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Friday Wrap-Up – News from TrailWay, Upstreet, Boxing Rock, North Brewing, Hammond River, and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2015-08-28
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 540 Kitchen & Bar, Acadie-Broue, ANBL, Big Spruce Brewing, Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge, Boxing Rock Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Canadian Brewing Awards, Hammond River Brewing, James Joyce Irish Pub, King Street Ale House, Meander River Farm and Brewery, North Brewing, OktoberFest des Acadiens, Picaroons, Red Rover Brewing, RockBottom Brewpub, TrailWay Brewing, Upstreet Craft Brewing, YellowBelly Brewery. Leave a Comment

Happy Friday everyone! Sadly, this marks the last Wrap-Up of August, but that doesn’t mean that the beer news is slowing down at all.

• TrailWay released a new beer yesterday – this one was actually brewed by Catherine Saunders and Alex Sorenson under the watchful-eye of their significant others, Jake Saunders and Dan Mason (owners and brewers of TrailWay). Appropriately-named Better Half, it’s a Blueberry-Lime Fruit Beer that had real lime zest and 35 lbs of local blueberries added after fermentation was complete. With a simple grain bill consisting of mostly Pilsner malt, and very minimal hopping, it’s a refreshing and easy-drinking (at 4.5% ABV) end-of-summer beer, with some sweetness and tartness from the fruit. You can find it on tap now (or very soon) at the King Street Ale House, James Joyce Pub, 540 Kitchen & Bar, and Vault 29.

• In other TrailWay news, they should be releasing a new Double IPA (currently unnamed) sometime next week. Clocking in at about 8.1%, it was hopped heavily (to ~75 IBUs) with Centennial, Comet, Galaxy and Mosaic, so expect plenty of tropical, citrus, and dank notes in this beer! Like most of their hoppy beers, the malt bill was kept relatively simple to allow the hops to shine through.

• PEI’s newest craft brewery, Upstreet Craft Brewing, is holding a Block Party on Saturday, September 5th. This free event will be held outdoors in the Upstreet parking lot, and will feature local food vendors, live music (including Wrong Planet Band), lawn games, activities (big and small, for kids and adults), and a “pop-up barber shop” for all your hair-trimming needs; guided brewery tours will also be going on throughout the day. It’s family-friendly, so bring the kids! The party will continue inside the taproom after 8 pm. They’ll be releasing their highly-anticipated Boxing Rock collaboration beer, Rumble in the Alley: Round 1, a SMaSH India Pale Lager, and there MAY be a special guest or two on hand for the tapping! And in other good news, brewmaster Mike Hogan has confirmed that he will be brewing another batch of their Wheat IPA, White Noize in the next few days; look for that one to be released again in September.

• It’s Hop Harvest time in our region! Yesterday, the crew from North Brewing made the trek to Shelburne to visit Boxing Rock Brewing for their own harvest collaboration brew. Many Hands 3.0 features loads of freshly-harvested Cascade, Chinook, and Willamette, all from North brewer Josh Herbin’s Lazy Acres hop farm. This Pale Ale will weigh in just shy of 6% ABV, and be available at both breweries and their market and restaurant accounts in September.

• Several other breweries have/will be brewing up wet hopped beers. Hammond River will be brewing up some with their own home-grown hops next week, Rockbottom Brewpub is brewing up a Pale Ale today with some Annapolis Valley fresh hops, and Picaroons has started the brewing of their multiple Harvest Ales, sourced from hop farms across the Maritimes. Big Spruce will be harvesting their own farm-grown hops Wednesday, September 2nd, and Meander River will be harvesting theirs Saturday September, 5th, with brews to follow quickly thereafter (if you’re able to help pick in Nyanza or Ashdale, keep an eye on their respective social media feeds for details and rain dates, if necessary).

• Meander River has a few new beers on tap recently, and we wanted to keep y’all up-to-date with their releases. Summer Solstice IPA is a 4.5% ABV Session IPA featuring a balanced hoppy flavour and aroma thanks to Amarillo and Citra; it was further dry-hopped with Cascade. A lower alcohol, but full-flavoured beer, perfect for summer afternoons and evenings. Gristmill Wheat Beer is an unfiltered wheat beer, featuring a forward bitterness with lots of citrus and strawberry, with a characteristic banana aroma. This is a lighter 3.8% ABV. Their Dusty Road Hard Apple Cider is a bit bigger, at 5.5% ABV, but just as refreshing, as it finishes quite dry and crisp. This is a different blend of Annapolis Valley apples than their Shack Wacky release in the spring, and as such will have a different profile. Their 5.2% ABV Ashdale Honey Brown is also available now, featuring honey harvested right on the farm, and added to the lightly-hopped Brown Ale, for a slightly sweeter finish and notes of toffee. Look for these beers at the brewery, or their accounts around the province.

