Beckwith Road

All posts tagged Beckwith Road

Happy Friday! With Monday’s holiday, it really snuck up on us here at ACBB, but we’ve still got a pint’s-worth of news to keep you busy this weekend.

• You may know that Muwin Estate Winery (the folks behind Bulwark Cider) have teamed with Ross Farm Museum to bring us Cider Days, coming the weekend of October 22, where you can learn about heritage apples, the proper care of orchards, how cider is made, and cooperage (barrel making). What you may not know is that they are calling on anyone in Nova Scotia with apple trees on their property to pick their apples and bring them along for use in a special batch that will be known as The People’s Cider. This is a chance to see how the heirloom apple varieties that may not be great for eating are sought-after as a key ingredient in cider making. Anyone who provides apples will be provided with a People’s Cider Membership and an invitation to a launch event for the resulting product, where they’re hoping to have some bottles available (depending, of course, on how much is produced). You can even contact them to have your apples picked up from you if you aren’t able to make the event or have more apples than you can easily bring along. If you have an old orchard on your property producing apples that you don’t know what to do with, this is an awesome opportunity to see them become part of a truly Nova Scotian product. 

• The brewing team at Good Robot have tweaked one of their more popular beers, and released Damn Fine Coffee v2.0 yesterday. Brewed with Pilsner, Red X, and Rye malts, and an addition of Kenya Gatina coffee (cold brewed by Bottleneck, sourced from Java Blend), this updated iteration was fermented with a highly-attenuating yeast strain (California Ale) to give the resulting beer a “drier, hoppier finish”, according to the brewery. Expect flavours to be fruity, tart, and even vinous, to go along with the floral, citrus, and grassy character from the addition of Cascade and Falconer’s Flight hops. It weighs in at 5.5% ABV and 40 IBUs, and is available now at the brewery’s taproom, and better beer bars and restaurants across the HRM.

• And speaking of Good Robot, the screening of Sociable! earlier this week was a roaring success, with a full house witnessing the ups and downs of planning, opening, and operating a brewery in Nova Scotia. Stay tuned for details on more screenings, entry to film festivals, and online distribution.

• About a month ago, we reported on the wet-hopped beer brewed by Graystone Brewing; that beer was released at the brewery on Wednesday of this week. Now named United Hops, it was bittered with freshly-harvested Summit to ~80 IBUs, according to the brewery, with other hops added later in the boil, including Perle, El Dorado, Cascade, Idaho 7, and a small portion coming from locally-grown hops donated by people in the Fredericton area. Weighing in at 6% ABV, a portion of the proceeds will go to support United Way. Drop by the brewery this weekend to try a pint, crowler, or growler of this new brew.

• There’s a new Picaroons beer on tap exclusively at the General Store in Saint John – One for the Road Black IPA was brewed to celebrate the recently-renovated Canterbury Street in the city. A small batch brewed on the General Store system, it features a grain bill with plenty of dark, roasted malts, was hopped with Cascade, Chinook and Galaxy, and fermented with an American Ale yeast strain. This 5.6% ale won’t last long, so pop by the General Store to give it a try, while supplies last.

• This week Annapolis Cider Company has a new release in their ‘Something Different’ series, an unfiltered sparkling cider called Peach and Peppercorn. True to its name, it features both freshly cracked peppercorns, with which it’s been infused, and the juice of tree-ripened peaches to the tune of 15% of the batch. On top of the apple base, the peach brings tanginess while the peppercorns provide a subtle heat. Weighing in at 6.8% ABV, you’ll find it available at the cidery, where $0.50 of each bottle refill will be donated to the local 4-H Club.

• Jeremy White of Big Spruce penned a Letter to Nova Scotia this week, detailing some of the struggles and backwards hoops that he, and other breweries, have to go through in that province. A combination of antiquated laws, unfair treatment of breweries versus wineries and distilleries, inequality in tax collection from younger breweries, lead to many frustrations for those looking to earn a living while brewing in the province.

