Pump House Brewery will open the doors to, and start pouring beers at, a third location in Shediac this summer.
Pump House Brewery co-owner, Brian Harriman, confirmed plans to open a new brewery in the former Bayou Pub and Eatery, at 607 Main St.
“We purchased the building and we’re in the process of renovating it as we speak,” said Harriman. “We anticipate it will open in June and it will be a year-round brewery in Shediac.”
When the Shediac brewpub opens in its 3,000-square-foot berth, Pump House will be serving beers from three locations in Southeast New Brunswick. The Shediac location will complement the main brewpub on Orange Lane, as well as the Fill Station taproom in Moncton.
“It’s a growing community and there aren’t any craft breweries in Shediac at the moment–we saw a need out there,” explained Harriman. “The locals are excited to see Pump House become a part of the community.”
Harriman said Pump House will have to hire between 30 and 40 people in Shediac to staff the new location.
Harriman says he didn’t want to give away too many secrets on the scale of the brewing in advance of the opening. He did say there will be brewing on site with “all of the great elements of the brew pub that people have come to love on Orange Lane.”
While Harriman and co-owners Brad Devarennes and Kolin Barley weren’t actively looking for a new location, Harriman said the opportunity “presented itself” and promoted a conversation about where and when they could best expand.
“We know there are people who love Pump House who live out that way, and it’s close to home for us, so it’s manageable from a geographical perspective,” Harriman said.
While he acknowledged the timing of an opening in Shediac’s busy summer tourism season is good, he stressed that he and his co-owners are excited to be year-round purveyors of brews in the community.
“We’re really proud of [what we’ve done] 17 months in and we’ve got a great team that are working hard and trying to bring some energy into a heritage brand around the region,” said Harriman.
We’re excited to have a chance to grow in Shediac and bring new products along for the journey.”
The new opening in Shediac comes on the heels of the April release of Pump House’s new Limoncello-lime and tart cherry and blueberry radlers.
Pump House started brewing radlers in 2016, with a grapefruit-tangerine radler, followed by a blood orange and peach-flavoured radler in 2019.
Harriman said both new flavours have sold quickly in the first five weeks since their release, crediting the international expertise from an Indian, Chinese, and German brewer that goes into its beers and radlers.
Harriman noted that the sweeter brews Pump House has offered have always been a hit and that radlers are the brewery’s best-selling product.
“Pump House had a long legacy before we arrived – we’ve been here about 17 months now – where the best-seller prior to 2016 was the blueberry ale, which launched in 1999. That was probably ahead of its time, as it was one of the first fruit-flavoured beers in the market before there was anything like it,” said Harriman.
“It certainly continues to sell, and 23 years later it’s a fan-favourite.”
Sam Macdonald is a Reporter for Huddle Today, a content sharing partner of Acadia Broadcasting.