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Friday Wrap-Up – News and New Beers from BarNone, Rockbottom, Picaroons, Hammond River, PEI Brewing, Red Rover and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2014-06-06
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2014 Canadian Brewing Awards, 2014 Fredericton Beer Run, BarNone Brewing, Beerthief, Big Axe Brewery, Brewer's Bash, Ducky's Bar, Garrison Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, Meander River Farm and Brewery, North Brewing, PEI Brewing, Picaroons cat contest, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Railcar Brewing, Red Rover Brewing, RockBottom Brewpub, Schoolhouse Brewery, Shiretown Beer, Stillwell Beer Bar, YellowBelly Brewery. 3 comments

Happy Friday, craft beer fans! Looks like there’s lots going on in the beer scene in Atlantic Canada again this week…

• A couple of weeks ago, we alluded to a new beer being released by BarNone Brewing, and we now have some more details. An American Pale Ale, the beer was brewed in collaboration with Bicycle Craft Brewery, a new brewery opening soon in Ottawa. Owned by husband and wife team Fariborz and Laura Behzadi, they came in contact with BarNone brewer/co-owner Don Campbell when they ordered their brewhouse through DME, which constructed a similar setup to what BarNone brews on. When Don invited Fariborz and Laura to do a test brew on his system, so they’d be familiar with the setup, Fariborz designed a recipe and sent it Don’s way. A few minor changes were made due to ingredient availability, and then the three met at BarNone to brew the beer. Broke Spoke Pale Ale was born! A Pale Ale with a “good amount of malt backbone, so that it balances the hop bittermess”, the beer still has a good amount of hop flavors and aromas coming through. Broke Spoke made its debut last night at BarNone’s weekly growler night; it may pop up on tap at bars/restaurants across the Island in the near future.

• Tickets are now on sale for this month’s Beer Dinner (Tuesday, June 24th at 6:00 pm) at the Rockbottom Brewpub in Halifax. There are only 30 spots available; each ticket sells for $35, which includes three courses paired with beer. This month’s dinner consists of a pork belly slider paired with their Intergalactic SMaSH’d Lager, beer-marinated, grilled Cornish hen (with newly-tapped Hali-Lager), and a black pepper & strawberry shortcake (Jacktar Stout). You can reserve tickets by calling the brewpub (902-423-2938); act quickly, they usually sell out fast.

• While on the topic of Rockbottom, if you haven’t had a chance to try Wreckoning RIS – their Russian Imperial Stout that recently won Atlantic Canada’s only gold medal at the 2014 Canadian Brewing Awards – or just want to try it again, they will be pouring the beer next Wednesday, June 11th at 4:00 pm. Get in and get some while you can!

• Also, if you’re anxious to start having lunch at the Rockbottom again (or starting your pub crawl a little earlier), they’ve announced that they’re now open on weekdays starting at noon, with a good possibility of opening at noon on weekends as well, later in the month.

• The 2nd Annual Fredericton Beer Run is being held this summer on Monday, August 4th (New Brunswick Day). Like last year, the event involves a run along Fredericton trails starting at noon, followed by lots of beer! Registration begins at 11 am; participants can choose to run either a 6 or 12 km route. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased online; they include a custom-designed running bib and beer stein, water stops, and 14 beer tickets. Each beer ticket is good for a 4 oz sample of beer or cider, with at least 20 different beers/ciders available to sample; this part of the event will be held at the Delta Fredericton). New Brunswick breweries Big Axe, Grimross, Moosehead, Pump House, Railcar, Red Rover, and Shiretown will be pouring; Unibroue and McClelland Premium Imports will also have some beers to sample.

• We hope you’ve purchased your tickets to Picaroons‘ 2nd Annual Brewer’s Bash on Saturday, July 12th in Fredericton, because they’re now officially sold out! Even with an extra 500 tickets being sold this year, they still went very quickly. They’ve also announced the three musical acts that will be playing throughout the day-long event: Zeus, Cyndi Cain, and The Chronos Band. We’ll keep you posted on the breweries that will be attending as the Bash gets closer. And a reminder: they’re still looking for volunteers if you’d like to attend – 4 hours of helping out will allow you 8 free hours to enjoy the festival, so send them an email if you’re interested!

