Ladies Beer League

All posts tagged Ladies Beer League

Friday Wrap-Up – News from Port Rexton Brewing, Fundy Bay Brewco, Shiretown, Petit-Sault, Fils du Roy, Hell Bay, and much more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2016-07-29
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Antigonish Townhouse, Big Spruce Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Breton Brewing, Brightwood Brewery, Bulwark Cider, Distillerie Fils du Roy, Fredericton Beer Run, Fredericton Beer Tour, Fundy Bay Brewco, Garrison Brewing, Grimross Brewing, Halifax Seaport Beerfest, Hell Bay Brewing, Ladies Beer League, Maybee Brewing, Mill Street Brewpub, Moncton Beer Run, Nine Locks Brewery, Port Rexton Brewing Co., Pump House Brewery, Saltbox Brewing, Shiretown Beer, Stillwell Beer Bar, Unfiltered Brewing, Wayfarers' Ale. Leave a Comment

Good morning! After a brief hiatus last week, due to vacation on one’s part and work travelling on the other’s, we’re back and ready to continue the work of spreading the love of beer! Good thing nothing happened during that…. oh, crap.

• Port Rexton Brewing opened last weekend in … Port Rexton, Newfoundland. Located a few hours Northwest of St John’s on the Bonavista Peninsula, PRB is the first brewery to open outside of the Avalon Peninsula. After a busy opening weekend, they are now in a groove, open daily 2-10pm for samples, pints, and growler fills. They are now pouring a pair of beers, with more on the way very shortly: Horse Chops IPA is a 6% ABV/72 IBUs American-style IPA, featuring lots of West Coast hops (including a dry hop with Mosaic) on a medium body; their Night ‘Bous Porter is 6.5% ABV and 29 IBUs, with lots of chocolate flavours in the “medium-sweet body”. We’ll be sharing more details on the brewery and the great duo behind the beer soon, but in the meantime, take a trip to P.R. for a solid pint this weekend!

• There’s another new brewery opening soon in New Brunswick, and while details are currently very slim, Fundy Bay Brewco currently has a Twitter account started. Sounds like the brewery will be located in Sussex, with three beers listed as “coming soon”: Alma IPA, a 6.5% ABV, 50 IBUs “West-Coast style IPA” with aromas of pine, citrus, and tropical fruit; Digby Dubbel, a 7.2% ABV Belgian Dubbel fermented with a Belgian yeast strain to give aromas of “dark fruits, sassafras, caramel, leather, and toasted grain”; and St. Martin’s ISA, a 4.8% ABV, 25 IBUs Session IPA hopped with Mosaic and Falconer’s Flight. We’ll have more details on the brewery soon; in the meantime, be sure to follow them on Twitter to stay up-to-date with their progress.

• After a year-long hiatus, Shiretown will be making their return at tomorrow’s Bon Ami Flavor Fest, held at the Dalhousie Lion’s Club from 7 pm – 2 am. They will be pouring two beers: their flagship, Blonde du Quai, a 4.5% ABV Blonde Ale, and Cartier’s Columbus, a new beer the brewery describes as a “Golden IPA”, weighing in at 6.2% ABV, and hopped entirely with Columbus to 60 IBUs. Shiretown is aiming for bottles of both beers to hit select ANBL stores around mid-August; we’ll keep you updated!

• There’s a new beer available from Petit-Sault, a SMaSH (single-malt and single-hop) Pale Ale named La Glazier. Brewed entirely with Pale malt from Malt-Broue, a nearby Quebec “micromaltery”, and hopped with Cascade from Aroostook Hops in Northern Maine, it comes in at 4.9% ABV and 30 IBUs. Featuring “citrus notes and a slight bitterness”, it’s available on tap at the brewery, and select ANBL growler stations this weekend, as well as select bars/restaurants in the province. And congratulations to Petit-Sault on their recent expansion, thanks to further buying-in by ACOA, the New Brunswick government, and their community investors. More details here.

• Distillerie Fils du Roy has released another new beer, Hommage à 1755, a Belgian Strong Ale. A style very similar to the more-commonly-seen Belgian Tripel, it’s a pale-coloured, bitter, effervescent beer that finishes extremely dry (thanks to high attenuation by the Belgian yeast strain), with a “spicy/fruity, resinous hop profile, and a soft, supportive grainy-sweet malt palate”, according to the brewery. Weighing in at 7% ABV and 22 IBUs, it’s available in bottles now, as well as on tap at all of the ANBL Growler filling stations this weekend. As the name implies, it is an homage to 1755, a band that popularized Acadian music in the 70’s/’80’s, and still active today.

• Hell Bay has released their first Black IPA, Black Flag IPA. As dark as the name suggests, this 6.1% ABV beer has notes of “roasted malt and rum flavours upfront, followed by earthy and citrus notes”. Hopped with Chinook and Ahtanum (to 55 IBUs), it’s available on tap at the brewery for growler fills, and should pop up on tap at the Port Grocer, Rhubarb, and Stillwell.

