Atlantic Canada Beer Blog

• This Saturday, May 18th, Prince Edward Island Brewing Co. will be celebrating the grand opening of their new location at 96 Kensington Road in Charlottetown. The event will feature live music all day, free hot dogs and sausages, “Beer 101” with Mike Ross, and more. Brewery specials will include 1/2-priced brewery tours from 12:00 – 5:00, as well as special prices on cask beers. Afterwards, there will be a Hoss’s House of Beer event, with more live music, food and beer. Admission for the evening festivities will be 19+; tickets are 10$ and can be purchased at PEI Brewing Co. and Back Alley Music.

• The Canadian Brewing Awards held last week in Victoria, B.C. were a great success as usual, with several Atlantic Canadian breweries taking home awards. And in further good news for Atlantic Canadian beer fans, it was announced at the event that next year, the awards ceremony will take place in Fredericton! We’re looking forward to reporting on this over the next year, and anxious to see what else we can expect to see as a result (maybe another collaboration beer?).

• For those of you who can’t wait until June to have your first Grimross Brewing beer, there’s a way for you to get it sooner, AND support a good cause! On Friday, May 24th, “Love Your Balls” will be held at the iRock in Fredericton. Tickets are $20 and include all-you-can-eat spaghetti, a Grimross beer (while supplies last),  and music; the event will run from 4:00 – 7:00 pm. The Grimross beer should be either a Belgian Rye IPA or a 100% Brettanomyces beer. Proceeds will support Relay For Life and testicular cancer research; tickets can be purchased here.

• New Brunswick craft beer fans should be seeing two new Picaroons beers available in bottles over the coming weeks. Plaid to the Bone is a “Heather Ale” of ~4.5% ABV; this golden-colored beer brewed with heather was launched last night at a party at the Boyce Farmers Market. The other beer is 104th Regiment, an English Brown Ale that has been available on tap for the past couple of months in Fredericton at various bars. A sessionable beer at ~4.2%, it was originally brewed in February of this year in commemoration of New Brunswick’s 104th Regiment of Foot, from the War of 1812. Check your local ANBL stores over the next few weeks for availability!

• Tickets are now on sale, and the list of brewers and beers is now available for the 2013 NLC Beer Expo, being held at the St John’s Convention Centre, June 14&15. It features many beers not previously available in Newfoundland, some of which will be available at the NLC after the event. The $75 price tag includes a $10 taxi voucher to help get you home safe.

• The latest beer offering from the Beerthief Newfoundland Artisanal Beer Club is closing this weekend. It features five solid beers from Belgium, none of which have been available in Newfoundland (and most of the East Coast!) before. Saison Dupont, De Koninck, Houblon Chouffe, Duvel and Liefmans Goudenband are all on offer, and will be delivered to your local NLC in August. Mike and Tom are working overtime to bring great beer to Newfoundland, great work gentlemen! You can subscribe here.

• Big Spruce has brewed up their first seasonal. Details are sketchy, but we know it is a Red Ale that will be released around the end of the month. Their two regular offerings are now available at Maxwell’s Plum in Halifax.

That’s all the news for now. Enjoy your Victoria Day, and we’ll see you out on a patio some day soon. Cheers!