Antigonish Townhouse

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Friday Wrap-Up – New Beers and News from Boxing Rock, Picaroons, Pump House, Big Tide, and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2014-08-01
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2014 Fredericton Beer Run, Acadie-Broue, Antigonish Townhouse, Big Tide Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Celtic Knot Brewing, Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, Garrison Brewing, Halifax Seaport Beerfest, Hammond River Brewing, Ladies Beer League, North Brewing, PEI BeerFest, PEI Brewing, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Propeller Brewing, Pump House Brewery, Rudder's Brewpub. 2 comments

Good morning, beer fans! As August begins (try hard not to think about summer ending), it’s time for more local beer news…

• Boxing Rock has released a new beer – Sessionista, a “Bold Session Ale”. Brewed to be available as an easy-drinking summer beer (and at 3.5% ABV, it certainly is very sessionable), it has a heavy malt aroma “reminiscent of an English Bitter” with hints of lemon blossom and orange, according to the brewery, along with “roasty malt notes on the palate followed by a pithy lemon-lime finish”. This is a limited-release beer, so pick some up while you can. It’s available in 650 mL bottles at private liquor stores in Halifax, in one-litre growlers every Saturday at the Halifax Seaport Market and the Shelburne Farmers’ Market, and at the brewery, while supplies last. Look for it on tap at select beer bars in Halifax, as well.

• This weekend (August 1st-3rd), the 9th annual Sappyfest (an independent music festival) is being held in Sackville, and Picaroons has brewed up a special beer for the event. Currently going by Secret Show Ale, this 4.5% ABV, 20 IBUs beer will be served during the festival on tap in the main tent, and afterwards should be available at both Ducky’s and Thunder & Lightning. With a malt base of Pilsner and a little wheat malt for head retention, it’s hopped with Tettnanger and Saaz, and brewed “in a Kolsch frame of mind”, according to brewmaster Andrew Estabrooks; that is, fermented cool to minimize production of fruity esters and diacetyl.

• There’s a new beer on tap at the Pump House brewpub, their Raspberry Wheat. A great style for the warm weather of summer, the brewery describes the beer as a German style wheat beer, “bombarded” with 40 kg of raspberries. “Tart and refreshing”, it comes in at 5.5% ABV. It won’t last long, so get down to the brewpub (and select restaurants/bars around Moncton) for a taste.

• Big Tide Brewing is celebrating their 5th Anniversary on August 5th, and they’ve brewed up a special beer to celebrate! Anniversary Amber Ale is a “malty, full-bodied ale” that is brewed with five varieties of specialty malts and five hop varieties (Willamette, EKG, Nugget, Fuggles, and Cascade), and will clock in at 55 IBUs and, yes, 5.5% ABV. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to determine what else Big Tide has in store for their anniversary plans on the 5th, but keep an eye on their Facebook and Twitter accounts for updates.

• The PEI Brewing Co. is looking to release a new beer, a currently-unnamed Coffee Stout. They’ve brewed two different versions, and need your help in picking out which one is best! Drop into the brewery in Charlottetown, purchase a sample of each, and fill out a ballot indicating your choice for your favorite. Not only will you be helping the brewery decide which beer to brew on a larger scale, but you’ll also be entered to win two VIP tickets to this year’s PEI Beer Festival (Sept. 5th & 6th).

• It looks like last Saturday’s grand-opening for Brasseurs du Petit-Sault in Edmundston was a great success, and we now have a little more info on their Acadie-Broue collaboration beer that we mentioned last week. As previously noted, the beer brewed is from the recipe for Acadie-Broue’s Belgian Saison, Tintamarre. However, with this batch (brewed on a much larger scale on Petit-Sault’s system), Acadie-Broue owner/brewer Patrice Godin has dry-hopped the beer with 5 kg of Amarillo and Simcoe. Along with Amarillo in the whirlpool addition, and the Belgian yeast strain used for fermentation, this should be a very fragrant beer! Due to the slight changes, this batch will be named L’effrayab’ Tintamarre; “L’effrayab” is a local Madawaska county expression that translates to “incredible”. With an ABV of ~6-6.5% and 36 IBUs, it should be ready in time for National Acadian Day on August 15th; it will be packaged in kegs only, so look for it at bars/restaurants in the area. We’ll keep you updated as to where exactly it will be served.

