Big Spruce Brewing

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Friday Wrap-Up – Picaroons “May the 4th Be With You” Event, Pump House Maple and Braunschweig released and more

Posted by acbbshawn on 2013-05-03
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Atlantic Beer Festival, Big Spruce Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Hell Bay Brewing, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Propeller Brewing, Pump House Brewery, Seaport Beerfest. Leave a Comment

– Tomorrow, May 4th, Picaroons will be hosting a tap-takeover at Plan B Bar & Lounge in Moncton. For this “May the 4th Be With You” event, the six taps will include Dark & Stormy Night, Dooryard, Best Bitter, Timber Hog, Yippee IPA, and Feelsgood Imperial Pilsner; the band Gravity Strike will also be providing live music. Tickets are $10, and the event starts at 10:00 p.m.

Also on Saturday, Picaroons is releasing a special beer named JED IPA. This beer is their Yippee IPA “insanely dry-hopped with Galaxy, Comet, Aurora, Delta, Apollo, and Phoenix hops”, according to Dennis Goodwin, Marketing Director at Picaroons. JED IPA will be available exclusively at the Picaroons Brewtique in growlers only, and also on tap at Plan B Saturday night.

– The Pump House Brewery has released two more of their seasonal beers in bottles, just in time for the warm weather! The Maple Ale, at 5% ABV, is described as an amber-colored beer with an aroma that is slightly sweet, yet with a hint of Columbus hops in the background. The taste shows off the maple character, as the beer is “allowed to age upon an ample quantity of pure maple syrup, sourced from locally tapped sugar maple trees”. The second beer is their Braunschweig Wicked Wheat (Braunschweig is the German word for “Brunswick”). Also at 5% ABV, this beer sounds like it’s along the lines of a Hefeweizen, with a golden color, and aromas and flavors of banana and clove. Look for these beers at various ANBL stores across New Brunswick.

– Big Spruce Brewing in Nyanza Cape Breton is having a busy time these days, brewing often to keep up with demand in Cape Breton, Halifax, and locations in between. They are looking for a summer student to run their sales counter four days a week, to help move their growlers and merchandise. If you are over 19 and interested, email bigsprucebrewing@gmail.com.

They also have lots of certified organic hop rhizomes available (they grow and use their own hops whenever possible), email them for details. Jeremy will be happy to give you a crash course on growing hops at home!

– Hell Bay Brewing is continuing their move to a bigger and better location, and will be selling out of their Liverpool location (38 Legion St) this weekend (Fri-Sun, 12-6pm each day). They will be having a Grand Opening mid-June to celebrate their move, and we will keep you up-to-date with the details. Congratulations to Hell Bay on their continued success!

– Propeller Brewing is releasing their newest One Hit Wonder beer today. The style is an Imperial Red Ale, and unfortunately is only available in growlers at the brewery on Gottingen. Also, local drinks writer Craig Pinhey has details on Propeller’s expansion into Dartmouth in the latest edition of Taps Magazine.

– Garrison Brewing is also going through a major expansion in downtown Halifax, and we hope to give you some details on this soon. In the meantime, their much-anticipated Sugar Moon Maple beer is being released today at the brewery, and at Premier Wine and Spirits and Bishop’s Cellar this weekend. It will also be available at the ANBL shortly.

– Tickets for the afternoon session of the Atlantic Beer Festival in Moncton on May 25th are still available. Breweries from all over the Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario and Maine will be in attendance. We hope to have the brewery and beer list for you soon.

– It’s not for several months, but the Seaport Beer Festival has put out their call for volunteers. The festival is taking place in Halifax August 9-10, and volunteer spots fill up early, so contact them for more details.

Friday Wrap-Up: Shiretown Beer in ANBL soon, Railcar Brewing Online Store Open, Antigonish Townhouse Brewing Test Batches

Posted by acbbchris on 2013-04-26
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Antigonish Townhouse, Big Spruce Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Ironworks Distillery, PEI Brewing, Propeller Brewing, Railcar Brewing, Shiretown Beer. 1 comment

Hello beer buddies! It’s another Friday, so another Friday Wrap-Up:

  • Shiretown Beer, located in Charlo, NB, should have their flagship beer, Blonde du Quai, for sale in 500 mL bottles at select ANBL stores by the end of next week. A Blonde Ale with more hops than typical, Blonde du Quai recently won a bronze medal at the Saint John Beer Festival on April 13th. Look for it at ANBL locations in Campbellton, Charlo, and Dalhousie, and on tap around the province. Here’s the direct “Find it” link.
  • Railcar Brewing Company, which will be opening by the end of 2013 in the Florenceville-Bristol area, has added an online store to their website. Currently, hats, men’s and women’s t-shirts, and women’s hoodies are available for purchase, with glassware being added soon.
  • The Antigonish Townhouse has been open since July 2012, and have now started brewing test batches on their SABCO Brew Magic system. We’re excited to hear about another brewpub “opening”, and with the success the restaurant is already having, think the locals will enjoy their in-house beer. Stay tuned as we do a profile on them in the coming weeks.
  • Garrison Brewing have done a special release of their 15 Malt Anniversary beer, aged for three months in Glenora Distillery Barrels. This is only available at the brewery, and is very limited, sorry!
  • The Saltscapes Expo is on this weekend at the Halifax Exhibition Park. Not beer-centric per se, but lots of breweries will be in attendance: Propeller Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Ironworks Distillery, PEI Brewing, Prince Edward Distillery.
  • And congratulations once again to Big Spruce! We attended their HRM Launch Party at the Wooden Monkey Dartmouth, and sampled both their Kitchen Party Pale Ale and Cereal Killer Stout. While we didn’t kick as many kegs at the Sydney party (I blame the poor weather), the beer, food and music was great! Their beer is now on tap in Halifax (Wooden Monkey [Dartmouth], The Argyle Grill and Bar [Halifax], Gabrieau’s Bistro [Antigonish], Bras D’Or Yacht Club [Baddeck], Governor’s Pub and Eatery [Sydney], East Side Mario’s [Sydney]).

Friday Wrap-Up: Big Spruce HRM Launch Party Saturday, New Beer from Bridge Brewing, Picaroons

Posted by acbbchris on 2013-04-19
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Big Spruce Brewing, Bridge Brewing, Picaroons Traditional Ales. 1 comment

Hello Atlantic Canadian Beer Fans! Another busy week, with lots more to come. Here’s your Friday Wrap-Up:

  • A reminder that the launch party for Big Spruce Brewing‘s beers in the HRM will be held Saturday at the Wooden Monkey, Dartmouth location. The event kicks off at 7pm, with samples of their Kitchen Party Pale Ale and Cereal Killer Oatmeal Stout. We hope to see you there! For more up-to-the-minute details on when the brewery is open for growler sales, Big Spruce is now on twitter.
  • Bridge Brewing has announced that their third beer, Strong Dark Belgian, will be available at the brewery starting today. With flavours of dark chocolate, and dark fruit, this 8% beer is a welcome addition to their line-up. Their current hours are Wed-Sat 12-7pm, though it’s best to check Twitter for any “Out of stock” notices.
  • Next Wednesday, April 24th, Picaroons will also be having a launch party for their highly successful Dooryard, an American Wheat Ale, one of their two summer seasonal beers. From 4-7 pm at the York St. Train Station in Fredericton, the party will feature live music, wood-fired pizza, and free Dooryard samples.
  • And a reminder that their Prohibition Repeal Party at Wilser’s Room is tonight. 12 taps of their beer, and there may even be some barrel-aged goodies as well! The event starts at 7pm, with Gypsophilia taking the stage at 9:30.
  • In Halifax, a reminder that the Rockbottom brewpub has a special beer every Saturday, tapped at 1pm. Served gravity-fed on the bar-top from a pin (20l), this week’s is the American Pale Ale with an extra blast of Cascade Hop Oil. Brewmaster Greg Nash loves to try a special twist on his regular lineup and seasonals, and it’s different every week.
  • Down at the Hart and Thistle, the Commissar Russian Imperial Stout is gone 🙁 but that means there is room for Nash’s latest creation, which is a dry-hopped IPA, launching in a few days :). Check their twitter for details on the exact release.
  • The Saint John Beer Festival, which was held last Saturday, appears to have been a great success. The event was sold out, and feedback was very positive, according to  organizer Peter Stoddart (also of the Saint John Ale House). Almost $2000 was raised for Ducks Unlimited.
    A popular vote was held to determine the best beers of the festival. With over 150 ballots cast, the results were as follows:
    Gold – Picaroons Oak-aged Winter Warmer (in Glenora cask)
    Silver – Big Tide Sandpiper Pilsner
    Bronze – Shiretown Blonde du Quai
    With a tentative date of April 5th being planned for next year’s event, Stoddart says that organizers “will be working diligently to up the bar once again”.
  • Speaking of Saint John, Big Tide Brewing‘s newest seasonal is still available, their Double IPA. This one is only available at the pub, so you have to be a local to get it.

That’s all the news for this week. If you have news of info you’d like published, write it in the comments, or hit us up via email or twitter. We’re looking to expand the ACBB Calendar, so if you know of any upcoming events, pass it along. Cheers!