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Friday Wrap-Up – News from Off Grid Ales and Think Brewing, North and Stillwell, Boxing Rock, and much more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2016-05-13
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Big Tide Brewing, Bore City Brewing, Bourbon Quarter, Cask and Kettle Irish Pub, Celtic Knot Brewing, Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia, Flying Boats Brewing, Fredericton Beer Run, Horton Ridge Malt & Grain, James Joyce Irish Pub, Maybee Brewing, North Brewing, Off Grid Ales, PEI Brewing Co., Picaroons, Stillwell Beer Bar, Think Brewing, Upstreet Craft Brewing, YellowBelly Brewery.

Happy Friday! We hope that those of you in Nova Scotia have been participating in the many excellent events this past week for Nova Scotia Craft Beer Week, with more scheduled for the coming weekend (Brews Cruise tonight, Full House tomorrow, Cape Breton Kitchen Party Sunday)! Once we get our act in gear, we’ll post some pictures and thoughts on the week. In the meantime, it’s time to get caught up with beer news in our area, including the announcement of more breweries for New Brunswick…

• Attention, residents of Harvey, NB… there’s not just one, but two new breweries planning to open in your area in the near future! Longtime homebrewers Scott MacLean and Randy Rowe have been brewing weekly 1/2 BBL (~60 L) batches together for the past two years, and work is underway on both sides to open small-batch breweries at their homes in Harvey:

Randy Rowe and his wife, Denise, plan to open Off Grid Ales sometime this coming summer. Specializing in “full-bodied ales”, including a Honey-infused Double IPA, the 3 BBL (~360 L) brewery will be solar- and wind-powered, and housed in a barn located on the couples’ property. The brewhouse equipment from Stout Tanks and Kettles arrived last week, with work progressing on set-up for commercial production. The brewery now has an active Twitter account, and will be launching their official website soon.

Scott and Denise MacLean’s 1 BBL (~120 L) brewery, Think Brewing, will also be housed within a barn (over 100 years old) on his property. Scott recently purchased the brewhouse equipment from TrailWay (who have now moved to a 10 BBL system). Hoping to open sometime mid-summer, the brewery will initially focus on English and American style ales. Stay tuned to Think’s Twitter and Instagram accounts for updates; of course, we’ll also be providing more info on both breweries as they progress further!

• North Brewing and Stillwell have teamed up to release their latest collaboration beer, Gose. The Gose style is growing ever-more-popular… tart and refreshing, the North/Stillwell take was brewed with a grist of Pilsner, Wheat, and Acid malt, it was kettle-soured with Lactobacillus to provide a slight acidic character, with “wet hay and lemon aromas”.  Hand-harvested Black Whale Salt from PEI and toasted coriander were also added. Hopped with the new New Zealand variety, Wai-Iti (which reportedly provides “fresh peach and apricot character”), and Mandarina Bavaria, it’s easy-drinking at 4.5% ABV and 10 IBUs. Just released yesterday, it’s available for growler fills at North, and is on tap at Stillwell and other better beer establishments across the HRM.

• North is also releasing another new beer, Grisette. Historically brewed for the mining class in Belgium, it’s another low-ABV style (but not sour/tart), intended on being light and crisp, and able to be consumed in quantity. Similar to the Gose grist, and hopped again with Wai-Iti, as well as the Australian Summer variety, it weighs in at a supremely-sessionable 3.5% ABV and 15 IBUs. Dry and citrusy, with a light peppery finish, according to the brewery. Available today in growlers at both North locations (Agricola and Ochterloney), it will also be out in the wild very shortly.

• Continuing the new beer releases for #NSCBW, Boxing Rock has released 4 (four!) new beers this week, and we’ve got the scoop direct from the brewery:

Mutiny! (Subversive Amber Ale, 5% ABV). This amber ale is a collaboration with Garrison, Hell Bay, Propeller, and Schoolhouse and forms the base for the Grog raced to Gahan House for Race the Kegs on May 8. This is an English style Pale Ale, amber in colour with a bold malt backbone and moderate hoppiness… lots of spicy and citrus hop aroma and very smooth and drinkable.