• The new beer news rolls on, with Rudder’s Brewpub announcing that they’ve recently tapped Midnight Crossing Brown Ale. Brewed with Pale Ale malt as the base, along with wheat malt and two other specialty malts, it is hopped with two English varieties and one from New Zealand. Clocking in at 6% ABV and 26 IBUs, it pours with a tan head and a dark brown color in the body, and has “smooth drinking with a slight bitterness in the finish”, according to brewmaster Mike Ferguson.

• A few weeks ago, we reported on a new beer from Hammond River, a California Common named Gammie. Well, that beer is now available! A well-balanced and easy-drinking beer at 5.3% ABV and 37 IBUs, you should be able to find it on tap now at Shiretown Publicans and The Barrel’s Head; it may follow at Hammond River’s other accounts in the near future.

• The Antigonish Townhouse is starting something new today… IPA Cask Night! Their first cask ever – Terry’s British IPA – should be tapped at 5 pm, to coincide with the birthday of one of their favorite regular customers. More one-off casks will follow over the coming weeks, to allow the staff to get the whole process down; they hope for it to become a regular bi-weekly event after that. This will give brewer Terry Piercey the freedom to do a bit more experimenting for future brews.

• The Ladies Beer League put together a great-looking event that’s being held during Halifax’s Local Connections Sausage Fest (Aug. 14th – 24th). Unfortunately, it’s already sold out! Dubbed the LBL Roof-top Cask Party at Scanway, there will be three casks tapped: Propeller Pilsner, Garrison Honey Lavendar, and Boxing Rock Hunky Dory Ginger; special sausage morsels from Scanway will also be available. Tickets were $10, and include a take-home glass and first fill (pay-as-you-go afterwards). Looks like the LBL will have to start holding more beer events so everyone can attend!

• And in other Sausage Fest news, both Garrison Brewing and North Brewing are participating in a Sausage Brunch and Beer Brunch at harbourstone sea grill & pour house on Sunday, August 17th. From 10 am – 3 pm, there will be a variety of handcrafted sausages available, along with several beers from both breweries; tickets are $39.

• The 8th Annual Halifax Seaport Beerfest is almost here! It will be held August 8th – 9th at the Cunard Centre, and tickets are still available. While we plan on providing all the information you need sometime next week, we wanted to point out that the full brewery/beer list has been posted on their website. With over 110 breweries pouring about 275 different beers and ciders – including an additional 15 unique casks from eight Atlantic Canadian breweries – it’s shaping up to be another great beer festival for our region. Tune in next week for more details!

• Duo Wine Bar is holding a patio beer dinner on Wednesday, August 6th (rain date August 13th) at 6:30 pm. There will be five courses and eight different beers being served, with several beers from American breweries Goose Island and Brooklyn Brewery. More importantly, one of the courses will feature a special release of Celtic Knot Hopicide that has been “additionally hopped”, paired with traditional German Curry Wurst. Tickets are $120 (tax and gratuity included); send them an email to reserve yours.

• Looking for a job in the beer business? Well, with their expansion in progress, Garrison Brewing is hiring… specifically, for the position of Marketing, Retail & Event Coordinator. Two to three years experience in marketing, retail, events, etc. is required; if you’re interested, send a cover letter, resume, and references to Tracy Phillipi.

• This year’s annual Fredericton Beer Run, being held this Monday, August 4th (New Brunswick Day), has sold out! We’ve talked about the event in previous posts, but to re-hash, it involves a 6 km or 12 km run, followed by beer sampling at the King Street Ale House, where participants will be able to try fourteen 4 oz samples of various beers from local breweries. Check out their Race Roster page for a list of participating breweries (Railcar will not be pouring, but they will be present and selling beer swag).

• And speaking of the Fredericton Beer Run, the brain behind this event belongs to Lloyd Chambers, who also runs the yearly Fredericton Craft Beer Festival. Lloyd has confirmed that planning for next year’s FCBF has already begun; while March 7th, 2015 is still many months away, we can assure you that there’s already something new and special in mind! Looking forward to sharing more as the date gets closer!

Friday Wrap-up – News from Railcar Brewing and the ANBL, Rockbottom, Rare Bird, Big Tide, Grimross and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2014-07-18
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2014 Fredericton Beer Run, ANBL, Antigonish Townhouse, Authentic Seacoast Brewing, Big Spruce Brewing, Big Tide Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Grimross Brewing, Ladies Beer League, Local Connections Halifax, Paddys Irish Brewpub, Propeller Brewing, Railcar Brewing, RockBottom Brewpub, YellowBelly Brewery. 2 comments

We start off this week’s Wrap-Up with some disheartening news, and a call to action. But fear not, there’s lots of positive news to report on as well!

