Upcoming Hop Growers' Conference!

The Canadian Organic Growers are putting on what promises to be an excellent workshop for anyone interested in growing hops for the Maritime brewing industry. This is an exciting opportunity for anyone looking to get into agriculture, or diversify their crop production. We're hoping to attend with many other established brewers to get a good sense of what's happening and what might soon be possible for all local Maritime brewing...

Growing Hops in the Maritimes

Sunday, April 29

Sackville, NB - Coastal Inn

10:00 Registration

10:30 Getting started (Ron/Julien):

Site preparation

Soil health and fertility

Rhizome and planting stock

Variety selection

Trellis systems

Lunch 12:30-1:00 (soup/sandwich)

Calendar of work for hopyard management (Julien) 1:00-2:00

Testing options (Kevin Shiell and Aaron Mills) 2:15

Welcome brewers to meeting 2:30

Update on Maritime Hop Growers Association (Ashley) 

Processing for hops (Kevin Shiell) 

Discussions on varieties, quantities, quality, volumes etc. 

Next steps

End of meeting 4pm

Instructors:

Ron Godin, Ph.D., Soil Scientist, Hops Agronomist

Ron received his B.S and M.S. in Soil & Water Science from the University of Arizona and his Ph.D. in Soil Fertility and Crop Nutrition from Colorado State University. Ron has been growing and researching hops, hop varieties suitable for Colorado and working with hops growers since 2002. He speaks regularly at hops seminars and workshop on his hops work and instructs growers and potential growers on new developments and all aspects of hops production.

Julien Venne, MSc., Hops Agronomist

Julien received his B.Sc and Masters from McGill University in agriculture and environmental sciences. Since 2009, he has been involved as a research agronomist working on hops production technologique agricole de l’Outaouais (CREDETAO). His project aimed at identifying the proper varieties of hops for production under Quebec’s growing conditions. Julien is in the process of publishing a guide on hops production and he is now serving as a consultant to hop growers. Julien has also been a connoisseur of Quebec’s microbrewery scene for the last 10 years and has a great enthusiasm towards the re-introduction of hops in Eastern Canada and the development of local breweries.

Cost is $45/person, including lunch (or $80/couple). Everyone with an interest in growing hops is welcome. Please RSVP by April 25th by emailing Beth@cog.ca or call 506-878-2408. 

This project was founded by the Maritime Hops Grower Association and is funded by the New Brunswick Agricultural Council, PEI ADAPT Council, Nova Scotia Agri-Futures, and the Government of Canada. The project is being managed by Beth McMahon, on behalf of the Canadian Organic Growers (www.cog.ca).    

A Wednesday afternoon virtual pub crawl...

While we continue to work away behind the scenes, getting ever closer to making the Townhouse a reality, we thought we'd share some of things we stumble across in our research that inspire and spur us on. Terry recently found some neat videos on a website called pubs.com. Meet Gerry O'Brien, the charming proprietor of The Churchill Arms, a "real" pub in Notting Hill.



This is England's first community owned pub in Yorkshire, their story is testament to the vital role a good pub plays in the social fabric of a community.



If you've got a bit more time, drop in here to check out a magnificant example of lavish Victorian design (The Red Lion), some classic old world pub games, or check out some amazing cask beer at CAMRA's current Sutton pub of the Year, The Hope in Surrey.

Cheers!

50 Strong and Counting!

Well, a mighty thank you is due to each and everyone of you who has joined us in the SUDS Club–we have surpassed out goal of 50 members! This is an incredibly encouraging vote of confidence from the community we're hoping to serve. It confirms our belief that Antigonish is the exactly the right kind of place for something like The Townhouse. We've already enjoyed meeting a lot of great new people through this venture, and we look forward to meeting even more once our doors are finally open. We look forward to sharing more news on that front with you over the coming weeks and months...


While we have hit our goal we can still accommodate a few more members before we're maxed out. If you found out about all this late in the game, or otherwise feared you'd missed the deadline, you may still be in luck–just fill out the form or e-mail us to find out about some of the other ways you could play a vital part in the Townhouse start-up. 




UPCOMING EVENTs!
In other news–for those of you interested in local food and sustainable agriculture, environmental activism, social justice, or who just enjoy meeting and learning from remarkable people, you won't want to miss the chance to hear Vandana Shiva, speak right here in Antigonish.


