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All posts for the month December, 2013

acadie

Nous avons eu récemment l’occasion de discuter avec Patrice Godin, maître-brasseur et propriétaire d’Acadie-Broue, une nanobrasserie du Nouveau-Brunswick bien connue pour ces excellentes bières de styles belges et allemandes (pour une vue d’ensemble sur Patrice et Acadie-Broue nous avons fait en mai 2012, cliquez ici). Patrice brasse seulement de très petits brassins – toutes ses bières sont disponibles exclusivement à la Landromat Espresso Bar (aussi connu comme Marky’s) à Moncton – Acadie-Broue va ralentir sa production pour les mois à venir, car avec sa configuration il n’est pas possible de brasser dans les températures froides de l’hiver. Heureusement pour nous tous, il a eu récemment deux nouvelles bières approuvées par ANBL pour la vente chez Marky’s!

(ATTENTION: Les informations de la bière suivante est légèrement technique, et certaines informations peuvent seulement être appréciées par les brasseurs amateurs et connaisseurs de bière sérieux)

Hefeweizen

La première bière qui a été récemment approuvé est appelé “Valdrague Weizen”, une bière de blé dans le style de Hefeweizen classique allemand. Patrice dit qu’il a toujours été un grand fan de ce style de bière, et a été déçu de ce qui est disponible dans les provinces de l’Atlantique. Après avoir goûté un excellent exemple du style de la brasserie Denison’s à Toronto, Patrice a été inspiré pour créer sa propre interprétation.

Hefeweizen est un style de bière qui a classiquement une recette simple, composé généralement de malt de blé et Pilsner malt à un ratio de 1:1 (en Allemagne, la loi stipule que la bière étiquetée comme un Hefeweizen doit contenir au moins 50% de malt de blé). Patrice a suivi cette direction, et brassée deux lots, en utilisant de faibles quantités de variétés “noble” de houblon Saaz et Hallertauer. Pour la fermentation, il a choisi la 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen de Wyeast, une levure de la plus ancienne brasserie fonctionnelle dans le monde, la brasserie Weihenstephan en Allemagne. Fermentée à temperature relativement basse à environ 17 degrés Celsius, le premier brassin était très savoureux, mais manquait un peu du caractère de girofle bien connu dans le style. Avec le deuxième lot, Patrice a ajouté un stage férulique classique dans le processus de brassage, qui a abouti à un meilleur équilibre entre le clou de girofle et les notes de banane typiques.

Un peu d’histoire sur le nom Valdrague. C’est un mot Acadien qui signifie “un travail fait à la vitesse”. Patrice décrit la bière comme très trouble (correcte pour le style), au premier coup d’œil, il semble que la bière a été brassée rapidement et négligemment, ou “à la Valdrague”. Le nom a aussi un clin d’œil à ses origines allemandes, comme les initiales “VW” se rapportent à la société automobile allemande, Volkswagen. Avec 15 IBU et un ABV de 5%, les cinq barils de Valdrague Weizen devraient être disponibles au chez Marky’s cette semaine.

Lambic

Pour en revenir à sa passion principale, les styles de bières obscures, Patrice rendra public une bière dans la catégorie aigre, un Lambic droit (non mélangé). C’est un style de bière qui est pâle et à base de blé, mais différente par rapport à d’autres bières de blé car elle est aigre, acide … et sans carbonatation, ou plate. Les lambics de différents âges sont habituellement mélangés pour produire la Gueuze, qui est similaire à la saveur et l’arôme de Lambic, mais finit par être une bière pétillant. À notre connaissance, c’est la première fois qu’une brasserie des province de l’Atlantique a lancé une bière de style Lambic, ce qui rend cette version particulière extra-spécial!

