Serpent Brewing

"The Closing of Serpent" - by Glen, the owner and brewer.

For you, the customer;

"The Serpent" stage, as the musicians called it, although short lived, was one that almost should have never lived.

The beginnings of Serpent started in 2012 on Princeton Avenue just down from the 500 block in Spryfield when one night I thought "I wonder, is it possible to make beer at home?". After some research over a few Leffe and Hoegarden I headed to the local Canadian Tire to build my first mash tun out of parts that, if you were to look closely, decorated our 5bbl mash tun in our modest craft brewery in the basement of that same Canadian Tire some time after. A turkey fryer and some plastic buckets, a BPA PLENTIFUL garden hose and copper coil, were all that was needed to complete the system. During those times it wasn't as easy as now with the robobrews and grainfathers, the plethora of hops and yeast selections at Noble Grape, but another thing unavailable was locally made and delicious Belgian Beer. After learning a soft lesson of why you can't operate a cheap propane burning device inside your home and why you can't use zinc plated washers on the "hot side" of beer equipment, and why hops shouldn't be brown in color, and why you can't peak into your fermentor every time you get lonely, I was finally sitting at home drinking something called a "Leffe Clone '' that I had learned to make from the internet.

It was possible.

I had moved from my home in NL as a carpenter and musician, and destined to not become a slave to yet another wonderful hobby, I kept to myself, in my basement for almost a decade, perfecting one Belgian ale and Sour Raspberry Tripelbock after another. "I will never open a brewery" i said. Fast forward to 2017, standing overlooking the crowd at my band's album release party, each person holding in their hand a delicious belgian tripel, or quad, or blonde, or dubbel, that I had made... I had an epiphany. I had played guitar and pursued music intensely for 20 years but standing seeing a room full of people enjoying my beer, I knew then and there what I wanted to do with my life. I was never comfortable on stage, but I was always comfortable setting one up, or planning one, or building one.

The real epiphany though was the impressive number of people who were willing to help me with this endeavour, and the immensely growing and welcoming craft beer industry. The music and construction industry are a tough racket as anyone involved will tell you, but in craft brewing, everyone was your friend and for once outside of maybe Kevin Keefe and John Allen, everyone was new.

Being a carpenter and a musician I certainly didn't have "opening a brewery" money, but with some contriving I managed to convince a few people I was an entrepreneur and away I went. But where? As much as people would like to discredit anything that happens south of the rotary (I'm getting Townie Overpass Syndrome vibes) there's 30,000 wonderful humans down here with no brewery. These people could not live a deprived life any longer. In my rounds of fundraising the tune of "why Spryfield?" quickly changed to "why hasn't anyone done this yet?". We HAD and now have the largest populated section of Halifax without a decent spot to have a craft beer. That's insane.

A lease was signed, and as of December 2019, even with all the biblical research done to date no locusts or plagues were in the forecasts. A deposit was paid on the equipment and manufacturing had begun. After determining that despite the NSLC, Alcohol and Gaming, and Planning Department, after issuing a dozen Go Aheads to other breweries in HRM still didn't and don't know what a brewery is, I received said permits and broke ground at the facility at the end of February, 2020.

That's where I have to stop this story. The entire story of Serpent Brewing has been plagued with the pandemic and there's such a better story to tell her.

"The Serpent" Stage as the musicians called it. The place was a stage for so much more. How many people became friends in our taproom? How many people fell in love in our taproom? Who found their favourite beer? How many people saw their favourite show? Who played their first show? Who played their favorite? How many people can say that after spending so much time alone during the pandemic that Serpent was their first place out? How many people took their babies out or new puppies for the first time to Serpent? We had a celebration of life there! Someone got engaged there! For some it was a quiet solace, a chance to get out of the house for a minute to spend some time alone, and that was fine. How many people met the love of their life or their soulmate there? A friend of mine asked me "what defines a craft brewery?" being able to provide a space too accompany or a product to accompany those special interactions between people, That is what a craft brewery is.

So.... you're probably still wondering why we're closing, right?

Serpent Brewing, as much as it's always been about the community, has always been too big for the community. We just can't, no matter how hard we try, drink enough beer to pay for all that square footage and crazy price increases. When we started, a bag of malt was $30, now it's $47 but pints were never gonna be $12 at Serpent no matter what. We always had our sights set on NSLC, and built our business plan around growth. After a successful year of selling our flagship Judas Belgian Blonde at a rate of one pallet per month (great for a new brewery, unheard of for a local belgian ale) we were refused any more shelf space and any more skus at NSLC.

