Friday Wrap-Up

Advance Details on the 2016 Fredericton Craft Beer Week

Posted by acbbshawn on 2015-11-26
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Fredericton Craft Beer Festival. 1 comment

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The fourth annual Fredericton Craft Beer Festival (FCBF) will take place on Saturday, March 12th, 2016. While this is the fourth consecutive year for the event, this will be the first time for the Fredericton Craft Beer Week, a six day celebration of craft beer in the city, from March 8th-13th. Lloyd Chambers started the original festival back in 2013, and has continued to offer many different beer-related events in Fredericton (and beyond) in the years since, including the Fredericton Poutine Festival, Fredericton Beer Run, Fredericton Cider Festival, Burgers n’ Beer, and the upcoming Christmas Beer Garden on December 20th. With tickets for the 2016 FCBF going on sale this Friday at 11 am, we decided to sit down with Lloyd and discuss what he has planned for the festivities next March…

Can you give us a little background on how you first decided to create the FCBF?

The idea for the event first came about over the sharing of several beers with Doug Williams (owner of the King Street Ale House). After talking about what we’d like to see in a beer festival, I went home and immediately created a Facebook page. It took off like crazy, with the event selling out before we even had our first brewery confirmed! Things have definitely changed since then, as we now have a full slate of breweries confirmed to be attending, before the actual ticket launch.

Can you give us an idea about what to expect from this year’s festival? What has changed, what has stayed the same, etc.

As in past years, the festival will continue to strongly focus on craft beer brewed in Atlantic Canada. We hope to have all 20 breweries from New Brunswick attending, plus at least 9 more from PEI and Nova Scotia; as you can see, the majority of breweries present will be from our region. For the third straight year, the event will be held at the Fredericton Convention Centre, which is a perfect fit for us. It really is the best venue in the city, in terms of both size and service.

convention

Fredericton Convention Centre

A lot has changed, however. This is the first year that we will be holding an afternoon session on Saturday, along with the evening session. With about 1000 tickets for each session, more people will be able to attend overall, with slightly less in the evening than previous years. And while we’ll have about 45 different breweries attending (similar to last year’s event), there will be slightly fewer beers, ciders and meads overall (~170 vs. 200 last year); we’re looking for quality over quantity, which will mean more local craft products, as opposed to the big brands.

What are the options for tickets for both festival sessions?

The afternoon session will take place from 2:00 – 4:30 pm, and will include a custom tasting glass and unlimited 4 oz samples. The regular admission for the evening session includes the same, and takes place from 7:00 – 9:30 pm. As usual, there will also be a limited number – 200 – of VIP tickets for sale, for the evening session only. These allow early admission at 6:00 pm, and include a different tasting glass. Regular tickets are $55 + fee, while VIP tickets are $65 + fee. We will also be offering a Designated Driver option, where admission is $15 + fee (must be purchased with a regular or VIP ticket) and includes unlimited non-alcoholic beverages.

Festival

2014 FCBF – Photo courtesy of Ahmed Dassouki

Tell us what you have planned for the days leading up to the festival.

Starting Tuesday, March 8th, there will be several different “mini beer events” held each day at different venues in Fredericton. Depending on the event, there will either be a charge to attend, or simply pay-as-you-drink. We’re still confirming the total list of what we’ll be putting on, but here’s a sneak preview of some of the events you can expect to see:

• March 8th (Tuesday) will kick off the week with a Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament at the KSAH; this one will be pay-as-you-drink, with a $5 winner-takes-all entry into the tournament. There will also be several cask ales from Garrison Brewing available.

• On Wednesday, the Crowne Plaza will be putting on their “Offaly Good Evening of Food and Craft Beer” from 7:00 – 10:00 pm, which will feature five courses of “lesser known cuts” from various all-New Brunswick-raised produce. Each course will be served with a different 12-oz craft beer; tickets are $70 + tax and gratuity.

• A tap-takeover from Garrison Brewing at the King Street Ale House will happen on Thursday night. No charge to attend (just pay-as-you-drink); with up to 24 different beers pouring, this could possibly be the largest-ever tap takeover in the province.

• There will be a couple of private events for brewers only, as a “thank you” for attending the festival and other events through the week. Right now we’re looking at a meet-and-greet Friday night, followed by a Brewers Brunch at the KSAH Saturday morning before the festival sessions begin.

