Fredericton Beer Run

All posts tagged Fredericton Beer Run

Howdy, beer fans! Hope everyone has had a good week, and that you’re ready for your long weekend! Here’s what’s currently happening in beer news in Atlantic Canada this week…

• Good news, residents of Digby County, NS! Lazy Bear Brewing is set to launch this weekend, with growler sales commencing this Saturday at the Annapolis Royal Farmers’ Market, on St. George St, open from 8am – 1pm. Their Gut View Amber Ale, an “English-style beer rich with malt overtones and subtle aromas from Canadian-grown English hops” will be available, along with brewery-logoed t-shirts and glasses. The Amber clocks in at 4.9% ABV and 32 IBUs, and should be followed next weekend by their India Pale Ale. Look for the Lazy Bear retail space to open at the brewery in June, in Smith’s Cove.

• Attention all rhubarb growers! Garrison is kicking off their new “U-Pick Series” with an as-yet undetermined rhubarb beer, and they need plenty of the tart stalks from this herbaceous perennial (don’t worry, this won’t be part of next year’s ACBB Trivia!) from the beer-drinking public. For every pound of clean, fresh local rhubarb that you bring to the brewery, you will receive in-store credit! We’ll be sure to provide more info on the beer as it’s determined; in the meantime, get foraging! And keep an eye out for their Brewhouse Cider, which will be back on tap at the brewery this weekend. Made in collaboration with Bulwark, it features a blend of NS apples, and clocks in at 5.8% ABV.

• We have some details on Mango Lassi Pale Ale, the latest cask pouring at the PEI Brewing Co. taproom this week. This single-release is their already-delicious Vic Park Pale Ale, along with the addition of mangos and cardamom during fermentation; the beer is then further dry-hopped with Citra and Sorachi Ace. It weighs in at 5% ABV; if you’d like to try it, get down there fast, as these cask releases usually don’t last very long!

Good Robot has a pair of new beers pouring at their taproom currently. Beta versions 1 and 2 of an American Wheat were brewed on their pilot system; the two beers feature altered malt and hopping schedules, while they do both feature Amarillo and Mandarina Bavaria. Best to try both to find your favourite! The scaled up Alpha version of the American Wheat, Wackity Shmackity Doo, features the best qualities of both, with an addition of Honey malt for a slight sweetness, but crisp finish with the addition of Magnum for bittering, plus a 7-day dry-hopping with Amarillo and Mandarina Bavaria. The beer comes in at 5.8% ABV and 25 IBUs. WSD will be released Tuesday, May 24th, as part of their Just Vorlaufs! live outdoor comedy show on their Gastroturf/Green Room.

Upstreet has released a brand new beer this week, launching their “One Way Series”, on tap at the brewery for pints only due to the extremely small volume. The first release is Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em, a 6% ABV Smoked Porter brewed with smoked malt in the grist, to give the beer just enough of a smoky aroma and flavour to make you feel “like you’re already sitting around a backyard bonfire eating BBQ’ed burgers”. Hopped with Chinook from New Brunswick to add some balance, be sure to drop by the brewery taproom for a pint ASAP!

• A new beer was brewed at Hammond River late last week to honour the beloved Duck Tolling Retriever of owner/brewer Shane Steeves and his family, Vegas, who passed away earlier this month. HR’s 200th batch, The Vegas SMaSH IPA was brewed with Pale Ale malt and plenty of the wonderfully-fruity Amarillo hop. Steeves expects the beer to come in at 6.5% ABV and approximately 60 IBUs; we’ll keep you updated as to its release. And expect to see the return of HR’s Blood Orange Hefeweizen, which was re-brewed the same day.

• Today marks the return of Unfiltered’s Daytimer Berliner Weisse. Featuring an assertive tart acidity from lactic acid formed naturally during a warm incubation period, the beer features no hops in the boil, but is generously dry-hopped with Mosaic. The resultant 3.4% ABV is quite refreshing and perfect for the warmer days we’re finally receiving. Grab it today in growlers at noon at the brewery, or in your glass at 4pm at Charm School next door. And for the next several months, Charm School’s doors will be open from noon on both Saturday and Sunday.