There are a few events this weekend, and in the coming weeks, worth checking out. Here are a few that we wanted to highlight:

• Drop by the Cabot Links Public House tonight for a Big Spruce Tap Takeover. Featuring the core line-up of Cereal Killer Oatmeal Stout, Kitchen Party Pale Ale, and Tim’s Dirty American IPA, plus seasonals Bitter Get’er India Black IPA and Spruce Bringstein Amber, plus the BS/Boxing Rock For the Love of Grimace Berliner Weisse aged on blueberries. The event starts at 9pm, with live music kicking off at 9:30. The first 48 folks in the door will receive a free glass to take home with them.

• While the weather in Halifax has been beautiful for the past few weeks, it’s time to face reality: the best days of outdoor dining and drinking are behind us. As such, both the Stillwell Beergarden on Spring Garden, and Stubborn Goat‘s Waterfront location are both winding down for the season this weekend. Drop by for one last hoorah tomorrow before/during/after Nocturne. Good Robot is hosting an interactive art display on their Gastroturf fro Nocturne, so be sure to drop by to take part. And today marks the first day for Stillwell’s new noon-time opening at Barrington. Start the weekend early with some great food and beer on Barrington!

• On Saturday, October 22nd, Sackville’s Ducky’s Bar will be holding a tap takeover featuring PEI Brewing Co., at 7:00 pm. A total of 15 different beers will be flowing, with no cover charge to attend. However, if you pay $20, you will receive a 13-oz branded Belgian-style beer glass, and five 5-oz beer tickets, with 5$ going towards the Tantramar Breast Cancer Organization. Reserve your glass before the 22nd by signing up at the bar, and you’ll receive an addition two 5-oz tickets. Finally, those with the special glass will be able to purchase additional 5 oz pours for the rest of the evening for $2.25. More details, including which beers will be available, will be coming soon; stay tuned to the event page for updates.

• Halloween is fast approaching, and with it comes the first Halloween Bash at Maybee’s, on Saturday, October 29th. Starting around 7 pm at Maybee Brewing Co., there’s all sorts of ghoulish things planned, including haunted brewery tours, a costume contest (with prizes), a dance party with live music and, of course, candy! There’s no cover, and Milda’s Pizza & More will be on-site to provide tasty food for purchase. In addition, a special, super-secret beer will be released by the brewery at the event; we can’t give anything away, but we CAN assure you that it’s NOT a Pumpkin Ale!

• For those interested in learning to make cider, a Continuing Education course at NSCC Kingstec will be kicking off November 3rd. Running for four weeks, Hard Cider Made Easy explores all steps of the cider-making process, including apple selection, pressing, fermenting, and packaging of the final product.

A few more drips and drops before you head out today:

– The Third Annual Hammond River Home Brew Competition will be coming up soon; we’ll have more details for you next week, but in the meantime, raise a glass to Shane Steeves and family as expansion on the new, 15 BBL HR brewhouse located adjacent to The Barrel’s Head has officially begun this week!

– In addition to their regular Thursday night growler evenings, Smiths Cove’s Lazy Bear Brewing will be attending the Annapolis Royal Winter Farmer’s Market, beginning this weekend. Drop by the Historic Gardens location Saturday 9-12 to grab your fills. And while there, be sure to sign up and compete in the 5th Annual North American Conker Championship, taking place that morning. Try, if you dare, to dethrone last year’s winner, Simon Bonnington. Registration and mandatory drug testing starts at 9am.

– Look for more beers and availability at Mahone Bay’s Saltbox Brewing shortly: their 10 BBL (1200 litre) DME brewhouse is working overtime to keep their thirsty fans satisfied. The first batches from their big system should be hitting the taps in Mahone Bay, and elsewhere in the province, very soon.

– There are a pair of new batches on tap at Saint John’s Big Tide Brewpub. It is the return of Karnival Kölsch, as well as their second batch of Indian Beach Pumpkin, this time brewed with all Magnum hops from Darlings Island Farm. And they are down to the last drops of their Hemmingsway Vealy Great Ale, brewed in collaboration with the folks from the Boiling Point podcast.

– Moncton-area Beckwith Road Brewing have released their fourth beer, Upland American Brown. At 6.1% ABV and 40 IBUs, this beer debuted at the Atlantic Canadian Craft Beer Oktoberfest last month, and will be found on tap in the city shortly.

