Brewing up a successful business

Half Pints Brewery stirring up new flavours

In the space of five years, David Rudge went from brewing suds in his Winnipeg home to becoming a Brewmaster.

“My first batch? It was pretty rotten,” said Rudge of his first attempt to brew beer at home.

Now the Silver Heights man is making a name for himself and his company, Half Pints Brewing Co., after going to school in the U.S. and brewing beer in B.C. and Regina.

The name, he said, is part making fun of himself (he rarely drinks beer more than half a pint at a time) and part a tribute to the size of the brewery.

Half Pints has an unassuming frontage hidden away in a retail complex on Keewatin Street. However, Rudge said it’s what’s inside that counts.

“We’re small, and we’re not going to compete (with the bigger brewers). We’re going after a completely different type of beer drinker,” he said, adding he targets the adventurous drinker willing to try new things.

Being a micro-brewery means the brewing process is the same as a regular brewery, said Rudge, just on a smaller scale. Rudge, as brewmaster, oversees every aspect of the brewing side of the business, from recipes to bottling. His wife Nicole oversees the company’s operations.

Names like Bulldog Amber Ale and Stir Stick Stout are meant to give the beers a fun twist, but Rudge said his beers aren’t for the faint of heart.

“I don’t really brew a light beer,” he said. “The bottles, they’re meant to be shared between two people, say over dinner, and it fills you up.”

Rudge said his beer is more expensive than domestic beers, but less expensive than the quality imports. Depending on the alcohol content of the beer, most of his beers run about $4 for a 660ml bottle.

Rudge said what he enjoys most is the feedback people give him about his different beers, even if they try a flavour and don’t like it.

“Even if they hate it, at least they’ve tried it,” he laughed.

Half Pints Brewing Co. is always bringing out new flavours to try on a limited time basis, something Rudge said has kept people interested.

The current limited flavours, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, are named The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit.

Jay Khanuja, owner of the King’s Head Pub downtown, said customers have been responding positively to the new brews.

“I’d say at least one in three who try (a small sample) go for it,” said Khanuja, who carries two of the flavours at his bar and has plans to add a third. Half Pints Brewing Co. sponsors a comedy night every Tuesday at the pub.

Rudge said in the past six months, business has been growing faster than he expected – he’s had to hire two full-time employees to help him – but he has no plans to expand at this point.

Half-Pints beer can be found at any MLCC location or at the Quality Inn vendor on Pembina Highway.