Fredericton Craft Beer Festival

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Friday Wrap-Up – News from Propeller, Big Spruce, Boxing Rock, Distillerie Fils du Roy, Garrison, Stillwell Beer Bar and more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2015-11-13
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Big Spruce Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Christmas Beer Garden at the Market, Distillerie Fils du Roy, Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, Garrison Brewing, Garrison Home Brew-Off Challenge, Gray Stone Brewing, Grimross Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, James Joyce Irish Pub, Meander River Farm and Brewery, North Brewing, Picaroons, Propeller Brewing, Red Rover Craft Cider, Stillwell Beer Bar, The Brewnosers, TrailWay Brewing, Upstreet Craft Brewing. 3 comments

Happy Friday, dear readers! We hope your Friday the 13th turns out better than the one in those movies. At least you’ll be drinking great beer if you grab a few of the ones mentioned below!

• Propeller Brewing released their latest One Hit Wonder late last week, named Down East North West IPA (DENWIPA). This 6.8% unfiltered IPA is an ode to West Coast IPAs, with a solid bitterness and a full blast of pine and citrus aroma. The orange-hued beer features a creamy white head, and a touch of sweetness to round out the big hopping. As with all of their One Hit Wonders, it is available at both their Gottingen and Windmill locations in growler fills only, and on rotating taps in the city, but not for long!

• Expanding on the popularity of the brew, Propeller’s Rye IPA is now available in six packs, as well as bombers. The 6.8% IPA features a generous addition of rye malt for a spicy character to accentuate the citrus aroma from the Pacific Northwest hops. For when you don’t want to drink a full 650ml of the beer, six packs are available at the Prop Shoppe, and the private beer stores, while the NSLC will continue to carry the bombers.

• And great news for those of us who attended the Prop’r Cask Nights in 2013 and 2014, they will be making a return! Propeller will be partnering with a local kitchen to cater their Gottingen St tasting room for an evening of food and fun, featuring special one-off casks and special blends for the occasion. We’ll let you know once the details are released.

• Big Spruce released their very popular Crazy Ivan Double IPA late last week. Brewed with 100% imported German malts, this orange-hued DIPA comes in at 8% ABV and over 100 IBUs, with a beautiful full hop blast on the nose. Due to the sheer volume of hops in the boil, the yield for this brew is less than standard Big Spruce brews, so don’t delay in grabbing a sample or growler at the brewery, or on tap at their accounts.

• And not shying away from the hoppier branch of beers, they recently brewed their Left Breton Organic Conspiracy IPA. This beer uses their own farm-grown organic hops, showcasing their 2015 harvest Cascade, among others. This brew first made its debut in 2013, when their good friends Brian and Rebecca from Crannóg Ales brought some of their own farm-grown organic hops. While they weren’t able to join them for this brew day, they were there in spirit.

• And look out for another conspiracy beer in the coming weeks and months, as the Big Spruce crew is invading Boxing Rock in Shelburne today for a special brewday. Taking a cue from today’s date, they are scaring up an Imperial Brown Ale named Triskaidekaphobia. This fear-inducing 9% beer will be then be conditioned on cherries and vanilla beans, with both non- and Glenora-barrel-aged versions seeing their release. A few members of the Ladies Beer League are in attendance today; follow along on their Twitter to get a peek at the mayhem.

• Distillerie Fils du Roy have released another new beer, North Shore Regiment. The beer was named after the Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army that was founded in Chatham, New Brunswick; they participated in many notable battles of World War II, including the Juno Beach landing on D-Day. The beer is an English Barleywine, a Strong Ale that is rich and malty, with complex flavours that may include toffee, toast, caramel, and molasses. Fils du Roy’s take on the style IS a strong one, clocking in at a whopping 12% ABV! Bittered to 45 IBUs to help balance the strong malt character, it’s available now in 750 mL bottles at the brewery and select ANBL stores; it’s also currently on tap at all four ANBL growler stations.

