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Friday Wrap-Up – News from Paddys Irish Brewpub, PEI Brewing Company & Gahan, TrailWay, NBCBA, Picaroons and much more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2015-04-10
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Beerthief, Big Spruce Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Bulwark Cider, Burgers n' Beer, DME, Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, Gahan House (Charlottetown), King Street Ale House, Ladies Beer League, Le Naufrageur, Lion & Bright, New Brunswick Craft Brewers Association, Paddys Irish Brewpub, PEI Brewing, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Propeller Brewing, reLiSH, Sea Level Brewing, Stillwell Beer Bar, Storm Brewing in Newfoundland, TrailWay Brewing, Unfiltered Brewing. 2 comments

Happy Friday everyone! In case you thought last week’s busy post was a fluke, fear not! It’s been another busy week in Atlantic Canadian Beer News. And that means more tasty bevvies out now, and cool events coming our way! Let’s get right to the action!

• Paddys Irish Brewpubs in Kentville and Wolfville have a few new beers on tap that are worth checking out! First up is their Extra Special Bitter, weighing in at 5.5% ABV and 30 IBUs. It’s brewed with a traditional English malt bill and English Ale yeast for a light caramel character, and traditional East Kent Goldings hops exclusively give a light bitterness and a taste of England in the Annapolis Valley. Their Irish Stout is also on tap, an easily sessionable, light-bodied beer, but with a roast-forward character. This beer weighs in at 5% ABV and 33 IBUs, and is a fan favourite. Also keep an eye out for two lagers to be making their debut at the pubs in the next while: a Helles, which incorporated step mashing on their full 7 barrel system (sounds like quite a task!), and a Red Lager. We’ll have more details on both when they are available.

• There’s lots going on at PEI Brewing Co. these days! First off, they just sent over a new cask to Bar Stillwell in Halifax: Rais’n Sais’n is a bit of an experiment, consisting of their Iron Bridge Brown Ale fermented with a Saison yeast (Belle Saison, from Danstar, the same strain used in last year’s Lobster Saison). The beer was then transferred to a cask with a quantity of sultana raisins (a sweet, golden-coloured variety); it comes in at 5.1% ABV. Get down to Stillwell to try a pour before it’s gone!

• Moving on, they’ve also brewed a new Saison. Currently unnamed, it’s a completely different brew from the Lobster Saison. Brewed with all 2-row malt and hopped with Saaz and UK Goldings, it was then fermented “very warm” with the Belgian Dupont yeast strain from White Labs. With this yeast, expect lots of spicy flavors and aromas, accompanied by some fruitiness and a dry finish. The beer should be hitting taps at select locations sometime early next month; we’ll be sure to keep you updated on its release.

• Finally, a bit of a teaser: PEIBC brewmaster Chris Long has confirmed that we can expect to see a series of small batch (8 bbl) single-hop beers this summer at the brewery tasting room, and at Fishbones Oyster Bar & Seafood Grill in Charlottetown. We look forward to hearing more about this series when better weather arrives!

• Moving on to the Gahan side of PEIBC, they’ve released a new beer just in time for the Island’s annual (and extremely popular) PEI Burger Love. Angus Pale is a single-hop APA featuring the fairly-new Belma variety, and fermented with an English yeast strain. The beer is lightly filtered, with a “slight citrus aroma and a fruity/berry-like finish”, according to the brewery,

• It’s time to join the Club! Ahead of their opening later this Spring, Unfiltered Brewing have announced the details of their Club, available at launch. There are three levels available to those able to get in: The first level is an annual membership ($250 for the first year, $175 to resubscribe, plus HST), which gets the member an Unfiltered-branded Stainless Steel growler (full of beer, of course!), plus another free fill on their birthday (and $1 off all subsequent growler fills Mon-Wed), a branded glass and limited edition t-shirt, a pair of bottles of Russian Imperial Stouts (perfect for cellaring), and early access and first right of refusal to subsequent releases and swag. The second level is a lifetime membership in the Club, with all of its benefits, but with an even better growler. The cost to enroll is $1000 (plus tax). The third level is $5000, and is identical to the second level, but will offer the member the opportunity to brew a beer with Brewmaster Greg Nash, and leave with 20 litres of it after your hard day(s) of work. Full details on the Club, including how to sign up, are available here, and we’re happy to report that their brewhouse from DME was delivered this week, which means it won’t be long until the brewing begins!

