Marky’s Laudromat

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

acadie

Nous avons eu récemment l’occasion de discuter avec Patrice Godin, maître-brasseur et propriétaire d’Acadie-Broue, une nanobrasserie du Nouveau-Brunswick bien connue pour ces excellentes bières de styles belges et allemandes (pour une vue d’ensemble sur Patrice et Acadie-Broue nous avons fait en mai 2012, cliquez ici). Patrice brasse seulement de très petits brassins – toutes ses bières sont disponibles exclusivement à la Landromat Espresso Bar (aussi connu comme Marky’s) à Moncton – Acadie-Broue va ralentir sa production pour les mois à venir, car avec sa configuration il n’est pas possible de brasser dans les températures froides de l’hiver. Heureusement pour nous tous, il a eu récemment deux nouvelles bières approuvées par ANBL pour la vente chez Marky’s!

(ATTENTION: Les informations de la bière suivante est légèrement technique, et certaines informations peuvent seulement être appréciées par les brasseurs amateurs et connaisseurs de bière sérieux)

Hefeweizen

La première bière qui a été récemment approuvé est appelé “Valdrague Weizen”, une bière de blé dans le style de Hefeweizen classique allemand. Patrice dit qu’il a toujours été un grand fan de ce style de bière, et a été déçu de ce qui est disponible dans les provinces de l’Atlantique. Après avoir goûté un excellent exemple du style de la brasserie Denison’s à Toronto, Patrice a été inspiré pour créer sa propre interprétation.

Hefeweizen est un style de bière qui a classiquement une recette simple, composé généralement de malt de blé et Pilsner malt à un ratio de 1:1 (en Allemagne, la loi stipule que la bière étiquetée comme un Hefeweizen doit contenir au moins 50% de malt de blé). Patrice a suivi cette direction, et brassée deux lots, en utilisant de faibles quantités de variétés “noble” de houblon Saaz et Hallertauer. Pour la fermentation, il a choisi la 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen de Wyeast, une levure de la plus ancienne brasserie fonctionnelle dans le monde, la brasserie Weihenstephan en Allemagne. Fermentée à temperature relativement basse à environ 17 degrés Celsius, le premier brassin était très savoureux, mais manquait un peu du caractère de girofle bien connu dans le style. Avec le deuxième lot, Patrice a ajouté un stage férulique classique dans le processus de brassage, qui a abouti à un meilleur équilibre entre le clou de girofle et les notes de banane typiques.

Un peu d’histoire sur le nom Valdrague. C’est un mot Acadien qui signifie “un travail fait à la vitesse”. Patrice décrit la bière comme très trouble (correcte pour le style), au premier coup d’œil, il semble que la bière a été brassée rapidement et négligemment, ou “à la Valdrague”. Le nom a aussi un clin d’œil à ses origines allemandes, comme les initiales “VW” se rapportent à la société automobile allemande, Volkswagen. Avec 15 IBU et un ABV de 5%, les cinq barils de Valdrague Weizen devraient être disponibles au chez Marky’s cette semaine.

Lambic

Pour en revenir à sa passion principale, les styles de bières obscures, Patrice rendra public une bière dans la catégorie aigre, un Lambic droit (non mélangé). C’est un style de bière qui est pâle et à base de blé, mais différente par rapport à d’autres bières de blé car elle est aigre, acide … et sans carbonatation, ou plate. Les lambics de différents âges sont habituellement mélangés pour produire la Gueuze, qui est similaire à la saveur et l’arôme de Lambic, mais finit par être une bière pétillant. À notre connaissance, c’est la première fois qu’une brasserie des province de l’Atlantique a lancé une bière de style Lambic, ce qui rend cette version particulière extra-spécial!

Patrice a un fût de bois de 5 gallons qu’il a utilisé pour la fermentation d’autres bières dans le passé. Les fûts sont bien connus dans le monde brassicole pour conférer leur propre caractère dans la bière. Quand Patrice a fait son premier essai avec le style Lambic, il l’avait fermenté dans le barillet avec seulement de la levures Brettanomyces, une levure sauvage, et Lactobacillus, des bactéries d’acidification. Après soutirage de la bière du baril, il a laissé le “gâteau” résultant – la suspension contenant la levure et les bactéries – et y a ajouté de la moût fraiche pour redémarrer une autre fermentation dans le barillet. Cette fois, il a remarqué une caractère aigre développé dans la bière après seulement 10 jours, et la bière a continué à gagner en complexité très rapidement. Patrice a continué à laisser la bière maturité pour encore 6 mois, avant de le soumettre à la ANBL, il a récemment été approuvé pour la vente au Nouveau-Brunswick.