Happy Friday everyone! Lots of news this week, so let’s get right to it…

• Leading us off today is a story from Halifax’s Unfiltered Brewing: they have filed suit against the NSLC, arguing that the “Retail Mark-Up Sales Allocation” the Crown Corporation is unconstitutional. When Unfiltered’s lawyers consulted the legislation to learn more about the mark-up, none could be found, and the NSLC has been unable to provide documents outlining the details. The $0.50/litre mark-up is applied to all NS-made beer that is sold or given away, whether or not it hits any NSLC retail stores. Unfiltered is claiming that the mark-up is in fact a tax, and that the NSLC is not legislated to collect it. They are requesting reimbursement for the more than $25,000 paid to the NSLC over the last 13 months, and that the mark-up be declared unconstitutional. This case has wide-reaching implications, as all of the more than 35 breweries in the province have been paying this fee for years, and would amount to many millions of dollars that could be at dispute. From the NSLC’s own spokesperson, $954,000 was collected in 2015, of which $50,000 was provided to the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia (the association of 25 member breweries, but Unfiltered is not one of them). The scheduling of the suit is to be decided in early September, and we’ll be sure to keep you up to date with all of the news. The CBC has a good summary of the details of the suit.

• In new beer news, Fredericton’s TrailWay Brewing has dropped a new take on their fruit wheat beer this week: Haskap Wheat. With a similar base as their Raspberry Wheat, this beer features 40 kilos of locally-grown Haskap berries added after fermentation. The resultant beer is a hazy purple colour, with notes of blueberry, raspberry, and cranberry, on a pleasant wheat base. A very drinkable 4.3% ABV and 20 IBUs Wheat beer. And speaking of drinkable, their South Pacific-hopped Pale Ale D’under is back again, weighing in at 5.5% ABV and approximately 40 IBUs from late addition hops. Lots of tropical aromas come through from the hops, without a big bitter blast.

Propeller Brewing has released their latest One Hit Wonder this week, and their Brewmaster apparently had a one-track mind when it came to this recipe! 1 Hop IPA is a 6.6% ABV and 56 IBUs beer, featuring nothing but Mandarina Bavaria for the hopping. As the name implies, this hop was developed in Germany, at the Hop Research Institute in Hüll, and is among the recent wave of aromatic hops (higher oil content) coming from Europe. The orange and citrus notes of the hop shine through on top of the robust body and significant bitterness. As with all of their OHW releases, this is only available in draft, or for growler fills at their two brewery locations. And while you’re at the brewery, be sure to check out Prop’s first can release. They have started with their flagship IPA, with cans now available at their retail locations, and will soon be rolling out to the private stores and NSLC shelves.

 • Gahan House Halifax has a few new beers on tap currently, and a brand new beer hitting the taps next week. Now on tap are: Maritime Brine, a 3.8% Gose with a light acidity and salt character, along with pleasant lemon character, with just enough hops (less than 10 IBUs) to keep it balanced; The Barberrian (which made its cask debut at the Seaport Beer Festival), a 5.0% ABV Red Ale aged on dried barberries and cherries, for a bright fruit flavour and aroma; Summer House Beer, a 4.0% Hefeweizen dry-hopped with Mt Hood for a hoppy-aromatic take on the style; and Crosscurrent, their 5.5% ABV American Pale Ale with El Dorado and Simcoe. On tap for next week is Night Vision, a 6.2% American Porter, using Magnum and Mt Hood hops (to about 30 IBUs), featuring “chocolate and graham cracker notes” as a nice contrast to their roast-forward Stout, according to Brewmaster Kyle Jeppesen. Be sure to follow along with his adventures on Instagram, to keep up-to-date on his brew days and what’s coming up on the waterfront. In fact, Jeppesen just brewed a Sahti, his take on the traditional Finnish brew, featuring locally-harvest juniper branches used in the mash, and a large percentage of rye malt.

North Brewing is releasing a special beer collaboration brew today, Lawrencetown Blonde. This 4.5% ABV beer features 2-Row and Wheat malts, and lightly hopped with Cascade and Saaz to about 20 IBUs. Surfing friends of the brewery, Ian Jackson and Dean Petty (of Anchored Coffee) were also part of the brewday, label design, and recipe development. Ten litres of Ethiopian Yukro cold brew was added to the final beer, courtesy of Anchored, for a light roastiness to complement the peach, citrus, and light ginger aromas. And a nod to the surfers was a little but of Lawrencetown Beach sea water too! Ian’s wife Jill (of Jill+Jack Paper) designed the label, on the bottles which are available on both Agricola and Ochterloney today.