• Wayfarers’ Ale Society has released the third of their offerings recently at their Port Williams brewery. Thistle Dew is a 4.8% ABV Scottish Ale, described as “a malty ale with a low hop profile”. The rich copper colour leads to a medium body and very light bitterness (20 IBUs). Now on tap at the brewery for samples, pints, and growlers, it joins their Hellene Blonde Ale and Ruby Ale Irish Red Ale. Look for a pair of new beers from them in the coming weeks, their EPA English Pale Ale and One-Eyed River Hog IPA.

• Mill Street St John’s has released their latest brew, Caribou Cream Ale. Weighing in at 5% ABV and 20 IBUs, this easy-drinking beer is available on tap at Mill Street/Bier Markt and to go in growlers as well. This easy-drinking, thirst-quenching beer was fermented with two yeast strains (first with a British ale strain, then with a German lager strain) “to impart complexity and smoothness”, and exhibits “fresh, cracker malt with a slight hop aroma and yeast undertones”, according to the brewery. Also note that $1 from every growler sale will be donated to the newly-opened Royal Newfoundland Regiment Museum.

• Last week, Pump House released a new beer available on tap only at their brewpub in Moncton. Raspberry Wheat is a German-style Wheat beer that has been “bombarded” with 70 kg of fresh raspberries, and is described by the brewery as “tart and refreshing”, with plenty of raspberry in the aroma and flavour. Clocking in at 6.2% ABV, get down to the brewpub for a pint before it’s gone!

• Mahone Bay’s Saltbox Brewery is launching this weekend, to coincide with the Mahone Bay Heritage Boat Yard Festival. Visit their tent on the Town Wharf Saturday and Sunday, 1-5pm both days, to grab a taste of their beer or some merchandise. And then visit their brewery (open the same hours) on Main Street to grab growler fills of the beers. They will have their Hefeweizen, India Pale Ale, and Dark Cream Ale available, with a new Light Pilsner possibly making an appearance, if ready. Depending on beer availability, their retail storefront will be open going forward, as they are currently releasing beers brewed on their pilot system, while they await the arrival of their full-sized brewhouse. Keep an eye on their Twitter feed for exact details.

• Bulwark will be releasing a New Ross 200th Anniversary edition of their Oak Aged Cider. Long in the making, the cider spent more than six months maturing in American oak barrels, and is packaged in a bottle designed by local resident Bonnie Keddy. The barrel is an ode to the many cooperages that were in the New Ross area, thanks to the locally-designed apple barrels needed to support the apple industry. The 7.0% ABV cider is now ready for purchase at their homebase, Muwin Estate Wines (either by phone or email), and will be on sale at the New Ross 200th Anniversary Night Market on Friday, August 5. As a way of giving back to the community and thanking them for all of their support, a portion of the sales will be donated to the New Ross Development Society.

• Nine Locks has released their first seasonal, Watermelon Blonde, perfect for the remaining days of summer. Described by the brewery as “light and crisp, with a hint of watermelon”, with whole fresh watermelon added during the mash, as well as in a post-fermentation secondary (as well as some natural extract). This 5.0% ABV, 12 IBU beer is available now for growler fills and cans at the brewery. And congratulations to them on their recent expansion in the brewhouse – with the addition of three 72hl (60 BBL) fermentors, they will be better able to keep up with demand and different seasonal options.

• There’s a new beer on tap at Big Spruce’s tasting room, thanks to a collaboration with Shelburne’s Boxing Rock Brewery. Stark Craving Mad is an “Amber American IPA” with lots of late-addition hops for a serious hop flavour and nose. The beer weighs in at 7.2% ABV and 65 IBUs, and is currently only available at the Big Spruce tap room, so drop by today! And when you do, grab some grub from the Cruisin’ Cuisine Food Truck, onsite 12-7 pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with live music 3-5 pm daily. Check out the FB event page for details on the menu and music schedule.

• And speaking of Boxing Rock, after three years in operation, they just packaged their 1,000,000th bottle this week! To celebrate, they’ve hidden winning tickets in six of their Hunky Dory Pale Ale six-packs, which can be returned to the brewery for some sweet swag. Congratulations! They also did a small tasting of a Gin-infused Pale Ale at Bishop’s Cellar last night, which looks be prelude to a wider release soon.

• After a very successful launch at the Alderney Landing Farmers’ Market earlier this month, Brightwood Brewery has released their second beer. Smokey the Beer is a Honey Smoke Ale featuring, unsurprisingly, Honey and Smoked malts in the grist, for an aromatic journey of the senses. First smoke, then honey sweetness, with some piney hop notes to complete the campfire feel. Grab this 5.3% ABV beer, and their The Big Lift American IPA, at the Market this Saturday 8am-1pm. You can grab/exchange one of their own growlers, and they will fill personal growlers, provided they are nice and clean.