• YellowBelly Brewery in St. John’s, NL has released an alcoholic Apple Cider this week. Weighing in at 7% ABV, it is an off-dry cider, featuring some perceived bitterness from the high tannin content of the apples. It was fermented with champagne yeasts for a crisp and acidic bite. It is now on tap at the brewery and public house, and will be available in bottles next week.

• Red Rover has brewed up their first Perry; similar to a cider – in that it is an alcoholic beverage from fermented apple juice – it also incorporates juice from pears. Featuring a single variety of pear from Cocagne, NB, it was balanced with juice from Cox’s Orange Pippin apples. The batch has been maturing for the last six months, and is exhibiting a “sweet, floral nose, and softer palate than a cider”, according to co-owner/brewer Adam Clawson; it should come in at around 7% ABV. It will be released at the Cider House next Thursday for flagon fills, and will also make a limited appearance at the Farmer’s Markets that Red Rover frequents.

• Fredericton’s James Joyce Pub has announced details on their Mug Club, the first of its kind in the city. A yearly membership of $59.95 + tax gets you a personally-numbered mug with plenty of entitlements, including 24-oz pours for the price of 20-oz, food discounts, email updates on new beers tapped at the pub, and invitations to Mug Club-exclusive events. Only 30 mugs will be sold; check out the link for more details. The official launch will be October 1st, but you can head into the pub now to reserve your mug.

• Good news for beer fans in New Brunswick: the ANBL has announced that they have over 30 award-winning beers from this year’s Canadian Brewing Awards that will be available for sale at select stores this Monday, August 31st. The “Ultimate Beer Run” includes multiple styles from breweries all across the country; check out the full list (and participating ANBL outlets) here. Quantities are limited, so be sure to drop by on Monday if you have particular beers that you would like to try.

• La sixième édition de l’Oktoberfest des Acadiens se passe du 3 au 6 Septembre à Bertrand, NB. Avec de la musique et un ambiance bavaroise dans les après midi, et des spectacles avec des artistes de renoms les vendredi et samedi soirs. C’est une fin de semaine de plaisir et de divertissement pour toute la famille. Jeudi soir l’on vous propose une dégustation dirigée par Patrice Godin d’Acadie-Broue, intitulé “Le Tour du Monde avec de la Bière”, mettant en vedette certains accords mets et bières spéciales. La Grande Dégustation se déroule le samedi et le dimanche de 13h à 18h, où les visiteurs pourront déguster une centaine de bières différentes du Nouveau-Brunswick (y compris Acadie-Broue, Petit-Sault, Picaroons, Pump House, Savoie’s Brewhouse), le Canada (Glutenberg et Red Racer et beaucoup plus), ainsi que l’Europe (Chimay, Chouffe, et Weihenstephan par exemples). Pour plus de détails sur les billets et l’horaire complet Vous pouvez visiter leur site et leur page Facebook.

• The Sixth Annual Oktoberfest des Acadiens is happening September 3-6 in Bertrand, NB. Featuring live music daily, and major concerts Friday and Saturday evening, it is a full weekend of family fun and entertainment. Thursday evening features a tasting led by Acadie-Broue‘s Patrice Godin, entitled “Around the World with Beer”, featuring several special beer and food pairings. The beer garden will be open Saturday and Sunday 1-6pm, where visitors can sample from over 100 different beers from New Brunswick (including Acadie-Broue, Petit-Sault, Picaroons, Pump House, Savoie’s Brewhouse), Canada (Glutenberg and Red Racer and many more), as well as Europe (Chimay, Chouffe, and Weihenstephan for example). Ticket details and the full schedule is available on their website and Facebook page.