Big Tide brewmaster Wendy Papadopoulos is in the planning stages for a new one-off collaboration beer, and your help is needed in designing and naming it! Brewed with David Veale and Greg Hemmings to celebrate the upcoming 100th episode of their Boiling Point Podcast, the beer style and details are open to suggestion. Simply fill out the online survey by June 1st (it’s short, so will only take a minute or two), and the winner will be announced at the brewpub on Thursday, June 23rd at 5:30 pm during the podcast celebrations. Good luck! For more info, check out this video.

• Shediac Bay’s Flying Boats has a pair of beers now back in their rotation, in time for the warmer months. Humpyard is a 5.8% ABV Steam Ale (also known as California Common), originally brewed by German immigrants in the San Francisco area, as a pale hybrid lager/ale (lager yeast but at an elevated temperature). FB’s version features the iconic Northern Brewer hops for a medium bitterness to offset the characteristic caramel malt flavour. Picnic Train is a Witbier, a Belgian wheat beer with the additions of coriander and bitter orange peel for an easy-drinking beer for the summer. Both are currently on tap at Moncton’s Tide and Boar, and will be available at FB’s other tap locations soon.

• Tomorrow and Sunday, drop by Stillwell for the latest edition of the Rare Beer Series, featuring the Belgian-Saison-inspired Saint Somewhere of Tarpon Springs, FL. Featuring twelve different beers, many of which are on tap, including Anne (Saison with elderflowers), Caitlin (Saison with oranges), Caroline (aged on coffee), and Beached Wood, a collaboration with Stillwater Artisanal. Drop by starting at noon Saturday, and 4 pm Sunday.

Stubborn Goat’s waterfront Beer Garden location will be opening tomorrow. Located at Summit Plaza, it features a shipping container housing a beer cooler, bar counter and service bay, and a separate trailer with a kitchen, allowing them to offer a wide variety of food choices. Both bar and sit-down table service will be available, and there will be plenty of beer available, focussing entirely on Nova Scotia breweries: 12 taps, with the emphasis on craft. As well, expect to see a small selection of NS bottled beer, and locally-made non-alcoholic products. As it is an outdoor space, it is weather dependent, so be sure to keep an eye on their Twitter feed for the latest information.

• Next Wednesday, May 25th, there will be a special launch party for this summer’s Fredericton Beer Run, held at the King Street Ale House patio. If you’ve purchased tickets for the August 1st run, or would like to show up to buy your tickets in person, there will be beer included! Several kegs of local breweries will be pouring at the party next Wednesday; hope to see you there!

Have a great long weekend! In closing, here’s a few snipits of some other beer releases out now or coming up soon…

– One of North Brewing‘s original releases, their 7.5% ABV Farmhouse Ale, is back on tap at the brewery for growler fills; look for it to appear at better beer establishments across HRM as well.
Grimross has a new beer on tap at their taproom, ESB, a 5.3% ABV English-style ale that they describe as “woodsy, caramel, peppery, hop finish”.
Picaroons‘ popular fruit beer seasonal, Melon Head, is set to return on Wednesday, June 1st. This 4.5% ABV summer ale will be available on tap and in bottles throughout the warmer months.

Happy Friday! We hope that those of you in Nova Scotia have been participating in the many excellent events this past week for Nova Scotia Craft Beer Week, with more scheduled for the coming weekend (Brews Cruise tonight, Full House tomorrow, Cape Breton Kitchen Party Sunday)! Once we get our act in gear, we’ll post some pictures and thoughts on the week. In the meantime, it’s time to get caught up with beer news in our area, including the announcement of more breweries for New Brunswick…

• Attention, residents of Harvey, NB… there’s not just one, but two new breweries planning to open in your area in the near future! Longtime homebrewers Scott MacLean and Randy Rowe have been brewing weekly 1/2 BBL (~60 L) batches together for the past two years, and work is underway on both sides to open small-batch breweries at their homes in Harvey:

Randy Rowe and his wife, Denise, plan to open Off Grid Ales sometime this coming summer. Specializing in “full-bodied ales”, including a Honey-infused Double IPA, the 3 BBL (~360 L) brewery will be solar- and wind-powered, and housed in a barn located on the couples’ property. The brewhouse equipment from Stout Tanks and Kettles arrived last week, with work progressing on set-up for commercial production. The brewery now has an active Twitter account, and will be launching their official website soon.

