Tap Handle #711: Mission Springs - Fat Guy Oatmeal Stout

January 12, 2019

Tap Handle #711: Mission Springs - Fat Guy Oatmeal Stout

Tap size: 11.25"
Rarity: less than 10 seen
Mounting: internal 3/8" nut

Once again my dad has made a great contribution to the Museum, this time for Christmas. Using his people skills and some local contacts, he managed to secure this fantastic tap. As I've mentioned in previous posts, gas pumps make great mancave taps and this one is no different. It's got a classic look, capturing the glass dome, tall profile, hose and nozzle on the side, and the price reels of an old pump. A sign on the dome that looks almost like a license plate has the name of the brewery on it. Lower is a round area where decals can be applied for the beer variety. The label itself is under a thick, clear bubble. I've seen only one on the secondary market and it sold for well over $100.

Click through to read more about Mission Springs Brewing, their Fat Guy Oatmeal Stout, and to see more photos of this nostalgic tap...

Mission Springs Brewing Company was founded in Mission, British Columbia, Canada in 1996 by Brock Rodgers and Ken Brookes. Rodgers was in real estate and in 1981 he and Brookes seized the chance to take over a small pub called The Witch of Endor. They later expanded the pub in a massive log cabin style, and changed the name to Mission Springs. The 1949 Chevy 3/4 Ton truck that is suspended from the ceiling had to be put in before the roof went on during construction. They stocked the brewpub with a large amount of antiques from the two men's private collections, and Brookes created all of the tables himself - each one is resin poured, filled with some kind of interesting artifact, and every table is different. Ultimately they wanted to create a place that was a brewery, bar, museum and restaurant all wrapped up in one location, so in 1996 they installed a 10 barrel brewing system.

The brew house setup was comprised of a brew kettle with a combination mash/lauter tun, three open-top fermenters and three uni-conical fermenters. In addition, there were thirteen conditioning tanks for the 10+ beers on tap. They offer growlers, bottled and canned beer on location, and also distribute to other establishments throughout the Fraser Valley & Metro Vancouver areas. They serve pub food in the brewhouse, and next door they have a liquor store. In 2012 Rodgers traveled to South Korea, and the idea to both open a pub style restaurant and import Mission Springs brews was proposed by Korean businessmen. To overcome the high cost of shipping empty barrels back to the brewery, Mission Springs utilized fully recyclable kegs and shipped them one way, with the recycling occurring in Korea. Mission Springs products are distributed in kegs to restaurants and bars, with bottles at the retail level, and The Springs Tap House opened in Seoul in 2013.

Located in the Itaewon district, The Springs Tap House offers Koreans a core of Mission Springs brews and is considered a “Gastro Pub”, with the menu consisting of Italian brick oven pizzas with unique topping such as house crafted beer sausage, smoked salmon and truffles. The interior has a cool, modern feel but with a fusion tone, keeping the retro atmosphere that The Mission Springs is known for. A second location was opened later that same year in the Cheongdam district. Both locations experienced such tremendous success that two more Tap Houses were opened in 2014. The well-founded belief in Korea is that products from Canada are healthier, that the water's better, and the air is better. Up to 40% of Missions Springs' production is exported to Korea.

Also in 2014, the main brewpub was expanded into a full scale production facility to support the brewpub and the Korean tap houses. They brought a tank farm online, added a large grain silo, a 2400L packaging bright tank and a new HLT in the brewery. They also added a canning machine to complement their bottling machine. Over the years the success of the brewpub led to the creation of the Springs Group, a parent company that not only owns the brewpub, restaurant and brewery, but has also opened a chain of liquor stores, an alehouse and cafe, a beer market and bistro, and another brewery named Hearthstone, all across British Columbia. In 2016 their City of Dreams, a Vienna Amber, won a silver at the World Beer Awards, while their McLennan's Scotch Ale was selected as the best flavored beer also at the 2016 World Beer Awards.

Mission Springs Fat Guy is an oatmeal stout that is the most fun loving, intelligent, attractive, lucky and prosperous Father of all Mission Springs Ales! Coffee, chocolate and roasted flavors abound in this world class stout.