• Homebrewers, fire up those kettles, the 3rd Annual Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge is back! This year is a bit of a departure from previous competitions, as beers are being accepted in three different styles: Czech Dark Lager (3D), Altbier (7B), and Red IPA (21B). They will be judged using the new 2015 BJCP style guidelines. The top three beers in each category will win prizes, and the Best in Show beer will be brewed at Big Spruce, and released at the Third Annual Craft Beer & Local Food Celebration in January. Homebrewers may enter a beer in one, two, or all three categories for the same $25 entry fee. That fee also entitles entrants to a limited edition t-shirt, and new this year, entry to the post-judging party at the Wooden Monkey Alderney Landing November 28th. To take part, be sure to email Big Spruce for the official entry form before November 23rd, and drop off the beer before the 27th at the brewery or the Halifax drop-point. There are more details on the event’s Facebook page. As there are a couple of lagers in there, best to get brewing soon!

Enjoy your weekend! All four ANBL growler stations are pouring summery beers this week, including Petit-Sault‘s new John Stadig (an “Orange Ginger White ale”), Picaroons Dooryard, and Le Trou du Diable Blanche de Shawi. Be sure to drop by Rockbottom this weekend and next week as they host several acts from the Halifax Urban Folk Festival, and catch their FizzGig Ladies Beer League Imperial Red, and Farmer’s Daughter Farmhouse Ale before they are replaced by an English Brown Ale and a traditionally-brewed Marzen (featuring imported malts and the Hochkurz Double-Decoction mash technique). Cheers!

Friday Wrap-Up – News from Grimross, TrailWay, Big Axe, “Tasting NB” Event, North Brewing, Ladies Beer League, and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2015-06-19
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 540 Kitchen & Bar, Big Axe Brewery, Big Spruce Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Bulwark Cider, Garrison Brewing, Grimross Brewing, Ladies Beer League, Lion & Bright, Local Source, North Brewing, NSLC, Propeller Brewing, TrailWay Brewing, Wooden Monkey. Leave a Comment

Hooray, another Friday! Which means… hooray, more Atlantic Canadian beer news! Things have slowed down a bit this week, but there’s still plenty of beer-related items to tackle:

• After the release of their Maritime Pale Ale last month, Grimross has released a darker variation of the beer that they’re calling Maritime Amber Ale. Featuring a brand of Pale Malt (sourced from Quebec) with a darker colour (i.e. longer roast), the beer is amber-coloured and features more toffee flavours as a result. That’s not the only difference, however; while the Pale Ale was hopped relatively equally with both British and American varieties, the Amber Ale hopping is skewed more towards the British side, meaning less citrus and more earthiness in the aroma, and more of a “perceived hoppiness”. Like the Pale Ale, it’s still an easy-drinking beer at 5.6% ABV.

• Earlier this week, TrailWay welcomed back their D’Under Pale Ale, and as promised when they first released this beer in early May, the second iteration involves some slight changes. The first go-around, this light-coloured Pale Ale was hopped solely with Galaxy, a popular Australian variety; this time, another Australian hop, Ella, was thrown into the mix. Actually related to Galaxy (half-sister… no, we’re not kidding), Ella is known to be a bit more subtle, and offers floral, spice, and tropical notes when used. The beer still weighs in around 5.5% ABV, but the IBUs have been decreased slightly to around 35, with the high majority of those coming from a whirlpool hop addition at the end of the boil. It’s available on tap now at 540 Kitchen & Bar, and will likely be seen at all of their Fredericton accounts within a week. Make sure you get some of this delicious beer before it’s gone! Also note that their Black IPA, Black Hops One, has returned, and is on tap now at the King Street Ale House.

• Quickly following the successful launch of their on-site taproom, Big Axe has released a new beer: Lizzie Borden Red Ale is an appropriately-named Amber Ale that incorporates a “mixture of Crystal malts” and some Roasted malt to give a “significant malt and toffee aroma”, along with a slight, “roasted-grain finish”. Hopped lightly with English Goldings, it comes in at 5% ABV. You can find it at the brewery for pints and growler fills, and should be on tap at their various accounts in the near future.

• Sticking with New Brunswick beer news, a new festival has been announced for Fredericton this summer. On Saturday, July 11th, the first Tasting NB event will be held from 7 – 10 pm at the Capital Complex downtown. With the purpose of “bringing together New Brunswick craft alcohol producers of all varieties for the first time”, the festival will feature many (if not all) beer, cider, mead, and even wine producers in the province. The full list of participants has not been determined yet, but it looks like a great way to sample what New Brunswick has to offer this summer! Tickets are on sale now; they’re $55.99, and include unlimited 6 oz pours during the event. Afterwards, there will be an after party with live music and a NB Tap Takeover at Wilser’s Room; we’ll keep you updated on the festival as it nears. Get your tickets now!

