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Friday Wrap-Up – News and Brews from Brasseurs Petit-Sault, Meander River, Rockbottom, Big Axe, Propeller, Picaroons, Schoolhouse and more

Posted by acbbchris on 2014-05-30
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2014 Atlantic Beer Festival, 2014 Canadian Brewing Awards, Big Axe Brewery, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Celtic Oktoberfest, Meander River Farm and Brewery, Mondiale de la Biere, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Propeller Brewing, RockBottom Brewpub, Schoolhouse Brewery. 1 comment

Happy Friday, everyone! Things have slowed down a bit this week in beer news in our region, but we’ve still got some info to share…

• With the opening date for their brewery approaching fast, Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault has released information on their two inaugural beers. The first beer, a Blonde named Bob LeBoeuf, is a light-colored beer coming in at 5.2% ABV and 22 IBUs, while the second beer is a Wheat beer named Tante Blanche. Another light-colored beer perfect for the upcoming summer months, this beer has an ABV of 4.7%, and 18 IBUs. Both beers are named after real-life characters from the history of the Edmundston area, where the brewery is located. The brewery hopes to have both beers available to the public by late June; when released, look for them at ANBL stores in the area, in singles and six-packs in the old “stubby” format; they’ll also be available for sale at the brewery, along with 1.9 L growler fills. For more info on the beers and their label design, check out the brewery’s blog post here.

• Meander River Farm and Brewery, after a sold out opening day on May 17th, will once again be selling beer this weekend. Open Saturday and Sunday 11-5, folks can drop by for a refill of their Lunchbox Pale Ale. Like last time, we suggest showing up early to avoid disappointment. While there, grab some of their lavender and hops products (grown and made on site), and take a tour of the brewery and farm.

• Rockbottom Brewpub has released their newest beer, Hali-Lager. With warmer temperatures finally breaking through, this should be a perfect “lawnmower beer”, as it is a light-colored lager clocking in at a sessionable 4.5% ABV, with 17 IBUs. It was brewed with 2-row and Melanoidin malts, and lightly hopped with Hallertau Hersbrucker, with “a twist of Cascade hops in the finish”. Get down to the brewpub to give this new beer a try!

• Bix Axe Brewery in Nackawic will be releasing their Simon Saaz Summer Ale this weekend. From brewer Peter Cole, “A ray of golden light shines through a thin patch of the blotchy white sky. Our summer ale is light gold in colour, dry and refreshing with a citric hop aroma and crisp flavours of orange and coriander. Released from a dark closet of winter, Simon Saaz Summer Ale is moderately hopped with 5.5% ABV and is sure to satisfy. It’s a perfect summer day in New Brunswick”. It should be available in growlers Sunday, and should make it on tap in the next few days as well.

• Propeller Brewing has announced that they’re releasing their next Gottingen One-Off beer. Their Smoked Ale is brewed “with ample amounts of Smoked malt”; it’s a malt-forward beer that the brewery describes as pairing well with grilled meats and vegetables, as well as strong cheeses and apple pie. Look for it at both brewery locations for growler fills; it could pop up in limited quantities at the better beer bars in the HRM. Drop by today to fill your growler and, if you’re visiting the Windmill Rd location, grab a grilled cheese sandwich from the Cheese Gypsy food truck.

• The 2014 Canadian Brewing Awards are being held this weekend in Fredericton, which means that the collaboration beer between Picaroons and Great Lakes Brewery is now on tap! Eastbound and Down IPA, a 6.5% ABV American IPA, was released last evening at several bars and restaurants around the city, including The King Street Ale House, Brewbakers, The Snooty Fox, the James Joyce Pub, and Wilser’s Room. The last remaining keg will be released today at the Brewtique for growler fills, starting at 5 pm. It goes without saying that this beer is in very limited quantities, so make sure you try it before it’s gone! For more details on the beer, check out our post from earlier in the month.

• After a successful visit to the Tide and Boar yesterday, the crew from Trou du Diable are making their way west to Fredericton today. The King Street Ale House will have a tap takeover of several kegs, and even more bottles, this evening. No tickets necessary, just show up for some pints and good discussion. You’ll be able to chat with some folks from TDD, as well as other brewers from across the country, in town for the CBAs.