• Garrison Brewing has announced the style details of their 2016 Home Brew-Off Competition, and it is American IPA with Experimental Feature. This is category is wide open to individual interpretation: as long as it uses an American IPA as its base, and falls within those style guidelines (Style 21A from 2015 BJCP details here), it’s fair game! Novel ingredient additions are encouraged, including fruits, herbs, spices, etc, with your imagination as your only limit, as long as the Am IPA characters still shine through. From the brewery, “If it clearly fits one of the 21B – Specialty IPA sub-styles, then it probably isn’t what we have in mind”. The registration forms will be available shortly (be sure to mark down which special ingredient(s) were used!), and the beers will be due February 11th, with the Awards Gala held March 3rd. So, get brainstorming on recipes, and fire up your kettles for some test batches, Maritime Homebrewers! Post your brewday, and follow along with others as they brew, using the #GHBO16 tag on Twitter.

• And in more Garrison news, their popular seasonal Martello Stout has returned for the cooler months. This year’s batch features a new recipe with a slightly higher 5% ABV, and a higher percentage of oats for a great smooth and creamy character. The chocolate and espresso notes will keep you happy while you curl up by the fire. Look for it on sale in bombers at the brewery and private stores, and on tap in our local market. Also look for their flagship Irish Red in its new branding and large bottle format at the NSLC shortly.

• Bar Stillwell is celebrating their Second Anniversary this weekend, and there will be a ton of great beers and food to celebrate. They will be pouring a full complement of local and regional beers on their taps and beer engines, including Red Rover’s VeRRy PeRRy and White Witch, aged kegs of Grimross Chantelope and Tatamagouche Rum Barrel-Aged Dreadnot, a special one-off cask of Extra Special Bitter from The Brewnosers Homebrew Club (brewed at Good Robot), as well as several great sour Quebec beers, including Trou du Diable Oude Blanche, Ze Blend and L’Ours, and Dunham Tropicale and Assemblage #1. In addition to the taps, they will be popping bottles from Jester King, Dunham, and other beauties they’ve been cellaring. Of course, Chef GR will be serving up some killer food to complement the beers, including smoked brisket poutine and the infamous boatzel.  The event kicks off when the doors open at 6pm Sunday, and there are no tickets required. We’ll see you there!

• The anniversary party will also be the debut of Stillwell’s celebratory brew, Two. Brewed at North, Two is a 4.5% “rustic farmhouse” beer, inspired by both traditional saison and modern American farmhouse brewing. It was fermented using a mixed blend of yeasts and bacteria, for waves of funky and tart/acidic characteristics, on an effervescent and light base. It was hopped with Saaz and Sterling, for a peppery and fruity nose. From Stillwell, “It was a very experimental brew but we’re extremely pleased with the results; it turned out just as we’d hoped it would. We’re very grateful to Peter at North Brewing for allowing us to brew this beer at his brewery.” The beer will be available in both draft and bottle-conditioned pours. After the party, bottles will be available for purchase at North, and if you spot it, grab it!, as we don’t expect it to last long.

• There’s a new beer fermenting at Grimross Brewing, and it should be ready in plenty of time for the fast-approaching Christmas season. Dubbel Noel is actually the same recipe as their original Dubbel; however, this time around, the beer will be further conditioned on vanilla beans. Owner/brewer Stephen Dixon expects the vanilla to “add depth and richness to the already great flavours of caramel, candy and malt”, providing a subtle – but still enjoyable – contrast to the original beer. The ABV and IBUs (6.8% and 18, respectively) will not change; look for the new beer to be released by early December.