• And speaking of Picaroons, they’ve picked the winning cat for their Melonhead bottle label… the lucky kitty is Ruby, who was entered in the contest by her owner, Madison Sagle. Melonhead is now on tap at the Brewtique, and should be popping up at restaurants and bars in the area, as well as in bottles, over the next couple of weeks.

• The new Imperial IPA from Hammond River, Too Hop to Handle, that we mentioned last month has been kegged and is awaiting ANBL approval, which means it should be on tap in Saint John soon. Brewed almost exclusively with the Zythos hop, we’re looking forward to a fruity and piney hop bomb!

• PEI Brewing Co. has a new beer on tap exclusively at the brewery at 96 Kensington Road in Charlottetown. While currently unnamed, the beer is a Light Lager (4% ABV) that has a low bitterness (8 IBUs) from Kohatu, a New Zealand hop variety.  The beer was then “highly dry-hopped” with another NZ variety, Motueka, giving the beer a “tropical and piney” aroma, according to the brewery. Sounds like an interesting cross between a Light Lager and IPA… better get to the brewery to give it a try!

• North Brewing in Halifax has released a new seasonal, their Summer Saison. Changed slightly from their standard Saison, it features coriander and orange peel in the beer, to enhance the already vibrant and spritzy character of the base beer. Both ingredients shine through in the aroma as well, complemented by the hop characteristic and yeast spiciness. It weighs in at 5.5%ABV, and is available at the brewery and Alderney Landing Market (Saturday only) in growlers, and on tap around Halifax and Dartmouth, and in Lunenburg at The Grand Banker. When the weather turns colder (let’s hope that’s 6 months from now!), they have plans of switching up the recipe to a Winter Saison, featuring ginger and black pepper.

• In more new beer news, Shiretown just announced today that they have a new beer available for growler fills at the brewery. All we know right now is that it’s an IPA, and is called Hops on for Nowhere. We’ll have more info on this beer for you next week!

• If you’re living in the Sackville area, and are into craft cider, good news! Red Rover Brewing now has their Summer Brew on tap at Ducky’s Bar. Summer is a dry cider, described by Red Rover as a sharp, tangy thirst-quencher; it comes in at 7% ABV. Look for Red Rover’s other two regular releases, Spring Brew and Fall Brew, to follow after the Summer keg has kicked.

• Ducky’s also announced yesterday that they have the new Big Axe summer seasonal, Simon Saaz Summer Ale, on tap. Check out last week’s post for more info on this beer. To follow, they’ll be tapping another Big Axe seasonal, White Birch Porter. A 6.5% ABV Porter brewed with pure white birch sap, owner/brewer Peter Cole describes the beer as dark brown in color, and medium-bodied. Slightly smoky, with an aroma of “dark roasted nuts, rye bread and chocolate”, the bitterness of the birch sap “complements the noble hops nicely”.

• Yellowbelly Brewpub is releasing a new brew this weekend. Downtown Brown is an American-style Brown Ale, weighing in at 6.2% ABV and 40 IBUs. The grain bill consists of Canadian Pale, English Maris Otter, Canadian Munich, Scottish Carastan and Scottish Black Malt… a truly international bunch! The beer is hopped in the boil with Nugget and Galena, and then dry-hopped with Chinook and Ahtanum, and then with Topaz. A great blending of the chocolate, caramel, and roast from the grain, spice, herbal, pine and tropical fruit from the hops, will make this a great brew.

• A reminder that the 2014 Newfoundland Liquor Commission Beer Expo is happening at the St. John’s Convention Centre this weekend. Box Office tickets are sold out, however there are lots available online as people’s plans change. For those unable to attend, or want to grab some of their favourites after the fest, check out this thread on the Beerthief forum for a list of special Festival beers that will be showing up at your local NLC this weekend. Cheers!

