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Friday Wrap-Up – Fredericton Craft Beer Festival Wrap-Up, plus news from TrailWay, Boxing Rock, Bad Apple, Big Tide, BarNone and many more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2015-03-13
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Bad Apple Brewhouse, BarNone Brewing, Big Spruce Brewing, Big Tide Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Brewnosers, Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, Garrison Brewing, Le Naufrageur, Moncton Beer League, New Brunswick Beer Tours, NS Craft Beer Week, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Propeller Brewing, Pump House Brewery, The Coast, TrailWay Brewing. 1 comment

Happy Friday, folks! It was another busy week in Atlantic Canada Beer News, with the announcement of new breweries, beers, and events. Here’s what you need to know:

• This year’s Fredericton Craft Beer Festival was last Saturday, and as usual, a terrific time was had by all! Almost 200 beers, ciders and mead were pouring that night, and more than half of them were brewed right here in Atlantic Canada! Here’s some highlights from what was new from our region:

TrailWay Brewing had three new beers for the festival: Orbit Pale Ale is their regular-release 5.5% ABV Primetime APA hopped exclusively with the Orbit varietal, from New Zealand. Hugh John Hops, a DIPA, was brewed with a simple grist of 2-row and Munich malts, to let the hops shine. Weighing in at 7.3% and ~100 IBUs, the Cascade, Comet, and Apollo hops used provide lots of citrus and fruity characters, with a dry finish. It should be on tap now at 540 Kitchen & Bar, if you want to try it/have it again. Finally, Double-Double, a 6.5% ABV “Imperial Coffee Milk Stout”, features lots of roasted malt, lactose powder, and coffee from local Whitney Coffee Company; it also should be available soon at James Joyce Irish Pub.

The Next Chapter, the collaboration beer brewed by Boxing Rock and former Picaroons head brewer Andrew “Esty” Estabrooks, was a huge hit! This 6.3% ABV Rye IPA was brewed with New Brunswick-grown malt, and highly hopped with Columbus, Mosaic and Simcoe. If you didn’t get to try it, good news – it’s still on tap at the King Street Ale House, and will be released at select ANBL stores very soon (if our sources are correct) in 650 mL bottles. Don’t miss out on this NB-release-only beer! More on The Next Chapter in our previous post here.

Also officially launched at the Fest was Bad Apple Brewing’s Mosaic Double IPA. As mentioned previously, all proceeds of this beer will go towards ensuring any and all children will be able to attend the Down Syndrome Camp at Camp Brigadoon June 13-15. For those that want another taste of this beer (or try it for the first time), it is currently available at the brewery in Somerset in growlers and bottles, and will be on tap early next week at Tom’s Little Havana, Lion & Bright, Stillwell, and Stubborn Goat.

Big Spruce debuted their newest beer, UnRYEvaled Chocolate Rye IPA. A dark brown, slightly spicy ale that was heavily hopped with Simcoe, Citra and Amarillo, it exhibited lots of citrus and pine in both the aroma and flavour, as promised! More on this beer from our write-up a few weeks ago. It should be available now at the brewery for growler fills, as well as at the Antigonish Winter Farmers’ Market tomorrow. Look for it on tap at better beer bars/restaurants throughout Nova Scotia, too.

Big Tide brought their new Bavarian Lager, Bucht Bock. Brewed with 2-row and CaraMunich malts, this smooth, malty lager was lightly hopped with Hallertauer Tradition, a German-grown variety, to 25 IBUs. Coming in at a fairly-hefty 7% ABV, this beer will likely not be pouring at the brewpub, but will be making an appearance at next month’s Saint John Beer Fest.

While BarNone had their three staples on tap (Summer Sessions, Pale Ale, and IPA), they also brought their brand new American Wheat. Brewed-to-style with a good portion of Wheat malt, this light-coloured and easy-drinking ale clocks in at 5.5% ABV, and is hopped a little heavier than normal for this style, to about 30 IBUs.

Over $10,000 was raised from ticket sales and the FCBF Grunter Auction for the Canadian Diabetes Association; also, over $1000 was raised through coat check tips for the Nova Scotia Down Syndrome Society.

