October 16, 2007
HALIFAX: Beer on tap
Posted by are you gonna eat that? under Eating / Food, Maritimes, Restaurants | Tags: beer |Halifax is a city full of great pubs so you can’t go wrong. I kept insisting on trying to find this pub I went to once that had dark wood and servers dressed up like wenches and um, buccaneers or whatever you call guys serving beer in frilly shirts.
But I could only remember it was on a street corner and up on a hill. There are a lot of hilly streets in downtown Halifax. (Does anyone else know what I’m talking about?)
We ended up at Maxwell’s Plum, an establishment that boasts of 160 brands of beers and 60 on tap.
We were going to be adventurous and try beers we’ve never had before, but as soon as we walked in, we knew we had to get a beer tower - a beer dispenser with an inner compartment of ice on our very own table!
There are so many reasons this is genius. For slow drinkers like me - it takes me oh, an hour to sip a pint - the beer never gets warm. As the night progresses, there’s no danger of spillage since the handy spout keeps things neat. And a large quantity of beer means less impatient flagging down of the waitress for refills.
Also, Maxwell’s goes beyond the “fill line.” Not sure if that’s dangerous, but we’ll take it.
The beer tower is only available with Moosehead which isn’t a bad thing. It’s a pale lager most often associated with one’s university years. Predictable but not extraordinary. Like the used Toyota before you reach the VW Jetta years.
Besides, now that Molson and Labatt are foreign-owned, Moosehead is now Canada’s largest 100% Canadian brewery. And it’s brewed in New Brunswick. And people like to steal it.
In true pub fashion, the floor of Maxwell’s Plum is covered in peanut shells from the free snacks you can scoop up from barrels.
I couldn’t tell you how much the beer towers cost though, because Nora and Tom stole the bill. Then they took us dancing but that’s another story. Thanks, guys!
Maxwell’s Plum, 1600 Grafton St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, (902) 423-5090. Open seven days a week until 2 a.m. including kitchen.

October 17, 2007 at 6:31 am
The first place you were talking about is probably The Halifax Alehouse, on Brunswick Street. (right below Citadel hill) Definitely a wenchy place for drinking. :)
October 17, 2007 at 6:40 am
DOH! That’s the place! Thanks. I’ll remember for next time.
May 13, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Those beer towers are called brewtenders, and now you can get any of the on tap beer’s in this 80 oz variety