• Railcar Brewing has been planning to set up shop in Florenceville-Bristol, NB. After a change in plans in which their original planned location in the Shogomoc Historical Railway Site was scrapped, they have now opened their retail shop and brewery just a few minutes down Main Street. However, they are facing a brand new major hurdle from the ANBL. They’ve just received notice that a late-June board meeting has decided that before a Brewery Agency Store licensee may sell any beer at their location for off-premises consumption (by means of bottles or growlers), they must first sell 10,000 litres of product through the ANBL network within 12 months (whether it be kegs delivered to bars, or bottles sold at ANBL stores). For a very small 1 BBL (Beer Barrel, 117 litres) brewery like Railcar, this would mean brewing, fermenting, conditioning, kegging and/or bottling, selling, and delivering to the ANBL or to restaurants and bars (possibly not in their home region) two full batches per week, assuming no spillage or spoilage. For a very small brewery whose business plan concentrated on sales direct from the brewery (including investing several thousand dollars in growlers that may become unusable), this is disastrous, and may handcuff them from opening. Railcar owner Mitch Biggar has been on CBC Radio and TV spreading word of how this will affect his small business, but keep in mind this will affect all future NB breweries as well. Mitch will be meeting with the ANBL next week, and we hope that he will still be able to open the week of Aug 10, which coincides with the Florenceville Festival of Flavour.

• When we heard of this change, we contacted ANBL president Brian Harriman for comment. He was kind enough to respond, and he assured us, “We are going to have discussions with stakeholders who were in process of starting breweries prior to development of this new strategy. We want to do all we can to support industry development to see the micro brewery industry prosper in NB”. While this is encouraging to hear, we feel the consultations with stakeholders should have taken place before these new rules were implemented.  Mr Harriman goes on, “We believe that our new policy will serve to strengthen our business. We also feel that the 100 HL requirement is a manageable number for new brewers.” While we understand that the ANBL’s goals are to generate income and control the sale of alcohol in the province, we believe that these requirements are not manageable for new brewers who may be transitioning into this industry as a part-time endeavour, or are trying to generate the least amount of debt possible. Dozens of kegs for licensees and hundreds of bottles for the ANBL are not cheap!

• So, what can you do about this? We encourage you to read and sign an online petition created by friends and neighbours (and potential suppliers) of Railcar, Kathryn and Nick Southan of Southan Farms in Wicklow. While this petition is specific to Railcar’s issue (and others that may be in the middle of licensing), we feel that signing it shows your support for the idea that before any rules are implemented, discussions with breweries, big and small, should be taking place. We suggest that either different production tiers are implemented in the licensing strategies, or allowances for breweries to sell primarily (or exclusively) for off-site consumption at their brewery locations. To assist with the extra financing he will need to comply with these restrictions, he has just launched a crowd-funding plumfund page.

And now on to the happy part of the week, new beers and other news…

• Rockbottom Brewpub has released their newest beer, Bloodletter Belgian IPA. From Brewmaster Greg Nash, they are giving their Belgian-style brew the West-Coast treatment! Weighing in at 6.3%, and with a calculated 217 IBUs, this is a light-coloured but not light on flavour beer! In addition to the characteristic yeast flavour, the beer was spiced with coriander and cumin at flame-out, and generously hopped throughout with Bravo (in the mash and first wort), Dana (at flame-out) and Kohatu (dry-hopped). As Nash put it, “MMmm West-Coast-Belgian-American-NewZealand-Slovenian-hopped-spiciness in a glass.” They will also be putting on a coffee-infused version of this beer, so check out that blend. And be sure to drop by Wednesday for the tapping of the Firkin at 4pm. Lots of exciting blends and beers start their life out in a Firkin, so it’s a great to get a sneak peak of what Nash is up to in the brewery!

• Rare Bird Craft Brewing in Guysborough has released their Maple Ale this week. Brewed with local maple sap in place of water throughout the brew, this 5.5% beer ends up with a light body and copper colour. Maple syrup is also added to the wort, but the hops help to keep it from being overly sweet, for a nice balance. The beer is in rotation at Stillwell Beer Bar in Halifax and at the Rare Bird Pub in Guysborough, and will be available in the private stores in the near future.

