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All posts for the month September, 2012

Garrison Brewing Co. to release 2012 version of 3 Fields Harvest Ale Friday, September 21st

Posted by AtlCan BeerBlog on 2012-09-14
Posted in: Atlantic Canada Beer News. Tagged: Meander River Farm and Brewery. Leave a Comment

As per Garrison’s Facebook page, the 2012 version of their 3 Fields Harvest Ale will be available starting next Friday.  Hops from 4 different Nova Scotia fields, Meander River Farms, Wysmykal Farm, Ross Farm Museum and Fiddlehop Farms were used in the production of the brew.  The beer is described on the Garrison site as:

Deep golden colour.  It has a complex combination of floral, lemon and pine aromas, featuring a juicy citrus mouth feel with a hint of pine and ginger and lingering hop finish.

The brew comes in at 6.4% ABV and at 39 IBUs.

If you haven’t been to the Garrison website lately it has been re-done and is looking good!

PEI International Beer Festival to Kick Off a Day Earlier

Posted by AtlCan BeerBlog on 2012-09-05
Posted in: Atlantic Canada Beer Festivals. Tagged: PEI Brewing, PEI International Beer Festival. Leave a Comment
I received the following press release about the upcoming PEI International Beer Festival earlier today.  This will be the second beer festival on the Island in September with the PEI Beer Festival taking place Thursday, September 6th and Friday, September 7th. 
Canada’s Most Iconic Town Party to Kick Off New Beer Festival
1st Annual PEI International Beer Festival
September 27, 28, 29, 2012
Charlottetown event grounds on Grafton St.

(Charlottetown, PE – September 5, 2012) Festivities for the 1st annual PEI International Beer Festival will start a day earlier as a result of a new partnership struck with Labatt Breweries. Labatt Blue has chosen to kick off the new beer festival with the national celebration – Ultimate End of Summer Party†.
Labatt Blue recently held a national vote to find Canada’s Most Iconic Town and Charlottetown came out the winner with the most votes in the country. To celebrate the win, Labatt Blue is hosting a free Ultimate End of Summer Party on September 27, 2012 beginning at 7 p.m. at the new Charlottetown event grounds on Grafton St. to kick off the 1stannual PEI International Beer Festival. Entertainment confirmed to date includes singer-songwriter Chris Dalziel and Island rockers Bad Habits with more surprise guests yet to be announced.

In addition to the Ultimate End of Summer Party, Labatt Blue will award one local charity The Good Stuff Award, a $25,000 grant to benefit their work in the community. Guests at the party will vote for their favourite charity from a list of three finalists as determined by Labatt Blue.

“It was a pleasant surprise to learn that the City of Charlottetown was chosen as Canada’s Most Iconic Town,” said Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee. “I encourage local charities to take advantage of this latest designation for the City by filling out an application to be entered in the draw. I hope the $25,000 prize money will go a long way to helping a local group with their community work.”

Charities who are interested in applying should contact labattblue@edelman.com to receive an application form, additional details and deadline info. Charity finalists are encouraged to invite their supporters to the Ultimate End of Summer Party where the winner will be voted on live at the event. Come out and celebrate hometown pride with great entertainment, special guests and of course, cold Labatt Blue as the kick off to the 1st annual PEI International Beer Festival.

†No purchase necessary. Ultimate End of Summer party guests must be 19 years of age or older to attend.
ABOUT PEI INTERNATIONAL BEER FESTIVAL

This September 28th and 29th downtown Charlottetown will come alive as the Prince Edward Island Brewing Company hosts a vibrant mix of world-class brewers, Island chefs, and a variety of late night entertainment as the 1st annual Prince Edward Island International Beer Festival kicks off at the new Charlottetown event grounds on Grafton St. As an official Fall Flavours Culinary event, this new festival will showcase Island ingredients from land and sea prepared by local chefs as each culinary offering is created to pair with some of the most prestigious beers of the world.

Over sixty varieties of International beer are confirmed to date from the following breweries:  MolsonCoors, Labatt Breweries, Pumphouse Brewery (Moncton), Picaroons Brewing Company (Fredericton), Garrison Brewery (Halifax),  Erdinger Weissbrau (Germany),  RockBottom Brewpub (Halifax), Stiegl (Austria), Fruii (Belgium), Affligem (Belgium), and many more yet to be announced.

In addition to the beer and food sampling sessions, each evening will culminate with a variety of entertainment within two distinct tents, each offering a genre of entertainment different from the other. This eclectic mix of entertainment will bring the flavour of many different events together in one convenient location on the new Charlottetown event grounds on the corner of Grafton St and Water St.

Tasting sessions will take place on Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening with tickets ranging from $45 – $55. Late night entertainment only tickets are available for $20. All tickets are available at www.peibrewingcompany.com/beerfestival.

Thoughts on Oktoberfest des Acadiens

Posted by AtlCan BeerBlog on 2012-09-04
Posted in: Atlantic Canada Beer Festivals. Tagged: OktoberFest des Acadiens. Leave a Comment

This past weekend I attended the 3rd annual Oktoberfest des Acadiens in Northern New Brunswick.  It was my first time at the event but certainly not my last.

The event had something for everyone.  There were beer tastings by the ticket on Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 6pm with tickets going for one dollar for each 2 oz sample.  There were over 70 different beers from around the world to sample including offerings from Belgium, Germany, Holland, England, the U.S., Mexico, Netherlands, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, France, Ireland, Austria and Japan.  Several Atlantic breweries had at least one beer on hand including Picaroons, Pump House, Gahan, Moosehead, Garrison, Propeller and Acadie-Broue with its Kiebitz Coti (Berliner Weisse) on tap.  I took advantage of having a steady supply of Acadie-Broue on hand and used about 10 of my 40 or so tickets on this brew.  I’d also like to single out Sean Dunbar and Picaroons crew for not only sending beer but attending.  This continues their long standing tradition of supporting local events throughout New Brunswick.

I took the opportunity to sample several international beers that I have rarely or have never tried.  As it wasn’t a giant open bar type of event, and was spread over 5 hours on two separate days, it was a very relaxed event.  It was also the first time I’ve had my kids around me at a beer tasting which was strange but also great.  With bouncy castles, a clown and face painting they also had a blast at the event.

I made a return trip to the local Beer Museum over the weekend which has over 2,500 bottles on display.  I still can’t believe that none of the bottles have been opened and the man behind most of the collection is not a beer drinker (I guess that is the only logical way to explain why the bottles weren’t opened).

Without a doubt the highlight of the weekend for me was a Beer and Desserts seminar put on by Patrice Godin of Acadie-Broue.  Fifteen dollars doesn’t get you much in life but at this event it gets you the chance to sample seven excellent beers and six excellent desserts / cheeses during an hour and a half session.  The pairings were outstanding and in some cases included 2 very different styles of beer per dessert or different cheeses to sample with the same beer to show how each changed the taste of the other.  As Patrice mentioned he might do something similar in the Moncton area in the future I won’t share specific beers but will mention there was a mix of Belgium beers, porters, stouts and a wheat beer and several outstanding desserts.

Here’s a link to some pics on the event’s Facebook page.  Hope to see some of you there in 2013!