Yellowbelly Brewpub in St John’s has released a new beer this week, Southern Shore Foggy Porter. This deep-ruby-coloured porter features a big roast character, notes of toast and smoke, and dry finish, thanks to the large percentage of roasted barley used in the recipe. Dry-hopped with Brewer’s GoldCascade, and Mosaic to enhance the nose with a touch of spice and fruit. This beer is Brewmaster Liam Mckenna’s tribute to “the finest sort of folks down the Shore who endure weather like no others, [and] will warm the cockles.” The 5.8% ABV, 45 IBUs, beer is on tap at the brewpub now, and may not make it into bottles, so best to drop by for a pint today!

• Garrison Brewing has brought back their popular Honey Lavender Ale today. The 6.5% ABV beer features lavender harvested from Meander River Farms, and its aroma is a pleasant partner to the malt and light honey character. Honey from Shubenacadie’s G.G. Smeltzer & Son helped to bump up the alcohol a bit, aiding the Maritime Malt and Wheat, and does offer a sweet aftertaste. A small dose of Citra hops helps to offset the beer at a light 16 IBUs. Bottles are now available at the brewery and private stores in HRM.

• Nyanza’s Big Spruce has brought back their kettle-soured IPA this week, JAC the SIPA. Featuring loads of AmarilloCitra, and Simcoe hops added during a whirlpool after flame-out, this 6.0% ABV beer features a big aromatic blast of hops with a medium 54 IBUs. The acidic nature of the beer gives a pleasant refreshing sharp character, on a hot afternoon.

Picaroons will be pouring a special beer this weekend, to celebrate The Tragically Hip‘s final concert (and Canada-wide phenomenon). The Tragically Hop’d Pale Ale is a 4.5% ABV Pale Ale with “silly” amounts of some special hops: Galaxy, Saphir, Summit, TopazVic Secret, and Warrior, to 40 IBUs. The beer will be pouring exclusively at the “Fully Completely in the Square” event in Fredericton’s Officer Square, at the Brewtique, and at the General Store in Saint John tomorrow, August 20th.

Speaking of events, there are a whole bunch of them on our radar in the coming weeks. You can check out our Calendar of Events Page for the full listing, and subscribe to it by clicking here. And feel free to let us know about the neat events that we may have missed! We love to hear from you at ACBeerBlog@gmail.com.

• Mahone Bay’s Saltbox Brewing will be opening their retail location August 20 for growler and merchandise sales, 10-4. They will be selling their Dark Cream Ale, a flavourful 4.7% golden orange ale featuring notes of biscuit and toast and their IPA, a 5.4% dry-hopped hoppy ale, featuring notes of melon and strawberry. As they are still awaiting their 12 hl brewhouse to come online (much of it was delivered this week!), they will be concentrating on to-go sales, in both their own, or customer-provided (clean), grunters and growlers. Their current schedule is to be open for take away sales for the next few Saturdays until their launch at the end of September.

• The Upstreet Block Party is returning for its second year on Saturday, August 20th. Featuring plenty of activities, live music, food, and tours at the brewery from 12 pm on, they’ll also be unveiling a new “super-sized beer garden”! As the sun goes down, the party will move into the taproom at about 8 pm for more music (from two local DJs), food, and beer. Admission is free, just drop in anytime to join in the fun!

• On August 26th Quebec Belgian-inspired brewery Unibroue is sending their Beer Sommelier (and Certified Cicerone®) Sylvain Bouchard to The Port, NSLC’s new flagship location at 5485 Clyde Street. He will be helping to launch the release of the 6-litre 17 Grand Reserve Belgian Strong, with a food and beer tasting with several of their products (including Éphémère Apple, Blonde de Chambly, La Fin du Monde, Maudite, in addition to the 17) . There are only 32 bottles of this special beer, in a format best suited for sharing at a wedding or other celebration, and those in attendance will have the first chance at trying and purchasing them. There are only 30 tickets available to the 7-8:30pm event (on sale at The Port now), and we are holding a contest for your chance to win a pair of them! Post a picture to our Facebook page, and/or tag us and @Unibroue on Twitter or Instagram, with a picture your favourite beer and food pairing, and we will announce the winner in our Weekly Wrap-Up next Friday morning.