Patrice a un fût de bois de 5 gallons qu’il a utilisé pour la fermentation d’autres bières dans le passé. Les fûts sont bien connus dans le monde brassicole pour conférer leur propre caractère dans la bière. Quand Patrice a fait son premier essai avec le style Lambic, il l’avait fermenté dans le barillet avec seulement de la levures Brettanomyces, une levure sauvage, et Lactobacillus, des bactéries d’acidification. Après soutirage de la bière du baril, il a laissé le “gâteau” résultant – la suspension contenant la levure et les bactéries – et y a ajouté de la moût fraiche pour redémarrer une autre fermentation dans le barillet. Cette fois, il a remarqué une caractère aigre développé dans la bière après seulement 10 jours, et la bière a continué à gagner en complexité très rapidement. Patrice a continué à laisser la bière maturité pour encore 6 mois, avant de le soumettre à la ANBL, il a récemment été approuvé pour la vente au Nouveau-Brunswick.

Cette bière est nommée “Zirable”, le mot Acadien pour “c’est dégelasse!”. Quand il a nommé la bière, Patrice prenait une approche “anti-marketing” … nous sommes sûrs que cette bière malgré son approche anti-marketing sera loin d’être dégelasse! Elle tire à 5% ABV, et est décrit par Patrice comme étant légèrement aigre et acide, avec beaucoup de “saveurs boisées” en raison de la petite taille du baril (qui offre plus de contacts avec la bière). Patrice a l’intention de donner à la bière un peu plus de temps pour conditionner, alors regardez pour Zirable chez Marky’s au début ou mi 2014. Il y aura un seul baril de cette bière disponible, donc restez en contact avec les pages Facebook d’ Acadie-Broue et Marky’s pour savoir exactement quand il sera en vente!

Je ne sais pas pour vous, mais je suis excité par ces bières! Ok, je suis excité au sujet de la plupart des bières, mais celles-ci sonnent très excitantes.   Si nous regardons l’historique et la gamme qu’a offert Patrice jusqu’à présent, nous ne serons pas déçu!

For an English version of this article, please click here.

acadie

We recently had the opportunity to chat with Patrice Godin, brewmaster and owner of Acadie-Broue, a New Brunswick nanobrewery well-known for churning out excellent beers of both Belgian and German styles (for an overview on Patrice and Acadie-Broue we did in May, 2012, click here). Patrice brews small batches at a time – all of his beers are available exclusively at the Laundromat Espresso Bar (a.k.a. Marky’s) in Moncton – and is now winding down for the coming months, as with his current setup it isn’t possible to brew in the cold temperatures of winter. Luckily for all of us, he has just had two new beers approved by ANBL for release at Marky’s!

(Warning: The following beer information is slightly technical, and some information may be appreciated by homebrewers and serious beer geeks only)

Hefeweizen

The first beer that was recently approved is called “Valdrague Weizen”, a wheat beer brewed in the classic German Hefeweizen style. Patrice says that he has always been a big fan of this style of beer, and has been disappointed in what’s available in the Atlantic provinces. After sampling an excellent example of the style from Toronto brewery Denison’s, Patrice was inspired to create another well-brewed Hefeweizen himself.

Hefeweizen is a beer style that classically has a seemingly-simple recipe, usually consisting of wheat malt and Pilsner malt at a 1:1 ratio (in Germany, there is an ancient law that states that a beer labelled as a Hefeweizen must contain at LEAST 50% wheat malt). Patrice followed this direction, and brewed two batches, lightly hopping each with the “noble hop” varieties of Saaz and Hallertauer. For fermentation, he chose Wyeast’s 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen, a yeast strain from the oldest still-operating brewery in the world, the Weihenstephan brewery in Germany. Fermented cool at about 17 Celsius, the first batch was very tasty, but lacking slightly in the clove character well-known in the style. With the second batch, Patrice added a classic ferulic rest to the brewing process, which resulted in a better balance between the clove and the expected banana notes.

A little background on how the beer was named, Valdrague is the Acadien word for “willy-nilly”. Patrice describes the beer as very cloudy (on par for the style); at first glance, it appears the beer was brewed quickly and carelessly, or “willy-nilly”. The name also has a nod to its German roots, as the initials “VW” refer to the German automobile company, Volkswagen. Coming in at 15 IBUs and an ABV of 5%, the five kegs of Valdrague Weizen should be available at Marky’s sometime this week.