• TrailWay has brewed a new beer, and it’s their first collaboration! Staying true to their roots, they formulated a recipe with two homebrewers from the New Brunswick Craft Brewers Association, Adam Jones and Roger Ringuette. The beer, Sensible Nonsense, is a DIPA hopped with Apollo, Magnum, Orbit, Centennial, and Mosaic, to approximately 95 IBUs. Supported by some malty sweetness thanks to some Vienna and CaraRed malt in the mash, expect this hoppy beer to exhibit lots of fruity, piney, and dank notes. It should come in around 7.5% ABV; look for it to hit taps around Fredericton within the next couple of weeks. They’re also planning on experimenting with some casks of this beer, so stay tuned for that (and remember, their inaugural cask release at the King Street Ale House starts tonight at 6 pm!).

• Picaroons released a new experimental beer earlier this week, an unnamed “Belgian Scotch Ale”. Definitely a bit of an orphan beer, think of it as a low-ABV Scotch Ale (featuring Roasted, Crystal, and Smoked malts) fermented with a Belgian Ardennes yeast strain, and hopped with Goldings and Fuggles. The beer came about from two batches of another experiment, a stronger Scotch Ale, where the weaker run-offs of each batch were combined for this release. The stronger batches were combined and are now being aged for a future release (and possibly some barrel-aging). Coming in at around 4.5% ABV, it features lots of clove and banana aromas and flavors, in conjunction with the smokiness and sweetness from the malt, according to the brewery. It’s on tap now, exclusively at the Brewtique for growler fills.

• For this year’s Earth Day (April 22nd), the Lion & Bright is once again celebrating with Spruce up the Planet!, a Big Spruce tap takeover. Doors open at 7 pm (the $7 charge will go to the Ecology Action Centre (EAC) to support their Ocean’s Week activities), and there will be live music from The Bluejam Grass Band, as well as “Love Letters to the Ocean”, hosted by Brave Space. For every pint purchased, an additional $1 will be donated to the EAC. Unfortunately, we don’t have a full tap list for you, but we’re pretty sure you won’t be disappointed with the selection!

• There’s yet another beer event planned for Fredericton from those behind the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival. Let Them Eat Cake… and Drink Beer will pair six different La Naufrageur beers (each pour is 8 oz) with six cake varieties from local bakery Fuller Confections. Scheduled for Saturday, April 25th at 2 pm at the King Street Ale House, it’s going to be a small event, with entry being limited to ten people. Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased by sending an email. This is the first of several planned small-pairings; stay tuned for more in the near future!

• Now seems like a good time to mention that the fourth Burgers n’ Beer has been planned for Tuesday, June 9th, from 8:00 – 10:30 pm. Held once again at the uptown reLiSH location, this event is taking on a new twist, featuring an “Ales vs. Lagers” approach. Breweries are currently TBD, but count on six beers (8 oz pours) to be paired with six different reLiSH sliders. It’s a great way to kick off the two-week Fredericton Burger Battle (part of Eat New Brunswick), which begins on June 8th.(Tickets are $48 each, and are available online. We’ll have more info on the breweries participating, soon.

• Sea Level Brewing is bringing back their latest seasonal, Düssel-port Altbier. This “New World Alt” uses a recipe given to Brewmaster Randy Lawrence by a brewer friend from Brauerei im Füchschen, in Dusseldorf, home of the Alt style. This medium-bodied ale weighs in at 4.8% ABV. Lawrence used Saphir hops throughout, for an authentic bitterness. It is now available at the brewery in cans, growlers, and kegs, and on tap at the Port Pub and other locations shortly.

• Last month, Boxing Rock brewed up a collaboration brew with the Ladies Beer League: the Cinnamon Spin. While the poor weather kept the LBL crew away, they were there in spirit, and the crew visiting from Upstreet lent a hand in their stead. We now have some information on the beer, and the release details! The base beer is a Robust Porter, weighing in at 6.5% ABV. It featured some first wort hopping, and whole cinnamon sticks added during the boil. Now the important details: how can you taste it? The Ladies Beer League and Boxing Rock folks will be launching the beer April 18th at Bar Stillwell in Halifax. It is an open event, no tickets required, and pay as you enjoy, starting at 6pm. There will be a cask of the Cinnamon Spin tapped at 6:30, and the beer will also be available on tap. There will also be LBL swag and memberships available for purchase that evening. Stillwell will have exclusivity on the kegged beer, but there will be some bottles available at the B.R. brewery, Seaport and Alderney Farmers Markets, and the private beer stores in HRM. As the beer was brewed in celebration of International Women’s Day, there are two charities benefiting from sales of the beer: Halifax Sexual Health Center and Shelburne County Women’s Fishnet Bursary Program.