 Feb. 26th: Transforming Local and Global Connections, 9:30 am at the COADY. For details click here. Shiva is an exciting and powerful speaker, an activist, physicist, author, and a winner of the Right Livelihood Award (aka "The Alternative Nobel Prize"). To give you a sense of the calibre of impressive and influential individuals this award recognizes, I'll just note that other winners include Ken Saro-Wiwa, David Suzuki, and Francis Moore Lappé. There will be a Just food-fair in conjunction with Shiva's visit, a vegetarian lunch provided by VOICES and Select Nova Scotia, and information on local food initiatives (possibly including The Townhouse).


Feb. 18th: Antigonish International Film Festival presents an afternoon getting to know Dr. Vandana Shiva in preparation and anticipation of her visit to Antigonish. Come one and all to "BULLSH*T" a film about Dr. Shiva with provocative film clips from Youtube and vigorous discussion to follow. As one of the organizers, Jeff Parker, put it,"There will also be live internet youtube videos and extensive discussion time to help digest her insights. She is everything the occupy movement could, should or ever would ever want to be! She is about "Thriving" not just surviving the war!" Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012 AT 2:30 People's Place Library Main St. Antigonish.

"The primary threat to nature and people today comes from centralising and monopolising power and control. Not until diversity is made the logic of production will there be a chance for sustainability, justice and peace. Cultivating and conserving diversity is no luxury in our times: it is a survival imperative."

- Vandana Shiva

Once again, thank you so much for the tremendous support and encouragement!

Rose & Terry

The final push: SUDS Club deadline tomorrow!

Hi all,

Just a note to say how excited we are about the SUDS Club and the pub plans in general–thanks to you good people we have so far sold 45 of the 50 subscriptions we hope to sell! This is such a major contribution to our project, not only do we have your financial and moral support, but we have something concrete we can show the banks, along with our survey (that over 500 of you took the time to fill-out!), to demonstrate we have the community's backing. So thank you for playing such an important part in launching the Townhouse! 

The deadline for signing up is tomorrow, so if you know anyone who has been thinking about becoming a member do let them know. And please consider passing this on to one or two friends you think may be interested.

Also, there appears have been a problem with one of the links I sent out. A few people have filled out a form, but it never made it to us. If you haven't received a thank you e-mail from us, we probably haven't gotten your info... The form found on our blog's membership page works. 

See it here: SUDS Club membership

And finally, Terry is chomping at the bit to start ordering parts for our brewery build! Anyone with requests for beer styles they'd like us to brew, let us know. We're thinking we'll start with one of our favourites, a classic English style Bitter in the vein of Fuller's London Pride, which can be had at the NSLC. We've also recently been inspired by a delicious Black IPA (thanks, Pat).

Once again, (and watch out, it's about to get a bit sappy) thanks so much for your remarkable support–it's what makes this town a great place to be, and one where so much is possible! 

Cheers,

Rose & Terry

SUDS CLUB Update: Thanks + A Wee Bit More!

Well, the wonderful response we've had to our SUDS Club initiative and some fantastic outdoor ice-time this past weekend have us in a very positive mood this week!

Thanks to you stellar Townhouse supporters, we have already reached the halfway mark to our subscription goal! We really appreciate this concrete demonstration of community support, generosity, and confidence in our idea. So we've decided we'd like to give a little extra back to thank those of you who have already signed on, and to encourage others who may still be considering becoming SUDS Club members–if you're just finding out about the SUDS Club, please see our previous post here for some background information.

SUDS Club Member Bonus!
We're pleased to announce that a $1000 subscription will now give a member 12 x $25 coupons each year, or 1 per month, every month for 4 years. That's 2 extra coupons per year, for a total return of $200 on your generous investment in a community-supported pub! But you have to act quickly - there is a limited number of subscriptions available, and the deadline to sign up is February 11th.

We'd also like to clarify a few things that have come up in conversation with many of you:

- SUDS Club Membership
To become a member, please fill out the membership form (the information comes directly, and only to us). By subscribing you are helping to create Canada's first Community Supported Brewpub! The $1000 subscription entitles you to 12 x $25 food coupons each year for 4 years, redeemable once per month as soon as the Townhouse is up and running! That's your original subscription repaid with great food in your own local brewpub, plus an additional $200 of food (free!) to say thank you.

- Payment
Only after our location has been secured, and all other funding is in place, will we contact you to collect your payment and pick up your membership/coupons. In the unfortunate event that we are unable to secure the location or funding, we will thank you for your support, but you will owe us nothing.

