Beer

…are what we specialize in! I think that’s going to be our new motto. Learning to do something well requires about 95% failure for 5% success. Good thing I’m so dang good at effing-up!  There’s no better way to find out what works best than to find all the ways that don’t work. Let’s all just be glad I do pub furnishings and not brain surgery. Along with building up our workshop and equipment, the past year has been spent on making and testing prototype after prototype. Our goal has been to create the best quality pieces while keeping them as affordable as possible. Accomplishing this while making the business viable (as in, we actually make a living at it) has been a lot tougher than you would imagine.

May long weekend signals the start of the summer season, beach fires, backyard parties & beers on the patio. It’s my favorite time of year. It’s one of the best times of year to have a home pub or tiki bar with cold beer on tap!

This long weekend did not disappoint. I got to play bartender at the Rogue Festival Human Foosball Tournament fundraiser.

If you missed it, be sure not to miss out on the Rogue Festival this August. The giant human sized foosball court will be there. We finished the weekend with a beach fire and a pint or two of Hoyne Pilsner, with our Foosball teammates the West Creek Hooligans!

When I go to a gallery exhibition, I love to see the artist’s earlier works or practice sketches. It reminds me of the amount of work and practice that goes in before you make something you’re happy with. It also reminds me that,unless you’re some kind of super human freak, most artists generally don’t start out creating great works, they create a lot of crap before it starts to get any good.

We’re only about 2 weeks behind schedule so far, which is actually about 2 weeks less behind schedule than I thought we’d be at this point. So we’re actually ahead of schedule. Work on the taps is going swimmingly. I’ve got 16 tap designs that we’ll be launching at the end of the month. We’ve been testing finishes and getting the process down, faster and faster. Derek will be doing some big upgrades to the CNC in the next couple of months. We’ll post a video once it’s done. A shopping cart will follow in fall with more products coming in spring (bar stools, pub signs etc). Here are a couple of new taps freshly engraved on the CNC ready to be cut out and filled with epoxy.

When I was a wee lass, perhaps 5 or 6 years old, my family took us for a camping trip in the English country side. The English weather lived up to its good name. It rained the entire time and the field was muddy. Before long, my wonderful father suggested the brilliant idea of taking me to a nearby pub. I realize now that it was probably at the request of my Mother, to get me out of her hair so that she could get the tent set up. (Thanks Mum) However, at the time, I just thought my Dad wanted to take me on a great adventure. My memory of that pub is as keen as if I was there yesterday. The worn wooden bar top, darts and snooker tables, footy on the telly, and the stench of stale beer soaked carpets …. in other words….paradise! I was perched up on a tall bar stool and given a strongbow to sip. Oh what heavenly nectar, sweet as a hummingbird’s kiss! I was done with camping, this was what life was all about. It made an indelible mark on my young mind and since then, it’s been my lifelong dream to have my own private pub in my own house. Well, now we do, complete with plumbed in kegs. Here’s Derek pouring a pint:

Thank-you Ian Ridgway for our fab new deck! We LOVE it!!

Other than sanding and finishing deck boards, we have been working on loads of new projects.

The latest is our awesome beach beer box! Last summer we realized we needed a box to carry our beer to the beach (Yes, yes I know, poor me!) so this year we made one.

We also made several for a few friends.

Finally started to brew again after a hiatus of several years (due to time constraints, not by choice).

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This time around I am brewing a 7-ish percent IPA, using ESB and Caravienne malts, and a ludicrous amount of hops. I hope the 1.120 starting gravity will balance out the massive IBU.

Went to Greendale Pottery and Beef yesterday to pick up a quarter of a cow. You heard me. A quarter of a freakin’ cow.

What? It’s Barbecue season?

Anyway, as I’m sure you’ve gathered from the name, she also makes amazing pottery. Check out our new pottery beer mugs. Looks like a beer poured into a clear glass and running down the edges but it’s just the glaze colour.

ps. Maker Faire on Saturday! Don’t forget to buy tickets!

Well the pub sign is finally done! We’ll be bringing it to Maker Faire this year but it’s final home will be above our kegerator beside the bar.

We cut the sign on our big CNC from scraps of HDU (High Density Urethane) kindly given to us by Dan Sawatsky of Imagination Corporation. Dan is pretty much the world’s greatest sign maker and a huge inspiration.

Phew! I think it’s time for a beer.

Progress on the pub sign is slow but steady. Just the Raven and fox to finish up. Hoping to do that this weekend. Just signed up for Vancouver Maker Faire 2012 today!!