Over the Top (Sour Mash Cranberry Wheat Ale, 4% ABV). This beer is a collaboration with Karen Allen from Gahan House and we believe it is the first sour mash beer to be brewed and packaged in NS. Refreshingly tart and awesomely sessionable, this beer began with a 48-hour sour mash, in which our lactobacillus friends thrived, partied and arm wrestled. A late hop addition imparts a fruity aroma to balance the sour malt base. Nova Scotia cranberries dry out the finish and add a subtle depth of flavour and give it an amazing colour.

Carbon-14 (Strong Dark Belgian Ale, 8.2% ABV). Runner-up in our Homebrew Competition, the Black Box Challenge, this beer is as rare as the C-14 isotope. A strong, dark, Belgian ale made in the classic style, this beer is altogether perfectly balanced with that unmistakable Belgian character. It will have a very short half-life, so get it while you can. Carbon-14 was brewed in collaboration with Professor Jason McDougall.

Where There’s Smoke (Smoked Pale Ale, 6.5% ABV). Winner of the Black Box Challenge, our first homebrew competition. This beer is made with copious quantities of beech smoked malt, hops and steeped on cinnamon. The result is a beer that is bold, unexpected, in your face, and totally crushable. Brewed in collaboration with Black Box Challenge winner, Brian Harvey.

Try many of these, and several more (including a few past favourite from the archives) at Lion & Bright tonight, when the Boxing Rock crew drop by for a Tap Takeover starting at 5pm. And be sure to try many (all?) of what’s available, as $1 from each pint sold will be going to Red Cross Canada, in support of people affected by the fires in Fort McMurray.

• Another NS launch is a new/old beer from Good Robot. Awesome Beer, Great Job! is their own take on a Fall Saison, featuring darker malt CaraMunich 120 and Rye, spicing up the underlying Wheat and Pilsner malts. Lightly hopped with Mt Hood, it was fermented with Old World Blend from new yeast producer Escarpment Labs. The resulting beer is a hazy orange, with notes of plum, banana, and phenolic spice from both the rye and yeast character. Originally to be released in Fall 2015, due to difficulties with the beer, it was re-brewed, then re-re-brewed, and is now on tap! Check out their honest reporting of the ordeal. And keep an eye out for the launch of their American Wheat, Pryor Offences, this weekend, featuring lots of Amarillo and Mandarina Bavaria hops. And a new version of Burban Legend APA, dry-hopped with Cascade and Citra.

• There’s a new beer hitting taps from Riverview’s Celtic Knot Brewing – Monkeytown Mango Ale is a 4.5% ABV “light-drinking ale” that features the addition of real, frozen mangoes to the beer after primary fermentation was completed. Lightly-hopped with Cascade to add a bit more fruit character, kegs were delivered earlier this week to Plan B and Ducky’s. Look for Celtic Knot’s other accounts to be pouring this beer in the near future.

• YellowBelly has a brand new seasonal on tap at the brewpub, Tilt Cove Golden Nugget Ale. This APA was brewed with a mix of Canadian and West Yorkshire Pale Ale malts, along with some Scottish Carastan. Hopped entirely with the Nugget variety (including two dry-hop additions), the resulting “earthy, herbal, leafy character” comes through nicely. Clocking in at 6% ABV and 50 IBUs, this slightly-hazy beer will also be pouring at NLC Beer Expo this weekend, with a limited supply of bottles following shortly at the brewpub. In other YB news, they’ve rebrewed their East Coast Cream Ale, which should be available in about three weeks, and plan on brewing a “Summer Wheat Ale” dry-hopped with Sorachi Ace in the near future. As always, we’ll keep you updated!

• Sad news in Saint John this week, as it has been announced that Bourbon Quarter Restaurant, a true friend to local craft beer, is closing. On the bright side, BQ owner Shawn Verner is teaming up with Mike McPartland to open the Cask and Kettle Irish Pub, which they assure us will continue the BQ tradition of supporting craft beer. Located in the same space on Prince William, construction is underway now, with an opening expected in the next 4-6 weeks.