• Halifax’s North Brewing has brewed up a special beer to celebrate Local Source‘s 10th Anniversary. Hang Ten is a refreshing and sessionable 4.5% ABV hybrid beer. Pilsner malt makes up most of the grain bill (with a touch of Crystal 15 for body), with Amarillo hops added to the mash, and a first wort hop addition of Columbus. Late hop additions in the boil feature Columbus again, along with Wakatu and Amarillo. Columbus and Wakatu were also used as a dry hop during lagering, along with a blast of sweet orange peel. The beer was fermented mid-temperature (between traditional lager and ale temperatures, hence the term “hybrid”), and then lagered for 3 weeks. The beer is being released at Local Source’s Who’s Your Farmer Dinner tomorrow (tickets are still available), a celebration of LS’s local farmers and producers. After the launch, it will be available on tap at Lion & Bright and North’s store.

• Speaking of Anniversaries, the Ladies Beer League is celebrating their Second Birthday with a party at the Wooden Monkey Dartmouth. Next Saturday, June 27th, they will be pouring casks from Big Spruce Brewing (Pump Le Mousse Grapefruit Wheat), Boxing Rock (Rule 42 English IPA), Garrison Brewing (TBD) and North Brewing (also TBD). The $25 ticket includes five 7 oz pours from the casks, along with pizza and cake. Tickets are available online now. They are currently only available to LBL Members (check out the details on becoming a member here), but will open up to the general public this afternoon. Attendees can also sign up for a membership that night, and pick up some LBL swag. And if you post a picture of yourself in your LBL shirt to their Facebook page, you could win one of their newly-designed shirts.

• Garrison Brewing has teamed up with their pals at Bulwark Cider to release a cider of their own! Brewhouse Cider is made from a blend of five Annapolis Valley apples, and weighs in at 5.8% ABV. Available at the brewery now for sampling and growler fills, and on tap at their licensees shortly, it may also be available in bottles in the future.

• The Rare Bird Pub in Guysborough has opened again for the season. While they brew on-site year-round for release on tap and the NSLC, their pub is only open in the warmer months. They are open daily 11:30-8pm at 80 Main Street, where their Full Steam Stout, Red Ale, Pale Ale, and seasonals can be enjoyed at the source. Look for their Spruce Ale to be re-released soon.

• Beginning next Friday, and for each and every Friday this summer, Big Spruce in Nyanza will host “Food Truck Friday”, where they’ll have have food, music, and of course beer at their brewery and tap room. To mark the occasion, the folks from Free Range Bio Farm in Cleveland, CB will drop by in their food truck. They will be serving their own on-farm raised and processed German-style Berkshire pork sausages, complete with sauerkraut and all the fixings. There will be live music, and of course Big Spruce’s beers, including the tapping of a special cask. Check Big Spruce’s Facebook event for more info, and subsequent weeks’ announcements.

• The NSLC has released their Year-End Report for 2014, and while overall beer sales fell by 1.2%, sales of NS Craft Beer sales grew by 25.4% (outpacing last year’s tremendous growth of 22%!). It now accounts for more than $5 Million is sales in the province. NS Cider also saw major growth, rising by 55% to $1.2M. Craft breweries in NS employ more than 300 people across the province, with more jobs coming soon with the new breweries coming online, and expansion for the successful current breweries. Congratulations and thanks to the NS Craft Brewers and Drinkers!

Have a fantastic weekend! If you’re in the Saint John area, Hammond River‘s DIPA, Too Hop to Handle, is back on tap, and Red Rover cider is now regularly pouring at The Barrel’s Head. The Gahan House has announced that they will be at this year’s Cavendish Beach Music Festival (July 10th-12th), with beer for sale, a pop-up restaurant, and beer and food demos. For those of you taking part in the MudCraft adventure race event next Sunday in Gore, good news, Propeller has brewed up a beer especially for you, MudCraft Brown Ale! And they will release their latest One Hit Wonder, Halifornia Common, today, weighing in at 5.2% ABV. As usual, on tap at their two locations for growler fills, and licensees, only.

