The Blog
July 2006 Newsletter
Posted on August 01, 2006 at 1:13 PM
NORTHERN TOWN Monday nights 9:00 starting July 24th.
Northern Town… that rings a bell. Why does that name sound familiar… Oh! That’s that TV show! Of course, we all remember Northern Town, at least if we were in the Yukon at all in February of 2005. I think almost everyone we know was involved in the production in some way, either as actors, extras, drivers, grips, animal trainers, electricians, wardrobe, carpenters, suppliers, supporters, or just goose-necked gawkers watching the productions all over the Yukon. Well, after a number of delays the first 7 episodes are going to be showing Mondays at 9:00 on CBC starting July 24th. Please forward this message to everyone you know. The popularity of the first 7 episodes will determine whether or not they decide to commission the next ones, and we all want to see the crew back in town again. We know we’ll be watching to see if any of our friends, or brands, managed to find their way into the show. We hope you’ll be watching as well.
17,954 cans of beer on the walls, 17,954 cans of beer….
We get a lot of people through the brewery here, but some of the most interesting people are the people who collect beer stuff. Getting a beer label collector, or as we had today a beer can collector, into a brewery is like setting a kid loose in a candy store. Mike Skira looks exactly like a kid in a candy store. Mike boasts a collection of cans about 17,950 strong… nope, he says, recounting in his head… with the 2 new ones I got from you today I’ll have 17,954. 17,954…Let’s put that into a little bit of perspective for you. When we ship cans we send them on pallets, each pallet holds 100 flats of beer, which totals 2,400 cans on a pallet. That means Mike has about 7 ½ pallets of cans in his collection, and yes, we asked… Mike doesn’t count duplicates! For those of you who go into the Whitehorse liquor store, when you look at the back wall of beer, that is 8 pallets of beer, so about what Mike has in individual beer cans. Now, a collection like that would be nothing if it were stored in pallets where only the outside layer would show. Mike currently has an 1,100 square foot basement in Abbotsford B.C. dedicated to his collection. Cans are stored on 1x3 shelves and in some cases 2 and 3 shelves deep and on hinges. In 2 years he will be moving and his collection will have it’s own building. A 2,400 square foot building dedicated to this collection. Mike’s been collecting cans since 1975, and is rumoured to have the largest can collection in Canada. Mike left with more than just beer cans, he also picked up some labels and tap handles to trade with other collectors. Good luck Mike, and we are glad to be a part of such an enormous and prestigious collection. Want to get in touch with Mike? Giving him a can he doesn’t already have can be a real challenge. He’s at .
Arctic Red Name Change
You may have heard already, but we are going to be changing the name, and the look, of our Arctic Red. The quest for a new name has been a longer and more difficult one than we had imagined. How do you speak to the image of a beer, capture all that makes it unique in the marketplace and appealing to the consumer? “It’s a dark bold amber ale, brewed with an all malt recipe, no chemicals, additives or preservatives. It’s brewed in the far north of Canada where the air is pure, and so is the water (the single biggest ingredient in beer). A beer that captures the bold, pure, independent spirit of the Yukon. It has won numerous awards, from gold medals to consumer choice awards, and has been the highest rated amber ale by the renowned Chicago Beverage testing institute…” Now say that in 2 or 3 words, fit it on a label and make sure it doesn’t sound corny. Got it, great! Now the trademark search. We have to make sure nobody else is using it, or protecting it so nobody else can use it, but that’s a different story. You can read about how that worked in our Beer Buzz column that appeared in a recent issue of What’s Up Yukon by clicking here: Beer Buzz story. So our quest for a name is almost done, but we don’t want to show all of our cards at once, so you’ll have to wait a little bit longer to satisfy your curiosity. As do we currently. The box design is currently in the hands of a very talented local artist and we are eagerly awaiting the first sketches.
A great job, if you can get it.
Have you heard about the ambitious journey that took Dan Cook into our neck of the woods? Dan started on June first on a mission to fly fish around the globe. His journey started from home in Colorado and brought him north. His first chance to wet his lines was right here in Whitehorse. The invitation came from locals Dennis Zimmerman and Sandor Elek. As you can see Dan was treated to the best that Whitehorse has to offer, both in fishing and refreshment. Dan has an interesting trip ahead of him, and you can read all about it at his website http://www.flyfishingtheglobe.net
Midnight Summer Espresso Stout
Would a beer by any other name taste so sweet? While the name on the menu is a little off, somehow this restaurant in Ontario has found and decided to carry some of our Midnight Sun Espresso Stout. If you’re in Ontario and craving a taste of the north, stop in to BarVolo at 587 Yonge street. Find out more about BarVolo on their website at http://www.barvolo.com
We have a winner!
Congratulations to Jane Londero. Jane won the coveted Miikka Kiprusoff Jersey from our NHL playoffs promotion. The prize was won inside a 15 pack of Chilkoot Lager. There are still some winners of glassware out there. If you have a winning can, get it over to Game7Sports…they expire when the hockey season starts up again.
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