• On Sunday morning, we’ll be holding “Down the Keg”, a short 3 km run, leaving from the KSAH, to help burn off the calories put on over the preceding days! Following this, there will be a Brewers Jazz Brunch (open to the public) at the KSAH (to add some calories back on).

More events will be announced as we confirm them, including something in the works at Grimross Brewing, and a special event hosted by Andrew Estabrooks. We’re hoping to have everything basically set in stone by the beginning of the New Year. We also plan on offering a Beer Passport for the week, which will act as basically an event guide. You’ll earn stamps for each event that you attend, which you can collect to enter into draws to win some cool prizes.

Do you currently have any sponsors lined up?

We’re putting some extra energy in attracting sponsors this year, with a “sponsor structure” that goes through different levels, from “growler”, to “keg”, to “barrel”. Founding sponsors King Street Ale House and Massive Graphics are returning this year, and Investors Group is a barrel sponsor. We should be announcing a presenting sponsor sometime in the near future. Also, the Crowne Plaza is the official hotel of the festival; they offer reduced rates for festival-goers every year.

Sounds like everything is shaping up nicely! Anything you’d like to add?

As always, the focus of this festival (and all of the events surrounding it) can be brought back to our tagline: “It’s all about the beer. Pure. Simple.”

We’re already looking forward to March! Thanks to Lloyd for answering our questions and giving us a taste of what’s to come. Keep following FCBF on social media for more updates, as well as this blog, as we’ll be sure to post more on the fest as the dates get closer. Remember that tickets to the festival go on sale tomorrow at 11 am; be sure to get yours early, as they sold out quite quickly last year!

Friday Wrap-Up – News from Mama’s Pub, Picaroons, Battery Park, Pump House, Garrison, PEI Brewing, and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2015-11-20
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: BarNone Brewing, Battery Park, Big Spruce Brewing, Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge, Boxing Rock Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Ducky's Bar, Fredericton Poutine Festival, Garrison Brewing, Grimross Brewing, Mama's Pub, PEI Brewing Co., Picaroons, Propeller Brewing, Pump House Brewery, The Nook and Cranny. Leave a Comment

G’day! Along with your weekly dose of regional beer news comes the announcement of yet another new brewery in Atlantic Canada. Let’s get to it!

• Fredericton will soon be seeing the launch of the city’s very first brewpub, as Mama’s Pub (a local establishment that has been operating on Fredericton’s North Side for 23 years) plans to start brewing on a 2 BBL (~225 L) system in the near future. Manager Ryan Kingston will be the brewer, and has developed several “flagship beer” recipes with the help of brewer/consultant Andrew ‘Esty’ Estabrooks. They plan on launching their first three beers – an American Pale Ale, Brown Ale, and Session IPA – by Christmas, with Estabrooks staying on as consultant to see the brewery through its initial developing stages. All beers will be available on tap at Mama’s only, with four seasonal rotating beers to follow in 2016. Plans currently include growler fills onsite sometime in the future, and there will be 15 other taps in addition to the Mama’s beers. We’ll have a Q&A posted in the near future; stay tuned!

• Picaroons has announced future plans to open a brewery and retail space in downtown St. Stephen. Located at 5 King St., the establishment will be in collaboration with an “experienced chef”, who will run a co-joined but separately-operated brewpub. Still in the development phase, the current working name is The Five Kings. We’ll have more details in the future as they become available!

• We also have details on the opening date plans for Battery Park Beer Bar in Dartmouth. This joint venture between Brooklyn Warehouse and North Brewing will be opening their doors December 10th. Why December 10th? Owner Leo Christakos is a board member of the Slow Food NS association, and their annual Terra Madre Day is on that date, celebrating the founding of Slow Food in 1989. The Terra Madre initiative is a celebration of local food (including beer) through community events, including meals, festivals, workshops and more. BPBB’s opening will be a culmination of their months of preparation, and so it is fitting to hold it on that date. They will be pouring several new beers and current favourites, both brewed onsite and at North’s Agricola Street location. As the exact timing and beer details are announced, we’ll be sure to share them. And drop by North today after noon to pick up a bottle of Two, the beer brewed in celebration of Stillwell’s second anniversary.