Friday Wrap-Up – News from TrailWay, Grimross, YellowBelly, Boxing Rock, Big Spruce and more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2015-05-01
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 540 Kitchen & Bar, Authentic Seacoast Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Grimross Brewing, Hell Bay Brewing, King Street Ale House, NS Craft Beer Week, Paddys Irish Brewpub, Sea Level Brewing, TrailWay Brewing, YellowBelly Brewery. 1 comment

Happy Friday! Looks like some of these rotten weather may be coming to an end; what better way to celebrate than by reading about local beer?

• TrailWay‘s newest beer, Sensible Nonsense, will be available this weekend in Fredericton. A collaboration DIPA brewed with two local homebrewers (for more information, check out our post from earlier in April), it should be hitting taps sometime this weekend throughout the city. As well, they’re tapping two casks of the beer at the King Street Ale House today sometime around 5 pm; the first has had some Bourbon-soaked Spanish cedar added, while the second had an additional dry-hop of Mosaic and Centennial. The last casks of TrailWay at KSAH didn’t last long at all, so get there early to give them a try!

• That’s not all for new beers from TrailWay… they’re releasing two more this weekend as well, and both are brewed with warmer temperatures in mind! The first is a Raspberry Wheat Ale; lightly hopped to around 20 IBUs, and easy-drinking at 4.5% ABV, it was brewed with 10 lbs of raspberries added after primary fermentation. With “some big raspberry aroma and flavour, with some wheat that comes through, especially in the aftertaste”, expect a dry, crisp, and refreshing beer. It will be making its debut at the Wine Tasting Event for Hailey’s Dreams today at 6:30 pm (check out the link for details and tickets); it should also be available on tap at the KSAH sometime this weekend. The other brew is a new APA named D’under Pale Ale. Brewed without any Crystal malt – to keep the beer light-coloured and dry – it was hopped entirely with Galaxy, an Australian variety that is well-known for its fruity, citrusy characteristics. It should come in at about 40 IBUs and 5.4% ABV; look for it on tap this weekend at 540 Kitchen & Bar. Expect further iterations of this beer to be hopped with other Australian and New Zealand varieties!

• Elsewhere in Fredericton, Grimross Brewing has just brewed up a new beer they’re calling a “Maritime Pale Ale”, which they describe as a hybrid between an English Pale Ale and an American Pale Ale. Featuring a grist with equal parts Pale Ale and Pilsner malts, along with Vienna, Medium Munich, CaraRed and Wheat to give it a light-copper colour. It was then hopped with a mixture of English (Willamette and East Kent Goldings) and American (Centennial and Amarillo) varieties to 38 IBUs (with most of those IBUs coming from later additions in the boil, meaning more hop flavour and aroma). The beer will also be dry-hopped following primary fermentation. Fermented with a neutral American yeast strain, expect this beer to come in at about 5.6% ABV. This one should be ready in around 2 weeks; we’ll be sure to keep you updated on its release!

• There’s a new beer on tap at the YellowBelly brewpub in St. John’s, a Saison named Field Assistant. Brewed in celebration of the Canadian Archaeological Association‘s conference in the city this week, the grist is made up of Pilsner and Honey malt, and the beer was hopped (including a dry-hop addition) entirely with Saphir. It was fermented quite warm (reaching temps as high as 90 F) with a blend of Belgian Saison yeast strains; after primary fermentation, it spent over two months in secondary. Less dry than most beers in this style (due to the addition of the Honey malt), it’s still balanced and easily-drinkable (at 6% ABV), with lots of characteristic spiciness and fruitiness, according to brewmaster Liam McKenna. The beer should also be available in bottles at the brewery this weekend.

• In coordination with the CAA meeting, there will be a free public lecture Saturday, May 2nd, from 1-2:30pm at the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland (Fort William Ballroom, Salon B), Archaeology and History of Beer. Visiting biomolecular archaeologist Patrick McGovern will be kicking off the event by giving a lecture on the the composition and reconstruction of ancient brewing techniques and recipes. Yellowbelly Brewmaster Liam McKenna will be speaking about the cultural importance of beer, and its historic development. Stephen Mills, a St. John’s-based consulting archaeologist, will discuss the archaeology of drinking and taverns in 17th century Newfoundland. A discussion and Q&A session will follow. Tickets may still be available for Saturday evening’s Ancient Ales tasting, contact Tom Beckett for details.

