours are available for groups of 10 or more with a cost of $12 / person.  There are also a couple of online tours available (both front and back end of the operations).

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This is the second in a series of posts I plan to do covering Atlantic Canadian craft breweries (the first one was on Shiretown Beer in Dalhousie, NB).  If you’re an Atlantic Canadian brewer and interested in being featured on this site please contact me.