Barley Sandwiches for everyone!

Sorry we've been so long between posts. I can assure you that it's not because nothing has been happening! We've been taking in some of the local political action, applying for some start-up programs that could be a big help in getting things up and running, welcoming back Seabright Garden's Susie and Will, and working on our research (which happily can include things like trying new beers and perfecting recipes for soda bread and ratios of cheese to pickles, etc, in addition to the number crunching, data collecting, and cold-calling).

!!!Big Announcement!!!
We're very pleased to be able to give you a (very) ballpark estimate of when the Townhouse will be up and running!!! If things go more or less as planned, we hope to be serving you great beer and great local food by the new year! I know it isn't as soon as some might like (including us!), but we think it's better to take our time and get it right!

This post is all about beer...

Craft brewing in the Maritimes
Over the past 6 months or so we've been having discussions about our plans and the local industry with the owners and brewmasters of Propeller and Granite breweries in Halifax, Picaroons in Fredericton, and Mill St. Brewing in Toronto. They have all been very encouraging! Like the UK, US, and Western Canada before us, the Maritimes are experiencing our own craft brewing renaissance. In fact, it's been suggested that the numbers of breweries in the US now exceeds pre-prohibition numbers. This is incredible! Before prohibition, each town or region might have had it's own beer brewers, but after prohibition the big guys took over (as they did here in Canada). The numbers of producers dwindled to just a few centralized mega-breweries. In 1983, the US had a total of only 80 breweries across the entire country, and 92% of these were owned by the top 6 brewing companies (including Budweiser, Miller, Coors, and Pabst). In 2010, the US brewing industry had 1'753 breweries, the highest number since the late 1800s!