• Speaking of Christmas, next month will feature the first Christmas-themed beer event from those behind the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival. The Christmas Beer Garden at the Market is currently scheduled for Sunday, December 20th, from 10 am – 3 pm. Visitors to the Boyce Farmers Market will be able to take a break from the shopping and enjoy some brews from Garrison, Grimross, Maybee, Petit-Sault, Red Rover, Sunset Heights Meadery, and TrailWay. Both 4oz samples and 12oz pours (9oz for cider and mead) will be available, and there is no ticket required to attend. However, those who buy the Early Bird tickets (available at the link above) will receive a special glass which allows for 16oz pours for the price of 12oz, as well as their first four beer tickets on the house. The event will be cash-only, as are many of the Farmers Market vendors, so plan accordingly. And food from the great vendors at the market can be brought into the Beer Gardens area.

• There are two new seasonal beers soon to be brewed over at Hammond River. First off is an old homebrew favourite of owner/brewer Shane Steeves: Foghorn Coffee Porter. Brewed with a grist containing Maris Otter, Crystal 120 L, Chocolate malt, and Roasted Barley, it also features the addition of Foghorn coffee beans from local roasters Java Moose; it should come in at ~6% ABV. Next up is definitely an interesting new experiment: White Stout is brewed with a grist that includes oats and barley, and also features the addition of Foghorn coffee. The beer is further conditioned on cacao nibs, with the intended result being, you guessed it, a pale beer that smells and tastes roasty and chocolatey, like a stout! This one will be targeted at 7.2% ABV and ~37 IBUs. Stay tuned for release details on both beers over the coming weeks.

• TrailWay has brewed up a new Milk Stout, their first since their original “Imperial Coffee Milk Stout”, Double Double, released last March. Similar in some ways to Double Double, this newer “Experimental Milk Stout” made its first appearance last night at the King Street Ale House Cask Night. In fact, future releases of the same batch will continue to be cask-only; while last night’s was served in a standard cask, the beer’s next appearance will likely be served after conditioning on whisky-soaked oak chips. Featuring a higher percentage of lactose powder added in the boil, to boost the beer’s mouthfeel and perception of sweetness, it comes in at ~6.2% ABV. Keep your eyes on TrailWay’s social media pages for future cask releases! And remember that TrailWay is pouring at the Fredericton ANBL growler station this weekend; their Session IPA is on in limited supply, so get over there quickly!

• One of Fredericton’s upcoming breweries, Gray Stone Brewing, has announced recently that their plans to open in the Capital Complex have been cancelled. Instead, they hope to open in another currently-unconfirmed downtown location, where they will still house both a 10 bbl brewery and tasting room. Currently employing three brewers, they still plan on launching with the four beers we’ve reported on before (an American Pale Ale, American IPA, American Stout and Brown Ale), along with several other styles to follow shortly after. We’ll keep you further updated on their progress; right now, plans are to open the brewery and tasting room to the public in May, 2016.

• The James Joyce Irish Pub has announced the third in their series of tap takeovers, Meet Your Makers, for Thursday, November 26th at 7 pm. After initial offerings from Big Axe and Red Rover, the next event will feature Picaroons. We’re not certain on exactly which beers will be pouring, but have been assured that there will be several one-off beers, including at least one cask. It also sounds like several Picaroons staff members will be on hand, eager to chat beer. As always, there is no charge to attend; just pay by the pour!

• Meander River released their Homegrown Wet Hopped Pale Ale a few weeks ago, but we missed announcing it when it happened. Our apologies! Good news, though, as it is currently on tap for growler fills at Bishop’s Cellar and Harvest Wines. Using a blend of their own farm-grown Cascade and Zeus, the beer was hopped exclusively using the mash tun as a hopback. This allows the characteristic taste and aroma of wet hops to shine through in the 4.2% beer. And for those heading to the brewery this weekend, look for their First Frost Cider and return of Smokey Chipotle Porter.

