Good morning, friends of beer. Here’s a bit of Atlantic Canadian beer news for this week:
• Bridge Brewing and Local Source are pairing up for Sausage Fest 2013 in Halifax. Along with some tasty sausages and sides, there will be a Belgian Honey Mustard, made with Bridge’s Strong Dark Ale. There will be Bridge beers available, including the Strong Dark, Summer, and Farmhouse. It will be spread across two events: the first, hosting the Ladies Beer League, on Tuesday, August 13th from 6:30-8:30 (tickets are $30, available here), and the following Thursday, the 15th, as a Blues BBQ (tickets $40, available here) featuring Garrett Mason. Tickets are going fast, so get yours now!
• Speaking of the Ladies Beer League, they have another great event scheduled. On Saturday, August 10th, they will host a VIP tour of the Seaport Beer Festival in Halifax. Scheduled from 1:30-4 pm, the tour will include “Beer 101”, early entry into the festival, and an opportunity to try three beers before the festival begins. Tickets are $51.75 and can be purchased at Garrison Brewing’s retail counter. Eight dollars from each ticket purchased will be donated directly to the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre. The VIP tour is limited to the first 40 women to buy a ticket.
• After making their beer available to the public for the first time last week in Tyne Valley, PEI, Barnone Brewery now has both their Pale Ale and Summer Sessions available in Charlottetown. You can find both beers on tap at Cedar’s Eatery and Baba’s Lounge, on University Ave.
• The PEI Brewing Company has a new beer – kind of – on tap at their brewery location in Charlottetown: an unfiltered version of their Beach Chair Lager. This one won’t be on tap at any bars or restaurants in PEI, so if you’d like to give it a try, head down to the brewery for a pour or growler fill.
• In other PEI Brewing Co. news, they’ve also just put their first beers on tap in Nova Scotia. The Maxwell’s Plum in Halifax now has all of the Gahan/PEIBC’s regular release beers on tap: Sir John A’s, Island Red, Iron Bridge, 1772 IPA, Beach Chair Lager, and Blueberry Ale. While Beach Chair has been available in cans in Nova Scotia for awhile now, this marks the first time that you can find their beers on draught in the province.
• Picaroons also has a new beer available on tap in Fredericton. About 8 months after a severe fire destroyed their building on Carleton St., Isaac’s Way Restaurant reopened in June at their new location on Queen St. All of their taps are New Brunswick craft beers, including an Apricot Beer brewed by Picaroons specifically for Isaac’s Way. The base beer is their Blonde Ale, which is further flavored with apricot extract.
• Greg Nash has another special beer on tap at Rockbottom in Halifax: Barrel Aged Desecration. An Imperial Red Ale, this monster of a beer (11% ABV) has a huge malt bill, five different hop varieties, and is aged in a Glenora single-malt barrel. Nash describes the beer on his blog: “Oak, vanilla, hops and caramel standout up front with a big boozy depth and complexity, finishing with a lingering draw.” Sounds delicious… get there fast to give it a try!
• And, it looks like it was complete madness at the four ANBL stores selling the Brewer’s Bash leftovers yesterday. Beer fans were lined up before the stores opened at 10:00 am; if you’re one of the people who were taking beer out of others’ carts, let me just say: for shame! Let’s hope the ANBL was paying attention to the craziness, and can take one thing from this: craft beer sells.
Have a safe and beer-filled weekend, everyone…