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Friday Wrap-Up for February 23, 2024 – News from Village Green, Gahan, Trailway, Rough Waters, Stillwell, North, Lunn’s Mill, Baccalieu Trail and More!

Posted by acbbchris on 2024-02-23
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Baccalieu Trail Brewing, Flying Boats Brewing, Gahan House, JALT Beverage Co, Libra Non-Alcoholic Beer, Lunn's Mill Beer Company, Modern Brewer's Village Green, New Maritime Beer Company, North Brewing, Quidi Vidi Brewery, Rough Waters Brewing, Stillwell Brewing, TrailWay Brewing. Leave a Comment

Hello! This is an introduction to a weekly post about the craft beer industry in the Atlantic provinces. Below you’ll read about new beers, events, news and anything your loyal beer bloggers get their hands on through the week. Read below, share with a friend and we hope you get to partake in some of the new happenings in your area. 

We kick off the week on PEI, as Village Green has a brand new release. NZ Haze is a azy IPA from the Cornwall crafter. At 6% it’s soft and pillowy, backed by Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand. Adding Citra and Mosaic hops to the mix brings in fruity, tropical, and citrus flavours. This is available in cans and on tap now. 

Staying on the Island, Gahan has a new Vienna Lager out now. Ripple Effect Brew is brewed in the traditional style of the malty, sweet, caramel lager. This beer is brewed in support of the PEI Watershed Alliance with contributions from every sale going directly to the environmental group. The 5.2% beer is available in cans and on tap from Gahan Beer Stores and PEI Brewing Company’s taproom.

Over to Fredericton where Trailway has two new smoking hot releases. First up is Smoke and Mirrors, an 11.1% Barrel Aged Imperial Stout that is on tap only at the brewery. The barrel itself housed a peated Whiskey, whichl brings a rich and smoky flavour to this robust stout.

New to cans is Lagerfeuer, a 5.6% rauchbier (which is a smoked märzen). This lager is brewed with beechwood smoked malt, which adds to the caramel and biscuity flavour of a märzen, bringing a gentle bit of smoke to the palate. This is canned and available at both Trailway locations. 

Over to the West Coast of Newfoundland Deer Lake’s Rough Waters has two brand new releases to keep you warm in the winter months. First up is Grounded, a Coffee Stout that is 5% and canned and ready to roll out across NLCs next week. Second up is their belgian Tripel. This is a big release for the brewery as they’ve been wanting to brew and bottle this style of beer for a long time. Brewed in collaboration with Escarpment Labs, using their West Abbey yeast strain for an authentic flavour that is true to the style. Using a blend of malts and European hops, it was bottle conditioned before release. This one will also ship out over the weekend and should be around NLCs and Marie’s over the next week. 

A few bits of news out of Stillwell Brewing, the Halifax brewery who have had a busy start to the year. First up, Saturday February 24th, they’re hosting Big Speaker Freakout 8, a daytime dance for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. Tickets are available here.

On the beer side, Czech-heads will be happy to hear that 10° Czech-Style Pale Lager is back in cans and on tap at the brewery. It will be back at Barrington HQ and the Freehouse soon, if not already by the time you’re reading this!

The team at North Brewing is adding to their back of house with a line and prep cook to work primarily out of Timberlea, but who will need to work shifts in Cole Harbour as well. As we can speak first hand to the culture and inclusion at the brewery, we encourage any and everyone to apply if possible. Check this link for more details, including pay, benefits and how to apply. 

A few more things before we let you go this week…

The Libra brand keeps pumping out the volume as they have a new entry coming out to their low alc lineup. Lemongrass Ginger Saison is their newest release, with the characteristics of a dry-finishing saison but with lemongrass and ginger to bring some more flavour. This will be available on March 1st for general distribution and is 0.4% ABV and packaged in the same 355ml format as their other offerings. 

Lawrencetown’s Lunn’s Mill Beer has a full-bodied and smooth beer out this week, Repaired Wee Heavy. At 7.2%, this is sure to warm you up as you enjoy it, and features just a hint of smoke for a lovely complement to the caramel and raisin notes. Available on tap and in cans at their taproom, and check out their stall at this weekend’s Wolfville Farmers’ Market if you are in the area.