• Moncton’s Pump House Brewery has released the 2015 edition of their Stonefire Ale. It was brewed using the Steinbier technique, which involves heating the wort not by heating a kettle, but by super-heating rocks to 700C and dropping them directly into the wort. This leads to lots of sugar caramelization, and even a faint hint of smokiness in the final product. The bitterness of the beer is very low, under 10 IBUs, leaving lots of room for the 6.5% ABV, with the beer coming through slightly sweet. It is widely available at the ANBL in bottles now. Pump House has also brought back their Bière de Garde seasonal, a 6.5% ABV amber beer with Belgian yeast character spiciness, and balancing hop bitterness from Chinook and Golding.

• Garrison Brewing is coming to Sackville, New Brunswick in the form of a massive tap-takeover at Ducky’s Bar! Starting tomorrow, November 21st, at 7 pm, there will be 18 taps pouring various Garrison beers, many of which are special releases such as Not So Gentle Tickle IPA, Double Jack Imperial Pumpkin Ale, 3 Fields Harvest, Sweet Rye’d Harvest Wheat Ale, and their Proud Rose-Mary, the “Gastronome IPA” normally exclusive to the harbourstone sea grill & pour house in Halifax. There is no cover charge, but if you purchase a ticket for $10, you will receive a specially-branded Belgian-style glass and five 5 oz drink tickets; sign up in advance at the bar, and you get an additional two drink tickets. Those with the branded glass will be able to purchase additional 5 oz pours for the special price of $2.25.

• In additional Garrison news, their seasonal Winter Warmer is back, starting today. Just in time for colder temperatures, this 7% ABV dark beer is perfect for sipping, and, new this year, is available in 6-packs, perfect for sharing (or not!). And next Saturday, the 28th, will see the launch of this year’s Spruce Beer, with a cask of both the Spruce Beer and Winter Warmer, as well as mulled cider, on at the brewery.

• PEI Brewing Co. has officially set the date for this year’s Transmitter Coffee Stout release. A delicious beer that was brewed in collaboration with local Receiver Coffee Co., last year’s batch featured plenty of roasted coffee flavour and aroma, and was more than worth the Herculean task of getting the wax off the bottle cap! The 750 mL bottles will be available for purchase at the brewery starting at 5 pm next Tuesday (November 24th); there will be live music from Dave Woodside until 7pm, and both PEIBC brewers and Receiver employees will be on hand to answer questions about the beer and coffee (with samples of both available for sampling). Like last year’s batch, supplies will be limited, so load up while you have the chance! And for you procrastinators, there are still a few bottles available of Hell Street, their barrel-aged Doppelbock, at both the brewery and PEILCC.

• The seasonal beer re-release news doesn’t stop there, as Propeller‘s very popular Russian Imperial Stout, Revolution, is back for another year. Already in bottles and on tap at their Halifax and Dartmouth brewery shops, it will also be popping up soon at NSLC stores in the next few weeks. This dark, strong (8% ABV), complex ale features plenty of roasted and chocolate notes, along with a smooth, warming finish from the higher alcohol. For the first time, it will also be available at select ANBL locations by early 2016.

• Big Spruce has just released Gimme Simcoe, the latest in the “Gimme” line of single-hop Pale Ales, with Bar Stillwell as conspirators. Weighing in at 5.0% ABV, this light-bodied brew showcases the Simcoe hop, added especially late in the process to magnify the hop’s aroma and flavour over bitterness. On tap now at the brewery, and shortly at Stillwell and elsewhere in our region. And one final reminder, entry forms for the Home Brew Challenge are due via email Nov 23rd, and beers must be submitted to the brewery, or the Halifax drop-point, no later than Friday the 27th.

• The Nook and Cranny in Truro has a new beer on tap at the pub. Their first dark beer is a 4.7% ABV Milk Stout, brewed on-site on their SmartBrew system. Smooth-drinking, with a bit of roast and sweetness, it should be a great beer for the cooler months. Like the rest of their beers, it’s currently available at the pub for pints and growler fills.

• The Ladies Beer League is holding a Holiday Brunch at Stillwell on December 6th. The party starts at noon with the launching of the Boxing Rock/Big Spruce collaboration Triskaidekaphobia, plus some great brunch food from Chef Graeme Ruppel, including Eggs Benedict, Frittata, and Biscuits & Gravy. Tickets are $32.40, and include food and first pour of Tris, and LBL members receive a $5 discount. Doors open at 4pm to the public.