• Big Tide Brewpub in Saint John has released a couple of new beers since last week’s post. Tidal Wave Double IPA hit the taps late last week, and was one of the beers poured at the Picaroons Brewer’s Bash last weekend. We’re not sure about this incarnation, but previous versions of this beer weighed in around 9%, and loaded with multiple dry hop additions for a wave of hop flavour and aroma. Also new on tap is a return of the Haffe Wit, a Witbier brewed with a special blend of spices for their own twist on the style.

• Grimross Brewing has released their newest beer. Summer Serendipity is now available at the Picaroons Brewtique on Queen Street in Fredericton. Unfortunately, it was released late last night, so we do not have all of the details, but can pass along the tasting notes from brewer Steven Dixon: “Floral sweet lemongrass aroma, tropical fruit taste and subtle hop bitterness.”

• Paddys Irish Brewpubs in Kentville and Wolfville have released their newest summer seasonal, Dom Arthur Kolsch. Details are light on their recipe, but this style is a light hybrid between lager and ale, and goes well with beautiful patio weather!

• Yellowbelly Brewpub in St John’s has released a summer version of their Wexford Wheat, Summer Wheat. The base recipe is the same, but uses Topaz dry-hops for a different aroma and flavour. We’re not sure how long it will last, so be sure to drop by!

• There are still a few spots left in this year’s Fredericton Beer Run, to be held August 4th. Runners can choose to participate in a legitimate 6km or 12km run, and then enjoy beer from New Brunswick craft breweries afterwards. You must run to drink the beer, though there are a few “Coach’s Tickets” available (must register with a runner). It is being run by Lloyd Chambers, who also organizes the great Fredericton Craft Beer Festival. Sign up today, only a couple more weeks of training!

• The Chronicle Herald newspaper in Halifax has put together a Nova Scotia Craft Brewery Guide with a description of the brewing process, list of NS breweries (no brewpubs, yet), map of their locations, and amateur tasting notes.

• Propeller Brewing Company has re-launched their Open Brewery Tours at their Gottingen St location. While you normally need nine or more friends to book a brewery tour (or pay for strangers to come drink with you), every Wednesday 6-7:30pm in the summer, you can drop by solo or with a handful of friends, and pay the regular $15. During your time there, you’ll have a chance to sample lots of their regular lineup, as there’s usually a seasonal or two on tap as well.

• The Ladies Beer League is looking for your help! They are teaming up with Boxing Rock Brewing to create a special cask for their event during the Local Connections Sausage Fest, held August 14-24. Check out their Facebook page and make your suggestions. If yours gets picked, you will win a t-shirt and bragging rights! Stay tuned for more details on the LBL event, too.

• These new beers won’t be available for a few weeks, but we’ll be keeping our eyes (and mouths) open for Garrison’s Honey & Lavender Beer that was brewed Monday, and Big Spruce’s Pump Le Mousse, a grapefruit wheat beer.

• And Happy Second Anniversary to the Townhouse Pub in Antigonish! They celebrated by releasing a special British IPA brewed on their system upstairs. Fortunately/unfortunately, it sold out in a matter of hours, so if you weren’t there to enjoy Sunday, you’ll have to wait until Terry brews it again (we hope soon!).

Friday Wrap-Up – New Beers and Old Favorites from Garrison and Picaroons, Gahan House Announces Homebrewer’s Challenge, and lots more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2014-02-14
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Antigonish Townhouse, Bad Apple Brewhouse, BarNone Brewing, Beerthief, Bridge Brewing, Gahan House (Charlottetown), Gahan House Home Brewer's Challenge, Garrison Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, Moncton Beer League, New Brunswick Homebrew Challenge, North Brewing, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Pump House Brewery, Rogues Roost Brewpub, Saint John Ale House, Stillwell Beer Bar, The Pub Magazine. 2 comments

Happy Friday and Valentine’s Day to everyone! We’ve got another busy week’s worth of beer news from our area, so grab a pint and your sweetie, and enjoy.

• Garrison Brewing is doing a special event/tasting today, and you can take part! You may have seen the flurry of #3447 or #TestBatch hashtags on Twitter, this is it: Brewmaster Daniel Girard is putting out a small batch of a new IPA, and they want you to give them feedback. From 4-5:30 today, the new beer will be available at Stillwell, Lion & Bright, HMCS King’s Wardroom and the brewery. Garrison crew will be sharing samples of the new beer, in order to get your feedback. Tracy Philippi of Garrison shared some recipe details with us: It clocks in at 51 IBUs and 6.5% ABV, and is a very tropical IPA with hops like Cascade & Citra. Be sure to drop by & let them know what you think! Psst… you could even win a prize for your feedback! The Test Batch will also be available in 650 ml bombers at their retail store, as well as the four private beer stores in HRM.