• If you can’t be on The Rock this weekend, then be sure to make it out to one of the local bars in your area. If you’re in the Annapolis Valley, be sure to drop by the Library Pub in Wolfville tonight, and the Spitfire Arms in Windsor tomorrow, to help celebrate the launch of Schoolhouse Brewery. In Halifax? Drop by Stillwell at noon Saturday to grab a pint of Meander River‘s Lunchbox Pale Ale. For those of you who haven’t had a chance to grab some from the source in Ashdale, it’s definitely worth picking up!

• Garrison Brewing is hiring: a full-time, permanent Brewery Sales Rep and a Seasonal Events & Sales Rep (full-time until September, possible part-time after), send off your resumes today! And even though the noon First Sips (aka Early Bird) tickets for their Cask Takeover June 21 at Stillwell are sold out, there will be lots of beer still flowing once the doors re-open at 2pm that afternoon, so be sure to drop by. We’ll have some more details on the casks available this coming week, but we got word of another one: their popular Peanut Butter & Jelly blend (Nut Brown and Raspberry Wheat), with raspberries from Noggins Corner right in the cask.

Friday Wrap-Up – News from Hell Bay, Hammond River, Pump House, Picaroons, PEI Brewing, and more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2014-05-16
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2014 Atlantic Beer Festival, Big Spruce Brewing, Brewer's Bash, Hammond River Brewing, Hell Bay Brewing, NLC, PEI Brewing, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Propeller Brewing, Pump House Brewery, Stubborn Goat. 1 comment

Happy Friday everyone! Now that spring is in full swing, be sure to grab a local beer, and enjoy it outside! Here are some new beers, new events, new jobs, and more!

• Hell Bay has released their R.I.P.(A.) version 3.0. Brewed with a different malt and hops recipe than the two previous versions, this beer has a maltier body, and a citrus hop presence. Despite these changes, the beer once again weighs in at 7.2%ABV and 70IBUs. Drop by the brewery in Liverpool for a growler, and look for it on tap around the province shortly.

• Hammond River Brewing has announced that they’re currently brewing up two new summer seasonals, and we have some info on both of them. The first beer is described as a Hawaiian-style Pale Ale; it’s brewed with fresh pineapples, along with Chinook and Cascade hops, and then dry-hopped with more Cascade. It clocks in at 5.8% ABV and 55 IBUs. The other seasonal is a Fruit Beer… more specifically, a Blueberry Ale that is brewed with real blueberries, not extract, which will give the beer a purplish color. This one will come in at 5.4% ABV and 38 IBUs. Both seasonals will rotate in production with one another, so look for them both to be making appearances over the next few months in the Saint John area, starting with the Hawaiian APA in the next couple of weeks.

• To coincide with the Atlantic Beer Festival on May 31st in Moncton, the Pump House is releasing two beers for sale in six-packs for the first time. First, the Premium Pilsner that had a limited release around last Christmas (in 750 mL swing top bottles) will now be available as the newest seasonal beer. A German-style Pilsner weighing in at about 5.7% ABV and 30 IBUs, it arrives just in time for the warmer weather (more info on the beer here). Second, they’ll be releasing a brand new IPA! No, not their regular IPA (that has always been popular with hop lovers, and only available on tap at select locations)… a new beer entirely, also in the American IPA style. No specifics on this one yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as we can! Both six-packs will be available at the brewery and ANBL locations at the end of the month/first of June, after an original launch at the Atlantic Beer Festival.

• Picaroons has announced the date of sale for tickets to their Brewer’s Bash this summer, July 12th – they go on sale next Tuesday, May 20th. Starting at 10:00 am, you can pick them up at the Cedar Tree Cafe in downtown Fredericton, or find them online here; the price is $25. Tickets sold out fairly quickly last year; even with 500 more tickets available for this year’s festival, expect it to sell out at least as fast as last year. Check out last week’s post for a bit more info on the Bash.

