Beer
A LOVE STORY
Pump House Brewery’s first beer – a Cadian Cream Ale – was poured at 4pm on September 3, 1999 at the brewpub on 5 Orange Lane in Moncton.
Following that momentous day, it has been our pleasure to continue creating, challenging, and cultivating our stellar lineup of brands. Brands like our Fire Chief's Red and Blueberry Ales which have stood the test of time thanks to our amazing team of brewers and our incredibly loyal and supportive fans.
The Thrill of a
LIFETIME
The Pump House story began in the early 1980's when a young Shaun Fraser decided he wanted to learn how to make beer. He reached out to several large breweries but was either ignored, or turned away.
Undeterred, he wrote a letter to the popular Canadian TV show "Thrill of a Lifetime" and was made "Brewer for a Day" making beer at the Labatt's Brewery in Waterloo, Ontario. He was hooked.
Shaun took the first of several side-tracks away from beer and earned a degree in geology from Dalhousie University.
Several years later, he used his strong science background and love of beer to earn a job with German brewer Hans Westner at the HansHaus Brewery - Moncton's very first micro-brewery.
Shaun was later hired to brew beer for Fat Tuesday's brewpub on Main Street in Moncton.
Planes, Trains &
FIRE TRUCKS
Shaun later went on to become a full-time firefighter in Moncton and worked his way up the ranks to Captain, all the while continuing to study the art of beer making whenever he had the chance.
Using every moment of his spare time and all his vacation days at the Fire Department, he began selling brewery equipment for DME on the side. With his past experience brewing beer, he was often brought in to help install the equipment he sold which led him to travel the globe helping to set up breweries.
Shaun helped build dozens of breweries all up the Eastern seaboard of the United States, and eventually built breweries in Palestine, Ireland and finally, Kazakhstan.
While in Kazakhstan, he met his future wife Lilia and convinced her to come back to Canada with him and help him finally build a brewery of his own.
They soon were married and the planning began...
The Perfect Marriage...
PIZZA & BEER
With Lilia now by his side. Shaun finally had the perfect partner to help bring his dream to life. Tapping into his firefighting background, the Pump House concept was devised based on the simple idea of combining beer with pizza (who knew right?) and never compromising on the quality of the food.
They found the perfect location at 5 Orange Lane in downtown Moncton, installed a wood-fired pizza oven and built a small brewhouse. The first batch of beer started brewing in July of 1999 and the Brewpub opened that September.
With Lilia in charge of running the brewpub, Shaun focussed on the beer.
After that original Cadian Cream Ale was perfected, the lineup was rounded out with Pail Ale, Scotch Ale, Muddy River Stout and Fire Chief's Red Ale - all of which are still brewed and enjoyed to this day. Blueberry Ale would follow soon after as a seasonal offering and quickly became so popular that it was added to the full-time roster.
The beer was an immediate hit and the need to expand became quickly apparent. In 2002, they purchased a building on Mill Rd. and began constructing the full-scale production and packaging facility to allow them to start selling their beer all across New Brunswick.
National
RECOGNITION
The next huge milestone came in 2005 – when after winning the most medals of any other brewery in the country – Pump House was awarded the prestigious honour of Canadian Brewery of the Year.
Since that incredible day, they have won many more awards, medals and trophies and continue to experiment, innovate and brew beer that people love.
Striking
GOLD
Until 2016, Blueberry Ale was by far the most popular and top seller. The idea of creating another fruit based beer was floated around the brewery as an option for a summer seasonal offering.
Radlers had been around for decades, but traditionally had been created by mixing beer with fruit juice. Although tasty, that would both dilute the alcohol content as well as reduce the carbonation.
Pump House wanted to create a radler that not only retained the carbonation, but also its alcohol content. By brewing a high alcohol beer, then mixing it with a custom-designed fruit soda pop, the Crafty Radler was born and Pump House would never be the same.
In June of 2016, Crafty Radler was launched as a trial in a few Moncton ANBL stores with an initial production of 20,000 cans thinking this would last the entire summer. Within a few weeks, they had completely sold out and scrambled to make more and order more cans. By the end of that summer they had sold over 160,000 cans with no end in sight for the demand. Pump House had a hit on their hands.
The success of the Crafty Radler also raised the profile of all Pump House beers and has allowed the brewery to expand their reach into other markets across Canada and into the United States.
Pump House has since expanded their production to include spirits-based products with full-scale alcohol distilling capabilities.
NEW BEGINNINGS
In December 2020, Shaun and Lilia decided it was time to enjoy the fruits of their labours and hand the keys to the brewery over to new owners.
Brian Harriman, Brad Devarennes and Kolin Barley are three local long-time friends who shared the same passion and desire to create a lasting legacy of brewing world-class craft beer in Moncton.
With fresh energy and inspiration, the new owners continue to expand on the strong foundation built by the Frasers, taking the Pump House brand to new heights, here at home in New Brunswick, and around the world!
From the bottom of our hearts
THANK YOU
With all the great things that have happened so far, the story of Pump House Brewery is still being written with exciting things to come.
In 2024, Pump House celebrates its 25 anniversary. This incredible milestone could not have been achived without a supporting cast of many, many great people.
First, we have to give a HUGE shout-out to our team – all the great people past and present that have helped produce our products, manage our businesses, and build our brands. Your hard work, passion, creativity and dedication has been inspiring. To all of our Pump House staff, we sincerely thank you for your efforts!
Finally, Pump House would not have come this far without the tremendous support from the great people of Moncton, the beautiful folks from every corner of New Brunswick, our awesome fans in Nova Scotia, PEI, Newfoundland and Labrador and everyone else that supports us from right across Canada.
We cannot thank you enough.
Cheers,
Brad, Brian & Kolin
131 Mill Rd. Moncton NB E1A 6R1 • (506) 854-2537