That’s it for this week! If you’re in Charlottetown, BarNone‘s award-winning Black IPA, Black Eye P.A., has returned; you can find it on tap at Baba’s Lounge and The Old Triangle. And another award-winning beer, La Buckdjeuve from Petit-Sault, is currently pouring at all four ANBL growler stations, is available in bottles at the brewery now and in select ANBL locations starting next week (if you don’t see it, ask for it!), for a limited time only. Grimross has re-released their Maritime Amber Ale, a 5.6% ABV beer hopped towards the British side of the spectrum (earthy instead of fruity/citrusy). Finally, tomorrow is the third annual Fredericton Poutine Festival; the sold-out event will feature 11 breweries pouring approximately 25 different different beers, ciders and mead, served with unlimited samples of over 12 different styles of poutine! Hope to see you there!

Friday Wrap-Up – News from Propeller, Big Spruce, Boxing Rock, Distillerie Fils du Roy, Garrison, Stillwell Beer Bar and more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2015-11-13
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Big Spruce Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Christmas Beer Garden at the Market, Distillerie Fils du Roy, Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, Garrison Brewing, Garrison Home Brew-Off Challenge, Gray Stone Brewing, Grimross Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, James Joyce Irish Pub, Meander River Farm and Brewery, North Brewing, Picaroons, Propeller Brewing, Red Rover Craft Cider, Stillwell Beer Bar, The Brewnosers, TrailWay Brewing, Upstreet Craft Brewing. 3 comments

Happy Friday, dear readers! We hope your Friday the 13th turns out better than the one in those movies. At least you’ll be drinking great beer if you grab a few of the ones mentioned below!

• Propeller Brewing released their latest One Hit Wonder late last week, named Down East North West IPA (DENWIPA). This 6.8% unfiltered IPA is an ode to West Coast IPAs, with a solid bitterness and a full blast of pine and citrus aroma. The orange-hued beer features a creamy white head, and a touch of sweetness to round out the big hopping. As with all of their One Hit Wonders, it is available at both their Gottingen and Windmill locations in growler fills only, and on rotating taps in the city, but not for long!

• Expanding on the popularity of the brew, Propeller’s Rye IPA is now available in six packs, as well as bombers. The 6.8% IPA features a generous addition of rye malt for a spicy character to accentuate the citrus aroma from the Pacific Northwest hops. For when you don’t want to drink a full 650ml of the beer, six packs are available at the Prop Shoppe, and the private beer stores, while the NSLC will continue to carry the bombers.

• And great news for those of us who attended the Prop’r Cask Nights in 2013 and 2014, they will be making a return! Propeller will be partnering with a local kitchen to cater their Gottingen St tasting room for an evening of food and fun, featuring special one-off casks and special blends for the occasion. We’ll let you know once the details are released.

• Big Spruce released their very popular Crazy Ivan Double IPA late last week. Brewed with 100% imported German malts, this orange-hued DIPA comes in at 8% ABV and over 100 IBUs, with a beautiful full hop blast on the nose. Due to the sheer volume of hops in the boil, the yield for this brew is less than standard Big Spruce brews, so don’t delay in grabbing a sample or growler at the brewery, or on tap at their accounts.

• And not shying away from the hoppier branch of beers, they recently brewed their Left Breton Organic Conspiracy IPA. This beer uses their own farm-grown organic hops, showcasing their 2015 harvest Cascade, among others. This brew first made its debut in 2013, when their good friends Brian and Rebecca from Crannóg Ales brought some of their own farm-grown organic hops. While they weren’t able to join them for this brew day, they were there in spirit.

• And look out for another conspiracy beer in the coming weeks and months, as the Big Spruce crew is invading Boxing Rock in Shelburne today for a special brewday. Taking a cue from today’s date, they are scaring up an Imperial Brown Ale named Triskaidekaphobia. This fear-inducing 9% beer will be then be conditioned on cherries and vanilla beans, with both non- and Glenora-barrel-aged versions seeing their release. A few members of the Ladies Beer League are in attendance today; follow along on their Twitter to get a peek at the mayhem.