• There’s a new beer soon to be tapped at the Antigonish Townhouse – brewmaster Terry Piercy brewed up an experimental batch in the style of an English Pale Ale, using Horton Ridge Organic Pale Malt. The light-coloured ale was hopped with UK Fuggles for both bittering and flavour additions, to 43 IBUs. Coming in at a sessionable 4.7% ABV, look for this currently-unnamed brew to be released in a couple of weeks, where it will likely be cask-conditioned and served on the pub’s hand-pump.

There are a whole slew of events coming up in the next little while, so be sure to keep your calendar open for the following opportunities to drink great beer:

• Unfiltered Brewing turns one-year-old today, and they’re throwing a celebration at their Charm School Pub, with $5 pints all day (that’s noon till late), and a “special Nash-inspired menu” from 5-10 pm, served by Food Wolf. Happy 1st Anniversary!

• In other 1st Anniversary news, Breton Brewing is celebrating theirs on Saturday, July 30th with a slightly-belated Birthday Breakfast at the brewery from 9 am – 12 pm. The first 100 breakfasts (prepared by local STAND & STUFF Your Face) are free, and live music will be playing. After chowing down on some pancakes, attendees will also be able to take the opportunity to sign up for their new Mug Club, starting at noon. Limited to the first 50 people to sign up, the Club features all sorts of perks, including a personal 18 oz mug that will be kept at the brewery. Membership is $75 for the first year.

• This coming Monday, August 1st (New Brunswick Day), the 4th annual Fredericton Beer Run will be held, starting at the Lighthouse on the Green at 10 am (registration begins at 8 am). With 4, 6, and 12 km runs available, it’s open to novices and serious runners alike! Afterwards, runners will receive 14 beer tickets, each good for a 4-oz sample, with 15 breweries pouring roughly 40 different beers. There are still a limited number of tickets available ($60 each), so be sure to grab yours now! If you’d like to participate in the drinking, but not the running, tickets ($30) are available for the NB Day Beer Garden, where you can enjoy the beer without the effort. Additional tickets will be available for purchase. Not to be outdone, there is also now a Moncton Beer Run next Friday, August 5th, starting at Centennial Park at 6:30 pm (registration begins at 5 pm). This will be a 6 km run only, also featuring a beer tasting afterwards with 14 beer tickets, and 5 breweries pouring their beers. Tickets ($55 each) for this event are available here.

• Next Friday and Saturday, August 5th and 6th, marks the return of the annual Halifax Seaport Beerfest, which will be celebrating its 10th year since it first launched in 2007. Featuring over 300 different beers and ciders (full list available here), there are three sessions to choose from: one on Friday evening (7-9:30 pm), and two on Saturday (2-4:30 pm, 7-9:30 pm), with each session featuring VIP tickets that get you in a full hour earlier. All sessions will include unlimited samples, with VIP tickets also giving you access to a panel discussion and guided beer tasting. Tickets are $49+tax for regular, and $70+tax for VIP, and are available online. We’ll have more details on the event early next week, including info on a mega-collaboration brewday happening at Garrison with many of the visiting breweries.

• Stillwell Beer Bar will be hosting a Tap Takeover by Stillwater Artisanal Brewery Saturday August 6th. With a homebase in Maryland, Stillwater is a gypsy brewery, not owning their own equipment, but rather releasing beers brewed at others’ locations. There will be 10 different Stillwater beers available on tap starting at noon Saturday, and it will be a pay-as-you-go event, no tickets needed. We have the inside scoop on a few of the beers that will be flowing, including Mono, a 5.2% ABV Hoppy Pilsner; As Follows, a 9.0% ABV Belgian Strong Golden; and Vacuum, an 8.0% Black Smoked IPA. For those who can’t wait until Saturday for a taste, Stillwater Classique, a 4.5% ABV farmhouse beer, is currently available in cans at Stillwell’s homebase on Barrington.

• The Ladies Beer League is hosting a special sneak preview party with 2 Crows Brewing, a new 20 BBL (23 hL) Halifax brewery set to open this fall, on Thursday, August 18th. Held at the home of two of the owners from 7-10 pm, all three of their core brands will be available to be sampled, as well as a few surprises. Tickets (available through the link above) are only $10, with all proceeds going to Feed Nova Scotia (and they will be accepting further donations for FNS during the event)

Have a fantastic long weekend, hopefully surrounded by plenty of great beer! For those of you in New Brunswick, note that this weekend, all five ANBL growler stations will be pouring beers that were brewed by NB breweries (FYI, ANBL stores will be closed Monday August 1st). And in closing…