New Maritime Beer in Miramichi is going dark for their latest release this week, with Golden Ticket Chocolate Brown. Dark malt is enhanced with the use of chocolate in the beer, and at 6.0% ABV, is good for one entry to good times! Available now at their spot at 55 Newcastle Boulevard, and coming to select ANBL and BAS locations across the province.

In Bay Roberts, Baccalieu Trail Brewing is welcoming back their Wintermen’s ESB. Harkening back to their opening in 2018, this “Extra Special Bitter” is light, has a touch of caramel on the palate, and despite the name, uses hops judiciously and is not very bitter at all. It is extra special, though! This 5.3% quaffer is available now at their taproom and in St. John’s, with cans (yay! after some delays with a breakdown in the canning machine) heading across the island before too long.

In the Gut, Quidi Vidi has a returning favourite of their own this week, their Imperial Coconut Porter. This 9.0% beaut is full of nutty, toasty, and dark caramel flavours, with the added benefit of toasted coconut to complete the package. Look for it at their taproom and Hops Shop location, as well as convenience stores and NLCs.

Finally this week, we wanted to share the news of the sale and ownership change of Dieppe’s Flying Boats Brewing. First started by Marc Melanson in his Shediac Bay garage in 2015 (learn more about the history in our Profile with Melanson), he expanded into a much larger space in Dieppe three years later, operating on a 1,500 litre system, serving an on-site taproom and retailers across the province (and Alberta). JALT Beverage Co was founded in 2023, with three of its four principals being the group that acquired Pump House in December 2020 (more on that sale here, here, and here). With JALT’s acquisition of Flying Boats, CEO Alex Noel says that they will continue the brand as previously, including retaining staff, with an eye to expand into the non-alcoholic market. We are excited to follow along and see what Flying Boats and JALT continue to do in the local craft beer and beverage scene. The full press release is here.

Friday Wrap-Up for August 4, 2023 – News from O’Creek, Propeller, North, Flying Boats, Acadie-Broue, Big Spruce, Boomstick, Breton, Tire Shack, Happy, Sack Vegas, and more!

Posted by acbbdevon on 2023-08-04
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Acadie-Broue, Banished Brewing, Bannerman Brewing, Big Spruce Brewing, Boomstick Brewing, Breton Brewing, Flying Boats Brewing, Happy Craft Brewing, Mauzy Cidery, North Brewing, O'Creek Brewing, Propeller Brewing, Sack Vegas Brewing, Stillwell Beergarden, Tire Shack Brewing. Leave a Comment

Happy Long Weekend to most of you, though some of you already enjoyed Regatta Day Wednesday, and it looks like most PEI folks are outta luck (sorry!). However you’re spending this weekend, we’ve got plenty of new beers to quench your thirst, including some releases for this week’s IPA Day!

Halifax’s Propeller celebrated IPA Day in a big way, with the release of Southbound, a collaboration with Yakima Chief Hops. This beer features a trio of New Zealand-grown hops, namely Cryo Motueka, Nelson Sauvin, and Riwaka. We know the homebrewers in the audience as salivating right now! For those who need a reminder, that “Cryo” moniker means the hops are processed at extremely low temperature to concentrate the aromatic and bittering qualities of the hops, allowing brewers to maximize the flavour and effects of the hops in lower hop mass and volume (therefore less beer loss). Putting all of that science and art together in the glass (and can), think gooseberries, white wine, lime, and passion fruit. 7.0% and 70 IBU, drop by any of Propeller’s four locations (Gottingen, Windmill, Quinpool, and Bedford) for a taste!

Moncton’s O’Creek Brewing got in on the #IPADay fun by releasing cans of their newest IPA, Mindless. This 6.8% hazy New England IPA is chock full of tropical hops, and uses a yeast to further enhance those flavours. Also new on draught and in cans is Sour Peaches with a Change of Mangoes. As you can imagine, this is a Fruited Sour with plenty of peach and mango in the tin, and at just 4.0%, definitely perfect for enjoying on the beach or patio! And finally is the latest in their line of lagers, The Bend. This German Pilsner is crisp and clean, and flirts with the low end of the style alcohol-wise, at just 4.5% ABV. Cans and draught of all three, plus their Citra in a Galaxy NEIPA and LimeMower Lime Lage, are available at their Barker location now!