• Distillerie Fils du Roy have released another new beer, North Shore Regiment. The beer was named after the Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army that was founded in Chatham, New Brunswick; they participated in many notable battles of World War II, including the Juno Beach landing on D-Day. The beer is an English Barleywine, a Strong Ale that is rich and malty, with complex flavours that may include toffee, toast, caramel, and molasses. Fils du Roy’s take on the style IS a strong one, clocking in at a whopping 12% ABV! Bittered to 45 IBUs to help balance the strong malt character, it’s available now in 750 mL bottles at the brewery and select ANBL stores; it’s also currently on tap at all four ANBL growler stations.

• Garrison Brewing has announced the style details of their 2016 Home Brew-Off Competition, and it is American IPA with Experimental Feature. This is category is wide open to individual interpretation: as long as it uses an American IPA as its base, and falls within those style guidelines (Style 21A from 2015 BJCP details here), it’s fair game! Novel ingredient additions are encouraged, including fruits, herbs, spices, etc, with your imagination as your only limit, as long as the Am IPA characters still shine through. From the brewery, “If it clearly fits one of the 21B – Specialty IPA sub-styles, then it probably isn’t what we have in mind”. The registration forms will be available shortly (be sure to mark down which special ingredient(s) were used!), and the beers will be due February 11th, with the Awards Gala held March 3rd. So, get brainstorming on recipes, and fire up your kettles for some test batches, Maritime Homebrewers! Post your brewday, and follow along with others as they brew, using the #GHBO16 tag on Twitter.

• And in more Garrison news, their popular seasonal Martello Stout has returned for the cooler months. This year’s batch features a new recipe with a slightly higher 5% ABV, and a higher percentage of oats for a great smooth and creamy character. The chocolate and espresso notes will keep you happy while you curl up by the fire. Look for it on sale in bombers at the brewery and private stores, and on tap in our local market. Also look for their flagship Irish Red in its new branding and large bottle format at the NSLC shortly.

• Bar Stillwell is celebrating their Second Anniversary this weekend, and there will be a ton of great beers and food to celebrate. They will be pouring a full complement of local and regional beers on their taps and beer engines, including Red Rover’s VeRRy PeRRy and White Witch, aged kegs of Grimross Chantelope and Tatamagouche Rum Barrel-Aged Dreadnot, a special one-off cask of Extra Special Bitter from The Brewnosers Homebrew Club (brewed at Good Robot), as well as several great sour Quebec beers, including Trou du Diable Oude Blanche, Ze Blend and L’Ours, and Dunham Tropicale and Assemblage #1. In addition to the taps, they will be popping bottles from Jester King, Dunham, and other beauties they’ve been cellaring. Of course, Chef GR will be serving up some killer food to complement the beers, including smoked brisket poutine and the infamous boatzel.  The event kicks off when the doors open at 6pm Sunday, and there are no tickets required. We’ll see you there!

• The anniversary party will also be the debut of Stillwell’s celebratory brew, Two. Brewed at North, Two is a 4.5% “rustic farmhouse” beer, inspired by both traditional saison and modern American farmhouse brewing. It was fermented using a mixed blend of yeasts and bacteria, for waves of funky and tart/acidic characteristics, on an effervescent and light base. It was hopped with Saaz and Sterling, for a peppery and fruity nose. From Stillwell, “It was a very experimental brew but we’re extremely pleased with the results; it turned out just as we’d hoped it would. We’re very grateful to Peter at North Brewing for allowing us to brew this beer at his brewery.” The beer will be available in both draft and bottle-conditioned pours. After the party, bottles will be available for purchase at North, and if you spot it, grab it!, as we don’t expect it to last long.

• There’s a new beer fermenting at Grimross Brewing, and it should be ready in plenty of time for the fast-approaching Christmas season. Dubbel Noel is actually the same recipe as their original Dubbel; however, this time around, the beer will be further conditioned on vanilla beans. Owner/brewer Stephen Dixon expects the vanilla to “add depth and richness to the already great flavours of caramel, candy and malt”, providing a subtle – but still enjoyable – contrast to the original beer. The ABV and IBUs (6.8% and 18, respectively) will not change; look for the new beer to be released by early December.

• Speaking of Christmas, next month will feature the first Christmas-themed beer event from those behind the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival. The Christmas Beer Garden at the Market is currently scheduled for Sunday, December 20th, from 10 am – 3 pm. Visitors to the Boyce Farmers Market will be able to take a break from the shopping and enjoy some brews from Garrison, Grimross, Maybee, Petit-Sault, Red Rover, Sunset Heights Meadery, and TrailWay. Both 4oz samples and 12oz pours (9oz for cider and mead) will be available, and there is no ticket required to attend. However, those who buy the Early Bird tickets (available at the link above) will receive a special glass which allows for 16oz pours for the price of 12oz, as well as their first four beer tickets on the house. The event will be cash-only, as are many of the Farmers Market vendors, so plan accordingly. And food from the great vendors at the market can be brought into the Beer Gardens area.