– A reminder that there’s still a few tickets remaining for the Fredericton Beer Tour (Saturday, August 6th) that we mentioned two weeks ago; your $77 ticket (available here) will get you transportation to five breweries/cideries, chat time with the brewers, and a minimum of four 4-oz samples per stop.
– Grimross has officially started canning, as their Maritime Pale Ale is available now in 500 mL cans at the brewery; the beer will hopefully be available at select ANBL stores in the near future. Look for their Saison, Cheval D’Or, to be canned by early fall.
– Maybee has bottled their Long Carry Brett Red in a limited number of 750 mL cork-and-cage bottles; labels are currently being printed, so look for these to be available at the brewery within the next couple of weeks.
– Keep your eyes peeled for a new English Mild from Tatamagouche Brewing. This 3.7% ABV beer has been spotted in the wild at Battery Park and Stillwell, and will surely satisfy the “sessionable” crowd, it’s a flavourful beer in a small package. And on the other end of the spectrum, they are serving an English Barley Wine at the brewery, but details on it are a little slim at the moment.

Phew, that’s it! That’ll teach us to never take a week off again!

Friday Wrap-Up – News from Upstreet, Big Spruce, The Brewnosers, TrailWay, Picaroons, and much more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2015-12-04
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Baba's Lounge, BarNone Brewing, Battery Park, Big Spruce Brewing, Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge, Brewnosers, FirkinStein Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Good Robot Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, James Joyce Irish Pub, Ladies Beer League, Picaroons, Propeller Brewing, The Auction House, Tom's Little Havana, TrailWay Brewing, Unfiltered Brewing, Upstreet Craft Brewing, Wooden Monkey, YellowBelly Brewery. 2 comments

Happy Friday! Now that everyone has cleared their driveways and warmed up, it’s time to sit back and relax with some local beer news…

• Charlottetown’s Upstreet brewery is releasing a new brew today. Black Tie Affair is a stout with a twist! To help combat the cool nights upon us, they have added a little extra to the traditional stout. Sixty litres of cranberry juice (from local producer PEI Juice Works) was added to the beer after primary fermentation had settled down; the beer was further dosed with some vanilla during the conditioning step. The inspiration for the brew came a few years ago, when Brewmaster (then-homebrewer) Mike Hogan brewed a beer for his brother’s wedding. When his sister-in-law-to-be, a culinary student at the time, was asked for a single ingredient to serve as the spark of a recipe, she chose cranberries. From that, Hogie built the Black Tie Affair. It was also one of the first beers that Joey shared with Mitch (the other two Upstreet owners), which planted the seeds of a future brewery. Black Tie Affair Vanilla Cranberry Stout comes in at 5% ABV and 25 IBUs, and will launch at the brewery this evening, after the Christmas Tree Lighting at 6pm. There will be free hot chocolate, music from Salt Licks, and a prize for the ugliest sweater.

• In other Upstreet news, their summer seasonal White Noize White IPA is returning to the lineup as one of their flagship beers. This 7% and 70 IBU beer shares the best characters of an American Wheat and IPA. On tap at Upstreet and around the island now, it will also be available in bottles very soon.  Speaking of bottles, several of the PEILCC stores where Upstreet bottles were delivered last week had to be restocked several times over the weekend. Thankfully, the Upstreet Elves are hard at work keeping them stocked, so keep an eye on their Twitter page for details as deliveries are made.

• Also debuting today is Upstreet’s “alternative drinks menu” at the taproom. For those who want to visit Upstreet with their beer-loving friends and family, but aren’t beer drinkers (those people exist?), they now have local wine and cider on the menu. Beginning today, Matos Wine and Bulwark Cider will be available for on-site enjoyment. And beginning December 9th, they will be offering a full food menu in the taproom, four nights a week (4-10pm, Wed-Sat). Local chef John Pritchard will be preparing tapas and shareable plates. And drop by tomorrow afternoon for a Pinball Tournament, hosted by the Charlottetown Pinball League.

• Big Spruce will be releasing their Left Breton Organic Conspiracy, a 7.4% Double IPA, next week. It is brewed with loads of Big Spruce’s own home-grown Cascade, Galena, and Mt Hood hops; this makes the bitterness difficult to calculate accurately, but is estimated at 80 IBUs. This brew was originally inspired by a visit in 2013 from their good friends Brian and Rebecca from Crannóg Ales, who had 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. A cask of Left Breton, double dry-hopped with Citra and Nelson Sauvin, was sent to Stillwell and tapped earlier this week. Look for the wider release to feature additional dry-hopping from more of their own farm-grown Cascade.