For those of us who attended the fest, remember to cast your vote for Best of the Fest. Check your inbox for an email from Fredericton Craft Beer Festival (via Eventbrite), entitled “Thank You from Fredericton Craft Beer Festival 2015” for your unique link. Voting ends Sunday, so don’t delay!

And great news for New Brunswick (and other Maritime province) beer fans, next year’s Fredericton Craft Beer Festival will be Fredericton Craft Beer Week! The tentative dates are March 9-13, with Beer Dinners, guided tastings, brunches, and other events all around Fredericton & vicinity joining the Saturday evening Festival. Of course, we’ll be sharing details once they are available, but best to mark your calendar now!

• Speaking of New Brunswick beer events, the next NB Beer Tour has been announced: a May 16-17 overnight bus trip to Carleton-sur-Mer, QC’s brewery, Le Naufrageur! The bus leaves from the King Street Ale House in the morning, and then stops for lunch, sampling, and a brewery tour (all included in your ticket price) at Shiretown Beer in Charlo. The bus then continues on to Carleton, where folks can check into their hotel (just a 10 minute walk away from the brewery), and then meet at Le Naufrageur for more sampling, a brewery tour, and supper with the Brew Crew (all included). After an optional trip to picturesque Mont Saint-Joseph to watch the sunset, it’s back to the brewery for a concert (Dan Livingstone and The Griffintown Jug Addicts, tickets included) and a few more drinks. Leaving Carleton Sunday morning, with a lunch stop in Miramichi, will have folks back at the Ale House before 4pm. Tickets are $195 and $220 (quad and dbl occupancy, respectively), and are available online now.

• In more TrailWay news, beer drinkers in Fredericton can expect to see another one-hop APA available through the city this weekend. Apollo Pale Ale is hopped with, you guessed it, the Apollo varietal (known for its orangey/resiny qualities); like their other APAs, it weighs in at 5.5% ABV. You should be able to find this one on tap now/soon at TrailWay’s newest account, The Blue Door. And they’ve got some new beers in the works, hopefully for next week… a new IPA, and their first Black IPA! We’ll have more info on these beers for you next Friday. And it looks like they’re beginning to experiment with casks, too, so expect more news on that end as well!

• Tonight, Picaroons is once again holding a Tap Takeover at Plan b Lounge in Moncton, starting at 7 pm. All six taps will feature Picaroons beers, with one acting as a rotating “Stout” tap, where different versions of their Timber Hog will be pouring throughout the night, including one dry-hopped with Willamette hops, one infused with coffee, one with ginger, and a Chocolate Vanilla version. There’s no cover, and there will be live music from Force Fields and Heavy Doobie as well. The special Timber Hog varieties will also be available at the Picaroons Brewtique in Fredericton, beginning at 4pm.

• Granite Brewery in Halifax has brought back their very popular India Pale Ale for the first time in a couple of years. It is a lighter IPA, weighing in at 5.5% ABV. The beer features a lot of Cascade and East Kent Golding hops for a solid bitterness, but is not over-the-top hoppy. It will be a staple in the Stairs Street Beer Store when it is released early next week, and at a few specialty tap locations around HRM for the Spring.

• Pump House has re-released their Red Leaf Lager seasonal. Featuring a nutty malt character from a similar malt bill to their Fire Chief Red Ale but brewed using a lager yeast, this 5.0% ABV beer features a medium bitterness and is dry-hopped with whole leaf hops for additional aroma. It is available at all four ANBL Growler locations this weekend, and will be available at select bars and restaurants in NB, NS and PEI.

• Garrison Brewing has released a brand new beer to their line-up, In Session ISA (India Session Ale). Though the beer is lower alcohol at 4.4%, there is still plenty of citrus and tropical fruit hop flavour and aroma packed into the small package, thanks to lots of El Dorado, Belma, and Crystal hops. The lighter body and lower alcohol will make this a truly sessionable beer. Look for it at the brewery and private beer stores now, and at the NSLC and on tap at favourite beer bars shortly.

• Propeller Brewing has released the latest in their One-Hit Wonder series, Oatmeal Stout. With a hint of oats on the nose to complement the roast character, this 5.8% ABV beer is pitch black, not too bitter, and well balanced. 2 Row, Wheat, Chocolate, Oats, Black Prinz and Roast Malts make up the grain bill, with Willamette and Cascade hops delivering 29 IBUs. As with all of the OHW brews, the best place to buy the beer is in growlers at both the Gottingen St and Windmill Rd locations, with a few kegs available on tap around Halifax.