• Looking to work in the brewery business, but not necessarily as a brewer? Well, the PEI Brewing Co. is looking to fill a position for Retail and Sales Manager at their retail store in the brewery. You’ll need a university degree or diploma in Business, Marketing, or a related field, with a minimum of 2 years sales and marketing experience in a retail environment. Contact Cara Squires by email for more information, and/or to submit a resume. More details here.

• A reminder that the 2014 Canadian Brewing Awards are being held in Fredericton at the end of the month, May 29-31. The three day event is being held at the Fredericton Conference Centre in the city’s downtown, with satellite events across the city. Featuring some excellent panels, talks and presentations from brewers, distributors and ingredient and equipment manufacturers, this is a must-visit for anyone involved in the beer industry. The Awards Gala, being held Saturday night, and live-broadcast from the CBA website, will be the highlight of the weekend. This is when the winning beers and breweries will be announced, after the impressive job Tracy Phillippi and the panel of judges did, making their way through more than 900 submissions in Toronto last month. For those brewers who have not yet signed up, it’s not too late! Visit the CBA website for further information on the schedule and email Katrina to sign up.

• Propeller Brewing’s new Windmill Rd location is celebrating its first “Food Truck Friday” today. Cheese Gypsy Mobile Cuisine will be  set up 11:30-4 today, and every Friday this spring and summer, for folks to have some food to wash down their beer. From Andrew Cooper, “We’re quite excited about the local food truck scene and really want to be involved with it.” They join North Brewing on Agricola St, who host The Food Wolf every Sunday 12-4 and Seaport Farmers’ Market / Garrison Brewing, where Nomad Gourmet hangs out Saturday 7-3 and Sunday 9-3. To keep an eye on where these and the other food trucks are in the HRM, be sure to check out the Street Food App website.

• Speaking of Propeller, hot on the heels of their very popular Black IPA, they’ve brewed up two more One Hit Wonders at the Gottingen St brewery. While too early to release the details, Andrew Cooper assure us that they will be available soon, and released back to back, to reduce lag time between them. In previous years, these one-offs have included Zwickelbier, Imperial Red, SPA (Special Pale Ale), so we’re sure these upcoming ones will be just as special!

• Today’s Cask at the Stubborn Goat is a Double Dry-Hopped Kitchen Party Pale Ale from Big Spruce Brewing. Brewmaster Jeremy White let us know that the KP was dry hopped with Centennial in the conditioning tank, then blasted with a dose of Amarillo in the cask. After grabbing a grilled cheese sandwich and growler in Dartmouth, this sounds like a great start to the long weekend!

• Tickets for the 2014 NLC Beer Expo are now on sale. Being held June 6th and 7th, the Expo will showcase beer from across the country, and around the world. The list of beers is available here, and features over 100 different products, about 20% of which are not normally available in the province. Tickets are still available for the Friday night session, which can also include an exclusive Tasting Panel before the Fest, lead by folks from the Mill Street, Muskoka, and Unibroue.

• A quick reminder that Meander River Farm and Brewery is opening tomorrow! From 10-5, drop by their Ashdale, NS location to tour the brewery and grounds, check out some of the lavender and hops products, and other merchandise, and of course, grab some beer! We’ll see you there!

In closing, we mentioned in our post on the upcoming Atlantic Beer Festival yesterday that we’d be holding a contest for a giveaway of two tickets for the afternoon session (2:30 – 5:00 pm). Starting now, hop on Twitter and send us a note like: Hey @ACBeerBlogger! I want to win tickets to #ABF2014! http://wp.me/p23UN6-1gZ. One entry per person; we’ll randomly pick the winner and announce their name in next Friday’s post. The contest will run from now until next Thursday at 11:59 pm. Good luck!