Scott and Denise MacLean’s 1 BBL (~120 L) brewery, Think Brewing, will also be housed within a barn (over 100 years old) on his property. Scott recently purchased the brewhouse equipment from TrailWay (who have now moved to a 10 BBL system). Hoping to open sometime mid-summer, the brewery will initially focus on English and American style ales. Stay tuned to Think’s Twitter and Instagram accounts for updates; of course, we’ll also be providing more info on both breweries as they progress further!

• North Brewing and Stillwell have teamed up to release their latest collaboration beer, Gose. The Gose style is growing ever-more-popular… tart and refreshing, the North/Stillwell take was brewed with a grist of Pilsner, Wheat, and Acid malt, it was kettle-soured with Lactobacillus to provide a slight acidic character, with “wet hay and lemon aromas”.  Hand-harvested Black Whale Salt from PEI and toasted coriander were also added. Hopped with the new New Zealand variety, Wai-Iti (which reportedly provides “fresh peach and apricot character”), and Mandarina Bavaria, it’s easy-drinking at 4.5% ABV and 10 IBUs. Just released yesterday, it’s available for growler fills at North, and is on tap at Stillwell and other better beer establishments across the HRM.

• North is also releasing another new beer, Grisette. Historically brewed for the mining class in Belgium, it’s another low-ABV style (but not sour/tart), intended on being light and crisp, and able to be consumed in quantity. Similar to the Gose grist, and hopped again with Wai-Iti, as well as the Australian Summer variety, it weighs in at a supremely-sessionable 3.5% ABV and 15 IBUs. Dry and citrusy, with a light peppery finish, according to the brewery. Available today in growlers at both North locations (Agricola and Ochterloney), it will also be out in the wild very shortly.

• Continuing the new beer releases for #NSCBW, Boxing Rock has released 4 (four!) new beers this week, and we’ve got the scoop direct from the brewery:

Mutiny! (Subversive Amber Ale, 5% ABV). This amber ale is a collaboration with Garrison, Hell Bay, Propeller, and Schoolhouse and forms the base for the Grog raced to Gahan House for Race the Kegs on May 8. This is an English style Pale Ale, amber in colour with a bold malt backbone and moderate hoppiness… lots of spicy and citrus hop aroma and very smooth and drinkable.

Over the Top (Sour Mash Cranberry Wheat Ale, 4% ABV). This beer is a collaboration with Karen Allen from Gahan House and we believe it is the first sour mash beer to be brewed and packaged in NS. Refreshingly tart and awesomely sessionable, this beer began with a 48-hour sour mash, in which our lactobacillus friends thrived, partied and arm wrestled. A late hop addition imparts a fruity aroma to balance the sour malt base. Nova Scotia cranberries dry out the finish and add a subtle depth of flavour and give it an amazing colour.

Carbon-14 (Strong Dark Belgian Ale, 8.2% ABV). Runner-up in our Homebrew Competition, the Black Box Challenge, this beer is as rare as the C-14 isotope. A strong, dark, Belgian ale made in the classic style, this beer is altogether perfectly balanced with that unmistakable Belgian character. It will have a very short half-life, so get it while you can. Carbon-14 was brewed in collaboration with Professor Jason McDougall.

Where There’s Smoke (Smoked Pale Ale, 6.5% ABV). Winner of the Black Box Challenge, our first homebrew competition. This beer is made with copious quantities of beech smoked malt, hops and steeped on cinnamon. The result is a beer that is bold, unexpected, in your face, and totally crushable. Brewed in collaboration with Black Box Challenge winner, Brian Harvey.

Try many of these, and several more (including a few past favourite from the archives) at Lion & Bright tonight, when the Boxing Rock crew drop by for a Tap Takeover starting at 5pm. And be sure to try many (all?) of what’s available, as $1 from each pint sold will be going to Red Cross Canada, in support of people affected by the fires in Fort McMurray.

