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All posts for the month July, 2013

Good morning, friends of beer. Here’s a bit of Atlantic Canadian beer news for this week:

Bridge Brewing and Local Source are pairing up for Sausage Fest 2013 in Halifax. Along with some tasty sausages and sides, there will be a Belgian Honey Mustard, made with Bridge’s Strong Dark Ale. There will be Bridge beers available, including the Strong Dark, Summer, and Farmhouse. It will be spread across two events: the first, hosting the Ladies Beer League, on Tuesday, August 13th from 6:30-8:30 (tickets are $30, available here), and the following Thursday, the 15th, as a Blues BBQ (tickets $40, available here) featuring Garrett Mason. Tickets are going fast, so get yours now!

• Speaking of the Ladies Beer League, they have another great event scheduled. On Saturday, August 10th, they will host a VIP tour of the Seaport Beer Festival in Halifax. Scheduled from 1:30-4 pm, the tour will include “Beer 101”, early entry into the festival, and an opportunity to try three beers before the festival begins. Tickets are $51.75 and can be purchased at Garrison Brewing’s retail counter. Eight dollars from each ticket purchased will be donated directly to the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre. The VIP tour is limited to the first 40 women to buy a ticket.

• After making their beer available to the public for the first time last week in Tyne Valley, PEI, Barnone Brewery now has both their Pale Ale and Summer Sessions available in Charlottetown. You can find both beers on tap at Cedar’s Eatery and Baba’s Lounge, on University Ave.

• The PEI Brewing Company has a new beer – kind of – on tap at their brewery location in Charlottetown: an unfiltered version of their Beach Chair Lager. This one won’t be on tap at any bars or restaurants in PEI, so if you’d like to give it a try, head down to the brewery for a pour or growler fill.

• In other PEI Brewing Co. news, they’ve also just put their first beers on tap in Nova Scotia. The Maxwell’s Plum in Halifax now has all of the Gahan/PEIBC’s regular release beers on tap: Sir John A’s, Island Red, Iron Bridge, 1772 IPA, Beach Chair Lager, and Blueberry Ale. While Beach Chair has been available in cans in Nova Scotia for awhile now, this marks the first time that you can find their beers on draught in the province.

Picaroons also has a new beer available on tap in Fredericton. About 8 months after a severe fire destroyed their building on Carleton St., Isaac’s Way Restaurant reopened in June at their new location on Queen St. All of their taps are New Brunswick craft beers, including an Apricot Beer brewed by Picaroons specifically for Isaac’s Way. The base beer is their Blonde Ale, which is further flavored with apricot extract.

• Greg Nash has another special beer on tap at Rockbottom in Halifax: Barrel Aged Desecration. An Imperial Red Ale, this monster of a beer (11% ABV) has a huge malt bill, five different hop varieties, and is aged in a Glenora single-malt barrel. Nash describes the beer on his blog:  “Oak, vanilla, hops and caramel standout up front with a big boozy depth and complexity, finishing with a lingering draw.” Sounds delicious… get there fast to give it a try!

• And, it looks like it was complete madness at the four ANBL stores selling the Brewer’s Bash leftovers yesterday. Beer fans were lined up before the stores opened at 10:00 am; if you’re one of the people who were taking beer out of others’ carts, let me just say: for shame! Let’s hope the ANBL was paying attention to the craziness, and can take one thing from this: craft beer sells.

Have a safe and beer-filled weekend, everyone…

Howdy, craft beer drinkers! Here’s some beer-related news to cool you off at the end of the week…

– It’s been a long-time coming, but after a soft launch at the PEI Beer Festival in September of 2011, Barnone Brewery (located in Rose Valley, PEI) finally has their beer available for the public! They have two beers  currently on tap at The Landing Oyster House and Pub in Tyne Valley. Their “Pale Ale” is an American Pale Ale, and “Summer Sessions” could be described as an American Wheat. Both beers should be on tap at other locations on PEI soon, and the brewery should hopefully be filling growlers in the not-too-distant future. Head over to the full story on the PEIBeerGuy blog for more info.

– Missed the Picaroons Brewer’s Bash last Saturday in Fredericton? Well, your chances to try some of the 300 beers featured may not be completely gone – apparently the ANBL will be selling the “leftovers” from the festival at four of their stores (York St. and Prospect St. in Fredericton, Vaughan Harvery Blvd. in Moncton, and the Quispamsis location). Details aren’t great yet, but stay tuned to the ANBL website and Brewer’s Bash Facebook page… beers should hopefully be in stores by early next week.