• After a year of construction and many test batches, Horton Ridge Malt is now open for business in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley. Specializing in floor-malted organic malts, their first product deliveries were made earlier this week, and Cape Breton’s Big Spruce brewed up a batch of the Kitchen Party Pale Ale with the 2-Row pale malt. Look for more breweries to use the local malt very soon, including Tatamagouche Brewing. In addition to selling to breweries, Horton Ridge will also be available to home brewers looking for a local organic product. As locally-grown organic grain suitable for malting is not yet available in large enough quantity, HR has sourced the initial deliveries from outside of the province, but hopes to achieve a truly Nova Scotian-grown and -produced malt very soon. In addition to lighter barley-based malts, look for specialty and rye malts to be available in the future. For those commercial and amateur brewers attending tomorrow’s Full House beer fest, be sure to drop by their table for samples and to learn more.

A few more events worth checking out in the next little while:

• Tonight, the PEI Brewing Co. is holding Fortnight: Fundraiser for Fort McMurray at the brewery. Starting at 7 pm, it will feature “music, fun, and fundraising”, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross (and being matched by the Federal Government). One of the items up for auction is a chance to brew a full-size batch of beer with Upstreet‘s Mike “Hogie” Hogan, on the Upstreet system. Homebrewer or not, the lucky winner will be able to pick the beer style, help develop the recipe and take part in the brewing, name the beer, and ever pour the first pint at the Upstreet taproom! This is for a great cause, so get out your wallets and dig deep!

• Tom’s Little Havana is hosting a Tap Takeover today (and all weekend) by friends Bad Apple Brewhouse and Unfiltered Brewing. Featuring seven beers between the two breweries, look for some old favourites, as well as some new … well, favourites too! Look for a new collaboration American Wheat, and a pair of iterations of the Tom’s Smoked Porter, including a barrel-aged version, today through Sunday.

• A reminder from last week, tonight‘s Meet Your Maker event at the James Joyce will feature Big Tide; four BT beers will be available on tap, and brewmaster Wendy Papadopoulos will be on hand to chat about our favourite beverage!

• This year’s Inspire Arts Festival (June 15th-19th, in Moncton) will be holding their first beer-themed event, the Picaroons Craft Beer Village, on Saturday, June 18th. Taking place at the Riverfront Park in downtown Moncton, it will all start at 12 pm with the opening of the Picaroons Beer Tent; later in the afternoon, at 4 pm, the rest of the craft beer village will open, with NB breweries Bore City, Celtic Knot, Flying Boats, and Maybee also pouring their beers. Entrance is free, just pay for your beer as you go, and enjoy the live music, circus performances, fire spinning, and more that’s going on during the festival!

• The Fredericton Beer Run is returning on Monday, August 1st (New Brunswick Day)! The fourth year for the event, it will once again feature three options of either a 4, 6, or 12 km distance. Your ticket will get you much more than just another run, however! Including a custom-designed beer glass and 14 x 4 oz beer tickets, there will be over 20 breweries present with plenty of beer to choose from! This year’s run will start at the Lighthouse on the Green, at 10 am, with the beer sampling occurring afterwards at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Tickets are $60 (tax included) and are available now.

Friday Wrap-Up – News From Lazy Bear, Propeller, Spindrift, Upstreet, and much, much, more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2016-01-08
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 540 Kitchen & Bar, Big Spruce Brewing, Bishop's Cellar, Board Room Game Cafe, Bourbon Quarter, Christmas Beer Garden at the Market, First City Brewery, Flying Boats Brewing, Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, FROSTival Beer Garden, Garrison Brewing, Garrison Home Brew-Off Challenge, Good Robot Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, James Joyce Irish Pub, Johnny Jacks Brewery, King Street Ale House, Lazy Bear Brewing, Maybee Brewing, NB HopSpiel, Peppers Pub, Propeller Brewing, Red Rover Craft Cider, Spindrift Brewing, Stillwell Beer Bar, Stubborn Goat, Tatamagouche Brewing, Tide & Boar Gastropub, Upstreet Craft Brewing, York County Cider. 2 comments

Happy 2016 everyone! We are starting off the year with one of the longest posts to date, with a new brewery announcement, new inter-provincial beer launches, more than a half-dozen new beers, and the return of some old favourite beers and events. It just goes to show that there is no slowing down the Atlantic Canadian Beer news, and we are sure to stay busy this year, bringing you the scoop!