North Brewing is settling in nicely into their new Timberlea location and they’re taking that to heart with a new release. Trails to Ales is a community donation beer as a fundraiser for the BLT (Beechville, Lakeside, Timberlea) Rails to Trails repair after the flooding and extreme rainfall a few weeks ago. 50 cents from each can sale will go towards the trail association. The beer itself was brewing with help of Kevin Dunbard, who is a local homebrewer. The 5% Pale Ale is brewed with English Golden Promise malt and a big punch of American hops to bring fruit and citrus flavours. Bringing it all together is a blend of Norwegian and American yeasts that rounds the beer into a balanced, aromatic 5% brew.  Also this weekend, the Timberlea kitchen at North Brewing will be featuring a BLT sandwich special. Grab this one in cans from all North locations and online.

As a follow-up to last week’s launch of Screaming at the Trølls by Flying Boats and Acadie-Broue, they have since released the second beer from that same brewday. As a reminder, the brew crew filled a hollowed out spruce log with alder, spruce, and pine boughs to create a traditional mash tun, known as a kuurna. After creating the mash of barley and water, they rinsed the grains with hot water to extract even more sugar, and the second runnings of this are what have been released earlier this week. Liten Fyr Stokk Øl “Little Man Log beer”, is just 3.0% ABV. Categorized as a Spissøl, this lower gravity beer pushes the malt to the background, and allows the floral, grass, hay, and touch of pine to shine through, along with a refreshing lemony character. Both beers are on tap now at Flying Boats’ Dieppe taproom.

Nyanza’s Organic Brewery, Big Spruce, has brought back a winner this week, with the return of Heffalump Hefeweizen. Created and brewed with Ian Wheatly, the 2018 winner of their Home Brew Challenge, this 5.2% German Wheat style is light and fruity, with big notes of banana thanks to the iconic yeast used in the brew. Fluffy and full of flavour, you can find the beer on draught and in cans at the brewery, and hitting beer gardens around the province any minute now!

Boomstick Brewing on Newfoundland’s West Coast has a new beer in their shop this week, continuing their Lager School Series. Mexican Lager is a 4.0% crisp and bright beer, featuring flaked corn in the mash to help keep the mouthfeel light. Goes down smooth, and adding a lime is optional! On draught now, cans will be heading across the island in the coming days.

Breton Brewing is embracing the heat with their latest offering, Black Raspberry Wheat. At 5.5% ABV, it’s refreshing and thirst-quenching, with a great addition of the eponymous fruit showcased on the light base beer. In cans and on tap at the brewery on Keltic Drive now, you can also order it for delivery in the CBRM as well as HRM. Enjoy!

Sticking with the fruited beers, Moncton’s Tire Shack has a new one on offer this week. Lychee Lager is an easy-drinking 4.5% ABV, but is jam-packed with lychee fruit, imparting notes of strawberry, pear, citrus, and even some hints of floral roses. The sweetness balances the crisp nature of the lager, but still in a refined manner. Cans, draught, they’ve got it all on John Street! Plus you can scope out the big changes that are happening in the adjoining space, allowing them to extend the brewery and taproom/event space in a big way!

Happy belated to Happy Brewing on Main Street Moncton, who celebrated with a legit petting zoo last week! Following that up, they’ve released Karma, a fruited wheat beer bursting with peach and mango character. 4.3% ABV, check it out on tap today!

And in “coming soon” news, those in Lower Sackville will soon have a second brewery to call their own, as Sack Vegas Brewing has teased they are looking to open in the Fall. Lips are sealed tightly for now, but follow along at their Insta page, and here, as we learn more and get you up to speed!

Onto some events around the region:

Newfoundland is taking over the taps in two provinces this weekend! First off, Banished Brewing has a few kegs on tap at Charlottetown’s Hopyard Beer Bar, with four beers a-pouring now. And those in Halifax should visit the Stillwell Beergarden Saturday and/or Sunday, as there will be a full takeover from Banished as well as Bannerman Brewing, with ten of the finest the Avalon has to offer on draught, with another dozen cans and bottles from Banished and their pals at Mauzy Cider. Plus bologna sandwiches! Full details here.