Lambic-style

Moving back to his main passion, Belgian-style beers, Patrice will also be releasing a beer in the sour category, a Straight (Unblended) Lambic, or technically a “Lambic-Style” beer since it was brewed outside the Senne Valley of Belgium. This is a beer style that is also pale and wheat-based, but different compared to other wheat beers in that it is sour, acidic… and still, or flat. When Lambics of different ages are blended, the resulting beer is called a Gueuze, which is similar in flavor and aroma to Lambic, but ends up being a highly-carbonated beer. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a brewery in Atlantic Canada has released a Lambic-style beer, which makes this particular release extra-special!

Patrice has a 5-gallon wooden barrel that he has used for fermenting other beers in the past. Barrels are well-known in the brewing world for imparting their own character into a beer, while at the same time taking in new yeast and bacteria from beers that have been in contact with them. When Patrice took his first stab at the Lambic style, he fermented the beer in the barrel with only the wild yeast Brettanomyces, and a souring bacteria, Lactobacillus. After racking the beer out of the barrel, he left the resulting “cake” – the slurry containing the yeast and bacteria – and brewed and fermented another batch in the barrel. This time, he noticed some sour character developing in the beer after only 10 days; the beer continued to gain complexity very quickly. Patrice continued to let the beer mature and condition for another 6 months, before submitting it to the ANBL, where it was recently approved for sale in New Brunswick.

This beer is named “Zirable”, the Acadien word for “It’s gross”. When naming this beer, Patrice was taking an anti-marketing approach… we’re sure this is the case, as we can’t imagine this beer is anything other than the OPPOSITE of gross! It has an alcohol content of 5% ABV, and is described by Patrice as being sour and acidic, but not overwhelmingly so, with lots of “woody flavors” due to the small barrel size (and therefore more contact with the beer). Patrice plans on giving the beer a bit more time to condition, so look for Zirable at Marky’s sometime in early-to-mid 2014. There will only be ONE keg of this beer available, so stay tuned to Acadie-Broue’s and Marky’s Facebook pages to find out exactly when it will be tapped!

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m excited about these beers! Ok, I’m excited about most beers, but still, they sound great, and if we go by Patrice’s usual track record with what he brews at Acadie-Broue, we won’t be disappointed!

Note: There will be a French version of this article posted tomorrow morning.

Howdy, craft beer fans! What’s going on in the world of good beer in the Atlantic provinces this week?

• Next Thursday, December 12th, Picaroons will begin their 3rd annual “12 Beers of Christmas”. Every day at 3 pm, until December 23rd, a new one-off Christmas beer will be released for growler fills only at the Brewtique in downtown Fredericton. Picaroons will announce through Twitter and Facebook every day at noon which beer will be released that day; this has been a very popular event the last couple of years, so be sure to get to the Brewtique quickly, as the beers usually sell out within hours. For those of you familiar with this over the past couple of years, you can expect to see most of your favorites returning, along with two to three new experimental Christmas beers!

• In more Picaroons news, their gala for the New Brunswick Home-Brew Challenge (co-sponsored by the New Brunswick Craft Brewers Association) was held Sunday. Twenty-six brewers submitted 42 entries in the Standard/Ordinary Bitter category. The best beer, judged by Picaroons Brewmaster Andrew Estabrooks and Doug and Shane of the King Street Ale House, was brewed by Joe Goodine of Moncton. In addition to a year’s free membership into the NBCBA (which allows taking part in their group buys and access to their yeast library, among other perks), Joe has also won the opportunity to brew a batch of his beer with Estabrooks on the Picaroons system at their Brewtique on Queen Street. This will be happening early in the new year, and will be released shortly thereafter. Some notes from the gala, thanks to NBCBA president Chris Craig: Over fifty people were in attendance to witness the announcement and taste the top beer (and got to judge the beers themselves for the Fan Favourite). Estabrooks mentioned that he had chosen this style of beer because it is difficult to hide mistakes, as a good Bitter has low hop and alcohol character. This resulted in some excellent, but similar, beers to judge between. For this reason, six beers actually advanced to the final (up from the five they had originally planned on). The folks at Picaroons devoted a significant amount of time to the competition, as well as almost all of the prizes and swag given away (including limited-edition growlers, towel and glass to all entrants, complemented by NBCBA glass and voucher for reduced membership fees). The NBCBA was thrilled with the response and the event in general, and excited to work with Picaroons and other breweries in the future, whether it be more competitions, or collaborations. Congratulations to everyone involved from the ACBB!