• Big Spruce held their Home Brew Challenge on the weekend. 25 homebrewers submitted 45 entries in three categories: Dark Czech Lager, Altbier, and Red IPA. The top beers in each category were selected by a panel of 12 BJCP judges:

Czech Dark Lager Altbier Red IPA
GOLD: Eric Gautier (co brewer Justin Clarke) GOLD: Eric Gautier (co brewer Justin Clarke) GOLD: Shawn Meek
SILVER: Derek Stapleton SILVER: Keith Forbes (co brewer Mike Orr) SILVER: Scott MacLean & Randy Rowe
BRONZE: Justin Clarke (co brewer Eric Gautier) BRONZE: Andrew Martin BRONZE: Josh Armstrong

The Best of Show beer is Czech Yo Self Czech Dark Lager by Eric Gautier and Justin Clarke, and the Brathair Brothers will be visiting Big Spruce to brew up that beer very soon. In fact, owner Jeremy White was so impressed with the quality of the three gold medal beers, that they all may be brewed in Nyanza. Look for at least one of them to make their debut at the Local Connections Craft Beer & Local Food Celebration on January 14th. Big thanks to the judges, stewards, and the Wooden Monkey Dartmouth for hosting the judging and after party.

• Speaking of homebrewing, it was a great year for local homebrewers on the national level. The Brewnosers took home third place in the Homebrew Club standings (behind the CowTown Yeast Wranglers and River City of Manitoba Brewers), as tracked by Brewer of the Year site. This is thanks in large part to the outstanding performance by Annapolis Valley brewer Mark Pennell, who ended up taking home 75 medals at more than fifteen homebrew competitions during the year, and was the second-most decorated homebrewer in Canada. A special shoutout to Mark McGraw, who finished 11th in the 2015 standings with 19 medals, and the dozen-plus other members who entered and placed in the local and national competitions. All of this year’s results are collated here. Look for Pennell’s award-winning Working Man Mild to be brewed at Beau’s in Vankleek Hill in 2016, earned by winning the Best of Show at the Members of Barleyment and Beau’s Oktoberfest Competition.

• TrailWay has just released a brand new beer, and it couldn’t have come at a better time! Rascal is their take on a “big American Stout”; think dark, strong, and roasty… perfect for sipping on in the colder, snowy weather that has moved into our region. Named after co-owner/co-brewer Jake Saunder’s Black Labrador, it was brewed with plenty of specialty malts, including oats, flaked wheat, flaked barley, Crystal malt, Munich, and Black malt. Bittered to 40-50 IBUs to balance all that sweetness, it weighs in at ~7% ABV. Look for it over the weekend at King Street Ale House and 540 Kitchen & Bar, as well as Bourbon Quarter in Saint John.

• We also have a sneak preview on a new beer from TrailWay, due to hit taps next week. Currently unnamed, this one has a grist of Crystal, Munich and Rye malts, to go along with the base malt, giving it a reddish hue. Hopped into IPA territory with Warrior, Mosaic, and Summit, think of it as a hoppy Amber Ale, or Red IPA. More on this beer next week!

• It’s December, which means that it’s almost time for the annual Picaroons 12 Beers of Christmas! Starting Saturday, December 12th, a different festive beer will be released daily, until December 23rd, for growler fills at the Brewtique. As usual, each day’s beer will be announced at noon via Picaroons’ Twitter and Facebook accounts, and will officially go on sale at 4 pm (except for Sundays, when it will be launched at noon). Unlike last year, there will be no two growler per person limit; however, they are asking customers not to overdo it, as each batch is extremely limited (~360 L per batch, or approximately 180 standard-size growlers). We can probably expect a mixture of new beers and returning favourites, so keep your eyes peeled! These beers always sell out extremely quickly, so if you’re interested in certain releases, be sure to get to the Brewtique as close to 4 pm as you can.

• Hammond River has rebrewed their Two Rivers India Black Ale, a Black IPA that was originally brewed as a collaboration beer with Big Axe. This dark ale shows some roast aromas and flavours from the addition of dark malts, with plenty of hop presence as well, thanks to a bittering addition of Columbus to 77 IBUs, and late additions of Galaxy and a heavy dry-hop of Amarillo; the first batch featured all-Citra after the initial bittering addition with Columbus. It still weighs in at 7% ABV, and is currently on tap at the Saint John Ale House and the Barrel’s Head; look for it to possibly follow at other HR accounts, soon.

• YellowBelly brewpub in St. John’s has released a special brew this week. Top Shed Cream Ale is a collaboration between the crew at YellowBelly and Top Shed, a craft brewery in Bew South Wales, Australia. Eastern Australia meets Eastern Canada! This Cream Ale was brewed in the traditional fashion, using barley malt, malted wheat, and corn; the hops used were Mosaic and Pacific Gem. At 4.8% and 22 IBUs, this beer is the lightest ever brewed at YB, and is immensely quaffable. A little more on the story of East meeting East can be read at Top Shed’s blog.

