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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - JANUARY 2013
W
HETHER YOU ’ RE HAV ING
a pint of Blueberry Ale, SOB,
or Muddy River Stout, you’re in for a
treat with Pump House beers. ANew
Brunswick speciality, Pump House
beers are part of the fabric of Moncton
community, and who better to cel-
ebrate the brand than Pump House
founder Shaun Fraser?
THE LEGEND OF PUMP HOUSE
Fraser started working in the beer
industry in the 1980s. He was quick to
learn how to make beer but wasn’t get-
ting the job he wanted with Canada’s
big breweries. Fraser was eventually
hired by German brewer Hans Westner
where he honed his skills, and his pas-
sion for beer making grew.
The Pump House founder even-
tually found himself employed in
Moncton, but selling and installing
brewery supplies internationally. He
ended up in Kazakhstan. There, Shaun
met Lilia, and the couple were mar-
ried. At this point, he was ready to stay
settled in Moncton and using his expe-
rience and brewery expertise, started
the legendary Pump House Brewery.
The brewpub was opened in 1999,
celebrating its first beer pour on New
Year’s Eve of the Millennium.
The Frasers expanded the opera-
tion with the purchase of a building in
Moncton and bottling equipment, and
production for the company’s beer was
official. Fraser is a full-time firefighter,
and hence, the name, which is now
household for Atlantic Canadians and
beer fans abroad.
Having a brewery was not
enough—eventually in the early 2000s
the Barn Yard BBQ was established on
the facility’s site. By this time, Pump
House beers were being sold in li-
quor and beer stores and were gain-
ing popularity. Currently, patrons can
enjoy Pump House beers by buying
cases, or visiting the Pump House Res-
taurant, which has become a mainstay
in Moncton. “We make great pizzas
and our food is very popular, and the
service is great,” Fraser beams. The
restaurant is popular enough that
sometimes, there is a wait to get in.
“
At certain times of the year, we have a
“
It’s
hard to define
what makes a good
artist but our brew
masters are doing
things right.”