• And speaking of beer launches at Stillwell, the next Saturday, April 25th, will see the launch party of the third in the line of Propeller Brewing’s Lambic-style beers. This release will be different than the earlier two, in that there was no fruit added during the fermentation and maturation process (raspberries and blackberries were featured previously); this will be the straight wheat beer that was inoculated with wild yeast and bacteria and aged in Blomidon Estate oak barrels, to produce a unique beer not otherwise available in our region. Think of it as a 4.2% ABV Gueuze-style beer, though this will be an unblended 4-year old beer. As in previous releases, the beer will be available by the glass and in bottles (for consumption at the bar) beginning at noon. There will be a signup sheet on site for those who would like to purchase one bottle (and one bottle only) from Propeller the next day, ahead of the general sale on Monday. The last release was so popular that none of the beer made it to Monday, all was scooped up in pre-sales, and we imagine the same will happen again this time. More details on the beer can be seen in a previous post on the first release.

• Details for the Beerthief Ancient Ales tasting in St John’s are now available, being held at The Bella Vista, at 5pm Saturday, May 2nd. Dr. Patrick McGovern, a biomolecular archaeologist,  will be giving a presentation on the fieldwork and research required to develop the Dogfish Head Brewery for their Ancient Ales series. And through some local collaboration with local brewery Storm Brewing in Newfoundland, Brew Craft Homebrew Shop, Sap World, and gypsy brewers Chad Levesque and Stephen Canning, visitors will be able to enjoy two beers based on ancient recipes:  Levesque Midas Touch Collaborative Clone and Canning Kvasir Collaborative Clone. After the presentation and Q&A session, there will be a supper of lamb shank and flank steak paired by Chef Ian Smith. The tasting will continue with several selections from Garrison Brewing, led by Brewmaster Daniel Girard, and from Storm Brewing in Newfoundland, led by owner and brewer Mike McBride, for a full evening of beer, food and fun. Tickets for the event are $90, and are available by emailing Tom Beckett before April 29th.

Enjoy the weekend, and the (hopefully) warmer temps! While you are out and about this weekend, stop into the ANBL and fill up your growler with Petit-Sault Lancaster KB882 Amber Lager, Picaroons Historical Brown Ale (formerly known as 104th Regiment Ale), and/or (we vote and) Le Trou du Diable’s Dubai Pillee Imperial IPA. For the first time, all four fill ANBL filling stations will have the same three beers available. And for those of you in Fredericton, be sure to drop by Grimross to buy a pint and growler of Monk’s Choice, the name chosen from the submissions for their Abbey Ale. In Nova Scotia, Muwin Wines has received a loan from ACOA to expand distribution of Bulwark Cider to the UK, a massive Cider market. The extra funds will go towards additional equipment to expand production, and re-branding their bottled packaged product. Tickets for the Full House Beer Fest, the highlight of the CBANS Nova Scotia Craft Beer Week, are now officially sold out, though there is a waiting list available. Tickets for Beer & Beethoven (May 8th at the Halifax Forum), Science of Beer (May 14th at the Discovery Centre) and Brewer’s Brunch (May 17th at Stubborn Goat) are still available, however. We’ll be sharing details on more of the events in the coming weeks. Spindrift Brewing in Dartmouth has taken delivery of their brewhouse recently, and are busy setting it up and preparing for their first brew day in the coming weeks. And finally, in new more brewery news, Trestle Brewing is set to open in Truro in the fall. The brainchild of Alicia MacDonald and Sonja Mills, it will be located in the downtown area. We’ll share more details when available. And for those of you lucky enough to have tickets to tomorrow’s sold-out Saint John Beer Fest, enjoy the selection of craft beer! With even more breweries and beer than last year, it’s bound to be a great time as usual! And don’t miss their Hair of the Dog Brunch at the Saint John Ale House the next morning.

Friday Wrap-Up – News and new beers from Petit-Sault, Antigonish Townhouse, Propeller, Picaroons, Garrison and much more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2015-01-16
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Antigonish Townhouse, Big Spruce Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Garrison Brewing, Lion & Bright, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Propeller Brewing, Rogues Roost Brewpub, Stillwell Beer Bar, Tatamagouche Brewing, Wrought Iron Brewing Company. 1 comment

After a quiet beginning to the year, we are now back to our regular-sized posts, chock full of new beers and other exciting news for our region!