• Unfiltered has brought back the immensely popular Double Orange Ale. The DOA Double IPA features huge citrus aroma and flavour from loads of Citra hops used throughout the process, with a light malt sweetness and orange colour thanks to the special technique Brewmaster Greg Nash uses on the brew. The final specs on this beer are 7.5% ABV and over 100 calculated IBUs. It will be back on tap at the brewery today at noon, and at better bars very soon. Rumours are that Unfiltered’s taproom, Charm School, will be open in the next few days, so be sure to follow their feed for more details. *Update: Charm School opened Saturday, and will be open daily (except Monday), at 4pm.

• Speaking of openings, after a brief hiatus, Tom’s Little Havana and sister restaurant The Fireside have opened in their new location on Birmingham Street. The number of taps has expanded, and now feature at least five local craft brews on the go, including Bad Apple, Boxing Rock, Tatamagouche, and Unfiltered. With many of the wall murals and furnishings transported from their old location, the spirit of Tom’s is alive and well in the new location.

• The Auction House on Argyle Street in Halifax has recently expanded their craft beer offerings, in a big way! Already boasting more than twenty local beer options, they recently installed a SmartBrew system in the restaurant, allowing them to produce beer onsite. They are releasing an American Amber (Her Name Was Amber) and Dunkelweizen (Bob’s Your Dunkel) under the George’s Island moniker, with more varieties to follow shortly.

• Fredericton’s James Joyce Irish Pub is opening membership into their Mug Club again, with mugs #31-48 becoming available on January 1st. The yearly membership costs $59.95 + tax, and entitles members to their own mug, 24 oz pours for the price of 20 oz, food discounts, email updates on special beers being tapped, and more. Pre-sales start on Monday, December 7th at 6 pm. And get ready for their Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest later in the month – show up at the pub with your lamest, ugliest Christmas garb between December 20th-24th, snap a photo of yourself and upload it to the Joyce’s Twitter or Facebook page to enter. The selected winner will receive dinner for two at the Terrace.

• A new documentary featuring the Nova Scotia independent beer scene will make its debut this weekend. “Craft Beer” will be airing on CBC’s Land and Sea this Sunday, December 6 at 12 noon. The producers visited several breweries and locations across the province to learn about the craft beer movement, and the people behind it. Good news for those without TVs – it is available now to watch online.

• The latest One-Hit Wonder release from Propeller will be hitting the taps later today. Jaromir Lagr is a 6.8% Imperial Czech Pilsener. Details are a bit thin beyond that, but we can tell you that like all previous OHW brews, it will only be available for growler fills at the brewery and on tap at a few spots in the HRM.

• BarNone owner/brewer Don Campbell will be hosting a beer dinner at Baba’s Lounge in Charlottetown on Sunday, January 24th at 6 pm. Baba’s has long been a huge supporter of local craft beer on the Island, and this is a perfect way to get your hands on lots of BarNone beer and some authentic Lebanese food! There will be five different BarNone beers sampled, paired with four courses. Campbell will be present as beer host, along with Ryan Abdallah as food host. You can call now (902-892-7377) to reserve your tickets, which are $49 each (price includes tax and tip) and include a sampler glass for you to keep.

That’s about it for this busy week! Good news for fans of Garrison‘s Spruce Beer that live outside of the HRM: it has hit the shelves in several NSLC stores around the province, and will be on shelves in PEI next week, and in Newfoundland and Labrador the following week. And for those in NB, fear not, it will be available on your shelves in the New Year. FirkinStein Brewing will be at the Lunenburg Farmers’ Market on Thursday December 10th and 24th, in addition to their regular delivery days. While the Triskaidekaphobia Imperial Brown Ale is not quite ready to pour, there will still be some lovely beery treats at Sunday during the Ladies Beer League‘s Holiday Brunch, including Boxing Rock’s U-889 Imperial Stout. Tickets for the party starting at noon at Stillwell are sold out, but we suspect the beers will still be available when the doors open to the public at 4pm. A reminder that Battery Park Beer Bar in Dartmouth is opening next Thursday, December 10th. The lineup will feature twelve taps, brewed both by partner North, as well as other local breweries, it will increase the local beer availability in downtown Dartmouth. Finally, be sure to drop by to visit the great folks at Good Robot; their new-and-improved Burban Legend Citrus APA, now dry-hopped for more juicy hop aroma, is currently on tap.

Friday Wrap-Up – Sausage Fest Details and Brews from Boxing Rock, Bulwark, Garrison & Propeller, plus new beers from Big Axe, Big Spruce, and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2015-09-11
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: ANBL, Big Axe Brewery, Big Spruce Brewing, Bishop's Cellar, Boxing Rock Brewing, Bulwark Cider, Garrison Brewing, James Joyce Irish Pub, Ladies Beer League, Moncton Beer League, PEI BeerFest, Picaroons, Propeller Brewing, Savoie's Brewhouse, Upstreet Craft Brewing. 2 comments

It’s Friday again! Things aren’t slowing down much in the way of beer news this month, so we might as well get right to it!