•  On August 26 & 27, Stillwell Beer Bar is hosting a tap takeover from Portland Maine’s Liquid Riot Bottling Co. Owned by the awesome beer-focused team behind Novare Res Bier Cafe, Liquid Riot brews a wide variety of beers and spirits on the Portland waterfront, and is bringing a great selection to Halifax. The fun starts Friday night at 6pm on Barrington, with a dozen sours, porters, wheats, and IPAs taking over the taps at the Mothership, and continues Saturday from noon at the Beer Garden on Spring Garden, with ten taps of LR goodness (five of which are exclusive to the BG). There are no tickets required for the fun, and there are only single kegs of many of the beers, so be sure and drop by early to avoid disappointment! Check out their Facebook Event page for the full line-up, because it’s too long and awesome to post it all here.

• On September 16th, Garrison and Local Connections Halifax are hosting Hops ‘n’ Brats, as part of Halifax Oktoberfest. From 6:30 to 11, they will be hosting a handful of NS breweries at the Salter Street parking lot, slinging beers and pairing them with a ton of locally-produced sausages. Your entry fee includes your first 8 samples, a token to take part in the beer-centric games, and a souvenir glass. New this year is the ability to trade 3 tickets for a full pour of your favourite brew. There will be a dozen breweries in attendance, including: Big Spruce, Boxing Rock, Garrison, Meander River, and Spindrift. Tickets are just $24+tax, and are available now.

• September 17th is the main event for Halifax Oktoberfest, with the party kicking off at 11am with traditional German food, music and games, with the evening session kicking off at 6pm with more food, dancing, and Garrison beer a-plenty. The Swell Guys and Die Brew-misters Oompah Bands will be providing music, and Scanway Catering will be serving up lots of sausages, spaetzle and schnitzel, as well as two whole roasted pigs. From 11AM to 5PM the event will be all-ages, admission is $5/adults and free for children. In the evening, the fun continues as a 19+ event with dancing, food, and games. An evening pass can be purchased for $16 which includes entry and one Garrison beer, or a $20 entry that also includes a commemorative Oktoberfest Halifax Stein. Full details are available here, and tickets are on sale now.

Wow, another big week! A few more notes that came in after our deadline:

Gahan Pub Charlottetown have brought back Summer in New Zealand, the NZ-hopped beer with grains of paradise and a touch of lemon and lime zest, the winning recipe by Ryan Palmer in last year’s Gahan Homebrew Challenge.
– Congratulations to Breton Brewing on brewing their 100th batch of beer! They celebrated by…. brewing! More Stirling Hefeweizen coming soon.
Hell Bay has brought a pair of favourites this week, with the O.P.A Oat Pale Ale and R.I.P. (A) IPA.
– After last weekend’s very successful launch, Beckwith Road Brewery has delivered their Campfire Amber at the Tide & Boar in Moncton, and will be going on tap very shortly.
– You can once again pick up Shiretown Beer at the ANBL! Drop by the Dalhousie and Charlo locations to grab bottles of their Blonde Du Quai, Siren’s T’ale and Big Brown Ale.

Apologies for the late posting this week, *someone* decided to take the week off, again! 😉

Happy Friday everyone! We’ve got news about the newest brewery to launch in our region, as well as much more on two new NB breweries launching this fall. Plus our usual rundown of the new beers hitting the taps and shelves in our region. It’s another chock-full edition of the blog!