• Another NS launch is a new/old beer from Good RobotAwesome Beer, Great Job! is their own take on a Fall Saison, featuring darker malt CaraMunich 120 and Rye, spicing up the underlying Wheat and Pilsner malts. Lightly hopped with Mt Hood, it was fermented with Old World Blend from new yeast producer Escarpment Labs. The resulting beer is a hazy orange, with notes of plum, banana, and phenolic spice from both the rye and yeast character. Originally to be released in Fall 2015, due to difficulties with the beer, it was re-brewed, then re-re-brewed, and is now on tap! Check out their honest reporting of the ordeal. And keep an eye out for the launch of their American Wheat, Pryor Offences, this weekend, featuring lots of Amarillo and Mandarina Bavaria hops. And a new version of Burban Legend APA, dry-hopped with Cascade and Citra.

• There’s a new beer hitting taps from Riverview’s Celtic Knot BrewingMonkeytown Mango Ale is a 4.5% ABV “light-drinking ale” that features the addition of real, frozen mangoes to the beer after primary fermentation was completed. Lightly-hopped with Cascade to add a bit more fruit character, kegs were delivered earlier this week to Plan B and Ducky’s. Look for Celtic Knot’s other accounts to be pouring this beer in the near future.

YellowBelly has a brand new seasonal on tap at the brewpub, Tilt Cove Golden Nugget Ale. This APA was brewed with a mix of Canadian and West Yorkshire Pale Ale malts, along with some Scottish Carastan. Hopped entirely with the Nugget variety (including two dry-hop additions), the resulting “earthy, herbal, leafy character” comes through nicely. Clocking in at 6% ABV and 50 IBUs, this slightly-hazy beer will also be pouring at NLC Beer Expo this weekend, with a limited supply of bottles following shortly at the brewpub. In other YB news, they’ve rebrewed their East Coast Cream Ale, which should be available in about three weeks, and plan on brewing a “Summer Wheat Ale” dry-hopped with Sorachi Ace in the near future. As always, we’ll keep you updated!

• Sad news in Saint John this week, as it has been announced that Bourbon Quarter Restaurant, a true friend to local craft beer, is closing. On the bright side, BQ owner Shawn Verner is teaming up with Mike McPartland to open the Cask and Kettle Irish Pub, which they assure us will continue the BQ tradition of supporting craft beer. Located in the same space on Prince William, construction is underway now, with an opening expected in the next 4-6 weeks.

• After a year of construction and many test batches, Horton Ridge Malt is now open for business in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley. Specializing in floor-malted organic malts, their first product deliveries were made earlier this week, and Cape Breton’s Big Spruce brewed up a batch of the Kitchen Party Pale Ale with the 2-Row pale malt. Look for more breweries to use the local malt very soon, including Tatamagouche Brewing. In addition to selling to breweries, Horton Ridge will also be available to home brewers looking for a local organic product. As locally-grown organic grain suitable for malting is not yet available in large enough quantity, HR has sourced the initial deliveries from outside of the province, but hopes to achieve a truly Nova Scotian-grown and -produced malt very soon. In addition to lighter barley-based malts, look for specialty and rye malts to be available in the future. For those commercial and amateur brewers attending tomorrow’s Full House beer fest, be sure to drop by their table for samples and to learn more.

A few more events worth checking out in the next little while:

• Tonight, the PEI Brewing Co. is holding Fortnight: Fundraiser for Fort McMurray at the brewery. Starting at 7 pm, it will feature “music, fun, and fundraising”, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross (and being matched by the Federal Government). One of the items up for auction is a chance to brew a full-size batch of beer with Upstreet‘s Mike “Hogie” Hogan, on the Upstreet system. Homebrewer or not, the lucky winner will be able to pick the beer style, help develop the recipe and take part in the brewing, name the beer, and ever pour the first pint at the Upstreet taproom! This is for a great cause, so get out your wallets and dig deep!

Tom’s Little Havana is hosting a Tap Takeover today (and all weekend) by friends Bad Apple Brewhouse and Unfiltered Brewing. Featuring seven beers between the two breweries, look for some old favourites, as well as some new … well, favourites too! Look for a new collaboration American Wheat, and a pair of iterations of the Tom’s Smoked Porter, including a barrel-aged version, today through Sunday.

• A reminder from last week, tonight‘s Meet Your Maker event at the James Joyce will feature Big Tide; four BT beers will be available on tap, and brewmaster Wendy Papadopoulos will be on hand to chat about our favourite beverage!