This year’s Halifax Sausage Fest is fast approaching, and as a handful of special beers and a cider are being released in its celebration, we want to share the details:

• Boxing Rock Brewing has released Kerfuffle APA, a 5.2% ABV American Pale Ale. It features Magnum, Willamette, and Centennial hop for a bright and fresh hop bitterness and aroma. The hops were sourced from Canadian hop farm Clear Valley Hops, just outside of Collingwood, ON. It is available in growlers now at the brewery, their market stalls at the The Halifax Seaport Market and Alderney Farmers’ Market tomorrow, and on tap at a few spots in Halifax and Lunenburg.

• Bulwark Cider is releasing Hopped Citrus Cider this weekend. The first of its kind in the province, this 6.0% ABV cider uses a special blend of Annapolis Valley apples to complement the hops, and the resultant brew has a distinct citrus character. Cascade and Comet hops make up the majority of the dry-hopping, with some Summit and Hersbrucker as well. The cider is being launched at the Stubborn Goat‘s Sausage & Cider event Sunday (tickets are still available, and will include a pour of the very last keg of Bulwark’s very popular, and long gone, Sour Cherry Cider). Like the Sour Cherry, this will be a limited, draft only release., however, it may return later in the fall in bottles at the NSLC.

• Garrison Brewing is bringing back their Sweet Rye’d Harvest Wheat Ale today, a collaboration with Beau’s All Natural Brewing. Brewed with Munich, Wheat, Rye, and Pale Malt, this copper-coloured beer weighs in at 6.0% ABV, and 40 IBUs, thanks to Citra, Cascade, and Columbus hops. The fine folks at Beau’s sent down a special ingredient for the brew: bog myrtle (Beau’s uses this in a couple of their beers).  Thanks to this plant, which is a very common ingredient in the bittering of gruits, a more herbaceous and spiced character comes through. Catch this Sweet Rye’d at the brewery, private stores, and the NSLC very soon.

• Propeller Brewing has released Wind Swell Wheat, an American-style Wheat Ale. At 5.5% ABV and 20 IBUs, the beer features Cascade hops for a floral, citrus, and spice notes, and the wheat offers a smooth, approachable finish. The beer is available in 650 ml bottles and growler fills at the brewery, and will be on tap around the city as well.

• The co-flagship events for the Sausage Fest are the Sausage Throwdown (11:00 am – 3:00 pm) and Sausage O’ The Night (5:30-10:00pm), next Saturday, Sept 19th. The $51.75 ticket price includes 12 four ounce samples (with more being available for purchase for $2), a Belgian glass to keep, plus $20 in food allowance to spend at the many great food vendors on-site (including T DOGS, Obladee, Getaway Farm and several more). Breweries taking part are: Big Spruce, Boxing Rock, Bulwark Cider, Gahan House, Garrison, Good Robot, North Brewing, Propeller, Sea Level (afternoon only), and Tatamagouche (evening only).

• During the week, Local Tasting Tours will be running a Sausage Crawl each day (2-4pm, Sunday-Friday, Sept 20-25), visiting multiple stops in the downtown area, with plenty of sausages and/or beer at every stop. Tickets are still available.

• The Sausage Fun continues with the Hops ‘n’ Brats event taking place Friday September 25th, as the kick-off to the Halifax Oktoberfest weekend. For the first time, multiple breweries will be taking part in the German fun: Big Spruce, Boxing Rock, Breton Brewing, 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). We know of a couple special casks being put together for this event, including a pin of dry-hopped-wet-hops Hefeweizen from Garrison.

• In other new brews from the above breweries, look for the Boxing Rock & North Brewing collaboration Many Hands Pale Ale (version 3.0) out this week. This annual celebration of local wet hops was brewed with this year’s harvest from North brewer Josh Herbin’s Lazy Acres farm in the Valley. More than 35 kilos of fresh-picked Cascade, Chinook, and Willamette organic hops went in at all stages of the brewday, for a floral aroma and mild bitterness. This 5.6% ABV beer is available at the Boxing Rock brewery, as well as both Boxing Rock and North’s market booths, and on tap around Halifax, but for a limited time only.

• Propeller Brewing has released this year’s Nocturne Lager, in celebration of the Nocturne: Art at Night event, scheduled for October 17. A 4.8% Munich Dunkel (Dark Lager), it features rich and malty flavours, balanced with traditional German Noble hops. It is available now at both the Halifax and Dartmouth breweries, as well as the private stores shortly.

• Switching gears from the Sausage Fest, Big Axe has just released a new IPA at their brewery/taproom in Nackawic. Therapy Session IPA comes in at an easy-drinking 5.2% ABV, and is single-hopped with Topaz, an Australian variety that can exhibit characteristics of lychee, tangerine, citrus, and resin. The calculated IBUs are about 50, so expect a firm bitterness in the finish of this deep gold-coloured beer. It should also be on tap at the Saint John Ale House soon, and likely at the James Joyce and 540 Kitchen & Bar in Fredericton shortly.