• Garrison brewer Kellye Robertson had a crazy idea for a Valentine’s Day beer, so the crew has brewed it up, and we all get to enjoy it: Love Potion #9. The base of this elixir is an amber ale (4.6% and 21 IBUs), but it is infused with cranberries & hibiscus, among other cheeky ingredients. It will also be available for growler fills at Garrison today, and will also appear on tap around Halifax (Kings Ward Room, Dalhousie Grad House, Mothers Pizza, Freeman’s Quinpool, Wooden Monkey (Halifax), Lion and Bright, Stillwell, Stubborn Goat and The Argyle).

• Good news for our Garrison fans on The Rock! Their Spruce Beer has hit the shelves across the province. Check out the NLC page for availability close to you. Tracy has let us know that this is only the first of many Garrison beers that they’ll be sending to Newfoundland, so keep your eyes and ears open for that, likely in the spring.

• Even more Garrison news, their very popular Grand Baltic Porter was brewed earlier this week. We don’t have all of the details yet, but previous years’ batches have weighed in around 9%, and the style is very rich with chocolate and roast characters. This is a bigger beer, so the turnaround is usually a bit longer, so the release will probably be early- to-mid-March.

• And finally in Garrison news, a final reminder that entries for the Home Brew-off are due Thursday, Feb 20th. As we’ve mentioned previously, there has been a big improvement to the judging, in that the first round of judging will be done by BJCP-certified judges, and every entrant will receive a full scoresheet back (rather than just the final four). The gala will be taking place March 13th at the brewery, where the top four beers will be sampled, and last year’s winning Belgian Blonde will be released. It’s always a great time!

• The winning beer brewed by Joe Goodine of Moncton for the 1st Annual New Brunswick Home-Brew Challenge will soon be on tap in Fredericton. This beer, a Standard/Ordinary Bitter, was selected out of 42 entries for the style as the winner at a gala at the King Street Ale House in December. Joe brewed the beer at Picaroons with their head brewer, Andrew Estabrooks. While details of the beer are slim, look for it on tap for growler fills at the Brewtique, and possibly at Marky’s Laundromat in Moncton. You can read more on the contest and gala in our previous post.

• Due to the popularity of the Ember Ale (a smoked Porter) brewed by Picaroons for the opening of the King Street Ale House last November, they’ve decided to brew the beer again! While it was originally for exclusive sale at the KSAH, it will be also be available on tap elsewhere, and at the Brewtique for growler fills.

• And, in other returning-beers-from-Picaroons news, look for their Maple Cream Ale to hit shelves/taps around March 1st. Keep following this blog for news on a launch party for that date; also, stay tuned to Picaroon’s Twitter feed for updates as well.

• Over in PEI, the Gahan House has decided to connect with local homebrewers by holding the 1st Annual Home Brewer’s Challenge. Residents of PEI that are 19 and older are invited to submit a home brewed beer of their own for a chance to brew a full-sized batch of their beer with brewmaster Trent Hayes, to be released on tap as a Gahan seasonal! The beer must be brewed as an all-grain beer (no kits or extract allowed), and the style “must complement the regular line-up of Gahan beers”. There is no charge to enter; just fill out the registration and recipe sheets provided, and send in a 6-pack of your beer to the Gahan House (125 Sydney St., Charlottetown) by 5:00 pm, Friday, March 21st. The judges (including Hayes, another brewer, and others TBD) will narrow the beers down to the top 5; these will then be tasted live on a local radio station over that next week, Monday to Friday, with a different beer featured each day. Finally, on Saturday at Gahan House, there will be a 2:00 pm tasting panel to select the winner. Entrants will be invited to join the event to watch the proceedings. If you want to sign up, send an email to gahan@murphysrestaurants.ca, and they’ll get the forms to you; the deadline to sign up is one week from today, Feb. 21st. Get brewing, Islanders!

• PEI’s other brewery has some news: Barnone Brewing is now offering a new growler for purchase to fill with their three regular beers. This Hydroflask growler is becoming quite popular; made of durable, food-grade stainless steel, it’s capable of keeping beer (and other liquids, of course) cold for up to 24 hours. It’s your typical 1.89 L (64 oz) growler size, and can be purchased for $50 at the brewery. Pick one up during their weekly growler night – Thursdays from 6-8 pm – and fill it with either the Summer Sessions, Pale Ale, or IPA.