Friday Wrap-Up – News from Boxing Rock, Hammond River, BarNone, Picaroons, PEI Brewing, Red Rover, Rogues Roost and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2014-05-09
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: BarNone Brewing, Big Axe Brewery, Boxing Rock Brewing, Brewer's Bash, Garrison Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, Local Connections Halifax, Meander River Farm and Brewery, North Brewing, Paddys Irish Brewpub, PEI Brewing, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Propeller Brewing, Red Rover Brewing, reLiSH, Rogues Roost Brewpub, Schoolhouse Brewery, Stubborn Goat, The Pub Magazine, Tide & Boar Gastropub. 1 comment

Hello, craft beer fans! As the weather finally starts to improve a little in our region, let’s warm up your weekend even more with some beer news…

• Boxing Rock has released details on their newest brew, a Biere de Garde; this marks the first time this malty, lagered, French beer style has been brewed by a brewery in Nova Scotia. La Rive du Sud is brewed with base malts and dark caramelized sugar; it clocks in at 7.5% ABV. With “notes of biscuit, caramel, toffee, as well as tangerine, peach, nutmeg, clove and allspice”, the beer has a dry finish with a “lingering spicy aftertaste”, according to the brewery. Available in 650 mL bottles at the private stores in HRM Saturday, on tap at select bars/restaurants, and in bottles and 1 L growler fills at the brewery, get it while you can! You can read more about this new beer on the Boxing Rock blog, here.

• Hammond River Brewing has announced that they’re brewing a new beer today, an Imperial IPA (aka Double IPA) named Too Hop to Handle. Brewer/owner Shane Steeves has confirmed that the beer should come in at about 8.4% ABV and 101 IBUs (calc); all of the flavor and aroma hop additions will incorporate the Zythos hop, a hop blend that has been described as strongly aromatic, with “tangerine, lemon, grapefruit, and pine notes”. We’ll keep you updated on it’s release; it should be available sometime next month in the Saint John area.

• Over in PEI, BarNone Brewing has also brewed up a new beer. Details on Summer Solstice are pretty slim, but we do know that the strongly-aromatic Citra hop is involved. BarNone recently had a vote on its Facebook page as to whether the beer should be filtered or unfiltered; unfiltered was the strong favorite, so look for the beer to be slightly hazy, but exhibiting more hop aroma and flavor as a result.

• Picaroons has announced that they will be having their Brewer’s Bash beer festival again this year, on Saturday, July 12th from 11am – 11pm. Like last year, the event will be held at Officer’s Square in downtown Fredericton; ticket prices will remain at $25 each, with 500 more being sold this year. The date of ticket sales has not been determined yet; keep your eyes on their Twitter feed for an announcement next Tuesday. With about 60 breweries and 300 beers featured in last year’s sold-out festival, expect at least as many this year. In the meantime, they are looking for volunteers; send them an email if you’re interested! We’ll post more details on the festival as they become available.

• To celebrate the 1st anniversary of the opening of their new brewery, the PEI Brewing Co. is putting on their 1st Annual Taps & Tunes Music Festival. This 4-day festival will take place from Tuesday, May 14th to Saturday, the 17th, and involves multiple bands at multiple venues (including the PEI Brewing Co. and Gahan House locations); check out their link for full music details. No details yet on if they’re brewing up something special for the festival, but there MAY be a special cask released!

• Speaking of the PEI Brewing Co., this Saturday they will be hosting their fourth Art Battle (an event that features live competitive painting). For this battle, they plan on releasing a British Pale Ale dry-hopped with whole cone hops… that’s all we know for now, but if you’re in the area and want to give it a try, drop by for a taste!

• Red Rover Brewing has added a couple new accounts to their growing list, as their Spring Brew is now available at two new locations. Look for it on tap in Fredericton at reLiSH Gourmet Burgers at their uptown location, and in Moncton at the Tide & Boar.

