Atlantic Canada Beer News

2018 Winners of the Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards

Posted by acbbchris on 2018-10-28
Posted in: Atlantic Canada Beer News. Tagged: Atlantic Canadian Brewing Awards. Leave a Comment

The 2018 edition of the Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards were announced at a gala event earlier this evening, in front of a full house at the Stubborn Goat. 52 breweries and cider houses from across the Atlantic provinces took part, with a total of 376 beers and ciders entered for consideration in 15 different categories. 26 judges from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick tackled the enormous variety of entries, with the following beers and ciders recognized for their performance. In case you’re wondering how you can get a sweet gig like that next year, check out the Beer Judge Certification Program, and sign up to be part of a study and exam group, run through the Brewnosers homebrew club. Now, on to our winners!

1) North American & European Style Lager
Gold: Grimross – Braunschweig Pils
Silver: Pump House – Oktoberfest
Bronze: Grimross – Apres Lager
Honourable Mention: 2 Crows Brewing – Refresh

2) German Style Specialty Ale
Gold: Uncle Leo’s – Altbier
Silver: Tatamagouche Brewing Co. – North Shore Lagered Ale
Bronze: North Brewing Company – Little Beast

3) UK Style Specialty Ale
Gold: Trider’s – Rod’s Red
Silver: Garrison Brewing Co. – Irish Red
Bronze: Pump House Brewery – Barley Wine Ale
Honourable Mention: Schoolhouse – Scotian Export

4) North American Style Specialty Ale
Gold: Tatamagouche Brewing Co. – Giantess Barleywine
Silver: Tatamagouche – Dry-Hopped Lagerhosen
Bronze: Alexander Keith’s – Oland Export

5) Belgian Style Specialty Ale
Gold: Tatamagouche – Square One
Silver: 2 Crows – House Funk
Bronze: Brasseurs du Petit-Sault – Col. John Baker Dubbel

6) North American Style Amber / Red Ale
Gold: Gahan – Island Red
Silver: Four Rivers Brewing – Havre St-Pierre
Bronze: Boxing Rock Brewing Co. – Temptation Red Ale

7) Fruit & Field Beer
Gold: Upstreet – Rhuby Social
Silver: Big Spruce – Guava Get Me Some
Bronze: Petit-Sault – Bonhomme Sept-Heures Pumpkin Ale
Honourable Mention: Alexander Keith’s – Hortonville Pumpkin Ale

8) Pale Ale
Gold: Breton Brewing Co. – Seven Years Pale Ale
Silver: Alexander Keith’s – Cornerstone Edinburgh Pale Ale
Bronze: Big Spruce Brewing – Kitchen Party Pale Ale
Honourable Mention: Lunn’s Mill – Lunn’s Pub Ale

9) Stout / Porter
Gold: Breton Brewing – Cocoa Envy Chocolate Porter
Silver: North Brewing – Twinkle Pony Tiramisu Stout
Bronze: Big Spruce – Cereal Killer Stout
Honourable Mention: Pump House – Muddy River Stout

10) India Pale Ale
Gold: Uncle Leo’s – Encore IPA
Silver: Nine Locks – Fathom Double IPA
Bronze: 2 Crows – Second Situation
Honourable Mention: PEI Brewing – Snowbird

11) Experimental Beer
Gold: Tatamagouche – Feronia
Silver: North Brewing – Des Pêches Rooib
Bronze: Crows – Dare To Dream
Honourable Mention: Big Spruce – Thrice

12) Wood & Barrel-Aged Beer
Gold: 2 Crows – Forever Young
Silver: North – Midnight-Glenora Aged Strong Dark Belgian
Bronze: Garrison – Barrel-Aged Wintervention
Honourable Mention: Propeller – Barrel-Aged Baltic Porter

13) Sour Beer
Gold: Tatamagouche – Bliss Mixed Fermentation Saison
Silver: 2 Crows – Cool Kid
Bronze: Tatamagouche – Soaked
Honourable Mention: Big Spruce – Hugs Bunny