– Looking for another tasty Greg Nash creation? The Hart & Thistle tapped Hoplessness yesterday – a hybrid Witbier/IPA (aka White IPA) that is low in bitterness (5 IBUs), but high in hop aroma due to a large addition at the end of the boil. Clocking in at 6% ABV, and brewed with curacao orange peel and coriander spices in the traditional Witbier fashion, it sounds like a great summer beer!

– If you’re in the Moncton/Dieppe area and were hoping to find some more Celtic Knot beer, Marky’s has recently tapped another keg of the Hopicide. The Not Joe Average Pale Ale should also be on tap again sometime in the near future.

– For those of you in PEI needing some local craft beer in large amounts, PEI Brewing Company is now renting kegs of all their beers. Kegs are available in one of three sizes: 19 L, 30 L, and 50 L, and can be picked up at their new retail space on Kensington Rd, in Charlottetown. Call ahead to make your order.

Boxing Rock Brewing continues to expand, as their beers will become available in Halifax starting this weekend. Their Temptation Red Ale will be the first beer out for purchase; Haligonians should expect to see the Hunky Dory Pale Ale the following week, and then the Vicar’s Cross DIPA another week later. Look for their beers at Premier Wine & Spirits, Harvest Wines, Bishop’s Landing, and Cristall Wine, with the NSLC following soon.

Bridge Brewing Company has announced that they will be selling their beer in 750 mL growlers at the Historic Farmers’ Market in Halifax every Saturday. Which beer(s) will be available will depend on what is leftover from the previous day’s sales at the brewery; T-shirts and glasses will also be available for purchase.

That’s all for this week. ACBBChris is away on vacation for several weeks, so don’t be surprised if the quantity (and quality!) of posts drops during that period. Have fun, Chris!

Happy Friday everyone!

• After a successful launch last weekend, Boxing Rock Brewing will be hitting up the Farmers Markets this weekend. Look for them at Shelburne Farmers MarketYarmouth Farmers MarketLockeport Afternoon Market (held Friday afternoon), and the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market. They will also be pouring samples at Premier Wine & Spirits in Halifax, Saturday afternoon from 2-5pm. Shelburne locals (or visitors to the South Shore) can drop by the brewery storefront 11-8 daily (except Sunday) to refill growlers and grab a trucker hat. And two of their beer (Hunky Dory Pale Ale and Vicar’s Cross IPA) will be available in the NSLC in August.

• It looks like Picaroons is taking another step forward in expansion – they announced this week via a story on CBC that they have purchased a new brewery location on Union St. The former Gibson Roundhouse site was snapped up for $100, and will be transformed into a new brewery and tourism centre. Sean Dunbar, owner of Picaroons, told the CBC that he expects to spend several million dollars on the project; work should begin in the fall and be completed within a year. The current Melissa St. location will likely continue to produce beer in some capacity, says Dennis Goodwin, Marketing Director of Picaroons.

• Speaking of Picaroons, their much-anticipated Brewer’s Bash beer festival will be held tomorrow at Officer’s Square in Fredericton. Tickets for the event have been sold-out for weeks. Those lucky enough to be attending the event (or those who want to torture themselves) can check the full brewery and beer list on the event’s Facebook page (where they’ve also been giving away tickets for the last few days to lucky followers); we also posted yesterday on the Atlantic Canadian beers here.

• In more Fredericton beer news, Grimross Brewing is following up their very popular Canada Day release of their Cheval D’Or Farmhouse with their second beer, Destrier Farmhouse Stout. It will be available in growlers at the Picaroons Brewtique, at the Brewer’s Bash this weekend, and hopefully on tap in town soon.

• After a false start last weekend, the Dartmouth location of the Propeller Prop Shop opened Thursday. Located at 617 Windmill Rd, the shop will have growlers and six-packs to go, as well as merchandise, and are open 12-8pm daily. Gottingen-location fans fear not, that Shop will stay open as their current brewery location will still be in operation, even when the bulk of the production moves to Dartmouth.

The Pump House just recently tapped a new beer at their brewpub location in Moncton. The Raspberry Wheat is fermented with a German yeast strain, and fresh raspberries are added during fermentation. At 5.5% ABV, expect a tart and refreshing finish… sounds great for summer!

• Fans of the PEI Brewing Co./Gahan Iron Horse Brown Ale will notice something different about the beer in the future… the name has been changed to Iron Bridge. Ironhorse is also the name of a Pacific Western beer, and PEIBC decided to change their beer’s name to avoid any confusion.

• Looks like another successful Ladies Beer League event last night at Wooden Monkey Dartmouth. It featured the full line of Big Spruce Brewing’s beer (Cereal Killer Oatmeal Stout, Kitchen Party Pale Ale and Regatta Red Ale), and owner and brewer Jeremy White was on hand to speak about and pour the beer. The LBL will have a couple of events in August, we will be sure to let you know the details.