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All posts for the month March, 2013

Friday Wrap-Up: Picaroons’ Easter Keg Hunt, Big Spruce Brewing Opening, and more

Posted by acbbchris on 2013-03-29
Posted in: Atlantic Canada Beer News, Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Beerthief, Big Spruce Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Picaroons cat contest, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Propeller Brewing, Saint John Beer Festival, Shiretown Beer. 1 comment

Hello beer fans! Another busy week in Atlantic Canadian Beer News.

  • Picaroons‘ Easter Keg Hunt is on now! Search around downtown Fredericton, NB for the 4 painted kegs and snap a picture of yourself to win a prize. Check their Facebook Page for more details.
  • Also, with their upcoming Melonhead release, they are looking for a photogenic kitty to grace the label. Email them a picture of your favourite cat, and it could be famous!
  • Big Spruce Brewing in Nyanza, NS is ready to open, and is having a pair of parties to mark the occasion. Saturday April 6th 4-8pm at the Bras d’Or Yacht Club in Baddeck, and Saturday April 20th 7pm at The Wooden Monkey in Dartmouth (upstairs at the Alderney Ferry Terminal). Come out to support the Atlantic Provinces’ newest brewery!
  • Last week, Propeller Brewing Co released a new 1L flip-top Growler, for when you only want one litre of your favourite beer. Fill it with their Double IPA or current One Hit Wonder Black IPA (only available in growlers at the Prop Shoppe on Gottingen in Halifax for a limited time).
  • Not to be outdone, Garrison Brewing Co released their own version, a 1L “Growlito” this week. Think of these as a three-pack of beer, for when you have to be up early the next morning 🙂
  • Garrison has released their 2013 Ol’ Fog Burner, as well the 2012 Barrel-Aged version, which spent 9 months in Glenora Distillery barrels. Only 1000 bottles of these available, so make your way to the brewery to pick them up.
  • Following up on a recent post, Mike Buhler has launched Beerthief.ca, complete with forums for chatting about the beer scene in Newfoundland, as well as homebrewing and everything else. Keep up to date with the next offerings from the Newfoundland Beer Club.
  • The Saint John Beer Fest (April 13 at Market Square in Saint John) VIP tickets are sold out, but there are still regular tickets available through the Harbour Station. We are eagerly awaiting the brewery and beer list, and will release our interview with them next week.
  • Shiretown Beer‘s Blonde du Quai is now available in 500mL bottles. Since their move to Charlo in January, they’ve been busy, including “Best of the Fest” at the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival. Congratulations and keep up the great work, Derek and Tim! You’re helping folks in Northern New Brunswick drink great beer.

Stay tuned for more news and profiles as we keep our eyes and ears open. If you’ve got any news or events we should cover, please leave us a note.

Friday Wrap-Up: Garrison Home Brew-Off Results, 2012 Winning Rye IPA Released

Posted by acbbchris on 2013-03-22
Posted in: Atlantic Canada Beer News, Homebrewing. Tagged: Garrison 2013 Home Brew-Off Challenge, Garrison Brewing, homebrewing. 1 comment

Another full week of Atlantic Canadian Beer News, and we’ll focus on the Garrison Brewing Home Brew-Off, whose results were announced last night at a great gala.

Kellye

Kellye Robertson, with some of her 2012 Home Brew-Off winning beer, Kellye R’s Wild Rye’d IPA

Last year’s Brew-Off winner, Kellye Robertson, was in attendance to help launch “Kellye R’s Wild Rye’d IPA”. The beer was on tap, and the double-dose of Citra she and Brewmaster Daniel Girard used really comes through, and it’s great! I can see this beer selling out quickly, so be sure to pick it up soon, where better beer is sold. Brian Titus also announced that after she finishes her diploma at the Niagara College in the Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program, she will be returning to work at Garrison. Welcome aboard!

Daniel

Garrison Brewmaster Daniel Girard

Daniel spoke about the challenges of scoring and picking winners from 69 entries. They had to change their plan this year to taste and evaluate the beer in groups of 8, with several folks helping to whittle it down to a final four. The final four were judged the day of the gala, by three BJCP-certified judges, and from them, the winner was chosen. And the winner is… Peter Welton!

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2013 Home Brew-Off Winner, Peter Welton. pic courtesy of @NobleGrape

The judges loved the carbonation level and clarity of his beer, and thought it was a great example of the Belgian Blonde style. Peter will be brewing his beer with Daniel in the spring. Congratulations, Peter! Also congratulations to Andrew, Gerald and Dewi for top four finishes. We were fortunate to try all of the beer, and they were all great. Well done!

former_winners

Former Home Brew-Off winners Brian Harvey, Adam Comeau and Scott Tilford

I was also lucky enough to snap a picture of the 3 previous Brew-Off Winners in front of the trophy now on display at Garrison (only 4 years late). Brian Harvey (2009, Harvey’s Bitter), Adam Comeau (2011, Adam Und Eric’s Neuschottland Schwarz Black Lager), Scott Tilford (2010, Nit-Wit Belgian Wit).

In other important news, next year’s Home Brew-Off style was announced (after much poking and torturing of Mr. Titus), and it is BJCP Style 15A: Weizen/Weissbier. So start your kettles now, homebrewers! This is one of my favourite styles of beer, so I’m looking forward to brewing up a few test batches to perfect a recipe for submission.

In other Garrison news, their next One Hop beer will be released soon, and it will be showcasing the Citra hop. I’ve got word that there might be more than one batch of this made, which means we won’t run into a sold-out situation like we did with the Comet release. As I mentioned above, I’m a big fan of Citra, so I can’t wait!

PEI Brewing Company’s Island Brew Tour

Posted by acbbshawn on 2013-03-21
Posted in: Atlantic Canada Beer News. Tagged: PEI Brewing. Leave a Comment

peibc_black

The PEI Brewing Company announced in February that it would be organizing a culinary tour of various restaurants and bars across the province. The tour pairs PEI Brewing Company beers with menu items at each location.

From the press release:

“Fresh, local ingredients are staples of the Island culinary community and what better way to showcase that than with our partners combining their fantastic menu items with our award-winning beer products”, says Jeff Squires of the PEI Brewing Company. “We invite all Islanders to follow along and join us in our Island-wide tour. Good times with fantastic food and drink are sure to be had, as well as the chance to earn some PEI Brewing Company prizes along the way.”

Al Douglas, the host of the event, says that the tour was started “as a way to show our support for the many restaurants, pubs, cafes, etc. that serve our product. Using social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), we promote the location by promoting food pairings with our beers, showcasing their menu and other general information about the restaurants.”

The tour kicked off in Charlottetown in late February at Ise’s Bar, followed by stops at The Big Orange Lunchbox, The Landing in Tyne Valley, Boston Pizza, and last night’s event at Dundee Arms Inn. The tour continues tonight at Sir Isaac’s Pub, in Montague.

For the remainder of the month, the tour will have events at The Albert and Crown, in Alberton (March 22nd), Brother’s 2, in Summerside (March 28th), and  O’Shea’s Pub, in Kinkora (March 30th). The PEI Brewing Co’s social media sites (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) will have continuous updates for April and May; also, those on Twitter can follow specifically with the hashtag, #peibrewtour.