bonation. Less filtration is involved and shelf life is greatly extended as a result of lagering process. When you’re brewing in much smaller sizes, the malt and the yeast is exposed to so much more, so you’re getting much more flavourful beer than you can get out of the big commercial systems. The other big thing is that there are no additives or preservatives. It’s four simple ingredients.” When I enquired as to how long it took Armstrong to famil- iarize himself with the vernacular of brewing, his answer was anything but self-promoting. “Beer’s always been the same. Beer needs fermentation, it needs laydown time. Andrew and I aren’t Brewmasters, so we went out and found a very, very capable young woman by the name of Kellye Robertson.” Kellye is a graduate of Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia who then went on to the Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program at Niagara College, Ontario, a two-year concentrated studies program focused on brewing beer. “She came up with the recipes. What we did [Andrew and I] was go out and identify the holes. We asked ‘What are the styles that aren’t out there that might entice the consumer?’ This particular line of beers is very consum- able, it’s darker in colour, has got lots of flavour to it, it’s a very nice product.” He continued: “The brewery is the most technological- ly advanced of its size anywhere east of Ontario. We’ve invested. It’s fully computerized, well with the exception of the malt room, and once the malt is put into the bin she [Kellye] wants with the various styles of malt. Literally one person can brew; she can brew beer by herself.”
ing of malts. This leaves the by-products of Kellye’s job ripe for the feeding. “A dairy farmer comes and picks them up, free of charge,” Armstrong said. “It’s high quality feed for his cows.” “The brewery is the most technologically advanced of its size anywhere east of Ontario. We’ve invested. It’s fully computerized.”
The canning line is very efficient – well, a better word might be ‘cool’ – and it’s worth a look.
The bells and whistles are every bit impressive as Arm- strong boasted at the bar.
“On our Facebook page there is in fact a video of the process, as well as on our webpage.”
The entire brewery operates on steam heat. Nowhere is there an open flame used in the brewing process, which eliminates hotspots in beer kettles and in turn the scorch-
If you’re in the neighbourhood of Frazee Drive in the Burnside Industrial Park in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, the
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