Friday Wrap-Up for July 28, 2023 – News from Flying Boats, Acadie-Broue, Stillwell, Annapolis, Lunns Mill, Horton Ridge, Little North, Tanner, Trailway, Gahan, Banished and Shipwright

Posted by acbbdamian on 2023-07-28
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Acadie-Broue, Annapolis Brewing Company, Banished Brewing, Flying Boats Brewing, Gahan House, Halifax Seaport Beerfest, Horton Ridge Malt & Grain, Little North Brewhouse, Lunn's Mill Beer Company, Shipwright Brewing, Stillwell Brewing, Tanner & Co Brewing, TrailWay Brewing. Leave a Comment

Happy Friday! Let’s kick off the week’s post with the great news, one of you has won a pair of tickets to the Thursday August 10th session of Halifax Seaport Beerfest… Congratulations to tyler.muffins for the pic and story of them enjoying a pint on the weekend! We’ll send along your tickets momentarily! And for those who entered, thank you very much! We were thrilled to see you make us part of your beer and cider adventures! To continue those adventures, be sure to grab your tickets for the Fest taking part on the Halifax Waterfront in less than two weeks! Thursday August 10 til Saturday August 12, grab your tickets here! There are also Volunteering opportunities before, during, and after the Fest, which will get you some swag and a chance to check out the festival with a backstage pass! More on what you can expect in last week’s post.

Let’s start off this week in Dieppe, New Brunswick, where Flying Boats invited Patrice Godin of Acadie-Broue into their brewhouse for a truly special brewday. Relying heavily on the well-researched books of Lars Marius Garshol and Mika Laitinen, they brewed a rustic ale in the Norwegian and Scandinavian traditions. Beginning with a hollowed out spruce log as their mash and lautering tun, known as a kuurna, a filter bed was created with alder, fir, and spruce branches, which only stood to increase bright wood and resinous properties. A very short pasteurization step, rather than full boil, was used to kill any beasties, before the Ebbegarden Kveik yeast from Escarpment Labs was added. As is tradition, there was a healthy roar let out when pitching, which also gave rise to the name, Screaming at the TrØlls. The resultant beer is full-bodied, with a light wild character, and a bright woodsy aroma and flavour. Given the dimensions of the kuurna, this beer is in short supply, and will not be packaged, so your only chance to enjoy it is at Flying Boats’ taproom at 700 Malenfant Blvd. But we can tell you that there is at least one more beer from the same brewday that will be released in the coming months, so stay tuned! Be sure to check out the great pictures of the day from Mathieu Leger, on Flying Boats’ IG post.

Your Friends in Foam™ at Stillwell Brewing have, right under our noses, managed to stealthily brew a candidate for “beer of the Summer 2023.” Anyone who follows his Insta account knows that brewer CPR spent some time in Czechia earlier this year (or was it late last year?) and anyone who knows the man would have been daft to think he didn’t come home planning a Czech Lager. But then there was the taproom opening and the introduction of Stilly Cream Ale and then summer happened and here we were, blissfully unaware. WHAM. That’s how they get you. On draught at Stillwell properties today, and maybe some other places around town is 10º Czech Pale Lager. The 10º doesn’t mean anything about temperature, it indicates the degrees Plato of the initial wort before fermentation, which is how much sugar is available for the yeast to consume; this is the standard way of describing beer strength in Czechia and the Stillwell gang is staying true to it here, even if it means the name doesn’t really roll off the tongue. Featuring all-Czech ingredients, including floor-malted Moravian Pilsner malt, Czech Saaz hops, and a Czech yeast strain by way of Escarpment Labs, the only thing not Czech about it is the water (although we’re sure Chris thought about it). That said, Halifax’s somewhat soft water is very apt for the style, so no harm, and certainly no foul. Double-decocted (if you know what that means you just cringed at the effort) and naturally carbed via spunding for maximum tradition, it took three months to go from grain to glass. The result is a 4% ABV beer with an impeccable head of foam and a carbonation that fairly dances on the tongue. Described by CPR himself as “kinda savoury, [and] zesty!” it’s the magic of the old country in a glass. Given the ingredients, the techniques, and the conditioning time, this one will likely be a once-a-year treat from the brewery. Fortunately it’ll be packaged in cans next week so you can enjoy it in the comfort of your own home as well as out in the world. And the one of us who has already experienced it can tell you it absolutely tastes like another, and probably another after that. We do, however, recommend making sure to have a slow-poured pint off the Lukr taps at the Stillwell Freehouse, as we can vouch for the way that they can amplify an already stellar beer!