• Moncton-based Beckwith Road Brewing has launched this week, with a pair of their beers now available on tap in town. Founded by cousins Mark and Mitch Symes, Beckwith Road is named after the farm their family has owned for generations, north of Moncton. Mitch is the brewer, currently using a 1/2 BBL (50L) system, while scouting out locations and equipment for possible expansion in the future. Mark is no beer slouch himself, taking the Ultimate Three Month Beer Road Trip with his dog across North America earlier this year, clocking more than 22,000km. During that time, he explored the best that beer has to offer, and both cousins are working hard to bring that to Beckwith Road’s offerings. They have launched with two beers, Boston George and Aunt MarthaBoston George is a hybrid of their favourite styles, Pale Ale and IPA, straddling the line in both alcohol and bitterness, at 6.3%ABV and 53 IBUS, respectively. Named after their grandfather’s cousin, it features floral and fruit notes, including banana, mango, pineapple and citrus on the nose and flavour. Aunt Martha is a 4.3% ABV, 31 IBUs, American Blonde Ale, named after their aunt who enjoys light lagers, and they have brewed an approachable beer for craft and industrial beer lovers alike. Light hopping from Chinook and Palisade round out the light body and crisp finish. Both beers are currently on tap at the Tide & Boar on Main Street, and will be joined by Campfire, a 5.2% ABV, 40 IBUs, American Amber early- to mid-next week. The use of Pale Chocolate and Crystal Malts impart some roast and sweet character, with notes of caramel being offset with light hopping from the CascadeCentennial, and Nugget. Congratulations on the launch, and welcome to the wonderful world of Atlantic Canada Beer!

• Two weeks ago, we reported on Fundy Bay Brewco, a new brewery planning to open soon in the town of Sussex, NB. After talking to Paul Robertson, one of the three people who have been working on opening the brewery since last October, we can now confirm that they will be starting out by brewing on a 2 BBL (225 L) Blichmann system. A small tasting was held for local Sussex residents in early July, where their three core brands – an American IPA, Belgian Dubbel, and Session IPA – were sampled (for more info on these beers, check out our previous post); initial plans also involve the release of 1-2 seasonals per season. Their plans right now are to supply local bars and restaurants with kegs, which should hopefully begin sometime in late fall of this year, with the opening of a taproom to follow sometime later. As always, we’ll keep you updated on their progress!

• Rumours have been circulating for months, but it was officially confirmed earlier this week that Foghorn Brewing Company will be opening this fall in Rothesay, NB. Located at 47 Clark Rd., the brewery is co-owned by Business Manager Steve Russell and Andrew ‘Esty’ Estabrooks, who will also serve as brewmaster. The 7 BBL (~800 L) brewery will have an attached taproom for patrons to enjoy a pint and fill growlers to go. Information is a little slim at the moment, but follow along with their Facebook and Twitter accounts as development progresses, and we’ll be sure to post a Q&A with them in the near future.

• After an incredibly busy first week, Digby’s Roof Hound is releasing their second beer this weekend. With just a bit of Lil Pup Pale Ale left (but more coming soon!), Rooftop Rye-It is making its debut. Featuring a load of rye malt for a pleasant spicy character, this 4.8% ABV beer is full bodied and a great complement to the pizzas and sandwiches coming from the kitchen (both prepared with dough made on-site with a touch of beer in the recipe). Drop by daily from 11am.

• There’s not one, but two new beers available now from Nyanza’s Big Spruce. First up is This is Complexified, a big, bold Baltic Porter. A dark beer fermented cool with Bohemian Lager yeast, it was then cold-conditioned for an additional 4 weeks, and then split into two barrels: Bourbon barrels from Buffalo Trace, and Glenora single-malt whisky barrels. Aged for four months, then blended, the result is a beer that puts the “complex” in Complexified (a perfectly cromulent word)! Your options to try this 11.5% ABV monster are limited: either at the brewery for samples and Yapper fills, or you might be able to get a pour at one of three Halifax establishments – Stillwell, Battery Park, and Good Robot – all of which received/will receive a single, 20 L keg.

• Next from Big Spruce is Dawn Wit Berries, a “Belgian Strawberry Witbier”. Conditioned on 150 lbs of organic strawberries from local Wings of Dawn Farm in Debert, NS, it was fermented with the Fruity Witbier yeast strain from Escarpment Labs, described as producing “lots of complex fruity esters” to go along with the classic Witbier coriander character. This easy-drinking beer will be available at the brewery and at establishments serving Big Spruce beers; at 4.8% ABV and 17 IBUs, it’s a perfect session ale for summer. Drop by this weekend for the “Farm to Fork Food Truck Weekend”, featuring Cruisin’ Cuisine.