• There’s another new beer now available from Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault – Soeur Catherine, an American IPA. The brewery named the beer after “a headstrong (and somewhat bitter) nun who taught elementary school in Edmundston for four decades”. Hopped to 70 IBUs with lots of Centennial, Chinook, Citra, Columbus, and Galena, it has aromas of strong citrus, hints of black currant and pine, and “a subtle earthiness balanced by a touch of Caramel malt”, according to the brewery. This 7% ABV IPA is now available for growler fills at the brewery, and also at the Dieppe ANBL store this weekend, as part of their growler program!

• Petit-Sault has two other new beers on the horizon as well! Cappuccino Stout (name not finalized) is a “Coffee Milk Stout” brewed with real coffee from no fewer than three Edmundston cafes. Coming in at 5% ABV and 25 IBUs, it has a strong roasted aroma that is “dominated by flavors of freshly-brewed espresso and a hint of bittersweet chocolate. Look for this one to be available sometime in late February. The other new beer is a currently-unnamed “Maple Brown Ale”, which will be brewed with “copious amounts” of local maple syrup. This beer will be brewed by an all-women brew team (including Petit-Sault’s own Mychèle Poitras) as part of the Pink Boots Society International Women’s Collaborative Brew Day, and will be launched on Saturday, March 7th, just in time for International Women’s Day on March 8th. It will also be debuting at the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival that Saturday night!

• Brewer Terry Piercey of The Antigonish Townhouse has been brewing upstairs above their pub for more than two years, experimenting with different styles and recipes. Terry’s Bitter, a cask-conditioned English Bitter, is their house beer, and absolutely a must-try when visiting the Townhouse. Lately, they have been hosting “Double Pumped Fridays”, when a second house-brewed cask is tapped as well. Recently, Terry’s Stout has made a big splash, selling out in a matter of hours after release. Terry himself was kind enough to share some details of the beer. This Dry Irish Stout is fairly bitter (from the UK Fuggles added at the start of the boil), and high in roasted malt character, finishing at 3.9% ABV. This was the first stout they’ve brewed and served from the handpump, and was a great success! “The pump highlighted the silky mouthfeel and produced a thick creamy head through the tight sparkler. I’m definitely not breaking new ground here but it’s a very pleasant and easy drinking low gravity stout all around.” Those of you who missed it last week, fear not! The Stout will be available today (as well as the Bitter), and will definitely be a regular part of the Double Pumped Friday rotation. But don’t delay, as there is only 20 litres in the cask. For the the next two Fridays, Terry is serving his English IPA, in addition to the Bitter.

• Propeller has yet another new beer in their One Hit Wonder series, and it’s available now at both Prop Shop locations! Black Out is an American Black Ale (aka Black IPA) brewed with dark malts (Chocolate, Roast, and Black Prinz) to give “a hint of chocolate and roasty characters” to the medium-light bodied beer, and is hopped with plenty of Warrior, Falconers Flight, Cascade, and Ahtanum to lend lots of piney and resinous hop flavor. Weighing in at 6.9% ABV and 78 IBUs, you’ll be able to find this one on tap at better beer establishments across the city, soon.

• Picaroons has a new beer coming out soon, to be released just in time for next weekend’s annual Shivering Songs Festival (Jan 22nd-25th) in Fredericton. SS Cocoa Beware is described by the brewery as a “Dark Chocolate Wheat” beer, and is brewed with Carafa malt and real dark chocolate, giving this 4.8% ABV ale lots of chocolate and roast flavors. They plan on releasing it sometime next week (stay tuned to their Facebook and Twitter pages for exact details when they have them); you’ll be able to find it in Fredericton at the Brewtique for growler fills, and on tap at the Snooty Fox, Isaac’s Way, Wilser’s Room, and several venues during the festival. It will also be on tap outside the city at the Tide & Boar in Moncton (they’re hosting a SS show on Jan 23rd) and Ducky’s in Sackville (in support of the town’s Stereophonic music festival the same weekend).