• Over in Cape Breton, Big Spruce announced the release of a new beer… sort of. Ivana Drinkalot is an American IPA that came into existence quite accidentally, during a planned brew day of Big Spruce’s Crazy Ivan DIPA. Due to a slight miscalculation when scaling up the batch size, the beer came in at a lower OG (original gravity). A bag of Munich malt was also missed in the batch, so owner/brewer Jeremy White decided to roll with it, and completely changed the dry-hop! Details on WHICH hop(s) was/were used here are being kept a secret, but the brewery describes the new beer as “deeply aromatic”, with “lots of gooey hop flavour”. It weighs in at 7.1% ABV and 89 IBUs; it’s available now at the brewery, and should follow soon at Halifax’s Bar Stillwell and the Stubborn Goat.

• Picaroons will soon be releasing their annual Harvest Ale, their 5.5%-ABV British-style Pale Ale that features several batches, all hopped with a different, locally-harvested variety. This year, there are six different batches, all single-hopped with one of the following varieties: Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Crystal, Goldings, or Nugget. When the beer is released later this month, each bottle will have a four-digit code that signifies which hop was used, and where the hop was cultivated (farms include three from NB, two from NS, and one from PEI); that info can be obtained online. Look for the beer to be released in 2-3 weeks!

• The PEI Beer Fest begins tonight with a 6:30-9:30pm session, continuing with an afternoon (2-4:30pm) and evening (6:30-9:30pm) session tomorrow. The Fest will feature more than 75 beers from around the world, including several Atlantic Canadian breweries. The beer list can be viewed on their site, and they have encouraged special one-off casks from the local breweries. Upstreet Craft Brewing will be pouring a pair of them: Friday evening, they will be serving Do-Wooder, a cask of their Do-Gooder American Pale Ale, aged with oak cubes for 1 month and double dry-hopped with Amarillo. Citrusy and malty but with a dry finish from the oak. Saturday, they will be serving Poppa Haskap, a pin of their Commons Pilsner, refermented with 5lbs of local Haskap berries. A refreshing, tart beer, but with the colour of a red wine. PEI Brewing Company will also be pouring a few casks during the fest, though the details on those are not yet available.

• There’s a new event coming soon from the Moncton Beer League – the Urban Beer Hike will take place on Saturday, September 26th from 2:30 – 5:30 pm. Featuring a walking tour of several of Moncton’s beer-drinking locations (including Marky’s, Plan b, St. James’ Gate, The Old Triangle, and the Pump House Brewpub), each stop will include two or three 4 oz beer samples, as well as various food items. Tickets ($49 each) are available now on the event page; attendees will be meeting at 2:15 pm at Marky’s to begin the tour.

• In other tasting news, the Ladies Beer League is partnering with Bishop’s Cellar to hold a craft beer and food pairing on Friday, Sept. 25th from 5-7 pm. Tickets are $20 each and are available online. They will be pairing a wide variety of beers with chef-prepared bites.

• The ANBL is marking the one-year anniversary of their growler program this weekend. While they have been hinting at expanded locations for months, it is still only in four locations: Dieppe, Fredericton, Kennebecasis Valley and Sackville. To celebrate, they will be giving away free growlers to the first 100 customers looking for a fill at each of the locations tomorrow. While most brewers we’ve spoken to have had positive experiences with the program, there is much room for improvement. The fact that this week’s offerings at the fill stations are not from New Brunswick, and two of the three are from multi-national brewing conglomerates, illustrate the fact that there are many improvements still needed to the program. Be sure to let the ANBL know your feelings and suggestions for improvement.

Be sure to grab some of the other great new beers out this week. Upstreet and Boxing Rock’s Rumble in the Alley: Round 1 is available now in Charlottetown, as well as the last few kegs of Upstreet’s White Noize White IPA (but don’t worry, there’s more on its way, as it was rebrewed last week). PEI Brewing has released their Vic Park Pale Ale, Citra version in cans, now at the brewery, and at the PEILCC shortly. Coming soon will also be the Rogues Roost IPA in cans, and Hell Street Barrel-aged Doppelbock. Savoie’s Brewhouse is already looking to expand from their 20 gallon system; they’ve built a new fermentation room to increase space, and are hoping to more than double their capacity soon (to 45 gallons). Finally, the James Joyce in Fredericton will soon be expanding their tap selection, as they’re adding another 6 lines to their system, bringing the total to 24! Look for even more NB beers (and beyond) to be available at the Joyce within the next week. And watch this spot for details on the many other wet-hop and harvest beers brewed around our region, including BarNone, Big Tide, Uncle Leo’s, and Unfiltered.