14) Standard Cider and Perry
Gold: Riverdale Orchard Cidery – 2 Scots 3 Apples
Silver: Casa Nova Fine Beverages – 1606 Good Cheer Craft Cider
Bronze: Casa Nova Fine Beverages- Buddy’s Original Craft Cider

15) Specialty Cider and Perry
Gold: Chainyard – Ginxberry
Silver: Meander River – Small Lot Rose Petal Cider
Bronze: Yip Cider – Blueberry Picnic
Honourable Mention: Chain Yard – Frostbite

Brewery of the Year
Tatamagouche Brewing (Tatamagouche, NS)

New Brewery of the Year
Four Rivers Brewing (Bathurst, NB)

Cider House of the Year
Tie between Riverdale Orchard (Bonshaw, PEI) and Chain Yard Urban Cidery (Halifax, NS)

New Cider House of the Year
Riverdale Orchard (Bonshaw, PEI)

Beer of the Year
Gold: Forever Young – 2 Crows Brewing (Halifax, NS)
Silver: Altbier – Uncle Leo’s Brewery (Lyon’s Brook, NS)
Bronze: Encore IPA – Uncle Leo’s Brewery (Lyon’s Brook, NS)
Honourable Mention – Seven Years Pale Ale – Breton Brewing (Sydney, NS)

Cider of the Year
2 Scots 3 Apples – Riverdale Orchard (Bonshaw, PEI)

Congratulations to all of the winners!

2018 Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards by the numbers:
338 Beer entries from 44 Breweries and Brewpubs
36 Cider entries from 8 Cider Houses
26 BJCP National, Certified, Recognized, and Novice Judges
6 dedicated stewards behind the scenes
14 hours of judging
1250 cups of beer and cider sniffed, swigged and sampled

50 Awards

1 Great Industry Worth Celebrating!

2017 Winners of the Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards

Posted by acbbchris on 2017-10-22
Posted in: Atlantic Canada Beer News. Tagged: Atlantic Canadian Brewing Awards. 2 comments

The 2017 edition of the Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards were announced at a Gala earlier this evening, in front of a full house at the Stubborn Goat. 50 breweries and cider houses from across the Atlantic provinces took part, with a total of 321 beer and cider entered for consideration in 14 different categories. 20 judges from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick tackled the enormous variety of entries, with the following beers and ciders recognized for their performance. In case you’re wondering how you can get a sweet gig like this, check out the Beer Judge Certification Program, and sign up to be part of the study and exam group, run through the Brewnosers homebrew club. Now, on to our winners!

1) North American & European Style Lager
Gold: Boxing Rock Brewing Co. – Stayin’ Alive Bock
Silver: Moosehead Breweries Ltd. – Moosehead Lager
Bronze: Good Robot Brewing Co. – Extra BIG-ASS Beer

2) German Style Specialty Ales
Gold: Breton Brewing Co. – Stirling Hefeweizen
Silver: Tatamagouche Brewing Co. – North Shore Lagered Ale
Bronze: North Brewing Company – Little Beast

3) UK Style Specialty Ales
Gold: Pump House Brewery – Barley Wine Ale
Silver: Split Rock Brewing Co. – Alli’s Big Brown Ale
Bronze: Garrison Brewing Co. – Irish Red

4) North American Style Specialty Ale
Gold: Trider’s Craft Beer – Brew-Deau Cream Ale
Silver: Tatamagouche Brewing Co. – Giantess Barleywine
Bronze: Oland Brewery – Keith’s IPA

5) Belgian Style Specialty Ale
Gold: Big Spruce Brewing – S’Il Vous Plait
Silver: Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault – Tante Blanche
Bronze: Quidi Vidi Brewing Company – Winter Ale

6) North American Style Amber / Red Ale
Gold: Sea Level Brewing Co. – Blue Heron Extra Special Bitter
Silver: Boxing Rock Brewing Co. – Temptation Red Ale
Bronze: Hammond River Brewing – Red Coat India Red Ale

7) Fruit & Field Beer
Gold: Alexander Keith’s Brewery – Hortonville Pumpkin Ale
Silver: Big Spruce Brewing – Guava Get Me Some!
Bronze: Tatamagouche Brewing Co. – Rushton’s Peach