• The Ladies Beer League is celebrating their first anniversary in style! On June 20th, they’ll be hosting a fun event at the Wooden Monkey Dartmouth, in the Alderney Ferry Building. They will be pouring special casks from North Brewing, Big Spruce, and Garrison Brewing. No tickets necessary, just drop by, and pay as you go. The event starts at 7:30, and in addition to the great beer, you’ll be able to pick up some LBL swag, and get some insight on what the future holds for the future. Cheers and congratulations!

• Since our post earlier this month, the final beer list for the 2014 Atlantic Beer Festival, being held Saturday, May 31st, at the Moncton Coliseum, has been released. There is also a mobile version of the list, but requires several clicks to see everything. The booth numbers match up with the map of the fest. Tickets for the afternoon session are still available.

• This fall, the first Celtic Oktoberfest will be held in Port Hawkesbury. Being held on Saturday, October 25th at 6:30 pm, the festival will highlight 10 Nova Scotian breweries, and 8 Cape Breton food establishments. There will also be lots of live Celtic music throughout. Tickets are on sale now, and are $70; they can be purchased here. We’ll have more details on the festival, including a full brewery list, as soon as they come available.

• Nova Scotia’s newest entry into the craft beer scene, The Schoolhouse Brewery, will finally have beer available to the public next week! Both of their inaugural beers – Principal Ale, a dry-hopped Pale Ale, and Chequers Ale, a Robust Porter – will be on tap at the Library Pub as of Friday, June 6th, and at the Spitfire Arms June 7th. We’ll have a full profile on the brewery early next week.

We’re at the Canadian Brewing Awards in Fredericton this weekend, taking part in all of the conferences and festivities. We’ll be posting some pictures and information on the event next week. Here’s hoping that there’s some awards won by some of our Atlantic Canadian breweries! The gala is being broadcast Saturday night, be sure to tune in on the Canadian Brewing Awards website.

Friday Wrap-Up – News from Hell Bay, Hammond River, Pump House, Picaroons, PEI Brewing, and more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2014-05-16
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2014 Atlantic Beer Festival, Big Spruce Brewing, Brewer's Bash, Hammond River Brewing, Hell Bay Brewing, NLC, PEI Brewing, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Propeller Brewing, Pump House Brewery, Stubborn Goat. 1 comment

Happy Friday everyone! Now that spring is in full swing, be sure to grab a local beer, and enjoy it outside! Here are some new beers, new events, new jobs, and more!

• Hell Bay has released their R.I.P.(A.) version 3.0. Brewed with a different malt and hops recipe than the two previous versions, this beer has a maltier body, and a citrus hop presence. Despite these changes, the beer once again weighs in at 7.2%ABV and 70IBUs. Drop by the brewery in Liverpool for a growler, and look for it on tap around the province shortly.

• Hammond River Brewing has announced that they’re currently brewing up two new summer seasonals, and we have some info on both of them. The first beer is described as a Hawaiian-style Pale Ale; it’s brewed with fresh pineapples, along with Chinook and Cascade hops, and then dry-hopped with more Cascade. It clocks in at 5.8% ABV and 55 IBUs. The other seasonal is a Fruit Beer… more specifically, a Blueberry Ale that is brewed with real blueberries, not extract, which will give the beer a purplish color. This one will come in at 5.4% ABV and 38 IBUs. Both seasonals will rotate in production with one another, so look for them both to be making appearances over the next few months in the Saint John area, starting with the Hawaiian APA in the next couple of weeks.

• To coincide with the Atlantic Beer Festival on May 31st in Moncton, the Pump House is releasing two beers for sale in six-packs for the first time. First, the Premium Pilsner that had a limited release around last Christmas (in 750 mL swing top bottles) will now be available as the newest seasonal beer. A German-style Pilsner weighing in at about 5.7% ABV and 30 IBUs, it arrives just in time for the warmer weather (more info on the beer here). Second, they’ll be releasing a brand new IPA! No, not their regular IPA (that has always been popular with hop lovers, and only available on tap at select locations)… a new beer entirely, also in the American IPA style. No specifics on this one yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as we can! Both six-packs will be available at the brewery and ANBL locations at the end of the month/first of June, after an original launch at the Atlantic Beer Festival.