• This year’s Inspire Arts Festival (June 15th-19th, in Moncton) will be holding their first beer-themed event, the Picaroons Craft Beer Village, on Saturday, June 18th. Taking place at the Riverfront Park in downtown Moncton, it will all start at 12 pm with the opening of the Picaroons Beer Tent; later in the afternoon, at 4 pm, the rest of the craft beer village will open, with NB breweries Bore City, Celtic Knot, Flying Boats, and Maybee also pouring their beers. Entrance is free, just pay for your beer as you go, and enjoy the live music, circus performances, fire spinning, and more that’s going on during the festival!

• The Fredericton Beer Run is returning on Monday, August 1st (New Brunswick Day)! The fourth year for the event, it will once again feature three options of either a 4, 6, or 12 km distance. Your ticket will get you much more than just another run, however! Including a custom-designed beer glass and 14 x 4 oz beer tickets, there will be over 20 breweries present with plenty of beer to choose from! This year’s run will start at the Lighthouse on the Green, at 10 am, with the beer sampling occurring afterwards at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Tickets are $60 (tax included) and are available now.

Happy Friday, Beer Fans! The weather is finally improving around our parts, and we’ve got lots of hoppy news to go with it; let’s dive right in!

• Unfiltered Brewing opened earlier this week at 6041 North Street in Halifax. They currently have three beers pouring in their retail location, Hoppy Fingers APA (4.8% ABV and 25 IBUs), Exile on North Street IPA (6.5% ABV and 65 IBUs), and Twelve Years to Zion DIPA (8.0% ABV, 100+ IBUs). For those with celiac disease and other gluten sensitivities, their Exile on North Street was treated to reduce the gluten present in the final beer, and has been tested to be less than 5ppm. Their retail location is open 12-8pm Tuesday-Saturday, 12-6pm Sunday. And for those who are getting anxious to enjoy some pints of Unfiltered AT Unfiltered, fear not, work continues on their tap room adjacent to the brewery. Congratulations on the opening, to the entire Unfiltered Family!

• To celebrate next week’s upcoming annual International IPA Day (Thursday, August 6th), Upstreet will be releasing their first IPA. White Noize is being dubbed a “Wheat IPA” (think hoppy American Wheat Ale), as half of its grist is Wheat malt. Hopped with plenty of ‘C’ hops (including Centennial, Cascade, Chinook, and Columbus) to 70 IBUs, this 7% ABV ale should feature plenty of citrus and dank notes. Look for it to be released next Thursday at the brewery’s taproom for growler fills and pints; they’ll also have it on cask, along with their regular-release APA, Do-Gooder.

Pump House Brewery in Moncton has released a new seasonal beer, Rose Hip Ale. This 4.5% ABV beer was brewed with rose hips, local to the region, with a distinct floral and citrus aroma, and full of vitamin C. Orange peel was also used in the brew to complement the hips. The colour is a golden copper tone, stemming from specialty malts and the orange colour of the rose hips – no artificial colourings were used. The beer will be available at both the the ANBL and NSLC shortly.

• Also new from Pump House this week, is Strawberry Wheat Ale. This is a limited-supply, “German-style, unfiltered wheat beer” that features “banana-like” esters, similar to your typical Hefeweizen. However, the beer also had an addition of over 40 kg of real strawberries, giving it a “lingering, strawberry-tart finish”, according to the brewery. Coming in at 5.2% ABV, it has a very low bitterness at 9 IBUs. You can find it on tap at the brewpub in Moncton, select beer bars and restaurants across NB and NS, and at the Dieppe ANBL growler station this weekend.

• There’s a new beer on tap from Picaroons at the Brewtique in Fredericton, which was just released yesterday. ESB-231 was brewed to celebrate the New Brunswick Day long weekend (starting… today!), and features all NB malts and hops. This Extra Special Bitter is “moderately-malty, and moderately-hopped” with both Cascade and Centennial. Recipe-wise, it’s actually quite similar to their regular-release Best Bitter, but aside from all-local ingredients, this batch was also dry-hopped in the fermentor. This quite-limited 6.2% ABV British-style ale will also be pouring at all four ANBL growler stations this weekend.

