Atlantic Canada Beer Blog

Happy Friday, everyone! Lots of new beers and other news this week, so let’s dive right in!

• Those living in Fredericton will soon be seeing a new restaurant that will place a heavy emphasis on serving craft beer. Co-owner Doug Williams says that the King Street Ale House, which will be located at 546 King St., will be providing Frederictonians with “a whole bunch of craft beer that they haven’t seen in months”, as well as a large menu that will also feature barbecued cuisine. Look for the King Street Ale House to open by Thanksgiving. They’re also on Facebook and Twitter.

• The first “fresh-hopped” beer from Big Tide Brewing is now on tap at the brewpub in Saint John. Indian Beach Harvest Ale is brewed with Cascade, Hallertau and Nugget hops that were harvested at Dunham’s Run Winery. According to brewer Wendy Papadopoulos, it’s disappearing quickly, so get in there quickly to give it a try! Locals will also likely see their new fresh-hopped Pumpkin Ale – brewed with real pumpkins grown on the Kingston Peninsula – on tap by Tuesday.

• At this weekend’s Hoptoberfest, Big Spruce Brewing will be debuting their “Bitter Get’er India” India Black Ale/Black IPA. Brewed with Organic Carafa Malt and Sinamar for medium body and distinct colour, this beer will really showcase the hops, in both bittering (it weighs in at 124 IBU!) and aroma (thanks to wet, on-farm-grown, Cascade hops used to dry-hop it). Don’t worry, for those of you not able to make it to this Brewnosers event (sorry, members only!), it will also be available at the Cape Breton Farmer’s Market and at the Big Spruce Store.

• The PEI Brewing Co. is continuing to expand into Western Canada; after recently having several of their beers made available for sale in Alberta, they recently announced that three of their beers are now being shipped and sold in British Columbia. Their Sir John A’s Honey Wheat, Island Red, and Beach Chair Lager are now listed in private and public liquor agencies in Vancouver, Whistler, and the Lower Mainland through Stanley Road Imports. Check here for a full list of liquor stores in B.C. where their beers are available.

• Speaking of the PEI Brewing Co., they just released their seasonal Pumpkin Ale this week. Available in bottles and on tap for growler fills and kegs at the brewery right now, it should be available at PEILCC outlets in the near future. The beer weighs in at 5.8% and 25 IBU, and features local pumpkins that were roasted prior to being added to the lauter tun. They are also about to release their Sydney Street Stout in bottles again, after a “special release” last November. Like last year, this will be a special one-timing bottling, so get it while you can. Of course, it’s available year-round at the Gahan House.

• In other PEI brewing news, BarNone Brewing has made their beers available at two new locations in Charlottetown. Both the Pale Ale and Summer Sessions are now pouring at The Pilot House, and Water St. Fish & Chips also has the Summer Sessions on tap, with the possibility of the Pale Ale joining it in the future. Barnone’s new IPA was also pouring last night at the brewery for growler fills; Islanders should also look for this very hoppy beer soon at Baba’s Lounge.

• It looks like the Pump House Brewery has their Oktoberfest back on the shelves of numerous ANBL stores, and on tap at the brewpub. Also released last year, this malty, amber-colored lager proved to be quite popular with beer lovers in the area. At 5.5% ABV, it’s brewed with various specialty malts and German noble hops; grab some while you can, it’s the perfect time of year to be enjoying this style of beer!

• Halifax’s Garrison Brewing had a busy week! On Wednesday, they relaunched their Firkin events, once held on Fridays at Maxwell’s Plum, at the King’s College Wardroom Pub. This week, they featured two firkins: their new Harvest Wheat Ale (which is now available in growlers at the brewery), as well as a small batch of their Nut Brown Ale cask-conditioned with Peanut Butter, for a Peanut Butter Brown. They expect the firkins to be a regular event (usually one standard and one experimental), tapped at 4:30pm Wednesday afternoon, and pouring until they’re empty. You must be a King’s student, or have one sign you in, to get into the Wardroom, so it’s time to make some new friends. 🙂

• On Thursday, Garrison released their 3 Fields Harvest Wet-Hopped Beer. All of the hops in this beer are local, from four farms in Nova Scotia:  Meander River Farm and Wentworth Creek (both in Ashdale), FiddleHop Farm (Glenholme) & Ross Farm Museum (New Ross); and they are of a wide variety: Nugget, Newport, Galena, Cascade, Zeus, Centennial, Willamette and  Brewers Gold. The malt used in the beer is Maritime Malt, carried by Canada Malting, grown in the Maritimes. A special cask of it will be tapped at 11:00am Saturday at the brewery. The 3 Fields will be available only in bottles: at the brewery, the four private liquor stores in NS, and select NSLC and ANBL outlets soon.

• And next week, Garrison will be releasing the third of their One Hop series IPAs. They have released the Comet and Citra versions of this IPA, which usually clocks in around 6.5% and 60 IBU, so we expect the same this time. No details on which hop will be used, but we’ve got a feeling it will be a British varietal. Not that that narrows the selection down much!

• Sea Level Brewing has released a wet-hopped beer, Hopfazupa IPA. It showcases hops from their own farm, and is currently available on tap at the Port Pub. Here’s hoping it makes it into growlers and cans for those of us not able to make it to the Port.

• Boxing Rock Brewing have re-released their Vicar’s Cross Double IPA. After rave reviews, and quickly selling out, they have re-brewed it, and it is available at the brewery and the four private Halifax liquor stores. It will also be available at Halifax Seaport Market this weekend.

• Bridge Brewing (collaborators with Boxing Rock on the excellent Many Hands IPA) will be releasing their newest seasonal next week. After the great success of their Summer Ale, they will keep a light 5.5%ABV beer on all year. This seasonal will feature more hops for a great aroma and bitterness, and a little bit more Candi sugar for a light mouthfeel.

• Spots for the October Ladies Beer League Spring Garden Take-Over events are still available. On October 10th, they will be taking over the Rockbottom Brewpub, where they will be joined by Brewmaster Greg Nash for some beer learning and drinking. On October 17th, they will move down the road to Rogues Roost, to sample some of Lorne Romano’s fine creations. Both events run 7-10pm, and are pay-as-you-go. Please email them to secure your spot at the private event.

Whew! Looks like that’s all of it… enjoy the last weekend of September, it looks like it’s going to be a nice one!