• We start off this week with the announcement of a new brewery, to open this summer in Smith’s Cove, Digby County, NS. Lazy Bear Brewing is the brainchild of Andy and Erin Norman, a husband and wife team of local homebrewers. They will be focusing on brewing English and American ales on a 3 barrel brewhouse. Both Erin and Andy have been homebrewing for years, Erin’s love of which was sparked during university, while taking a Food Science degree. “That’s where I started to learn about what beer really was. I really got into home brewing a few years ago when I had the space to do so and it has become quite a hobby.” They initially plan to offer direct growler sales, and at the Annapolis Royal Farmers’ Market. Lazy Bear’s name borrows from their proximity to the Bear River and nearby Bear Island, and just taking time to relax, enjoy a beer and your surroundings, and being lazy! Keep an eye on their Twitter and Facebook pages, where they have been posting pictures of their brewery build progress. Welcome to the neighbourhood, Lazy Bear!

• From new brewery to new beer, Propeller has released their newest One-Hit Wonder, an American Amber that showcases a new Australian hop variety, Vic Secret. Vic’s Resolution was brewed with a Pale malt base, along with specialty malts including Crystal, Victory and Chocolate to target an amber colour and provide some malty, caramel sweetness to the beer. Moderately-hopped to 23 IBUs, the late additions of Vic Secret give the beer an aroma of pineapple and pine. Easy-drinking at 5.4% ABV, it’s available for growler fills at both Prop Shop locations, and will be popping up on tap at better beer establishments across HRM. And drop by the Windmill location today from 11-3 to grab some jerk chicken and other island treats from the Jamaica Lee food truck.

• In other Propeller news, they’ve announced the date of their next Prop’r Cask Night; it will be held on Friday, January 29th at the brewery’s location on Gottingen St. from 6-9 pm. While the ticket price includes samples of several Propeller beers, the real star of the show is, of course, the cask. This event will feature a Coffee Porter, which will be tapped at 6:30 pm by one of Propeller’s brewers. Along with the beers, a selection of appetizers from chef Ray Bear of Studio East will be on-hand for sampling. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased online.

• After officially launching with their Coastal Lager several months ago, Spindrift is releasing two new beers over the next week. First up is La Niña, a golden, unfiltered Wheat Lager that was sour mashed before being fermented by their house Lager yeast strain. A very small batch (50 L) brewed on their Blichmann pilot system, it’s meant to be a slightly acidic, easy-drinking (4.5% ABV) and refreshing Lager. Dry-hopped with Mandarina Bavaria for “floral and grassy notes” without a lot of bitterness (less than 10 IBUs), it’s the first of their planned weekly series of pilot batches that will be available only at the Spindrift Taproom for growler fills, for a very short time; it will be released this afternoon. The second new beer is The Abyss, a Schwarzbier. A German-style Black Lager, it features “toasted grains, coffee, and chocolate” in the aroma and flavour, leading to an “elegantly smooth finish”, according to the brewery. Hopped with Magnum and German Hersbrucker to 25 IBUs, it was conditioned for 6 weeks to smooth out the flavours even more, and at just 4.2% ABV, should be another easy-drinking beer. The Abyss will be available on tap only at the Taproom and select bars and restaurants Friday, with a sneak peek available during the Craft Beer and Local Food Celebration Thursday. Look for a barrel-aged version of The Abyss in the coming months, which was amped up with a dosing of Coldstream Clear Distillery’s Classic Coffee spirit to enhance the beers character.