• Accidents happen in brewing, as in life, and sometimes they work out for everyone! Good Robot is no exception to this rule, as they proved recently with a new beer, The Fermenter Has Been Drinking. While brewing their Tom Waits For No One Stout, their kettle burner took a turn for the worst, resulting in a lower-gravity wort for fermentation (meaning less alcohol after fermentation). Not to be outdone, the brewing team added some cold-brewed Java Blend Sumatra Gayo coffee, giving a dark-brown beer with notes of roast, dark chocolate, berries, and wood in the aroma and flavour. This American Stout clocks in at 6.7% ABV and 60 IBUs.

• There’s yet another new beer being released at North, Horton Single Malt. This Belgian Specialty Ale was brewed entirely with Vienna malt sourced from Horton Ridge Malt and Grain Co., and dry-hopped with Cascade. Fermented with the Old World Saison Blend (featuring two Saison strains) from Escarpment Labs, it weighs in at 7% ABV. Expect a blend of both fruit and spice, with a dry finish. Look for it to be released today at both their Agricola and Ochterloney locations, and on tap around the HRM.

• There’s a new beer now pouring from Lazy Bear BrewingSissiboo Stout was brewed with a variety of both Chocolate and Roasted malts, as well as some oatmeal to boost the mouthfeel. Added to the brew was a portion of Honduran-sourced Tobiatic Wild from local Sissiboo Coffee Roaster; cold-extracted and added after fermentation was complete, this medium-roast coffee contributes a pleasant level of roast flavours (without being overpowering), as well as a slight hint of orange peel, according to the brewery. A small amount of an unnamed hop variety was added near the end of the boil to complement this orange peel character. This 5.5% ABV, ~30 IBUs beer is available this Saturday at the Annapolis Royal Farmers’ Market for growler fills, and will likely show up on tap around Digby in the near future.

Bore City has released an interesting new beer, Fricot, an homage to a popular Acadian dish. To accomplish this, potatoes were added during the mash, as well as the Summer Savory herb at the end of the boil. This hazy, pale-to-golden-coloured ale was hopped with Hallertau Blanc, and fermented with a “fruity Belgian yeast strain”, for a real blend of flavours! Best-described as a Belgian Golden Strong Ale, it weighs in at 7.1% ABV and 39 IBUs, and will be on tap exclusively at Marky’s Laundromat.

PEI Brewing Company has put on a brand new cask in their tap room, the brainchild of brewer Spencer Gallant. The Lactic-Soured Peppercorn Wheat builds on the Sir John A Wheat base, but with a sharp, tart character, and pleasant fruit and earth peppercorn flavour and aromatics. This 4.5% ABV, 12 IBU brew is only available for sale at the brewery via handpump, so drop by today for a taste!

• Halifax’s Unfiltered Brewing is bringing back an old favourite, with a new twist. All Falc’d Up! Double IPA returns today at noon. This SMaSH of 2-Row Malt features Falconer’s Flight 7C’s hops, a special blend of citrus and fruit-forward hops developed as an ode to Pacific Northwest brewing legend Glen Hay Falconer. The brew was fermented with Vermont Ale yeast for more tropical aromatics, finishing out this 7.5% ABV, 100+ IBUs beauty. Grab a pint or growler of it today from noon!

• Port Williams’ Wayfarers’ Ale Society has released a fourth beer this week. EPA is a traditional 5.0% ABV English Pale Ale, favouring a medium malt backbone with a touch of bitterness (coming in around 30 IBUs). Light esters give a pleasant fruity character, completing the English experience. It joins the Thistle Dew Scottish Ale, Hellene Blonde and Ruby Irish Ale for a full complement of European and UK-inspired beers.

• Attention, Johnny Jacks fans – their beer will soon be hitting select ANBL stores! The Oromocto-based nanobrewery will first be bottling their Trench Fighter IPA, followed by their Viking Ale and Smokin’ Amber. Look for the first bottles to hit the Oromocto ANBL outlet by early fall, with Fredericton and Saint John stores following shortly thereafter. The brewery has recently ordered two 1.5 BBL (175 L) fermentors to keep up with production, so look for more JJ beers to be available soon (including a special, bottle-conditioned beer brewed just in time for Christmas!). In the meantime, their beers can be found on tap at the Sour Grape Cafe, James Joyce, Gray Stone, and the Cask & Kettle.