A few more things before we sign off this week: Speaking of growler fills, Red Rover will be making their debut on a growler filling station early next week. However, it will be not be in New Brunswick, but in Nova Scotia, with RockHead in Halifax pouring their Fall Cider. Charlottetown’s Upstreet has released their Rhuby Social in bottles, joining their Do-Gooder APA and Commons Pilsner, so now you can take their strawberry and rhubarb witbier home in a smaller format. Bulwark’s Winter Cider is back for the season, and will be available at the NSLC shortly. They have also bottled their Hopped Cider, which will be debuting at the NSLC in the next week or two. Though it’s six months away, tickets for next May’s Full House event as part of NS Craft Beer Week have already gone on sale. The event is May 14th, and once again there will be two sessions, 1:30-4pm and 6:30-9pm, and will feature as many NS breweries as can fit in the same room.

Friday Wrap-Up – News from Big Tide, Big Spruce, Red Rover, Bad Apple, Flying Boats, and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2015-11-06
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Bad Apple Brewhouse, Big Spruce Brewing, Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge, Big Tide Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Flying Boats Brewing, Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, Garrison Brewing, Granite Brewery, Grimross Brewing, Half Cut Brewing, James Joyce Irish Pub, Marky's Laudromat, Meander River Farm and Brewery, PEI Brewing Co., Picaroons, Red Rover Craft Cider, Rudder's Brewpub, Storm Brewing in Newfoundland, The Brewnosers, TrailWay Brewing. 1 comment

Happy Friday! There’s lots of new beers – and some other beer-related news – out this week for our region; time to start getting caught up…

• Saint John’s Big Tide Brewing released a brand new beer this past weekend. Bockman-Turner Overweiz is a Weizenbock, meaning a dark wheat beer (Dunkelweizen), but brewed to a higher ABV (hence the “bock” moniker). The BTO weighs in at 7.6% ABV, and was brewed with a grain bill of half wheat malt, with the remainder composed of German Munich, Bohemian Pilsner, Crystal and a touch of chocolate malt for colour and roast flavour. Hallertauer hops were used throughout, and a top fermenting German Wheat Ale yeast was used to bring out the characteristic banana and clove aromas to round out the brew. It is available on tap now at the brewpub, and in growler fills to go; it was a small batch, so it won’t last much longer… drop by today!

• Big Spruce Brewing has brought back their very popular The Whole 9 Yards Scotch Ale. First released in April 2014 as a beer celebrating their First Anniversary, this latest version again features the addition of Glenora Glen Breton Rare 10 year Single Malt Whisky to the batch to enhance the roast, peat, and smoke characteristics of the underlying Scotch Ale. Available now at the brewery for samples and growler fills, and on tap at better beer bars in the province. And don’t forget, time is quickly running out on Big Spruce’s Third Annual Home Brew Challenge. If you haven’t already brewed up your Red IPA (or Dark Czech Lager or Altbier), you might be able to squeeze it in under the wire this weekend!

• Last night, the second Meet Your Makers tap-takeover event was held at the James Joyce Irish Pub. Red Rover Craft Cider was featured, with a total of ten taps pouring various regular-release and special one-off ciders. Two brand new ciders made their debut at the event: first off is their Tinderbox, a semi-dry cider featuring notes of vanilla, that has been aged with the addition of bourbon and oak (this one was brewed specifically for the Guy Fawkes Day-themed tap takeover). Next up was the Bee for B, another semi-dry blend which was made with honey produced on the roof of the Crowne Plaza hotel; this one will continue to be on tap exclusively at the James Joyce for the foreseeable future. Also, the White Witch made its triumphant return last week and was on tap last night; first released last fall, it features plenty of fresh orange zest and locally-grown cilantro out of Wellwood Farm in Saint John. All three ciders are, as usual for Red Rover, 7% ABV.

• Somerset’s Bad Apple Brewhouse has a few returning favourites on tap at the brewery these days. Their award-winning Mosaic Double IPA is back on tap at the brewery now. This 8% ABV big IPA is brewed to showcase the Mosaic hop, and it does that in spades, featuring big aromas and bitterness. All of the proceeds from Mosaic are donated to attend camp at Brigadoon Village and other community projects, to support families and those living with Mosaic Down Syndrome. This is something very close to the Bad Apple family, as one of owner Jeff Saunder’s children has Mosaic Down Syndrome. In addition to the brewery (where a limited number of bottles will also be available), the beer will be on tap at Lion & Bright, Stubborn Goat, and La Torta Pizzeria in Wolfville, as well as few spots in New Brunswick.

