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Friday Wrap-Up – News from Meander River, Pump House, Celtic Knot, Rare Bird, PEI Brewing Co and much more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2014-08-22
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Acadie-Broue, Antigonish Townhouse, Authentic Seacoast Brewing, Beerthief, Big Spruce Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Celtic Knot Brewing, King Street Ale House, Lion & Bright, Meander River Farm and Brewery, North Brewing, PEI BeerFest, PEI Brewing, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Propeller Brewing, Pump House Brewery, Railcar Brewing, Schoolhouse Brewery, Stillwell Beer Bar, Stubborn Goat, Tatamagouche Brewing, Uncle Leo's Brewery. 2 comments

Happy Friday, everyone! Yet another busy week of beer news for our region, so let’s get to it!

• Meander River Farm and Brewery is back with another one-off beer. After the great success with their first special brew, Honey Brown, they have quickly followed it up with their Wheat Ale. An American-style wheat beer weighing in at 3.8%, the beer features the newer Belma hop, giving citrus and strawberry characteristics. Much like their Honey Brown, it won’t be around for very much longer. Take a drive out to the brewery today (4-7pm) and this weekend (11-5 both Saturday and Sunday) for a taste of it and their Lunchbox Pale Ale, and keep an eye out at your favourite watering holes in Halifax (Stillwell and Lion & Bright). Once it’s gone, it won’t be back until next summer!

• September 3rd will mark the 15th Anniversary of the Pump House Brewery, and they’re celebrating it with a new endeavour! On Sept. 3rd, they will be brewing a Stein Beer at the brewery in true fashion. During the Middle Ages, there were very few options for heating wort (the malty, sugary liquid that will become beer) to a boil, due to the lack of modern-day brewing equipment and direct-heating techniques. Luckily, German brewers discovered the method of heating granite rocks (“stein” is German for “rock”) to superhigh temperatures, then dropping them in the wort in wooden kettles to produce a vigorous boil over several minutes. This is the exact method that the Pump House will use to brew their new ale, Stonefire Ale, on their Anniversary. The beer will eventually be bottled as a limited release of approximately four thousand 750 mL bottles sometime in October. Keep an eye on their Facebook page, as they’re holding contests for chances to win an invite to their “Rock Drop” Launch Party on Sept. 3rd.

• Celtic Knot Brewing is re-releasing one of their inaugural brews, Not Joe Average Pale Ale. This American Pale Ale has had some revisions, according to owner/brewer Bruce Barton. While still coming in at 5% ABV, the bitterness has gone up slightly, with the IBUs increased from 19 to 30. Also, the aroma and flavor hops are now made up of Cascade and Centennial (well known for their fruity and citrusy characteristics). The beer finishes slightly drier than the original version, according to Barton. Look for it soon at bars/restaurants that carry Celtic Knot beers, including new account Plan b Lounge (with one rotating tap) in Moncton.

• Barton is also brewing up the new Ring of Fire beer today, featuring 40% Smoked Malt (along with 2-Row, Munich, Cara Aroma and Roasted malts to an Amber colour, 16 SRM), and hopped to 18 IBUs with Tettnang and Fuggle hops. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire! For the heat, Barton will be using Habanero and Jalapeno peppers in the boil, and might add some in secondary as well, depending on the results. Look for this one on tap mid- to late-September.

• Rare Bird Craft Beer has released their latest seasonal, Spruce Beer. It is their modern take on this style of beer with some history in our region, both on shore, and on the ships that visited Guysborough harbour. Building on a medium-bodied Pale Ale base of 5.5% and 47 IBUs (from Cascade and Galena hops), Black Spruce buds were added to the boil for a bright spruce nose. Currently on tap at the Rare Bird Pub, look for it in bottles at the private stores soon.

• In the brewing world, the approach of fall means one thing… the brewing of pumpkin beers, and the PEI Brewing Co. just brewed theirs! The grist contains Canadian 2-row malt, Munich, Victory, Extra Special Roast, Caramunich 60 L, and some malted rye, and the beer is hopped exclusively with Comet hops to 25 IBUs. As for the most important part, the pumpkin, 30 lbs of yellow summer squash were sourced from MacKenzie Produce in Stratford, PEI, with the balance made up of unspiced, canned pumpkin and squash due to limited availability of pie pumpkins this time of year. Luckily, brewmaster Chris Long was able to find many high quality spices from Kate the Spice Lady for the brew, including “150 cinnamon sticks, about 80 cloves, almost 100 allspice pods, 10 whole nutmeg, and 10 lbs of fresh ginger” for each batch. The beer clocks in at 5.8% ABV; look for it in bottles and kegs in the near future across Atlantic Canada.