There’s several beer-related events happening over the coming weeks and months:

• Don’t forget to grab tickets to this Thursday (August 18th2 Crows Brewing Sneak Preview Party, hosted by the Ladies Beer League. Tickets are still available, and attendees will be enjoying a half-dozen beers from the 20 BBL (23 hL) Halifax brewery set to open this fall. All ticket proceeds go to Feed Nova Scotia, and they will be accepting further donations for FNS during the event.

• The Upstreet Block Party is returning for its second year on Saturday, August 20th. Featuring plenty of activities, live music, food, and tours at the brewery from 12 pm on, they’ll also be unveiling a new “super-sized beer garden”! As the sun goes down, the party will move into the taproom at about 8 pm for more music (from two local DJs), food, and beer. Admission is free, just drop in anytime to join in the fun!

• Also on August 20th is the next Urban Beer Hike in Moncton, from 1:45 pm-5:30 pm. As always, the walking tour will visit five beer bars in the downtown area of the city, with beer and food samples provided at each stop. Tickets are $49+fees and available here.

• The seventh annual Oktoberfest des Acadiens is scheduled from September 1st-4th, in the village of Bertrand, NB. As always, activities include Bavarian music and dancing, live entertainment, games, and plenty of food and beer for sampling. The event is advertising as having over 100 products available for tasting, including both imported and local beers. Entry to the site is only $5, with beer tickets available for purchase at $1 each.

• Tickets are now on sale for the 2nd annual Atlantic Canadian Craft Brew Oktoberfest, scheduled for Saturday, September 24th at the Moncton Lions Club. Featuring close to 20 breweries from Atlantic Canada, there are three ticket types available, each including unlimited samples: regular tickets include a custom tasting glass and entry from 7:30 pm-10 pm; the VIP session, which begins a half hour earlier; and a VVIP session which begins at 6 pm and includes a special glass, industry panel discussion, and guided beer tasting. Tickets can be purchased online ($58, $68, and $75 for regular, VIP, and VVIP, respectively). Proceeds will go to support the United Way.

• The next Fredericton Poutine Festival is scheduled for Saturday, November 12th, with tickets going on sale earlier today at 11 am. This is the fifth time the event has been held in the city (and the second in 2016), and has sold out quickly each time. Unlimited poutine (~15 different types) from several establishments will be served up as always, at three different sessions: a family session from 11:30 am-1:30 pm (which also includes unlimited water and soft drinks); and an afternoon session from 2:15 pm-5:15 pm and evening session from 7 pm-10 pm. Both of the latter sessions are 19+ only, where you can purchase either a regular ticket (including four 4-oz samples) or “Beer Experience” ticket (twelve 4-oz samples). The 7-10 pm session also has a limited number of VIP tickets, which gets you in an hour earlier, at 6 pm. Ticket-holders can expect over 20 different beers, ciders and meads to be pouring, with most of them from local Fredericton breweries and producers. Get your tickets ASAP (online), and as always, bring your appetites!

– Don’t forget to drop by Tatamagouche for bottles and growler fills of one of their many new releases this week/weekend. Check out last week’s post for the full rundown, and grab some food from The Food Wolf food truck, set up today 12-8, and tomorrow 11-7. The Strawberry Ginger Golden Strong is out today, and the Tatamagouche Tripel is being released Saturday, joining the other Giant Beers, Barrel-Aged Baltic Porter and Raspberry Golden Strong.
– For those who had a chance and loved it, or missed out, Fredericton’s York County Cider has revealed that their unnamed cider, currently pouring for on-site samples only, is Ribes nigrum, aka Blackcurrant. Drop by for more, and fill up on growlers of their multiple offerings.
Uncle Leo’s in Lyons Brook, NS, has brought back their summer favourite, Voh’s Weizenbier. This 5.0% ABV German Weizen is once again available in bottles at the private stores in HRM, and will be on tap around the province shortly. They have also replenished their bottles of IPA at the brewery, so there are two great reasons to visit!