• Also available from Bad Apple is their Operation Green Ring, a 5.0% ABV Cucumber Mint Wheat Ale. It was brewed with Delta Force Brewery, two members of the Brewnosers Homebrew Club. Using fresh local mint and cucumbers, this field beer features lots of mint aroma and cucumber flavour, coming together with a great Wheat base. It is available now at the brewery for growler fills. And keep your eyes peeled for the return of their Russian Imperial Stout, currently conditioning and waiting for release closer to Christmas. As in some previous releases, a good amount of this brew is being barrel aged in Glenora casks.

• There’s a new beer from Flying Boats currently hitting taps; Beach Cruiser DIPA is a test batch of sorts that came in at 7.2% ABV and 72 IBUs. Featuring a “generous” dry hop, it was also hopped at several points throughout the boil with four different varieties: Magnum, Centennial, Amarillo and Chinook. It’s currently on tap at the James Joyce, and should be on a rotating tap at Marky’s Laundromat later this month. The newly-installed pilot system at the brewery is also up and running, with the first test batch currently undergoing active fermentation. More on that beer, soon!

• Meander River will be releasing their latest batch of cider this weekend: First Frost Hard Apple Cider is a 5.5% ABV apple blend featuring juice from Fair Acres Farm. “A touch sweeter and juicier” than their original dry cider releases, according to the brewery, it still finishes very crisp. It will be released this weekend at the brewery, and at Christmas at the Forum (Fri-Sun) in Halifax. And speaking of Meander River, the crew from Garrison dropped by yesterday to collect spruce boughs for their Spruce Beer winter seasonal. Look for that beer in the coming weeks.

• Over at Granite Brewery in Halifax, they have a new beer on tap for pints and growler fills. Described as a “Red Ale” by the brewery, Flander’s Fields was brewed with honey and ginger to give it extra aroma and flavour to go with the maltiness from the grist. It weighs in at an easy-drinking 5.3% ABV, and will be available at the brewery until it’s gone (approximately three weeks).

• Fredericton’s Half Cut Brewing (operating out of the brew system located at the Picaroons Brewtique) recently released their second beer, an American Brown Ale named Belligerent Brown. Described as roasty and hoppy with “notes of dark chocolate and dried dark fruit”, it was hopped heavily with Centennial and Chinook. While technically on the higher end of bitter with a calculated 74 IBUs, it comes in at an easy-drinking 5.4% ABV. It’s available for growler fills at the Brewtique, and should be on tap around the city at the King Street Ale House, James Joyce, 540 Kitchen & Bar, and Snooty Fox.

• It’s getting closer to the official ticket-release for the 2016 Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, and those behind it all have been releasing some sneak peeks for what they have in store for the Fourth Annual event! Organized by Lloyd Chambers, this will be the first time the event has been stretched into Fredericton Craft Beer Week, featuring plenty of beer-related activities from March 9th-12th, finalizing with the beer festival on Saturday. There will be two sessions this time around (afternoon and evening), both of which will feature the largest gathering of Atlantic Canadian craft beer yet – 45 confirmed breweries pouring over 160 different types of beer, cider and mead. We’ll have lots of information as we get closer to the events, but for now, keep in mind that tickets for the festival will go on sale at 11 am on Friday, November 27th through their website. Stay tuned for more!

• Rudder’s Brewpub in Yarmouth has released a new beer this week, Runic Stone IPA. Weighing in at 5.6% ABV and 46 IBUs, it was brewed with a load of late hopping in the boil by Cascade, Columbus, Saaz and Sorachi Ace hops, and was further dry hopped with more Saaz and Sorachi Ace. This hop schedule allows for a big hop aroma, without the beer being too bitter. It is named after the Runic (or Fletcher) Stone in the local museum, thought to be a Norse artifact, discovered in the early 19th century. While the exact origins of the stone are unknown, it is certainly part of Yarmouth’s history. Grab its namesake beer on tap at Rudder’s while it lasts!

