This 4000 litre foudre – immediately nicknamed “Big Bertha” – just arrived from France at Brassneck Brewery on Main Street. Co-founder Nigel Springthorpe says it was quite the ordeal getting the giant oak fermenter in place, not to mention getting it into the country in the first place. “It comes from a French winery and we bought it way back in June,” he explains. “The French port of Marseille went on strike so it just arrived after lots of waiting.”

Proud brewmaster Conrad Gmoser (pictured above) gave us the nickel tour once Big Bertha was in place. It’s massive. He’ll be using it for its Brett-affections in the second fermentation of the brewery’s “Stockholm Syndrome” beer, which is artfully described thusly on Brassneck’s website: “We kidnapped a Saison, held it hostage for several months, letting it sit and condition on Brettanomyces…”

As far as we’re aware, this is the only foudre in operation at a BC brewery, and one of very few in Canada. The first batch of beer goes in next week, and should be available to the public in about four months.

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