• While on the topic of the NB Day long weekend, let’s review what’s going on, beer-wise, in the province over the next few days! The James Joyce “18 Lines, 18 NB Breweries” event starts today at 3 pm, and it has actually been increased to 19 taps, as newcomer Half Cut released their first beer last Friday! No tickets for entry required, just be sure to show up over the weekend to try a plethora of NB-brewed beers! Keep in mind they’re also open on Sunday for this weekend. There’s still some tickets left for the 3rd annual Fredericton Beer Run; with 18 breweries pouring around 40 beers, cider, and mead after the running portion of the event, it’s the perfect way to exercise and indulge at the same time! Check out our previous post for more details. And to top it off, all four ANBL growler stations will feature NB-brewed beers, including Hammond River Covered Bridge ESB at the KV location, Railcar Grapefruit Pale Ale in Fredericton, and Fils du Roy Caraquet Flyer in Sackville, to name a few. Check the full list here.

• If you hadn’t pre-ordered tickets for the Sunset Heights Meadery Autumn Mead Release Party (being held Saturday, October 24th from 5-9 pm at the Crowne Plaza), good news! They will be releasing the few remaining tickets online this Sunday, starting at 9 am. The event features special-release meads, a “Local Harvest Meal”, a collectible glass, and the right to purchase up to 24 bottles of mead. Tickets are extremely limited (only seven remaining), so be sure to grab yours while you can!

• Over on the Rock, YellowBelly has a new beer on tap – Robert the Spruce is a Pale Ale that has been brewed with spruce tips. Golden-amber in color, it clocks in at 5.5% ABV. While having a calculated bitterness of only 28 IBUs, the perceived bitterness is actually much higher due to the use of the spruce tips, according to the brewery. Look for bottles of this one to be available at the brewery and select NLC stores by the end of next week.

Garrison Brewing has a pair of new brews on at their Marginal Rd location these days. The first is Trop Yard Radler, a blend of their Hop Yard Pale Ale and with fresh lime and orange juice. Despite the low ABV (3.4%), the blend packs a punch of tropical fruit character and solid bitterness. It is available at the brewery for growler fills and on-site sampling. The second beer is called Fluffernutter. It is a special batch of their Nut Brown Ale, infused with marshmallows, which lend a slight sweetness to the beer, as well as their distinctive aroma and taste. The Fluffernutter is 5% ABV, and due to its limited availability, is only available for onsite consumption at the brewery. Get down there today for a taste before its all gone!

The Nook and Cranny in Truro has brewed up a new beer. NovelTea Passionfruit Ale is based on their Wheat Ale, with some special additions. After fermentation, 22 litres of steeped Satya Tea blend Berry Bliss was added to the beer. It is a blend of dried chamomile, chicory root, hibiscus flowers, rose hips, and strawberries. In addition to the tea, puréed passion fruit is added to the beer for additional tart, bitter, and citrus characteristics. Look for the beer to be on tap shortly, for pints in the pub, and growlers to go.

• The brewery and beer list for next weekend’s Seaport Beerfest (Aug 7-8) was released this morning. They will be featuring plenty of Maritime, Quebec, Ontario, and Maine breweries, as well as several Irish breweries again this year. The extremely popular Cask Beer Pavillion will be making a return, with an expanded lineup. The Ladies Beer League will be operating that Pavillion, and the Fest and LBL will be donating to Adsum House. This year’s special guest is Gráinne Walsh of Metalman Brewing in Waterford, Ireland. If you haven’t already purchased your tickets, you are not too late! Tickets for all sessions are still available, including the Friday night VIP session, which includes a limited edition sampling glass and opener, participation in a Q&A session with a brewer’s panel, guided tasting of a few brews, and early access to the Fest. For those of you who like to travel in packs, tomorrow is the last day to take advantage of the group discount option, for groups of 15 or more. Email Joanne for more information.

• The Moncton Beer League is holding another beer and food pairing that features Nova Scotia beer, on Friday, August 28th from 7-10 pm. Early-bird tickets are on sale now until August 4th, and are $39 + fee. They also have some other events planned for the future, including an Oktoberfest event in the fall, and a group cruise next May. More on those events, soon!

Enjoy your weekend! And be sure to stock up on some locally-brewed IPAs for next Thursday!