• Next Friday, August 29th, Edmundston’s Resto-Bar Le Deck will be holding a Picaroons tap takeover that will also feature guest taps from Brasseurs du Petit-Sault and live entertainment from The Carson Downey Band. No word yet on exactly which Picaroons beers will be pouring (they will have 5 taps dedicated to their brews), but we can confirm that both flagship beers – Tante Blanche and Bob LeBoeuf – from Petit-Sault will be present, as well as the recently-released limited edition of their collaboration brew with Acadie-Broue, L’effrayab’ Tintamarre. There’s no cover at the door; it all starts at 10:00 pm.

• And great news for those of you who live in Fredericton and would like to try L’effrayab’ Tintamarre… a keg or two has been delivered to the King Street Ale House, and should be pouring now! It won’t last long, however, so best head there for lunch today. 🙂

• And back to Picaroons, their annual release of UPSTREAM Ale will be hitting shelves at the beginning of September. This 4.5% Pale Ale is crisp and clean, like the wild waters of the famous NB Salmon Rivers. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this beer will go to the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation to help preserve those rivers. And available shortly thereafter will be Picaroons’ series of Harvest Ales, featuring wet hops grown on local farms.

• This week, brewer Josh Herbin at North Brewing Company started experimenting with cask conditioning and adding flavour infusions to their very popular Saison. He prepared infusions using black peppercorn and candied ginger, and has dosed two of the casks with different concentrations. To a third cask, he added both of the infusions and some of the ginger and pepper to further “dry spice” the beer to measure its effects on the final product. No word yet where they will be available, but when they hit the taps/bar tops mid-September, we’ll be sure to share the details.

• Uncle Leo’s Brewery is launching a new growler format today, a 750ml Flip Top Growler. These new growlers are $5 for the glass, and $5 for a fill of any of their IPA, Smoked Porter, Red Ale and Vohs Weizenbier. Until Sunday, August 24th (or while supplies last), when purchasing two or four 750ml growlers, you will receive a free two- or four-growler tote. Please note that they ask folks to not return their 1.89l growlers until after the weekend, when they re-open on Wednesday, August the 27th.

• The Beerthief Newfoundland Special Order Beer Group is holding a tasting next Thursday August 28th. ShakesBEER in the GUT is a fundraiser for the Shakespeare by the Sea Festival in St. John’s, and will give attendees the chance to try four exclusive international offerings available only at the tasting: after starting with a choice of a Quidi Vidi beer, Certified Cicerone Mike Buhler will guide participants through Sorachi Ace and Local 2 Ale by Brooklyn Brewery, and Hiver and Dorée from Meduz Brewery. Tickets are available online for $50, and include snacks, door prizes and live entertainment.

• Tatamagouche Brewing Co is holding a contest! Their Brew Crew is putting together an Oktoberfest Lager to be released in the coming weeks, and they want you to name it. We don’t have the recipe details just yet, but you can enter by replying to this tweet or instagram with your best shot. The contest is closing soon, so be sure to enter today. The winner will win a free party keg rental from the brewery. Only those 19 years or older may enter.

• New Beer Alert! Big Spruce Brewing has released their International Coffee Conspiracy, the Hoppuccino. As mentioned previously, this beer was brewed with help from Phillips Brewing from Victoria, BC and  Cafe Milagro from Costa Rica. Coming in a bit bigger than originally reported, the beer weighs in at 7.3 % ABV and 80 IBUs from Simcoe and Chinook, and features lots of whole bean coffee in the boil, and then a second cold extraction infusion, added post-fermentation. Grab a sample and growler at the brewery today, and ask for it at your favourite local bar.

• After some delays due to ANBL regulation changes that were mostly dropped late last week, Mitch Biggar of Railcar Brewing is back on track! This week he brewed a test batch of the first in his “Derailed” series, a Maple Bacon Porter. Using Chocolate and Cherrywood Smoked Malts in the grain bill for characteristic aroma and taste, he also added New Brunswick Maple Syrup and Smoked Bacon in the boil. Wow!

• And finally, in case you missed yesterday’s post, we’re currently holding a contest to win two tickets to any of the three sessions at this year’s PEI Beer Festival on Sept. 5th and 6th. All you have to do is take a picture of one of the beers that will be pouring at the festival (a list of breweries and beers is available on their website), and Tweet it/share it to our Facebook page, with the hashtag #PEIBeerFest. The contest will continue until next Thursday at 11:59 pm; we’ll announce the winner in next week’s Friday Wrap-Up on August 29th. Only one entry per person, please!

Drink locally this weekend! Head on out to Antigonish Townhouse tonight at 5pm to enjoy another of their one-off casks of British Bitter, to the Stubborn Goat for a Friday Firkin of Boxing Rock‘s The Vicar’s Cross Double IPA, or King’s Arm Pub in Kentville who now have Schoolhouse Brewery on tap. And we hope to see lots of you tomorrow at noon at Stillwell for the launch of Propeller Brewing’s Raspberry Lambic. Folks from Propeller will also be there from 1-3pm taking pre-orders to be picked up at the Gottingen St location Sunday (1 bottle max), before it goes on sale to the general public at both locations on Monday (limit two bottles per person).

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!).