• Over in Newfoundland, Quidi Vidi Brewing will soon be releasing their QV Winter Ale. Described by the brewery as a “dark, rich ale; smooth and malty with just enough bitterness to balance it out”, it comes in at 6% ABV, and is brewed with coriander, cacao and vanilla. Expect to see the beer at NLC stores shortly before Christmas.

• In other Winter Ale news, Pump House Brewery now has their newest beer, the Nor’easter Beater Winter Warmer, on tap at their brewpub in Moncton. We know that the beer clocks in at 7% ABV, but other details are scarce. If it’s similar to other Winter Warmers, expect the beer to be malty and rich, with little to no hop presence, and a bit of alcohol warmth.

Shiretown is adding their second beer to their bottled line-up. We first mentioned Siren’s T’Ale – a “bittersweet Red Ale” with 30 IBUs and 5% ABV – early last month; the beer is being released to various ANBL stores today. Check the Products page of the ANBL website to see which stores near you are carrying the beer!

Rogues Roost Brewpub in Halifax held their first “Brewmaster Monday” this week. It is a chance to meet and chat with Brewmaster Lorne Romano, and sample what he is cooking up in the brewhouse. It was very successful, and the next event will be held January 13th. Contact them for more details closer to the date. We also received word that their tasty Russian Imperial Stout is currently conditioning in their brite tank, and will be released mid-month. We’ll have more details for you next week.

• Today is the judging of the Big Spruce Homebrew Competition, in advance of their appearance at the Local Connections Craft Beer and Local Food Celebration (a few tickets are still available!). The 17 American IPA entries will be judged by nine BJCP judges, and the winning brewer will work with Brewmaster Jeremy White to scale up their beer to a full batch, which will be released in the New Year, and a cask of it will be served at the January 16th event. Good luck to all entrants!

• Unfortunately, Big Spruce ran into some bad luck this week, but have a heck of a story from it. Probably due to the high winds and rain/sleet, the brewery was without power for two days while they were in the middle of mashing their Kitchen Party Pale Ale. Rather than give up, they kept at it (sparged the mash by hand, bucket by bucket!), and once the power did come back, were able to finally get the beer happy. To make it a truly different batch of beer, Jeremy tweaked the recipe, adding chocolate and roast malt, as well as upping the hopping rate like mad. It’ll be a totally different beer, and we’re excited to try it in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, check out their Facebook page to offer suggestions for the name of this unique brew.

• Halifax’s Stillwell Beer Bar will be holding a special event this Monday, “Tripel Trouble”. Featuring several Quebec-brewed Tripels (Charlevoix‘s Dominus Vobiscum Lupulus, Dieu Du Ciel!‘s Herbe a Detourne, Unibroue‘s La Fin du Monde and Le Trou du Diable‘s La Buteuse and P’tite Buteuse), on tap for the first time in Nova Scotia. The tap list will be rounded out by Maritime-brewed Belgian-style beers, and chef Graeme Ruppel will be whipping up some great Belgian snacks for the evening. The event starts at 4pm, and runs all evening. Be sure to drop by, as they will also be releasing details and tickets for their New Year’s Eve event.

Hell Bay Brewing posted some interesting news yesterday: their iconic mine logo will be featured in an upcoming Kevin Smith movie, Tusk. Owner Mark Baillie shared some more details with us: the film features a scene in a bar, and the Hell Bay logo will be seen on glasses, tap handles, bottles, etc. The producers of the film sought out Baillie after discovering the Hell Bay logo. Very cool!

• The Beerthief is at it again! The latest offering from the Newfoundland Artisanal and Craft Beer group is beer from Meduz Brewery in the South of France. They are brewing French beer, with a Belgian twist. The beers available are an Amber, Blanche/Witbier, Blonde, Doree/Golden, and Hiver/Winter beer. The deadline to order is Sunday, Dec 8th. As usual, contact Tom Beckett to order the beer, which is expected to hit the NLC shelves in February 2014. Sunday is also the deadline to order some of the Beerthief-branded glassware, a few more details are available here.

Thanks for checking in… have a great weekend, everyone!