• Attention Homebrewers: The Brewnosers are hosting their first open homebrew competition! Open to all Canadian Homebrewers, and accepting all BJCP beer styles, this competition will also be a part of the Canadian Amateur Brewer of the Year circuit. Registration is now open, and beer samples must be sent/dropped off at the Noble Grape in Burnside before May 15th, with the judging taking place the next weekend.

• More Signature Events have been announced for May’s Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia NS Craft Beer Week. We’ll have full details shortly, but in the meantime, here are the important dates:

MAY 8 – Beer & Beethoven, 7pm at Halifax Forum Multipurpose Centre. The kick-off event for the Week, and Symphony NS fundraiser.
MAY 9 – Open Brewery Day, all day. All member breweries will be open for tours, tastings, and other events.
MAY 10 – The 2015 Stillwell Open, 12pm-2am at Stillwell (tickets sold out). Backyard BBQ Beer Tasting, served blind to attendees, with the best beer voted upon by the customers.
MAY 13 – Beer Cocktail Face-Off, 7pm at Auction House. Bartenders will be creating their best Beer Cocktails, with live music accompaniment.
MAY 14 – The Science of Beer, 6-9pm at Discovery Centre. A look at the science behind the design, creation, and enjoyment of our favourite beverage. Plus 12 beers from 6 local breweries.
MAY 15 – Brews Cruise. Cruise the Halifax harbour on the Tall Ship Silva, while enjoying NS Craft Beer. Tickets available at Murphy’s Company Store.
MAY 15 – Race the Kegs, 7pm, Gahan House. Collaboration brews from the North and South of the province will race to Halifax by sail, to be tapped at this friendly competition.
MAY 16 – Full House Beer Fest, 12-3pm (tickets here) & 4-7pm (tickets sold out), Olympic Community Centre. All CBANS members together under one roof, for the first time ever.
MAY 17 – Brewers Brunch, 11am-2pm, Stubborn Goat. A hearty brunch buffet and CBANS member beers will help to cure any hangover you might have from the previous days’ imbibing.

Here’s hoping everyone has a great weekend! A reminder that tickets are still available for the Moncton Beer League New Brunswick Craft Beer Dinner at Legends Restaurant (Moncton Coliseum) March 21st, 6-11pm. After being closed for two weeks for renovations, Yarmouth’s Rudder’s Sea Food Restaurant and Brew Pub re-opened this week, just in time for Tuesday’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Speaking of which, St. John’s Yellowbelly Brewpub has released Paddy’s Pale Ale this week (details here), with bottles at the brewery and NLC available this weekend. Piez Bistro (Cole Harbour) is celebrating Pi Day Saturday with Pizza and Craft Beer pairing all day. Look for Boxing Rock, Garrison, North and Tatamagouche beers to be paired with their creations. Petit-Sault’s Phémie-la-Bootlegger, the 4.6% Maple Brown Ale brewed as part of the Pink Boots International Women’s Collaborative Brew Day initiative, is on at the ANBL Growler program province-wide this weekend. The Coast’s annual Beer Guide was released this week… grab it for articles on three upcoming HRM breweries: Spindrift, Unfiltered, and Wrought Iron; Angeline MacLennan (the Maritimes’ only Certified Cicerone); Homebrewer Rob Shortt’s Basement Brewery, and much more.

Friday Wrap-Up – News from Big Spruce, BarNone, Picaroons, Bad Apple Brewhouse, Pump House, Red Rover and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2015-02-27
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Bad Apple Brewhouse, BarNone Brewing, Big Axe Brewery, Big Spruce Brewing, Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia, Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, Hammond River Brewing, Moncton Beer League, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Red Rover Brewing, Unfiltered Brewing. 1 comment

Good morning! Thankfully, February is just about over, which means winter has to be ending soon… right? Let’s celebrate with some regional beer news…

• Big Spruce had a special visitor at the brewery earlier this week: Don Campbell, brewer/co-owner of PEI’s BarNone Brewing; luckily for us, the purpose of the visit was to brew! The two brewers conspired – not collaborated – together to develop a currently-unnamed Imperial IPA expected to come in at around 8% ABV and 97 calculated IBUs. Bittered with Magnum, flavored with Bravo, and lots of aroma/flavor additions of both Citra and Cascade, expect plenty of hoppy goodness! When it’s ready, it will be available on tap at the Big Spruce brewery, and at select establishments in Nova Scotia; BarNone may brew it at their brewery for release in PEI. Stay tuned for more info in the near future!

