On the ghost hunt for Uncle Giggles: Halifax brewery raises a glass to paranormal patron

HALIFAX -

Nestled in Halifax’s north end is a popular craft brewery where friends and strangers gather for a pint or two.

“We have first dates here, we have last dates here,” laughs Brent Braaten, creative director at Good Robot Brewing. “But a big part about Good Robot is just a place to gather.”

But according to some of the employees, at least one spirit is also on the menu.

At the end of each night, when patrons go home and the doors close, there’s one bar fly who never seems to leave.

“Some of us heard sounds, or there have been flickering lights, or sometimes you see something from the corner of your eye,” says Braaten. “But the only real physical evidence that Uncle Giggles exists is that every night he leaves us a dime or two, just to say hi.”

Staff named the presence ‘Uncle Giggles’ because they reported hearing strange laughter late at night.

They often find the mysterious dimes, believed to be a message from beyond, in a corner of the brewery’s upstairs bar.

The upstairs space was originally an apartment where the brewery’s co-founders first lived when they bought the building six years ago.

“I never saw anything bizarre, or heard anything funny until opening night of this bar, which is our former residence, and that darn painting showed up,” says Josh Counsil, one of Good Robot’s co-founders.

“I think that painting might be haunted as well. It was an old painting of a banker that I found on the side of the road on Agricola Street,” explains Braaten.

Braaten decided it would be a nice touch to paint Good Robot’s mascot on the old portrait.

From the moment it was placed in this room, dimes started to appear.

“The staff would find a dime, they’d be like ‘Oh, someone lost some change,” says Braaten. “But we’re kind of living in a changeless society, and the more dimes that show up, the more I’m thinking, no one has this many dimes.”

After a couple years of observing this mysterious occurrence, Good Robot decided to create a special brew to honour their paranormal patron.

“Allegedly, Uncle Giggles is a pretty cheap tipper, but all-in-all, nobody really complains about his presence,” says Counsil.

So the next time you find yourself visiting Good Robot, raise a glass to Uncle Giggles, and you might even find a dime or two.