- Group subscriptions?
We welcome group subscriptions! You can get another couple to go in with you, or form a group of friends to buy a subscription together. We can still only redeem 1 coupon/month, so it will be up to the group to decide how to share their redemption. You can take turns each month, or you might decide to meet up to enjoy a meal together, and put the coupon towards a shared bill. To keep things simple, elect one member to register and be our contact for payment/coupon delivery.

- 6 x $50 coupons/year?
We decided to offer an alternative redemption schedule for those of you who feel you might not make it out once/month (although we hope you do!),  and to make it easier for those of you sharing a subscription as a group, or living outside of Antigonish. A subscriber can elect to redeem $25 coupons once per month, or to redeem $50 coupons once every 2 months. We ask that you commit to one of these options each year to keep things simple (you can always switch the following year if you decide you'd like to try the other option out!).

- Are coupons transferable?
Yes! You are welcome to share your subscription with friends or family. However, we can still only honour one coupon/month.

- Miss a month?
Unused coupons will expire, which is another reason we wanted to offer you 2 extra $25 coupons per year (or 1 at $50). And remember, you can opt to redeem $50 worth of coupons every 2 months if you prefer.

- Not just beer!
For those among you who crave a cozy little local pub, but don't necessarily drink beer–don't worry. We are working to develop an excellent little wine list (we welcome your input!), and are also planning to stock a variety of tasty local and imported ciders. We will also offer coffees, teas, and local sodas and spritzers.

- Deadline?
The deadline to subscribe is February 11th. We expect to be collecting payment early in the spring and hope to open our doors as early as May or June.

Once again, thank you from the Townhouse!
To those of you have already signed up for a membership, we thank you heartily. Your support could make all the difference! If you're still thinking about it, we encourage you to join us in launching Canada's first community supported brewpub. As always, we're happy to hear whatever you're thinking–don't hesitate to get in touch with any questions, comments, or concerns.

We'll leave you with a few recent articles of interest:

Vibrant Village Bucks the Trend
A great article about Tatamagouche, it's local pub, barter system, CFAs, and commitment to local food...

Ontario Brewery's Community Supported Eco-development project

Halifax's Hop-heavy Rockstar Brewer

Garrison's Maritime Home-brewing Competition

Maritime vineyard's getting respect


Cheers,

Rose and Terry

Anatomy of an All Grain Brew Session

Hello again one and all,

An Update:

Our Suds Club campaign is off to a great start–hats off to those of you who have taken the plunge! Your support is truly essential and deeply appreciated! Those of you still thinking about it, feel free to get in touch with any questions or concerns. We know it's not something everyone can do at this point, and we have also had a number of inquires about sharing memberships. While we wholeheartedly encourage this activity, we just want to clarify that we will still only be able to honour one coupon per month–this just means that you will have to work out amongst yourselves how you'd like to share the coupons, either by taking turns redeeming them, or by making monthly dates to meet up for a tasty meal and libations, and putting the coupon toward a shared bill. 

Attention non-beer drinkers:

While we will naturally be promoting excellent craft brewed draught beer at the brewpub, our own and a number of the Maritime's finest, we assure the less beer-inclined among you that there will also be an excellent little wine list, and some terrific ciders available as well. In fact, we'd love to hear what you think about having cider on tap (how many of you would actually order it?) and what you'd most like to see on our wine list! Comment on the blog or drop us a line!

And now, back to the main event...

The Great North Grant Pale Ale Session

Recently our friend Tom and I brewed a batch of English Pale Ale in Tom's cozy and rustic barn/personal brewery in North Grant. We thought some of you might like to see the process as it unfolded. This is a very basic description of the process, there are awful lot of very complicated chemical processes taking place, we'll just highlight the most rudimentary ones.

Welcome to The Suds Club!

Happy new year, folks, and apologies for the long hiatus. We trust the holidays were memorable, and that everyone is off to great start for 2012! When not participating in a higher than normal volume of Christmas/New Year's festivities, we've been working furiously behind the scenes, working out cashflow projections, meeting with accountants and lawyers, and we are pleased to announce that we are ready to take a major next step in launching the Townhouse! 

We need to raise a modest amount of money to help us secure the perfect downtown location and meet our working capital requirements, and we'd like you to help us do it. The "next step" is to launch our CSR, or Community Supported Restaurant subscription program, which we've decided to call the "Suds Club." 

Background on CSRs