8) Pale Ales
Gold: Breton Brewing Co. – Seven Years Pale Ale
Silver: Big Spruce Brewing – Kitchen Party Pale Ale
Bronze: North Brewing Company – Priority Pale Ale

9) Stout / Porter
Gold: Tatamagouche Brewing Co. – Two Rivers Baltic Porter
Silver: 2 Crows Brewing Co. – Midnight Mood American Porter
Bronze: Big Axe Brewery – Shakespeare Stout

10) India Pale Ale
Gold: Roof Hound Brewing Co. Ltd. – Big Stink IPA
Silver: Big Spruce Brewing – Tim’s Dirty American IPA
Bronze: Nine Locks Brewery – Fathom DIPA

11) Experimental Beer
Gold: North Brewing Company – Oh My Darlin’ Clementine Brett Pale Ale
Silver: Uncle Leo’s Brewery – Nachtical Illusion Schwarzbier
Bronze: Good Robot Brewing Co. – Damn Fine Coffee & Cherry Pie v3.0

12) Wood & Barrel-Aged Beer
Gold: Garrison Brewing Co. – Barrel-Aged Ol’ Fog Burner Barleywine
Silver: Big Spruce Brewing – Chardonnay Barrel-Aged Wild Wild Wit  
Bronze: 2 Crows Brewing Co. – Bonanza! Calvados-Aged Wheat Wine

13) Standard Cider and Perry
Gold: ChainYard Urban Cidery – Foundation
Silver: Yip Cider – Russett
Bronze: Coastliner Craft Cider – Coastliner Original

14) Specialty Cider and Perry
Gold: Red Rover Craft Cider – Fall Cider
Silver: ShipBuilders Cider Ltd. – Sid’s Chai Apple Cider
Bronze: ChainYard Urban Cidery – Hopped Up

Brewery of the Year
Big Spruce Brewing (Nyanza, NS)

Brewpub of the Year
Paddy’s Pub (Wolfville, NS)

Cider House of the Year
ChainYard Urban Cidery (Halifax, NS)

Beer of the Year
Stirling Hefeweizen – Breton Brewing (Sydney, NS)

Cider of the Year
Fall Cider – Red Rover Craft Cider (Fredericton, NB)

People’s Choice Award – Cider
Original – Yip Cider (Long Reach, NB)

People’s Choice Award – Beer
Go Devil – Upstreet Craft Brewing (Charlottetown, PE)

Congratulations to all of the winners!

2017 Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards by the numbers:
296 Beer entries from 43 Breweries and Brewpubs
25 Cider entries from 7 Cider Houses
20 BJCP National, Certified, Recognized, and Novice Judges
8 dedicated stewards behind the scenes
18 hours of judging
1100 cups of beer and cider sniffed, swigged and sampled
35,000 steps (23 km) walked by the Judging Organizer over the course of 2 days (acbbchris)

49 Awards

1 Great Industry Worth Celebrating!

Our take on NB Liquor permanently reducing prices of select domestic beer

Posted by acbbchris on 2017-06-07
Posted in: Atlantic Canada Beer News. Tagged: ANBL. 2 comments

The NB Liquor Corporation has announced that they will be reducing the price of 24-packs of several domestic beers later this month. The prices of Alpine, Budweiser, Bud Light, Coors Light, Molson Canadian, Moose Light, and Sleeman Clear will all drop by $7 to $35.99. While a trial period of discounts on multiple 24-packs was implemented last year, this new change will be permanent. The drop in price is being financed solely by the ANBL, with revenue losses of $7,000,000 expected annually.