The next time you are at NSLC I want you to ask yourself why there is an entire aisle of French, New Zealand, and Italian wines but Serpent Brewing is refused access to any more representation than once single can. The next time you are in Newfoundland, ask yourself why Marie's Mini Mart as a corner store is the #1 reseller of NL craft beer but NSLC has the monopoly here.

Thank you to all the friends, family, staff, industry partners, customers, musicians, and performers that shared these moments with us and supported us throughout.

A very special thank you to all the craft brewers who paved the way for Serpent to exist. We know some but only part of the sacrifice you folks have made so that the fifty-something other of us could have a go.

Take care.

Glen O'Keefe
Serpent Brewing

Some days you just want to support other local businesses and today we want to share Pavia's post here!

It's the first official day of Autumn and we are excited about the change in season! Not only do hiking trails here become even a bit more beautiful but the cooler air makes the coffees and hot chocolates taste even better. Whatever your plans are for the weekend we look forward to seeing you here in Herring Cove!

You can find us at your closest NSLC, at Bishop's, Harvest, WestSide, and at our location: 5 Sussex St, Spryfield!

And find us on tap around the city, too!

What are your plans for this weekend?

If you're coming to visit us please check our new fall hours 🍁

This Friday, we're open from 4 to 9PM. On Saturday from 3 to 9PM, and on Sunday from 3 to 6PM!

Thanks for all the support!
for

Today, Sep 21, we'll be closed for kitchen renovations but come visit us this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Sep 22-24) and get a free growler with purchase of fill!

Roxie is our Blood Orange Seltzer. Refreshing and low in sugar, this seltzer is great when you want to try something different on tap or to-go!

Mocktails are for Tuesdays!

Tuesdays we open our taproom from 4 to 9PM! Come join us for some beer on tap or to-go!

Did you know that we can fill your growler?

No matter the brand, we can fill your growler as long as it's clean and not dented.

You can also get $2 off any growler fills every Thursday!

Find out NEIPA, Townie Overpass Syndrome at your closest NSLC!

Stay safe!

We're closed today, Sep 16, due to the weather. Stay tuned for tomorrow!

Get 10%off six packs and 15%off 24 packs today!

We are open until 8PM tonight, due to the weather.

Stay safe ⛈️

Get 10% off six packs and 15% off 24 packs from Sep 14th to the 17th!
This promo is available from Sep 14 to 17, until 10PM, and +19 only. Long Lake Lager packs are not included in this promo.

Serpent Brewing 85 Seat Craft Brewery and Kitchen featuring Live Music, Karaoke, Trivia, Pet Friendly Patio & more.

No matter the weather, we have beer on tap, beer cocktails, and beer to-go ready for you!

We are open today from 2PM to 10PM!

Tuesdays we open from 4 to 9PM. Join us for a pint or for some beer to-go!

Have you tried our Father O'Keefe yet?

We're releasing our fall food menu next week, therefore we're closing at 6PM tomorrow, Sep 10. Sorry for any inconveniences and thanks for understanding!

Very excited to have The Farrugia/Adam/Easley Trio - Live at Serpent Brewing tonight, Sep 9!

Come see them live at 8PM! $15 cash at the door.

Taco Thursday today is from 3PM to 5PM!

Get $2 tacos and $5 Long Lake Lager pints from 3PM to 5PM and $4 tacos from 5PM to 10PM.

You can also get $2 off any growler fill, every Thursday only at Serpent!
#🍺

We're open today, Sep 6, until 10PM!

Enjoy a pint, some wine, seltzer, and beer cocktails with some snacks or get some beer to-go!

Trivia lovers, we won't have Trivia this week but don't worry we will be open, so, come on down for a couple pints!

Thanks for understanding!

See you Wednesday!

We're closed today, Sep 5, but we'll be back tomorrow! 🙌

Blue Acres is the indie-folk moniker for Halifax songwriter/producer Darrel Cameron that's coming this Thursday, Sep 7 to Serpent!

“There’s a richness to Cameron’s work, particularly his singing, that resonates with shades of Cohen on the low end, with a literal and metaphorical depth.”

Their guest band is The Two Body Problem. The new duo of indie folk artists Alanna Matty & Dan Young, who have been engaging with audiences in-person and online with their gorgeous blend of voices, songs that resonate with your heart & harmonies that will give you shivers.

Their debut single “Did I Love You” was released Aug 25.

8PM/ $10/PWYC

Follow them on IG 👇 and read more about them on our website!

acres.music

Hope you all had a good Long weekend...and a Long Lake Lager too! 😁 We're still open until 9PM today.

Thanks for visiting us! We'll be closed tomorrow. See you Wednesday!

We're open today until 9PM!

Our Mocktail is dedicated to all the designated drivers out there 😄
..and to all the non-alcoholic drink lovers as well!
#😉

Serpent Brewing's cover photo