• Garrison Brewing is releasing their Ol’ Fog Burner Barley Wine today! After a brief hiatus in 2014, this favourite winter seasonal for those cold nights around the fire makes its return. The 2015 edition of this English Barleywine weighs in at a whopping 11.5% ABV, so their 500mL bottles are certainly made for sharing (or you ambitious Vikings)! While the rich malt backbone is the star of this copper coloured beer, Nugget, Spalt and Brewers Gold hops keep things balanced at 60 IBUs. Strong, but not sweet. Available today at the brewery store on Marginal Road, it will also be in the private stores shortly. Ol’ Fog Burner’s Glenora-barrel-aged brother (sister?) will sadly not be making an appearance this year, but we’ve been assured that it will be making a return in 2016. This beer is a great candidate for your cellar, for those looking to start, or add to, their beer collection.

• For those of you in Fredericton and Sackville, NB, your local ANBL will be carrying Garrison Brewing’s IPA for growler fills this weekend. Also look for the return of their EKG (East Kent Golding) One Hop IPA in six-packs available now at the brewery, and the NSLC shortly.

• There’s a new beer on tap at Rogues Roost – Winter IPA. Combining a malty sweetness with lots of hop character (coming mostly from the Cascade variety), think of it as a juiced-up version of their regular IPA. It comes in at 6.5% ABV and about 70 IBUs, providing a firm, lingering bitterness in the finish. Hop on down to the brewpub to give it a try before it’s gone!

• Lion & Bright is celebrating their One-Year Anniversary tomorrow with a Tap Takeover by a couple of their closest friends: Big Spruce and Boxing Rock. They will be sharing the bar and pouring a half dozen beers each, including some casks and brand new beers. Look for Big Spruce to be pouring Bráthair Éric American Wheat and Coade Word: Snowmaggedon (more on these below), plus a few other new favourites and core brands. Boxing Rock will be pouring U-889, Unobtanium, Many Hands, and more from their core brands, as well as The Vicars Cross DIPA on cask.

• Last night was the Local Connections Craft Beer and Local Food Event, and those in attendance were treated to the launch and return of several beers from over a dozen breweries. Here are a few highlights:

– Wrought Iron Brewing Company made its debut at the event, bringing four (FOUR!) beers to delight the thirsty attendees. Tom Waits for No One Stout, Cleveland Steamer California Common, and the first ever commercial Gose beers in our region (Goseface Killah and Gutter Sow), a unique wheat beer style originating in Germany, traditionally brewed with coriander and salt. Their equipment from DME has yet to arrive, so these beers were produced on their pilot system. WIBC will be making its official debut in the Spring; check out the latest from them on their blog.

– Big Spruce Brewing released a pair of new beers, including Home Brew Challenge winner Eric Gauthier’s Bráthair Éric American Wheat. Lots of late addition Simcoe and Cascade lend a great citrus flavour; 5.2% ABV and 22 IBUs. Also debuted was Coade Word: Snowmaggedon, the Winter Warmer we described earlier. With rum-soaked cinnamon, vanilla beans and fresh organic ginger, this beer has a great character for cold nights. Only local-sourced whole leaf Nugget and Centennial hops from their own hop farm, as well as Southan Farms in NB and the Alan Doyle farm in NS. Look for both of these beers at the brewery, Cape Breton Farmers’ Market, and at better beer bars now!

– Tatamagouche Brewing debuted their Horns Over Hooves Double IPA, the collaboration they brewed with the crew from Stubborn Goat. The beer features Chinook, Centennial and Columbus, and was dry hopped with Azacca, finishing at 8% ABV and 77 IBUs. Look for it on tap at the brewery now, and at the Goat and other better beer bars shortly.

And finally today,

• Bar Stillwell is holding another great Tap Takeover for all of you lovebirds out there. On February 14th, they will be welcoming Le Trou du Diable to Barrington St. While Stillwell has been selling excellent TdD beers for over a year, that is just a small selection of the incredible diversity of their offerings. The guys from Shawinigan will be bringing twelve draught beers (only a couple of which have been seen previously on the East Coast), as well as bottles of their excellent barrel-aged beers. There will be three tasting sessions: 12-3, 4-7, and 8-close. Tickets will be $20, which include a special printed glass to take home, and your first pour. Tickets go on sale today, drop by or fire them an email to secure your spot. We’ll see you there!

We hope you have a great weekend! If you’re out drinking around Fredericton, TrailWay Brewing is now available on tap at Vault 29 (joining their regular accounts, King Street Ale House and 540 Kitchen & Bar). This Sunday is the official judging day for the 1st Annual Hammond River Homebrew Competition; we’ll be sure to announce the results in next week’s post! Finally, A.W.O.L. Brewery has announced that they’re now officially incorporated, and are narrowing down the location to open their brewery in the future… great news, and congrats to them!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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