• There are two new seasonal beers soon to be brewed over at Hammond River. First off is an old homebrew favourite of owner/brewer Shane Steeves: Foghorn Coffee Porter. Brewed with a grist containing Maris Otter, Crystal 120 L, Chocolate malt, and Roasted Barley, it also features the addition of Foghorn coffee beans from local roasters Java Moose; it should come in at ~6% ABV. Next up is definitely an interesting new experiment: White Stout is brewed with a grist that includes oats and barley, and also features the addition of Foghorn coffee. The beer is further conditioned on cacao nibs, with the intended result being, you guessed it, a pale beer that smells and tastes roasty and chocolatey, like a stout! This one will be targeted at 7.2% ABV and ~37 IBUs. Stay tuned for release details on both beers over the coming weeks.

• TrailWay has brewed up a new Milk Stout, their first since their original “Imperial Coffee Milk Stout”, Double Double, released last March. Similar in some ways to Double Double, this newer “Experimental Milk Stout” made its first appearance last night at the King Street Ale House Cask Night. In fact, future releases of the same batch will continue to be cask-only; while last night’s was served in a standard cask, the beer’s next appearance will likely be served after conditioning on whisky-soaked oak chips. Featuring a higher percentage of lactose powder added in the boil, to boost the beer’s mouthfeel and perception of sweetness, it comes in at ~6.2% ABV. Keep your eyes on TrailWay’s social media pages for future cask releases! And remember that TrailWay is pouring at the Fredericton ANBL growler station this weekend; their Session IPA is on in limited supply, so get over there quickly!

• One of Fredericton’s upcoming breweries, Gray Stone Brewing, has announced recently that their plans to open in the Capital Complex have been cancelled. Instead, they hope to open in another currently-unconfirmed downtown location, where they will still house both a 10 bbl brewery and tasting room. Currently employing three brewers, they still plan on launching with the four beers we’ve reported on before (an American Pale Ale, American IPA, American Stout and Brown Ale), along with several other styles to follow shortly after. We’ll keep you further updated on their progress; right now, plans are to open the brewery and tasting room to the public in May, 2016.

• The James Joyce Irish Pub has announced the third in their series of tap takeovers, Meet Your Makers, for Thursday, November 26th at 7 pm. After initial offerings from Big Axe and Red Rover, the next event will feature Picaroons. We’re not certain on exactly which beers will be pouring, but have been assured that there will be several one-off beers, including at least one cask. It also sounds like several Picaroons staff members will be on hand, eager to chat beer. As always, there is no charge to attend; just pay by the pour!

• Meander River released their Homegrown Wet Hopped Pale Ale a few weeks ago, but we missed announcing it when it happened. Our apologies! Good news, though, as it is currently on tap for growler fills at Bishop’s Cellar and Harvest Wines. Using a blend of their own farm-grown Cascade and Zeus, the beer was hopped exclusively using the mash tun as a hopback. This allows the characteristic taste and aroma of wet hops to shine through in the 4.2% beer. And for those heading to the brewery this weekend, look for their First Frost Cider and return of Smokey Chipotle Porter.

A few more things before we sign off this week: Speaking of growler fills, Red Rover will be making their debut on a growler filling station early next week. However, it will be not be in New Brunswick, but in Nova Scotia, with RockHead in Halifax pouring their Fall Cider. Charlottetown’s Upstreet has released their Rhuby Social in bottles, joining their Do-Gooder APA and Commons Pilsner, so now you can take their strawberry and rhubarb witbier home in a smaller format. Bulwark’s Winter Cider is back for the season, and will be available at the NSLC shortly. They have also bottled their Hopped Cider, which will be debuting at the NSLC in the next week or two. Though it’s six months away, tickets for next May’s Full House event as part of NS Craft Beer Week have already gone on sale. The event is May 14th, and once again there will be two sessions, 1:30-4pm and 6:30-9pm, and will feature as many NS breweries as can fit in the same room.