• Upstreet has announced some exciting news for beer lovers not living on PEI: they will soon be available in Nova Scotia! Their four bottled beer offerings will be for sale at Bishop’s Cellar next week, including the Commons Pilsner, Rhuby Social, Do-Gooder, and White Noize, and kegs available to licensees through Bishop’s distribution. To celebrate, they’re planning several events to kick off their NS launch:
– Thursday (Jan 14), they’re holding a release party at Stubborn Goat at 10pm. Come meet and greet the Upstreet crew, and learn all about their beer. PEI’sDylan Menzie playing tunes.
– Friday, 12-10pm they will be holding tastings at Bishop’s Cellar. In addition to bottles, Upstreet’s Black Tie Affair Vanilla Cranberry Stout will be available on the growler filling station.
Later on, drop by Stillwell for more pints and fun with the crew, from 7pm to close.
– Saturday, 12-10pm they will be doing more tastings at Bishop’s Cellar.
They will also be taking over the guest taps at Good Robot’s Tap Room, and taking part in a GoodStreet Feats of Strength Mini-Olympics between the two breweries, 2-6pm. Be sure to drop by for this one, as you wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity to watch brewers make fools of themselves! If you’re interested in joining a team contact Mikey Woz or Joshua Counsil at the event link above.
– Sunday, they will be holding a beer pairing brunch at Stubborn Goat at 3pm, tickets are now available. Upstreet’s Joey and Hogie will lead a pairing of their four flagship beers with some special food prepared by the Goat’s kitchen.
Keep an eye on their Event Page for further details as they are released.

• With the bottles available at Bishop’s Cellar, this also means beer fans from Yarmouth to Sydney to Amherst can also enjoy bottles of Upstreet. For those who did not know, Bishop’s Cellar offers province-wide shipping on all of their products, and is free for orders over $150 of any combination of beer, cider, wine, and spirits. Keep an eye on their Beer page for the latest new arrivals and the current list of beers on tap for growler fills.

• After a soft launch at the Christmas Beer Garden on December 20th, and a “Meet Your Maker” event at the James Joyce on December 30th, Maybee Brewing now has their initial two beers – Roseway Red and Workhorse IPA – on tap at three locations in Fredericton: the James Joyce, King Street Ale House, and 540 Kitchen & Bar. No official announcement has yet been made as to when the brewery’s taproom will be opening at its location at 559 Wilsey Rd, but the brewery has stated on their Facebook page that both of their initial beers should be available for sale in cans at select ANBL locations by next weekend.

• It’s been just about a year since the James Joyce greatly expanded their tap list and seriously embraced local craft beer, and they’re holding a birthday party to celebrate! Starting at 5 pm on Friday, January 22nd, they will be welcoming everyone to drop in for some birthday cake and happy hour prices on select craft beers. As usual, there will be plenty of beers on tap, with a large emphasis on those produced in New Brunswick, with a strong possibility of a new brewery being present. Cheers to year one, and to many more to come!

• And speaking of the Joyce, they will be welcoming their first kegs from Saint John’s newest brewery, First City, this weekend. Two new beers are being sent for the brewery’s first appearance outside of Saint John: a Chocolate Coffee Stout and DIPA. While both are currently unnamed, we do have the details on each! The Chocolate Coffee Stout was brewed with cocoa powder and Jamaican Rum Butter coffee from Java Moose, and comes in at 6% ABV. The DIPA, while of course a lighter-coloured beer, weighs in at 8% ABV and 112 calculated IBUs; hopped with plenty of locally-grown organic Nugget (from Lunahops in NB) as well as Columbus and Mosaic, expect aromas and flavours that are fruity, earthy, resinous, and herbal. Don’t worry, loyal fans in Saint John – Bourbon Quarter, Lemongrass, and the R Bar are each receiving a keg of the Chocolate Coffee Stout; the R Bar also purchased a keg of the DIPA.

• After some unfortunate delays, Fredericton’s newest cidery, York County Cider, is making more progress towards opening in the near future. All of their brewing, fermenting, and storage equipment arrived shortly before Christmas, and set-up is underway! A juice delivery is planned for the end of this month; product should be following sometime later in the winter. We’ll continue to keep you updated on their progress.