• A couple of days ago, Picaroons released their first of a new series of beers that are “brewed by, brewed for, and named after” their staff. All 30 Picaroons staff members (ranging from brewers to delivery drivers) will have a chance to develop and brew a recipe of their own, with some help from head brewer Myles MacKenzie and owner Sean Dunbar. They’re even being encouraged to incorporate different yeasts other than their house strain, Ringwood. While there’s no exact schedule to each brew, every batch will be brewed on the smaller system located at the Brewtique in downtown Fredericton. The first beer, Griff, was brewed by longtime Picaroons brewer Ryan “Griff” Griffith. An English Pale Ale, it was “moderately hopped” with Willamette and some Fuggles to 20 IBUs, giving the beer a “nice and pleasant earthy tone”. An easy-drinking beer at 4.8% ABV, it became available in limited supply at the Brewtique for growler fills on Tuesday, Feb. 24th; a single keg was also tapped at the Lunar Rogue last night for a Picaroons staff party celebrating the new beer series. We’ll keep you updated on the staff brew series as more beers are developed and released!

• And speaking of Picaroons, their seasonal Maple Cream Ale will be available again this coming Monday, March 2nd. This year, however, the ~5% ABV beer – brewed with real maple syrup from Briggs Maples in Riverview – will be available on tap only, no bottles. Look for it at the Brewtique for growler fills, on tap at select bars and restaurants, and likely at ANBL growler stations in the near future.

• Bad Apple Brewhouse is bringing back one of their most most popular and often-requested beers, Mosaic Double IPA. Winner of the 2014 Atlantic Canada Brewing Award in the Double IPA category, it will see its 2015 launch at the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival next week. The beer weighs in at 8% ABV, features a medium body, and of course, showcases the lovely Mosaic hop varietal, which was extensively added late in the brew, at flame out, and during dry-hopping. Due to the popularity, and more access to Mosaic hops, the beer will be brewed again in the Spring and Summer, with the possibility of a limited release in bottles at that time. The beer is also a passion project for Bad Apple owner Jeff Saunders and his wife Kari Smith, who will again be partnering with the Halifax Down Syndrome Society and donating all income (not just profits) from sales of the brew to ensure that all local children (along with their families and caregivers) will be able to attend the Down Syndrome Weekend at Camp Brigadoon, being held June 13-15. Look for the beer at the brewery, and on tap wherever craft beer lovers come together!

• The University of New Brunswick-Saint John will soon be celebrating their 50th Anniversary, and they’ve asked Hammond River to brew up a special beer for a party on March 19th at Beaverbrook House. Owner/brewer Shane Steeves has fittingly chosen a “Golden Ale” (aka Blonde Ale), brewed with 2-row and CaraRed malts, and lightly hopped with Cascade to 20 IBUs. Expect this beer to be smooth and easy-drinking, at ~5.2% ABV. The UNBSJ party starts at 5:30 pm; there’s no charge to attend, and your first pint of Shane’s new beer is free! Head to the party’s FB page to vote on what the beer should be named. Hammond River’s regular accounts will also be receiving kegs of this new beer once it’s ready, so look for it around Saint John around the same time.

• Pump House will soon be releasing their popular Bière de Garde in six-packs; this award-winning beer (it took home a gold medal in the Belgian Style Specialty Ales category in the 2014 Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards) has been available on tap periodically at the brewery. A dark-red beer with an aroma of toasted dark bread and hints of spice, juniper berries, and pineapple, it’s allowed time to mature and age to let the flavors develop. Bittered to 15 IBUs with Goldings and Chinook, it’s full-bodied with notes of dark caramel, according to the brewery. Weighing in at 6.5% ABV, look for the sixers across NB and NS (and in Alberta!) by the second week of March.