A trifecta of Annapolis Valley breweries came together earlier this month to celebrate and showcase locally-grown and malted grain. When Horton Ridge announced they had some 2-Row malted barley from a local farm, Annapolis Brewing jumped at the chance to use it, bringing along their pals down the road in Lawrencetown, Lunn’s Mill. Opting to brew a Belgian Pale Ale, thank you to the malts character and excellent extraction and fermentability, which enhanced the light spicy phenolic character of the yeast chosen. Simply named Belgian Pale Ale, this 4.9% ABV beer is available on draught only at the three participating breweries along the 101 Highway!

Little North Brewhouse, out of Baie Verte, Newfoundland has a brand new release. If you’re hot on the Cream Ale train and can’t stop dreaming of the cream, these fine folks are bringing you Good Friday, a cream ale coming in at a very drinkable 4.3%. This is available now at 410 Grocery in Baie Verte, Grand Falls Windsor and Gander NLCs and will be in Corner Brook NLC over the weekend. Grab these cans if you’re local (and want to send us some!).

Though they’ve had some troubles with the recent flooding, Tanner & Co Brewing still manages to come out with a new small batch brew for the weekend. Sahti is a new release in the style of the traditional Finnish beer. This is a 9.5% full bodied beer featuring juniper branches and local malt in the mash and hopped for balance to 10 IBU. Hefeweizen yeast brings it all together for a very unique style of beer. The yeast should bring the banana flavour while the juniper flavour should come through for a unique flavour for one of the oldest beer styles in the world. This is only available for a short time on tap for pints and growler fills  at the Duke Street taproom.

A regular to these weekly posts, Trailway Brewing has some news out of their Fredericton and Saint John locations. First up, Green Island is back! This is a taste and aromatic 6% IPA that packs the tropical fruit with its mix of Cashmere and Idaho 7 hops. Lots of citrus and tropical fruit complement this juicy New England style IPA. 

Other notes from Trailway include the return of Hu Jon Hops Ultra, a 1.5% ABV version of the Hu Jon series. This is in 4 x 355ml packs at ANBL stores and Trailway locations. Also, if you’re looking for the ultimate Trailway experience, they have 2 AirBNB units above the Union House Brewpub in Saint John. You can check them out here. 

If you were part of the two big weekends in Cavendish this month, you may have seen a new brew from the Island-native Gahan. Coming fresh off the festival circuit and into wider release is Balmy Island, a pineapple sour. This is a 5% sour with real pineapple additions that was a hit at the festivals. This sour, tart, refreshing and juicy sour is now canned and available now in wider release at PEI Liquor locations, PEI Brewing and Gahan shops.

Never one to shy away from the new stuff, we’ve got a few hits from Banished Brewing. First up is a brand new release, Makes Less Sense is a Hazy Session IPA clocking in at 4.0%. This is the little version of their Hazy IPA, Makes Sense. This is available in cans from the brewery and online right now.

In the event news, the Banished folks go from one island to another where they take over the taps at Hopyard Charlottetown! There will be 4 taps pouring on Thursday August 3rd. The four featured Paradise brews are: Paradise Town (fruited sour), Little Jim (session IPA), Private Line (Kolsch) and Makes Sense (the previously mentioned Hazy IPA). There will be a late night variety show kicking off at 10PM that night as well, but no tickets are necessary, so it’s a great chance for the Charlottetown folks to try some of the Rock’s finest.

If you’re down in Lunenburg, Shipwright Brewing has a new feature on tap. Cherry Hill is a Belgian Sour using cherries from Terra Beata Farms right in Lunenburg. This one is 4.5% and features a nice tart Cherry flavour, with that slight sour refreshing hit on your palate, good for a hot summer. This is available now at the bar and taproom for pints and also crowlers to go.