• Unfiltered is releasing another hoppy one-off beer today at noon: REALLY Falc’d Up is a bigger version of their All Falc’d Up, an already-pretty-big beer that was released last October. Like that beer, this one features the fruity and tropical Falconer’s Flight, a West Coast variety actually made up of several different hops. It weighs in at a calculated 100+ IBUs, and is even stronger than the last beer, at 9% ABV.  Drop by the brewery today for growler fills or a pint next door at Charm School.

• Good Robot is continuing their Experimental releases this weekend with the release of Damn Fine Coffee and Cherry Pie Pale (David Lynch tribute), version 2.0. First released in October, 5.8% ABV, 38 IBUs beer features Pilsner and Red X malt to enhance sweetness, and Rye malt for a bit of spiciness. They used the same hops as their Burban Legend APA, for a pleasant citrus, floral, and grapefruit character. To add roast character, this new batch features an addition of two litres of cold-brewed Java Blend Sidamo Guji coffee to the conditioning beer (2lbs of beans in 2.5 litres of water). This technique allows the bean flavour and aromatics to be extracted, without any bitterness or harsh coffee character. As with their other Experimental brews, this will be for on-premise enjoyment at their Tap Room only, and will be out in the next day or two. Keep an eye on their Twitter feed for the announcement.

• The Robots also held their first Tap Room event Wednesday evening, Silent Reading. The idea was to encourage folks to put down their cell phones, cut out the din of loud music and talking, and enjoy some quiet time with their favourite tome. The event was extremely popular, filling the bar to capacity. Look for future Silent Reading events in the future, as it may become a monthly event due to the great community adoption. Again, stay tuned to their social media pages for more events.

• Do you live in New Brunswick? Are you a fan of Big Spruce Brewing? Well, great news! The brewery confirmed on Wednesday that they’re sending kegs of their beer to several beer bars/restaurants in the province, including the King Street Ale House in Fredericton, the Tide & Boar in Moncton, and Peppers Pub and Bourbon Quarter in Saint John. Beers being delivered will include some or all of the following favourites: Kitchen Party Pale Ale, Tim’s Dirty American IPA, Cereal Killer Oatmeal Stout, and Regatta Red Ale. They should be available at these locations now (or very soon); welcome to NB, Big Spruce!

• For those in Nova Scotia, Big Spruce will be debuting their newest conspiracy Thursday. JAC the SIPA is a Sour IPA, brewed with homebrewers Justin Clarke and Eric Gautier in early December. The beer was made sour using a kettle sour technique, during which natural Lactobacillus produces lactic acid from the wort in the warm (not hot) kettle; the wort is then boiled to kill the beasts, and then fermented using an ale yeast. This Sour IPA (the province’s first?) weighs in at 6.6% ABV and 55 IBUs, with big Amarillo and Simcoe late-, whirlpool-, and dry-hopping additions for tons of aroma. The beer will debut at the Local Connections event, and be available on tap and for growler fills after.

• Tatamagouche Brewing is in a hoppy mood this month, which is good news for the rest of us! They’re re-releasing two of their more-popular hoppy offerings: Deception Bay IPA was just re-released yesterday, and is available in cans, growlers, and on tap; and Dreadnot India Black Ale will be available again next Thursday, January 14th. This version of Dreadnot will be amped up a bit, as the batch was dry-hopped this time around. Finally, TataBrew is introducing a new beer for the Local Connections event next week: Deadeye DIPA is an Imperial IPA hopped with Centennial, Chinook, Columbus, and Hallertau Blanc… and then double-dry hopped with more Hallertau Blanc, for a big blast of “pineapple, grapefruit, and passionfruit”, according to the brewery. Sounds delicious to us! If you can’t make the event, don’t worry; this 91 IBUs, 8% DIPA will be following on tap and in growlers as well, and in cans shortly after. Also pouring at the Local Connections event will be a cask of Barrel Aged Ging’ Sync, their 5.5% Rye IPA. This is the barrel aged version of the cask that was sent to Cask Days, conditioned in the cask with caraway seeds and fresh ginger. Look for additional opportunities to grab this Barrel-aged version on tap at better bars and restaurants around the province next week.