• Red Rover continues to celebrate their 1st Birthday, this time with a party at the UNB Grad House, starting tomorrow (Saturday) at 8 pm. There will be several seasonal ciders available on tap, including their newest brew, Winter Blues, a wild blueberry cider. Head to the event page and vote for which of their ciders you’d most like to see on tap, and you’ll receive an official invite to the party, where there will be live music, free birthday cupcakes… and your first cider pour is on the house (while supplies last). They will also be announcing a special collaboration with Big Axe Brewery that they will be introducing at next weekend’s Fredericton Craft Beer Festival.

• The latest Signature Event of the Nova Scotia Craft Beer Week, coming May 8-17, has been announced. The Science of Beer will see the CBANS and friends take over the Discovery Centre on Thursday the 14th from 6-9pm, for a night of learning about, and enjoying, our favourite beverage. Seven speakers will be exploring different scientific, and fun, aspects of beer, from the brewing, packaging, and tasting, and many more angles. To keep your tastebuds stimulated while your brain is working, six breweries will be pouring beer (Boxing Rock​, Garrison​, North​, Propeller​, Sea Level, and Wrought Iron​), and food from Ace Burger, Morris East, and Stubborn Goat. We’ll have more details on the speakers and topics soon, but we can tell you that Chris will be giving a presentation. Tickets are available online now, we hope to see you there! And don’t forget to pick up tickets for the Full House Craft Beer Fest on Saturday the 16th, at the Olympic Community Centre. While there are many left for the 12-3pm session, there are only a few tickets remaining for the 4-7pm session. For $25, you’ll have a chance to sample the wares of CBANS members from one end of the province to the other, all under one roof, for the first time.

• The Moncton Beer League is partnering with Chef Matthew Pennell (Champion of Chopped Canada), for a 4-course beer and food pairing meal at Legends Restaurant (in the Moncton Coliseum) on March 21st. Each course will be paired with a different NB beer, plus an additional welcome beer in a souvenir glass you can take home. Tickets are available online now, and if you purchase them before March 4th, you will save $10.

• The official announcement has been made, and the website launched: Unfiltered Brewing will be coming to Halifax’s North End this Spring! Greg Nash is partnering with long-time friend Andrew Murphy and opening the brewery on North Street, and a sister pub adjacent, opening in the summer. Follow along with the progress on Twitter and their mailing list, where they will be releasing details on becoming a member of their Growler Club when it launches. We’ll have brewhouse and distribution details shortly. Welcome Unfiltered Brewing!

There are a few seasonal and special beers back to our region this week: Tatamagouche Brewing‘s RR#2 Lager, brewed with their own Mt. Hood and Crystal hops is back on at the brewery; Boxing Rock was able to their hands on more Nelson Sauvin hops, and have brought back a second batch of Unobtainium, available at the brewery and private beer stores starting today; Sea Level has released this year’s version of  El Rojo Diablo Double IPA, brewed with Waimea hops, and it’s on tap at the Port Pub and will be in the private stores shortly. The James Joyce Irish Pub in Fredericton has added yet another NB brewery to their taplist; they should be pouring Railcar‘s Artisan Brown Ale starting tomorrow.

If you missed out on tickets for next weekend’s Fredericton Craft Beer Fest, the Crowne Plaza Lord Beaverbrook is holding a contest on Facebook, giving away a pair of tickets and hotel room. Share this post to enter, and be sure to say Hi to Shawn and Chris on Saturday!

Friday Wrap-Up – News and New Beers from Big Spruce, Picaroons, YellowBelly, Pump House, and more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2015-02-20
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Beerthief, Big Spruce Brewing, Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, Garrison Brewing, Halifax Beer Run, Harvest Wines, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Propeller Brewing, Pump House Brewery, RockBottom Brewpub, Rudder's Brewpub, YellowBelly Brewery. 1 comment

Happy Friday everyone! Another busy week in AtlCanBeer News, so let’s get right to it!