• Boxing Rock has re-released last year’s Sessionista, with some minor tweaks and improvements! While last year’s beer was in the English Bitter style, this time around it’s a “better, bolder, and hoppier” brew that the brewery likes to refer to as a “Fractional IPA”. With a slightly higher ABV at 4%, it’s still highly sessionable and malty, but with a big nose of floral hops (“lemon blossom, orange, and tropical fruit”, according to the brewery). Exhibiting flavours of biscuit, roasty caramel and toasted bread”, with a “tropical, fruity hop middle”, it’s meant to be enjoyed again and again. Look for it on tap at the brewery and select bars/restaurants in our area; it’s also available in 650 mL bottles in many NSLC stores. It should be around until mid-June, when Boxing Rock’s next seasonal will hit the streets!

• Big Spruce has released their latest seasonal this week, She’s Maibock. This twist on the traditional German style features the zest of 40 lemons in both the boil and conditioning tank, for a blast of citrus aroma. Brewed in March, it has been lagering for a month until its release. Weighing in at 6.1% ABV, and 30 IBUs from Magnum in the first wort, Big Spruce-grown Galena for bittering and Challenger for flavour/aroma. Look for it on tap for growlers at the brewery now, and in widespread distribution throughout NS Craft Beer Week.

• Not to be left out, Sea Level also has a brand new beer available on tap. Acadian Cross Extra Pale Ale is an unfiltered pale ale, clocking in at 5.5% ABV. It was brewed to commemorate the 260th Anniversary of the Expulsion of the Acadians, and named after the Deportation Cross erected in 1924, in Grand Pre. It was brewed with Maritime Malt, and fermented with a neutral American ale yeast. It was bittered with Apollo, with two dry hop additions in the fermentor, and one more addition in the serving tank. It is on tap now at the Port Pub, and for keg sales at the brewery, and will be available soon for growler fills and cans.

• Staying in the Annapolis Valley, Paddys Irish Brewpub has two new beers on tap at their Wolfville and Kentville locations. Their Vienna Lager is a North American interpretation of this Amber-cloured German style. It features a citrusy hop aroma and flavour that complement the complexity of the European malt bill. The beer is 5.1% ABV, and has 17 IBUs. They have also released Citra IPA, a 6.2% ABV beer featuring Citra hops throughout for a grapefruit flavour and aroma, and signifcant 50 IBUs. Grab a pint of each at the bar, or a growler to go!

• Hell Bay Brewing has been busy in Liverpool! They have released another batch of their Dark Cream Ale, and it is available for purchase at NSLC locations across the province. The tail end of their 5% traditional Dry Irish Stout is available for growler fills at Harvest Wines in Dartmouth.  And they are looking to release another version of their R.I.P.A. IPA in a couple of weeks, with another tweak on the hops used in the brew.

• Details of the different events are still pouring in for next week’s kickoff for NS Craft Beer Week. Events are being updated on the official page, and we have created a Calendar that you can add to Google Calendar, Outlook or iCal. The events are geolocated, so you can plan your week that way, as well. Please let us know if there are any events that we’re missing! Look for more NSCBW details next week, as we share our guide to the events are beers. Tickets are still available for many of the events, including Signature events like the Beer & Beethoven kick-off, Science of Beer on the 14th, and the Brewers’ Brunch on the 17th. There are several collaboration brews that will be released that week, including a three-way conspiracy between Big Spruce, Propeller and Tatamagouche, launching at noon on May 9th at Stillwell. Cerberus American IPA is a 7% ABV Organic IPA, featuring Centennial, Amarillo, Simcoe, and Zythos hops. It will be available in bottles, as well as growlers at all three breweries after launching.

Enjoy the warmer weather this weekend! The winner of the first annual Railcar Homebrew Competition was announced last Saturday: local homebrewer Pierre Gagnon submitted the winning entry with his Groundskeeper Willie Pish (Scottish Export 80/-), which he will brew with brewmaster Mitch Biggar on the Railcar system in the near future. Railcar has also announced a “He Said Beer, She Said Wine” tasting and pairing event May 23rd at the brewery. Be sure to pick up tickets in advance to avoid disappointment. Rare Bird has released a new Red Ale, and it is available at NSLC locations across the province now. This 5% ABV beer features Rye in the malt bill, for a slight spicy character.