• TrailWay has brewed up a fresh batch of their popular Session IPA, and next week it’ll be a little easier for those in Fredericton to get their “fill”! As of next Thursday, 250 L of this hoppy, ~4.3% ABV beer will be making its way to the Prospect St. ANBL for growler fills. This will be TrailWay’s first time at the ANBL growler station since last March. And in other TrailWay news, Dan Mason and Jake Saunders of TrailWay Brewing have officially signed the lease on the location for their new brewery when they expand in 2016; located at 280 Main St. on Fredericton’s North Side, they hope to be producing beer on their 10 BBL system by Spring.

• Grimross has added two new fermentors to their existing line-up, and with this minor expansion comes the need for more assistance in the brewery! As a result, they are currently looking to hire a full-time brewer. Interested parties can find the full list of requirements here, and resumes should be sent to stephen@grimross.com.

We hope everyone has a great weekend! Petit-Sault‘s award-winning La Buckdjeuve has returned; it’s currently on tap at the brewery for growler fills. Picaroons has brought back their popular seasonal, Winter Warmer; you can find it on tap at the Brewtique, at select beer bars/restaurants across the province (and beyond?), and in 500 mL bottles at ANBL stores. PEI Brewing Co. will be re-releasing their Transmitter Coffee Stout later this month; featuring a new blend of beans from Receiver Coffee. And don’t forget to grab a bottle of their Hell Street barrel-aged Doppelbock on sale at the brewery now. While there, grab a pint of their latest cask, SmOAKed Brown, a smoked version of their Iron Bridge Brown, aged on oak chips. Storm Brewing in Newfoundland has brought back their winter seasonal Coffee Porter, available at their usual licensee and retail locations. Rockbottom Brewpub in Halifax has released a new seasonal themselves, Strawberry Blonde, a 5.0% ABV fruit beer.

Friday Wrap-Up – News from Fredericton Cider Festival, Unfiltered, Flying Boats, Garrison, and much more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2015-09-04
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: BarNone Brewing, Big Axe Brewery, Boxing Rock Brewing, Brewbakers, Flying Boats Brewing, Fredericton Cider Festival, Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, Gahan House Harbourfront (Halifax), Halifax Oktoberfest, Horton Ridge Malt & Grain, Marky's Laudromat, Meander River Farm and Brewery, PEI Brewing, Pump House Brewery, Railcar Brewing, Schoolhouse Brewery, Southan Farms, The Nook and Cranny, Unfiltered Brewing, Upstreet Craft Brewing.

Good morning, and welcome to the start of the long weekend! Before diving into cottage-time, family-time – whatever you have planned, as long as it involves some good beer! – let’s get cracking at a big pile of beer news…

• Cider lovers, we have some good news! This fall will bring the first Fredericton Cider Festival on Saturday, October 24th. Brought to you by those behind the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, the afternoon event will be held at Brewbakers in downtown Fredericton, and will feature unlimited tasting (4 oz pours) of up to 30 different ciders. With several local craft cideries attending (including New Brunswick’s Red Rover, Scow Craft Cider, and Gagetown Cider Co.), as well as other big brands, there will be plenty of different offerings to sample! There are two ticket options: regular tickets ($56.50) will get you a tasting glass and unlimited pours from 1-4 pm, while a limited number of VIP tickets ($65) will allow for early entry at noon, plus a special information session on cider production. The event will be held outdoors on Brewbakers’ partially-covered deck; food from the restaurant will also be available for purchase. Attendees can expect to see some extra-special products at the fest, quite-possibly including New Brunswick’s first exposure to cask cider! Tickets go on sale online today at noon. We’ll have more info on the festival, soon!