• Picaroons has announced the date of sale for tickets to their Brewer’s Bash this summer, July 12th – they go on sale next Tuesday, May 20th. Starting at 10:00 am, you can pick them up at the Cedar Tree Cafe in downtown Fredericton, or find them online here; the price is $25. Tickets sold out fairly quickly last year; even with 500 more tickets available for this year’s festival, expect it to sell out at least as fast as last year. Check out last week’s post for a bit more info on the Bash.

• Looking to work in the brewery business, but not necessarily as a brewer? Well, the PEI Brewing Co. is looking to fill a position for Retail and Sales Manager at their retail store in the brewery. You’ll need a university degree or diploma in Business, Marketing, or a related field, with a minimum of 2 years sales and marketing experience in a retail environment. Contact Cara Squires by email for more information, and/or to submit a resume. More details here.

• A reminder that the 2014 Canadian Brewing Awards are being held in Fredericton at the end of the month, May 29-31. The three day event is being held at the Fredericton Conference Centre in the city’s downtown, with satellite events across the city. Featuring some excellent panels, talks and presentations from brewers, distributors and ingredient and equipment manufacturers, this is a must-visit for anyone involved in the beer industry. The Awards Gala, being held Saturday night, and live-broadcast from the CBA website, will be the highlight of the weekend. This is when the winning beers and breweries will be announced, after the impressive job Tracy Phillippi and the panel of judges did, making their way through more than 900 submissions in Toronto last month. For those brewers who have not yet signed up, it’s not too late! Visit the CBA website for further information on the schedule and email Katrina to sign up.

• Propeller Brewing’s new Windmill Rd location is celebrating its first “Food Truck Friday” today. Cheese Gypsy Mobile Cuisine will be  set up 11:30-4 today, and every Friday this spring and summer, for folks to have some food to wash down their beer. From Andrew Cooper, “We’re quite excited about the local food truck scene and really want to be involved with it.” They join North Brewing on Agricola St, who host The Food Wolf every Sunday 12-4 and Seaport Farmers’ Market / Garrison Brewing, where Nomad Gourmet hangs out Saturday 7-3 and Sunday 9-3. To keep an eye on where these and the other food trucks are in the HRM, be sure to check out the Street Food App website.

• Speaking of Propeller, hot on the heels of their very popular Black IPA, they’ve brewed up two more One Hit Wonders at the Gottingen St brewery. While too early to release the details, Andrew Cooper assure us that they will be available soon, and released back to back, to reduce lag time between them. In previous years, these one-offs have included Zwickelbier, Imperial Red, SPA (Special Pale Ale), so we’re sure these upcoming ones will be just as special!

• Today’s Cask at the Stubborn Goat is a Double Dry-Hopped Kitchen Party Pale Ale from Big Spruce Brewing. Brewmaster Jeremy White let us know that the KP was dry hopped with Centennial in the conditioning tank, then blasted with a dose of Amarillo in the cask. After grabbing a grilled cheese sandwich and growler in Dartmouth, this sounds like a great start to the long weekend!

• Tickets for the 2014 NLC Beer Expo are now on sale. Being held June 6th and 7th, the Expo will showcase beer from across the country, and around the world. The list of beers is available here, and features over 100 different products, about 20% of which are not normally available in the province. Tickets are still available for the Friday night session, which can also include an exclusive Tasting Panel before the Fest, lead by folks from the Mill Street, Muskoka, and Unibroue.

• A quick reminder that Meander River Farm and Brewery is opening tomorrow! From 10-5, drop by their Ashdale, NS location to tour the brewery and grounds, check out some of the lavender and hops products, and other merchandise, and of course, grab some beer! We’ll see you there!

In closing, we mentioned in our post on the upcoming Atlantic Beer Festival yesterday that we’d be holding a contest for a giveaway of two tickets for the afternoon session (2:30 – 5:00 pm). Starting now, hop on Twitter and send us a note like: Hey @ACBeerBlogger! I want to win tickets to #ABF2014! http://wp.me/p23UN6-1gZ. One entry per person; we’ll randomly pick the winner and announce their name in next Friday’s post. The contest will run from now until next Thursday at 11:59 pm. Good luck!