• If you caught yesterday’s post on this year’s Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, you may have noticed that Big Spruce has brewed up something special for the event: UnRYEvaled Chocolate Rye IPA. We now have some more details on this tasty-sounding beer. Brewed with a grist containing 20% Rye malt, and a touch of malted Chocolate Rye, it’s hopped to 54 IBUs… with most of those IBUs (42, approximately) coming from late additions (the final 10 minutes of the boil, and during the whirlpool), which means lots of hop flavor and aroma! In fact, this beer features the largest late hop additions of any Big Spruce beer, according to owner/brewer Jeremy White. Hops used in these late additions include Simcoe, Citra, and Amarillo, so expect an extremely-hop forward beer, featuring “layered spicy notes, with complex citrus and pine flavour and aroma”; it weighs in at about 7.2% ABV. While this beer will pour for the first time ever at FCBF, it will later be available at the brewery for growler fills, and on tap at select locations in Nova Scotia. And in big news for HRM lovers of Big Spruce beer, they sent down a pile of kegs to be poured at RockHead’s popular growler station. Last night saw the debut of Cereal Killer Oatmeal Stout available in take-home packaging in HRM, and Kitchen Party Pale Ale and Mr IncREDible are waiting in the wings.

• Picaroons has released another one-off beer brewed on their small system at the Brewtique. Scotch Ale comes in at 7% ABV and 28 IBUs, and features a grist containing Golden Promise malt, some Crystal, and a good amount of Roasted Barley. It’s described by the brewery as being full-bodied, with “plenty of roasted characteristics that are all held together by an earthy Fuggles hop undertone”. It should still be on tap at the Brewtique for growler fills; in addition, it can be found this week at all four ANBL growler fill locations.

• There’s lots of brewing going on at YellowBelly Brewpub in St. John’s, Newfoundland! They will be celebrating International Women’s Day March 8th by brewing up a collaboration brew as part of the IWCBD initiative, and all women are invited to take part! “Brunch, Beer and Brewing” is the theme of their event. Tickets are $50, $20 of which is donated to the Newfoundland and Labrador Sexual Assault Crisis and Prevention Centre. For your admission fee, you will enjoy a flight of Brewmaster Liam McKenna and Assistant Brewer Nardia McGrath’s four current offerings: Wexford Wheat, YellowBelly Pale Ale, St. John’s Stout and Fighting Irish Red, as well as a hearty brunch prepared by the kitchen. You will also be hanging out in the Brewhouse with Nardia and Liam, while they (and maybe you!) work to create the Unite Red Ale, mashing, boiling, and transferring the beer (hey, it’s not all fun and games!). Uniting the 75+ breweries taking part in the Collaborative Brew Day will be the recipe, a dark red ale (21 degrees SRM) weighing in at 4.6% ABV and 50 IBUs (from Willamette hops), with some dry-hopping likely happening later in the process. And when *your beer* is released, you will enjoy your first pint of the brew on the house! Tickets are available now at the Brewery, so be sure to pick up yours today to avoid disappointment. The Collab Day kicks off at 10:30, and $1 from every pint sold that day will also be donated to the NLSACPC.

• In more YellowBelly new beer news, they’ve brewed up this year’s version of an annual favourite: Paddy’s Pale Ale was brewed with Maris Otter, Munich malt, and some Light Carastan, and hopped with both Nugget and East Kent Goldings to approximately 45 IBUs. A double dry-hop dose of more EKG should give this English IPA plenty of earthy, floral hop aroma and flavor. Weighing in at 6.2% ABV, look for this one to be released at the brewpub sometime around March 10th, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.

• And finally in YB news, Nardia and Liam have just brewed a Saison. Currently unnamed, this dry, spicy/fruity Belgian-style ale was brewed with both Pilsner and Honey malt, as well as an addition of Belgian Blonde candi sugar. Hopped entirely with the Saphir variety, it’s currently fermenting with no temperature control, which is common for traditional takes on the style; the warm fermentation temps allow the Belgian yeast strain to give off plenty of aromatic and flavorful esters (fruity) and phenols (spicy). Once primary fermentation is complete, the beer will be transferred to secondary for an extended aging period… it should be available on tap in the last week of April. While it’s still early in the process, look for it to come in somewhere around 6.3% ABV.

• Pump House is releasing a new beer of sorts, just in time for Mardi Gras. Black Voodoo Ale is a 50:50 blend of their 4 Alarm IPA and Muddy River Stout; the combination of the dark roasted malts and hoppy flavors and bitter finish will give a beer somewhere along the line of a Black IPA. This will be on tap only at the brewpub on Orange Lane in Moncton, from today until next Saturday, Feb 28th, so if you’d like to give it a try, get down there!

