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All posts for the month September, 2014

Details on the 2014 Fredericton Poutine Festival – Nov 8 at Delta Fredericton

Posted by acbbdamian on 2014-09-16
Posted in: Beer Events. Tagged: Big Axe Brewery, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Fredericton Poutine Festival, Grimross Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, Pump House Brewery, Railcar Brewing, Red Rover Brewing, Shiretown Beer, Sunset Heights Meadery. 1 comment

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The second annual Fredericton Poutine Festival will be held on Saturday, November 8th, 2014 at the Delta Fredericton Hotel. After selling out last year’s inaugural event, organizer Lloyd Chambers (also the brains behind the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival) decided to make this year’s festival even better, by increasing both the number of poutine establishments and beers available.

Like last year, there will be two sessions, one in the afternoon from 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm, and a 19+ session in the evening from 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm (with a VIP starting time of 5:00 pm).

Tickets for the afternoon session are $25 per person, with children 12 years and under being admitted for free. This session will include unlimited samples of poutine, along with free soda, juice and water.

The evening session also includes unlimited poutine and soft drinks, but brings beer, cider and mead into the mix as well! For this session, there are four different ticket options:

“Regular, no beer” – $30, same as the afternoon session

“Regular” – $40 per, includes four 4 oz beer/cider/mead samples, plus a tasting glass

“Beer Experience” – $50 per, includes twelve 4 oz beer/cider/mead samples, plus a tasting glass

“VIP” – $60 per, includes eight 8 oz beer/cider/mead samples, early entry to the festival by one hour, and a special 8 oz tasting glass

This year, five different establishments will be serving up two different types of poutine each. Those participating include James Joyce Irish Pub, Johnny 5’s Burger and Fries, King Street Ale House, reLiSH Gourmet Burgers, and Smoke’s Poutinerie.

Now, on to the beer (and more)! The tentative list includes no less than ten breweries from New Bunswick, including Big Axe, Grimross, Hammond River, Moosehead, Brasseurs du Petit-Sault, Pump House, Railcar, Red Rover, Shiretown, and Sunset Heights Meadery. Quebec breweries Unibroue and Le Naufrageur will also be pouring, as well as European beer McClelland Premium Imports, so there will be plenty – over 15 products – available to sample! Note that additional beer tickets will not be sold at the event.

There will be ballots during the event for all ticket-holders to vote on a “Best of Show” for both poutine and beer, cider or mead.

All tickets will go on sale today at 2:00 p.m., and can be purchased online at that time. Like last year’s festival, there will only be a total of 450 tickets sold between the two sessions, so don’t wait to get yours! The Delta Fredericton is offering a reduced-rate for festival-goers; you can make a reservation for Saturday night here.

Stay tuned over the coming weeks, as we’ll try to keep you updated to the finalized list of beers that will be pouring at the festival, as well as a possible ticket giveaway! We hope to see you there!

ANBL Launches Growler Pilot Project Today

Posted by acbbdamian on 2014-09-04
Posted in: Atlantic Canada Beer News. 2 comments

The ANBL is launching its Growler Pilot Project today at three locations – Prospect Street (Fredericton), Kennebecasis Valley (near Saint John), and Regis Street (Dieppe) – when they open at 10:00 am.

Customers wishing to take part in the program must purchase an ANBL-branded 1.89 litre growler for $8; growler fills have four different prices ($8, $10, $12 and $15), depending on the beer chosen. The ANBL plans on rotating the selection on a regular basis; whether particular beers will be re-ordered will depend on sales. However, the Dieppe store will feature a permanent Pump House tap, while the Prospect St. store will have one tap dedicated to Picaroons beers.

The first beers that will be available in this program are as follows:

Prospect St.: Picaroons Selection DIPA, Unibroue Ephemere Cranberry, Labatt Shock Top Belgian Wheat

Dieppe: Pump House IPA, Flying Monkeys Genius of Suburbia, Creemore Springs Premium Lager

Kennebecasis Valley: Moosehead Boundary Ale, McAuslan Pumpkin Ale, Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion

Though touted as a way to increase both a wider range of products and distribution for local and small craft breweries (it has been said that the program would “only be offering craft or import beers, [and not] mainstream domestic beers”, according to ANBL CEO Brian Harriman), most of the initial beer offerings will be from outside of the region, and some from multi-national breweries. We reached out to the smaller NB producers not on the initial list, and they cited lack of details on pricing and volume requirements, as well as packaging concerns, for reasons not to take part in the launch. We hope that the ANBL and small breweries will be able to make the economics work to increase local participation in the project. You can do your part by requesting them at the ANBL.

If this initial pilot program is a success, the ANBL plans on increasing to 10-15 stores, “in a more permanent fashion”.