• Speaking of Barnone, they’ve added a new account to their growing list in Charlottetown. The Olde Dublin Pub on Sydney Street will now be serving Barnone’s Pale Ale.

• The Antigonish Townhouse is going on hiatus for awhile – the brewpub is closing for a mid-winter break from Feb 17th to March 3rd. After allowing their staff this period of rejuvenation, they plan on being back better than ever, with fresh beer and food flowing! Check out their announcement here. Terry has brewed up a Northern English Brown for sale at the pub, to complement the Bitter, so be sure to try that next time you’re in.

• Bridge Brewing Co. in Halifax has recently changed their name to North Brewing Co. According to owner Peter Burbridge, this was done to avoid confusion with Bridge Brewing Co. in Vancouver, B.C.: “… we felt it was best to claim a name that was all our own. North is such a strong word with a lot of meaning for us. We brew and sell our beer in the North End of Halifax and we also have a strong sense of the direction we want to take North Brewing Company and so the word ‘North’ really resonates with us.” The brewery has graciously offered to exchange any Bridge merchandise for newer North merchandise; or, you can choose to keep the Bridge swag as collector’s items! The very popular brewery is currently undergoing an expansion… look for them to soon double and then quadruple their capacity!

• A few weeks ago, the crew from Stillwell Beer Bar made a visit to Bad Apple Brewing in Somerset, and brewed up a batch of beer with Brewmaster Jeff Saunders. A little birdie has told me the beer should be available starting this weekend, on tap only at Stillwell. You’ll have to keep your eyes peeled to their twitter feeds (@BadAppleBrewing and @BarStillwell), as you don’t want to miss this little stunner!

• Rogues Roost Brewpub in Halifax is getting ready to release a Bock in the next week or so. Brewer Jake gave us an insight into the recipe: It was brewed with a Munich malt base with a bit of Vienna; also Melanoidin, Cara 80, and a touch of Black malt. Bittered with mostly Tettnanger hops, O.G. 1.068 F.G. 1.016, for an ABV of 6.8%. Jake also let us know that he’s got a Pilsner in the works as well. It is a Czech Pils insofar as water and gravity (soft water with low mineral content, ABV around 4.5-5%) are concerned, but hopped using Hersbrucker (a German hop as opposed to Czech Saaz),  because, as Jake put it, “Hersbruckers are awesome”. Sounds like a good enough reason to us!

• The Beerthief Newfoundland and Labrador Artisanal and Craft Beer Club have published a Club Status Report this week, giving details on their membership base, current and upcoming beer offerings. With over 2400 all across Newfoundland and Labrador, they are having a measurable impact on the beers offered and available at the NLC. The province has recognized that the local beer lovers were being under-served, and by partnering with Mike and Tom of the Club, are making changes to the selection. We encourage you to read the report to get an idea of how YOU can influence the beer selection in your neck of the woods. Congratulations!

• Chris had a great time at the Saint John Ale House last night, celebrating the launch of Hammond River Brewing. Despite the poor weather, the restaurant was packed with folks trying (and then buying) Shane’s four beers. SJAH will have two Hammond River beers on permanently, and the beers can also be found at the Bourbon Quarter, The Barrel’s Head, and Shiretown Publicans. Shane was also featured in a few interviews this wee; go check them out for more information on HRB: SJAH TV, CBC Information Morning, CBC TV. Congratulations once again, Shane!

• The Moncton Beer League is having their first event at the Pump House Brewery (131 Mill Rd.) next Friday, Feb. 21st. The first meeting will include a brewery tour of the Pump House, followed by tasting samples of five beers on tap, plus a special barrel-aged or cask-conditioned beer brewed specifically for the League. Tickets can be bought in advance here for $15 per person, or purchased at the door for $20 when the event begins. It all begins at 7 pm, and should continue until 10 pm.

• And, to close things off, just a quick note to officially welcome The Pub Magazine – Atlantic Canadian Edition to the beer world! They’ve been very active over the past few months on Twitter and Facebook, but just published their first edition online a few days ago (and the magazine will be in your favourite pub and bar soon). We look forward to seeing what Troy and company do next!

That’s it for now, you bunch of romantics… see you next week!