We spoke with ANBL’s Mark Barbour for how they expect these changes to affect the local beer producers. Barbour shared data that during last year’s trial run, sales in craft beer was up more than 20% over the same period in 2015, the solid growth apparently undeterred by deep discounts in domestic beer. “There are two distinct beer drinking profiles in the province, those who choose domestic beer, and those who choose craft,” he went on to say. He suggested the possible spillover effect of a cheaper domestic beer might even allow the value drinker a few extra dollars to try the local beer offerings. When asked if discounts would be applied to locally-produced craft beer, he responded that they would not, but added, “The ANBL is very invested in the development of the Craft Beer Industry in New Brunswick, providing circa $2M annually in subsidies annually in the form of a reduced Markup Structure.” Both last year, and with this announcement, the ANBL denies that it is reducing the price to compete with lower-priced beer in Quebec and Maine, but as the sole retailer of domestic beer in the province, it is difficult to deny the reality of the situation.

We also reached out to Stephen Dixon, owner of Grimross Brewing, and  President of the NB Craft Alcohol Producers. He expressed concerns that these price reductions were done without any consultation with the small local producers, who learned of the price change through the media like the general public. “Part of ANBL’s mandate is to participate in the development of the liquor industry in the province,” Dixon says, “The province in general would reap more benefit if ANBL and the New Brunswick Government worked towards creating a better environment for the development of NB-based producers.” The delineation between value and craft beer drinkers is not so cut and dry, Dixon believes. “Those that currently drink either (craft or macro industrial beer) will be enticed to the macro beer with these big discounts”, he explains.

The implementation of the permanent price change is puzzling: as last year’s trial wound down, the ANBL stated (from a CBCNews article in October 2016), “Although profitable, the beer promotion had a negative impact on overall profit margins”. And that was with the price reduction shared with the participating breweries, not solely a burden on the ANBL. With this move costing ANBL something like $7M annually, we feel it important to note who the likely beneficiaries are. Certainly not the average New Brunswicker, who will potentially see a reduction in the Government’s coffers. Licensed establishments who serve the same macro beers might not be happy to see the discrepancy between what a patron pays per beer at home vs. what is paid at a bar grow even wider. The “value drinker” will surely see a benefit, we suppose, but we believe it will more likely be viewed as, “It’s like getting every 7th case free,” rather than, “I’ll take that $7 and buy something I wouldn’t normally buy.” The ANBL’s stated mission is, “To responsibly manage a profitable liquor business for New Brunswick,” which certainly seems countermanded by a seven million dollar writedown, unless you buy the argument that they are fending off competition, which is an interesting notion for a company that effectively operates as a monopoly in their market. Perhaps this is anticipation of the provincial trade barriers being lowered, but we also note that the Canadian Free Trade Agreement only specifies a working group to provide guidance around interprovincial alcohol trade and they’ve got a year to develop it. So their recommendation isn’t due until June 30th, 2018, let alone any resultant action. The real winners here then, are the producers of the beer being discounted. While one, Moosehead Light, is a NB product, the others are all owned by multinational conglomerates who will likely see sales increase at no extra cost to them. So more money is potentially leaving the province than before. Meanwhile, craft producers will now be competing with even cheaper mass produced products readily available in every market around the province. We suspect it would cost much less than $7 million to eliminate all excise duties on craft producers in the province, a move that would likely see more money staying within the borders of the province. It’s interesting that ANBL chose instead to stimulate sales for out-of-province producers instead.

What about the fans of locally-produced, small, independent beer? We don’t anticipate those drinkers to switch to the bigger brands because of a cost savings; if a difference in price was the primary issue, we wouldn’t have been drinking craft beer for all this time anyway. We drink craft beer because we like the taste, and having it produced in the Atlantic provinces is just another positive aspect. However, everyone has to start their love of craft beer somewhere, and for those who are currently drinking macro, this cost reduction is just one more reason for them to stay away from craft beer, stifling the amount of growth that could potentially be seen in the craft beer market. This means that local breweries (and other businesses associated with them, such as hop growers, beer tour companies, etc) may not flourish as well as they should. If the ANBL can’t see that, it doesn’t seem to us that they’re standing behind local breweries as they claim to be doing.

And for those readers in PEI and NS, PEI Liquor has said they have no plans to reduce the price of domestic beer to compete with the ANBL*; there has been no specific response from the NSLC as of yet, only that they are “assessing their options”.

*Update (June 6): PEILC has reduced the price of Alpine, Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, Canadian, and Moose Light to $39.99, “for a limited time, while supplies last”.