Happy Friday local beer fans! We’ve got a shorter post this week, but that just means there’s more time for you to be out drinking!
• Rockbottom Brewpub in Halifax has released a brand new beer this week, Raisin Hell Oatmeal Stout. This stout is dark, rich and chocolaty, with coffee and cream notes, and a bittersweet finish reminiscent of oatmeal raisin cookies. Aromas of roasted grains, vanilla and cheerios. This Traditional English Stout is brewed with steel cut oats, which provide a full, velvety body. It is being served on a nitrogenated tap, for even more creamy character. The beer weighs in at 5.5% ABV and 35 IBUs
• And coming next week at Rockbottom is their collaboration with the Ladies Beer League, Fizzgig Imperial Red. At 7.5% ABV and 80 IBUs, this big, bold, and hoppy Imperial Red ale is a marriage of dark English crystal malts and bright punchy New Zealand hops. Ruby coloured, with aromas of blackberry and cut grass. Long bitter lemon-lime finish. The beer will be launched Wednesday evening, and a reminder that all LBL members receive 50% off appetizers Wednesday nights.
• Big Tide Brewing has tapped the Marée Montante (Rising Tide) Gose this week, their collaboration with Acadie-Broue‘s Patrice Godin. This sour mashed beer has a light and refreshing body, at 4.6% ABV, and very light hopping, to 15 IBUs. Additions of coriander and Bay of Fundy salt water for that characteristic flavour of this traditional German style. It is available only at the brewery, and won’t last long, so drop by today.
• Brasseurs du Petit-Sault in Edmundston, NB are looking for an Assistant Brewer to join their ranks. While having intimate knowledge of yeast pitch rates and hop flavour profile are not required (but a bonus), this job is perfect for someone looking to learn the craft of brewing on a large scale. Check out the job posting for the full details, and contact them quickly, as the posting closes next Friday.
• Speaking of brewing jobs, Yellowbelly Brewery in St John’s, NL, is still looking for a Head Brewer and Brewer’s Apprentice. These positions will be to assist Brewmaster Liam McKenna as they expand their offerings and distribution. The 10 hl brewhouse located in the heart of downtown (on the corner of George and Water Streets), brews for both onsite consumption as well as bottles in the NLC. While the Brewer position requires formal brewing training and/or experience, the Apprentice job is the perfect position for those interested in the wonderful world of brewing! Interested candidates should send an email to yellowbellybrewerjob@gmail.com for more details and to submit a résumé.
• There are a pair of events happening in NB tomorrow evening. In Fredericton, the Tasting NB Event at the Capital Complex will see ten breweries (including brand new Flying Boats Brewing and Gray Stone Brewing), plus cider, wine, and spirits producers come together to celebrate the New Brunswick Craft Alcohol Producers Association. Tickets are still available. Flying Boats will be pouring their Humpyard Steam Ale, a 5.8% and 46 IBU California Common Ale (aka Steam Ale) and their Stove Pipe Gang Black IPA, 6.9% ABV and 96 IBUs. Gray Stone will be pouring their American Pale Ale, featuring tropical hop aromas, balances with a satisfying bitterness; American Stout, with a medium body featuring notes of toffee, roasted barley and coffee with a mocha nose; and India Pale Ale, a balanced beer, but with big bitterness. As their brewery is still months away, the folks at TrailWay Brewing (also in attendance) were kind enough to allow them to brew on their system.
• In Moncton, the Moncton Beer League is taking over La Teraz for a Nova Scotia Beer BBQ Deck Party, featuring beers from Boxing Rock, Garrison, North, and Propeller, each paired with a course of the meal: grilled pineapple glazed salmon, crispy orange marinated chicken thigh with cilantro and pineapple salsa, beer marinated and grilled ribeye, and extra dark double chocolate and coffee brownie with leche cream. Contact the MBL on FB to check for last-minute tickets, if available.
• Details have been announced for another Summer Tasting Session at Railcar Brewing in Florenceville-Bristol. Join brewer Mitch Biggar 6-9pm July 25 for some Stout and Porter talk, including the history, recipe development, and of course some tasting of three of each style. Tickets are $20 at the door.
• Real Food Connections in Fredericton is making some unique products with local beer and cider: Freezies! They have taken Picaroons Dooryard Summer Wheat, and lightly simmered it with local honey, lemon, and lime, to make a Dooryard Shandy Sorbet that can be eaten/slurped on the go! They have also experimented with Grimross Pugnacious Porter and strawberry juice, and Red Rover cider for yet another flavour. While most of the alcohol is lost to evaporation during the preparation, the beer flavour remains in the final product. Drop by Real Food Connections in Fredericton for a taste, and you may even see these for sale in Dicke Dee-type rolling freezer chests soon!
Keep an eye out this weekend for Big Axe Brewing‘s Chanterelle Cream Ale, which has made its return this week, with freshly harvested mushrooms from the Nackawic area. Upstreet‘s Quittin’ Time Session is happening again this evening at the brewery, featuring Racoon Bandit‘s Fraser McCallum, and some fresh PEI oysters. Trailway Brewing has sent some Hugh John Hops IPA to Saint John, and it is only available at Bourbon Quarter (and only a pair of kegs). Meander River in Ashdale, NS has released another Cider, Dusty Road Hard Apple Cider. Dry, light, refreshing, 5.5% ABV, drop by the brewery this weekend to pick some up. In Halifax, North Brewing‘s Halifax Common is back on tap at the brewery, and a few local tap accounts. And in more good news for Halifax beer fans, the inaugural brew from Unfiltered Brewing went on this week, so it won’t be long before Greg Nash’s beer will be flowing again in the city.