• Unfiltered Brewing has a new beer out today, starting from their opening at noon. Double Orange Ale is a 7.5% ABV SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) beer featuring 2-Row Malt and Citra hops. Despite the rather low-lovibond colouring inherent in 2-Row Malt, the final beer colour is a beautiful orange, thanks to some special Nash-magic during the brewday. The beer is calculated at over 100 IBUs for bitterness, but the hops mostly shine through in a big, bold, and juicy aroma and flavour, without being brashly bitter. Pick up the beer in growlers at their North St location, or look for it on tap at bars and restaurants around the city.

• Flying Boats has released a new beer, Penny Wreck ESB. This moderate-strength (5.5% ABV) Extra Special Bitter exhibits a “significant caramel malt sweetness” with plenty of “biscuity, toasty, nutty malt character”, according to the brewery. Hopped to 37 IBUs with Warrior and Willamette (with some added later in the boil for flavour), it’s named after an incident in the late 19th-century, where a CPR train carrying 900,000 pennies derailed just outside of Dorchester, NB on its way to Montreal. You can currently find the beer on tap at Ducky’s in Sackville. And congrats to Flying Boats on their official launch party last night at Marky’s Laundromat in Moncton!

• Garrison Brewing released their three-way collaboration beer last night, Not So Gentle Tickle, brewed in early August when the folks from Metalman Brewing in Waterford City, Ireland and Great Lakes Brewery in Toronto were in town for the Halifax Seaport Beerfest. This 7.0% IPA was brewed with loads of whole leaf Amarillo, Citra, and Columbus hops throughout the boil, whirlpool, and with a generous dry-hop charge as well, for a 55 IBU final product. The hops give the beer a citrus, floral, and grassy aroma, and help to enhance the pleasant bitterness. A bit of Wheat and Carapils malts, along with the Pale Ale base malt, give the beer an orange hue with a vibrant and persistent head. Grab the Tickle on tap and in 650 ml bottles at the brewery and around Halifax now.

• And speaking of Garrison, more details have been released for their Hops ‘n’ Brats event taking place September 25th in collaboration with the Sausage Fest folks, and as the first event in the Halifax Oktoberfest weekend. Joining Garrison for the Hops at the event are Big Spruce, Boxing Rock, Breton, Bulwark Cider, Gahan House, Good Robot, Meander River, Propeller, and Rare Bird. The Brats will be courtesy of Harbourstone, Scanway and T-Dogs. The event is from 5-11pm at the Sands on Salter location on the Halifax Waterfront, with tickets now available. Your $16 entry includes a sampling cup to keep and five drink tickets (with additional samples available at $2 each).

• As the hop harvest season continues to get underway, more wet-hopped beers are appearing in our region. Railcar will soon be releasing their wet-hopped Harvest Ale, featuring fresh Goldings hops from Southan Farms in Wicklow. Hopped throughout the boil to 68 IBUs, this 6.2% ABV beer will be released on Saturday, September 19th at the brewery’s Corn Boil, from 1-6 pm. Railcar has also begun a Community Supported Brewing program; there are several levels to buy into, each with varying “rewards”, including beer credit in their retail store and tasting room, glassware, brewery tours, and even the chance to shadow a brew day at the brewery. The program will be running until the end of September.

• In more harvesting news, Horton Ridge Malt & Grain did some of their own this week. Organic Hazlet and Danko varietals of rye were collected, and will be stored, tested for viability, and malted once the Malt House construction is completed later this year. The three-step malting process will happen in their building, with the steeping (wetting) of the grain, germination (preparing enzymes and starches for conversion in the mash), and kilning (drying and possibly roasting for flavour and colour). The malt house will be two floors, each of 316 m² (3400 square feet), for the floor malting process. The key malting equipment will be built by local crafts people whenever possible. In addition to their own grain, they will be malting grain from other organic farmers in the region, and, if necessary, meeting demand with western organic grain until the local supply is sufficient. They are looking forward to their first runs in December 2015, and supplying the local commercial and homebrewing communities. Be sure to follow along on their Twitter feed for updates on their progress, and we look forward to visiting when the building it completed.