• Rogues Roost has brewed up an exciting new beer, set to hit the taps late next week: a Dunkel Weizenbock. Combining the best characteristics of several styles, this 7.5% ABV beer will taste like the chocolate banana split of beer, thanks to the melding of malt, hops and yeast character. It was lightly hopped with Saaz and Hersbrucker, though these flavours and aromas take a back seat to the rich melanoidins and sour-dough breadiness. We’re looking forward to this one!

• Paddy’s Pub in Wolfville is hosting a Brewery Tour this Saturday, May 10th, at 5:30pm. Visitors will be able to learn the art and science behind brewing, by learning about the ingredients that go into your pint, the brewing process, and how to taste the beer. Tickets are $10 (available at the bar), and include a 16oz beer. We are not sure if this will be a regular event, so be sure not to miss it!

• Also on Saturday, Halifax is home to Open City, a city-wide event highlighting local beer, food, arts and craft producers. Several beer-centric stops will be on the go, including:
– Garrison Brewing will be hosting a pop-up by Getaway Meat Mongers, and are featuring a Test Batch IPA-based mimosa, which will pair well with Getaway’s Philly Cheese Steak.
– Stubborn Goat is hosting a Goat Fest with music and Oulton’s Farm Burger (with Ran-Cher Acres goat paneer, Sriracha slaw & bacon fat mayo).
– North Brewing is hosting the Food Wolf truck for your K-Dog fix, and featuring special pricing on growler fills.
– The Foggy Goggle is featuring $5 Propeller Pints, and Giant Foggy Spud stuffed with bacon, corn, red onion & cheese.
Check out I LOVE LOCAL‘s page for the full list, and be sure and get out and experience Open City!

• Speaking of Garrison, they are releasing a new beer today in advance of the OBEY Convention, being held in Halifax May 22-25. OBEY This Brew is a hopped-up Pale Ale, a blend of their Hop Yard and Tall Ship Amber brews, weighing in at 5.0% ABV and 30 IBUs. It will be sold in 650 ml bombers, available at the brewery, NSLCs, private stores and at hosting licensees during the OBEY Festival.

• Garrison is also one of the breweries taking part in the Local Connections Wine and Spirits Gala, taking place next Thursday, May 15, at the Halifax Club. They will be serving an Elderberry Wheat Ale, dry-hopped with whole leaf Simcoe for a piney, woodsy character melding with the berry aroma. It weighs in at 4.6% and 13 IBU. Joining them in the Craft Brewer’s Room are Boxing Rock Brewing, North Brewing, and Propeller Brewing. There are still a handful of tickets left, so jump on them now if you’d like to attend. These LC events are always a great time, lots of different flavours and tastes under one roof!

• It was a busy week for new breweries in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley: after Meander River’s announcement of their May 17 opening, the soon-to-be-open Schoolhouse Brewery was invaded by local brewer Greg Nash, Beer Tech owner Ken Greer, and The Pub Magazine’s Troy Kirkby. They brewed Principal Ale, their dry-hopped Pale Ale, and are looking to have this on tap in early June. Stay tuned here in the next little while for a full profile on Cam Hartley and the Schoolhouse Brewery!

• Chris had a chance to drop by the Heron’s Nest Cottages & Bistro Pub in Charlo for a food and beer tasting last night. Derek Leslie of Shiretown Beer lead the tasting of 9 different New Brunswick beer, including Shiretown’s Blonde du Quai, Big Brown Ale (used to cook meat balls), Honey Wheat (made with local Charlo honey, and used in the cooking of a ham), and Siren’s T’Ale (chicken thighs were roasted in this beer). Also featured were three offerings from Big Axe Brewery in Nackawic: Chanterelle Cream Ale, Maple Wheat Amber Ale, and their Double Bit IPA. The Bistro Pub always has Shiretown beer on tap, and an excellent stock of beer from around our region and around the world, and is definitely worth visiting when in the area.

And, don’t forget… it’s Mother’s Day this Sunday! Thank a Mother near you with some tasty craft beer!