• Propeller Brewing‘s Irish Red Ale has made a return! Brewed with Pale, Crystal, Melanoidin, and Roasted malts, and hopped with Willamette to 25 IBUs, this ruby red-colored ale combines “roasted malt sweetness with an earthy hoppiness for a full-flavoured, yet balanced brew”. This popular beer will be available for growler fills at both Prop Shop locations, on tap at select beer bars/restaurants in the HRM, and in 650 mL bottles at the private stores, and for the first time, the NSLC.

• Also, Propeller has just released another One-Hit Wonder beer, Imperial ESB. Similar to their regular-release ESB, this is a bigger, fuller-flavoured brew, with a “more pronounced malt character”, according to the brewery. Brewed with 2-row, Wheat, Crystal, and Chocolate malts (which give a “subtle malt sweetness blending with hints of chocolate”), and hopped with Warrior, Willamette and Fuggles for an increased hop presence over their regular ESB, this dark amber/copper-coloured ale comes in at 6.2% ABV and 38 IBUs. It’s available today at the Dartmouth Prop Shop for growler fills, and shortly at the Gottingen St location.

• As mentioned briefly last week, Garrison Brewing’s Beer Dory had docked in Newfoundland, and the brews have been flowing ever since. This includes the Imperial Chocolate Stout, brewed specifically for the Beerthief Special Order Beer Club: 10% ABV, featuring lots of dark malts, and Cacao Nibs for a roast and chocolate bomb. Proceeds from the sale of the beer will go to a fund for the family of Sarah Turpin, a member of the Beerthief group, who passed away in the fall. In addition to that beer, Garrison also sent over their IPA, Red Ale, and Black IPA. To check the Garrison inventory at an NLC near you, visit the NLC’s website. And we can tell you that they kept some Imperial Chocolate Stout for us thirsty locals, and it has been released at the brewery and the four private stores in HRM today.

• Garrison will be releasing another new beer this weekend, This is Radio Wheat! CKDU Anniversary Ale. The 4.6% ABV American-style Wheat Ale features 40% wheat in the grain bill, for a hazy, light-bodied and easy-drinking beer. It was brewed to celebrate CKDU Radio Station’s 30th Anniversary. It will be one of the beers pouring at the Ladies Beer League “Rocks Off” event at the Mayflower Curling Club Saturday night, and will be available in bottles at the brewery and private stores shortly.

• Building on previous events held in Halifax, owner Adam Bower of The Grand Banker Bar & Grill in Lunenburg will be hosting a Winemaker vs Brewmaster event on Saturday, March 7th. Pete Luckett, owner of Luckett Vineyards and Daniel Girard, Brewmaster of Garrison Brewing, will be choosing five of their own wines or beers to pair with the Grand Banker’s five course menu. Attendees will sample the food and beverages, and then vote for their favourite by way of a bottle cap or cork. Tickets for the event are $112 including tax and gratuity, available online, by phone (902-634-3300), or in person at the Grand Banker.

• Taking a queue from successful events held in Fredericton, Halifax will be hosting its own Beer Run April 26th, called Strides & Suds for a Cure, in support of JDRF. This 5 or 10 km run will take place along the First Lake Trail in Lower Sackville and end in a social with samples of craft beer and entertainment. We will have more details for runners shortly, but in the meantime, the JDRF is currently looking for sponsoring breweries to take part. If you are interested, please contact Alanna.

Have a great weekend, and after shoveling, be sure to refresh yourself with some local craft beer! As we mentioned previously, 2014 Canadian Brewing Awards Gold Medal winner The Wreckoning Russian Imperial Stout is back on tap at Rockbottom Brewpub in Halifax. Definitely do not delay with grabbing this beauty, as this is the last batch to be brewed, ever. Beer fans in Yarmouth and the surrounding region, take note that Rudder’s Seafood Restaurant and Brew Pub will be closed for two weeks while some minor, but necessary, renovations are being made to the kitchen and bar areas. In last minute beer news, Harvest Wines has set up a Growler Station at their Dartmouth location. They have just received their custom-printed growlers from the good folks at Jym Line Glassware, and they will also fill anyone’s clean 1.89l growlers. Currently flowing is: Boxing Rock Vicar’s Cross, and Wild Axe Pils, Tatamagouche Brewery Dreadnot Black IPA and Sea Level Rojo Mojo Red.