• Schoolhouse Brewery also did some harvesting of their hops this week. Along with other local farmers’ wares, they will be doing a series of three 100% Maritimes-sourced brews, in keeping with their philosophy of using local ingredients whenever possible. While the exact beers have not yet been decided, they do have some ideas for the special release of them. They will be sold in half-cases of 750 ml bottles (two of each style), in December. They will be orderable from their website, and available through their Growler Bus delivery (which may also be available in Halifax for this special release). Stay tuned for more beer details!

• Pump House brewed the second iteration of their Stonefire Ale yesterday. Originally brewed last year to celebrate their 15th Anniversary, the 2015 edition has had the recipe “tweaked slightly” by the head brewer. A Stein Beer, it was brewed by immersing extremely-hot stones into the wort, which not only brings it to the necessary boil, but caramelizes the sugars in the process. The beer should be released in bottles by the end of October; we’ll have more information on the recipe changes at that time. For more info on last year’s release, check out our previous post. And in other Pump House news, they plan on releasing a new IPA in the near future; stay tuned for details!

• Big Axe has just released a new Fruit Beer, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, to celebrate the end of the summer harvest season. With a grist that includes dark Crystal malts and toasted Wheat, the beer was moderately-hopped (to 22 IBUs) to provide some aroma to blend with the caramel flavours from the malts. The real experience in this light-brown ale, however, comes from the addition of 10 lbs of local strawberries, and freshly-picked rhubarb, giving an aroma of “strawberry ganache”, according to the brewery. It weighs in at 5.5% ABV, and should be available now at the brewery’s tasting room, and soon on tap at Big Axe accounts.

• Over in Truro, The Nook and Cranny brewpub has released a new beer, White IPA. A style that combines the fruity esters and spicy phenolics of a Belgian Witbier with the fruity/citrusy hop aromas and flavours (and high bitterness) of an American IPA, this batch was hopped (and dry-hopped) with Cascade and Centennial to 42 IBUs, and fermented with Abbaye yeast to give it those classic Belgian characteristics. Drop by to grab a pint today!

• A new brewery in the development stage is looking to hire a head brewer! High Tide Brewery, based in Truro, is looking for a Head Brewer for their upcoming 15 BBL (17.5 hL) brewhouse. They are looking for someone immediately for their input and expertise on equipment choice and purchase; ideas for recipe and style choices are also welcome. Investment and partnership opportunities are available, as is an equity bonus program. Check out the ad at brewingwork.com for more details, and apply before the Sept 11 deadline.

Enjoy the long weekend! BarNone Brewing‘s latest batch of IPA is out now, and has been nicknamed the “Broken Scale” IPA, and features a big juicy nose from generous hop additions throughout the process. Halifax’s Gahan House Pub has a new beer on tap, the White Rhino Belgian IPA, weighing in at 6.7% ABV and a solid 55 IBUs. PEI Brewing Company has released their Harvest Time Lager, a 4.0% Golden Lager, and the Harvest Four-Pack (featuring it, the Sir John A’s Honey Wheat, Blueberry Wheat Ale, and Black Banks Cascadian Dark Ale) is available at both the PEILCC and ANBL.

And don’t forget to head out to some of the great events happening in our region this weekend: Oktoberfest des Acadiens is happening now until Sunday in Bertrand, NB; Big Spruce and Breton Brewing are both hosting Food Truck Friday events at their breweries today (Cape Breton Brewery Crawl, anyone?); Upstreet in Charlottetown is holding their Block Party starting at noon tomorrow, to celebrate the release of their collaboration brew with Boxing Rock; or if you’re in Nova Scotia, maybe visit Meander River Saturday morning to help harvest their hops? Check their Twitter or Facebook feed for potential scheduling changes.