• The organizers of the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival still have room for more teams at their NB Hopspiel event being held Jan 29-30th at the outdoor rink at Officer’s Square. We have details on the event in our previous post, but as a refresher, your team entry ticket includes lessons and practice Friday night, games Saturday, a lunch of chili and rolls, and access to the FROSTival Beer Garden (Saturday, 12-6 pm), along with tickets for six 4-oz samples from seven breweries pouring ~15 different beers, ciders and mead. For those not interested in the curling, you can now buy a ticket for entry into the Beer Garden alone. This includes your first five samples (9 oz for beer, 7 oz for cider or mead), and additional tickets can be purchased at the event; food can also be purchased from outside the event and brought in. Note that while children are welcome to observe the curling, the Beer Garden is a 19+ only event, and tickets MUST be purchased in advance through the link above.

• And speaking of the FCBF, evening tickets are more than 90% sold out, so grab them now if you would like to attend the evening session. There are still plenty of afternoon tickets available as well; it will be a bit quieter, and a great way to kick off an evening downtown… or maybe even a return to the evening session!

• Garrison Brewing is bringing back their NiT-WiT Belgian Wheat today. This 4.8% ABV, 12 IBUs Belgian Witbier features orange and coriander for an authentic Wit character. First brewed in 2011, it began life as homebrewer Scott Tilford’s winning recipe for Garrison’s Home Brew-Off. Refreshing citrus and tropical aromas meld with a herbal finish. It is available today at the brewery, and will be released to the liquor stores in the coming weeks. And a gentle reminder to homebrewers, the 2016 Home Brew-Off deadline is just one month away, with beers due Feb 11. Be sure to brew your Experimental IPA now, to leave enough time for proper conditioning and carbonating! More details here.

• Garrison is partnering with Board Room Game Cafe, and holding two nights of competitive Catan tournaments at the brewery, Jan 12 & 13. Beginning at 7pm, your $10 admission fee includes entry in the tournament, as well as a sampling of beer. If you are not a Catan person, Board Room will be bringing along lots of other games to play, and their Board Game Bosses to make recommendations and help with the rules. Advance registration is suggested, check their Facebook page for more details.

• We’ve made mention of it several times above, so just a note that there are still a few tickets available for the Local Connections Craft Beer and Local Food Celebration, being held at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront. There will be 19 breweries and cider houses in attendance, many of which will be serving debuting new beers and/or serving special casks during the event. There are also 17 food vendors to keep you happy. With the expanded space at the hotel, this will be an excellent evening. Tickets are only available online.

• With all of the new beers mentioned today, how about a look back at an older one? In a story that first emerged last year, scuba diver Jon Crouse found an intact bottle of beer while diving in Halifax Harbour. He was able to identify the origin by the cork, noting it was from Alexander Keith’s brewery, circa 1870-90. While his original intent was to allow the beer to evaporate, Christopher Reynolds from Stillwell asked for a chance to test, and possibly taste, the beer first! Fast forward to this week, when Crouse and Reynolds visited the Atlantic Canada Fermented Products Institute at Dalhousie University. There, they met with Andrew MacIntosh who extracted some of the beer in a sterile fashion, and has begun analysis on it. In their lab, as well as a partner lab in Scotland, they hope to determine the recipe and brewing techniques used, and MacIntosh and colleagues will be publishing a paper on it in the future. So, how did it taste? “Like beer!” Be sure to tune into Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet on Jan 12 for a look in the lab, and being science nerds ourselves, we’ll be sure to follow up when the results are in.

Phew, that’s all we can muster for this week! In closing, be sure to drop by your local ANBL growler station this weekend, as two NB breweries will be featured: Hammond River‘s Red Coat India Red Ale will be on tap at the KV store, and Flying Boat‘s S-55 Special Mission Pale Ale will be at the other three (Fredericton, Dieppe, and Sackville), while quantities last! Oromocto’s first brewery, Johnny Jacks, has a new beer available on tap at the Sour Grape Cafe; details are slim at the moment, but we can confirm it is a 7.1% ABV American IPA named Trench Fighter. Finally, stay tuned to Red Rover early next week, as they have some big news to announce! Have a great weekend!