Cette bière est nommée “Zirable”, le mot Acadien pour “c’est dégelasse!”. Quand il a nommé la bière, Patrice prenait une approche “anti-marketing” … nous sommes sûrs que cette bière malgré son approche anti-marketing sera loin d’être dégelasse! Elle tire à 5% ABV, et est décrit par Patrice comme étant légèrement aigre et acide, avec beaucoup de “saveurs boisées” en raison de la petite taille du baril (qui offre plus de contacts avec la bière). Patrice a l’intention de donner à la bière un peu plus de temps pour conditionner, alors regardez pour Zirable chez Marky’s au début ou mi 2014. Il y aura un seul baril de cette bière disponible, donc restez en contact avec les pages Facebook d’ Acadie-Broue et Marky’s pour savoir exactement quand il sera en vente!

Je ne sais pas pour vous, mais je suis excité par ces bières! Ok, je suis excité au sujet de la plupart des bières, mais celles-ci sonnent très excitantes.   Si nous regardons l’historique et la gamme qu’a offert Patrice jusqu’à présent, nous ne serons pas déçu!

For an English version of this article, please click here.

acadie

We recently had the opportunity to chat with Patrice Godin, brewmaster and owner of Acadie-Broue, a New Brunswick nanobrewery well-known for churning out excellent beers of both Belgian and German styles (for an overview on Patrice and Acadie-Broue we did in May, 2012, click here). Patrice brews small batches at a time – all of his beers are available exclusively at the Laundromat Espresso Bar (a.k.a. Marky’s) in Moncton – and is now winding down for the coming months, as with his current setup it isn’t possible to brew in the cold temperatures of winter. Luckily for all of us, he has just had two new beers approved by ANBL for release at Marky’s!

(Warning: The following beer information is slightly technical, and some information may be appreciated by homebrewers and serious beer geeks only)

Hefeweizen

The first beer that was recently approved is called “Valdrague Weizen”, a wheat beer brewed in the classic German Hefeweizen style. Patrice says that he has always been a big fan of this style of beer, and has been disappointed in what’s available in the Atlantic provinces. After sampling an excellent example of the style from Toronto brewery Denison’s, Patrice was inspired to create another well-brewed Hefeweizen himself.

Hefeweizen is a beer style that classically has a seemingly-simple recipe, usually consisting of wheat malt and Pilsner malt at a 1:1 ratio (in Germany, there is an ancient law that states that a beer labelled as a Hefeweizen must contain at LEAST 50% wheat malt). Patrice followed this direction, and brewed two batches, lightly hopping each with the “noble hop” varieties of Saaz and Hallertauer. For fermentation, he chose Wyeast’s 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen, a yeast strain from the oldest still-operating brewery in the world, the Weihenstephan brewery in Germany. Fermented cool at about 17 Celsius, the first batch was very tasty, but lacking slightly in the clove character well-known in the style. With the second batch, Patrice added a classic ferulic rest to the brewing process, which resulted in a better balance between the clove and the expected banana notes.

A little background on how the beer was named, Valdrague is the Acadien word for “willy-nilly”. Patrice describes the beer as very cloudy (on par for the style); at first glance, it appears the beer was brewed quickly and carelessly, or “willy-nilly”. The name also has a nod to its German roots, as the initials “VW” refer to the German automobile company, Volkswagen. Coming in at 15 IBUs and an ABV of 5%, the five kegs of Valdrague Weizen should be available at Marky’s sometime this week.

Lambic-style

Moving back to his main passion, Belgian-style beers, Patrice will also be releasing a beer in the sour category, a Straight (Unblended) Lambic, or technically a “Lambic-Style” beer since it was brewed outside the Senne Valley of Belgium. This is a beer style that is also pale and wheat-based, but different compared to other wheat beers in that it is sour, acidic… and still, or flat. When Lambics of different ages are blended, the resulting beer is called a Gueuze, which is similar in flavor and aroma to Lambic, but ends up being a highly-carbonated beer. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a brewery in Atlantic Canada has released a Lambic-style beer, which makes this particular release extra-special!

Patrice has a 5-gallon wooden barrel that he has used for fermenting other beers in the past. Barrels are well-known in the brewing world for imparting their own character into a beer, while at the same time taking in new yeast and bacteria from beers that have been in contact with them. When Patrice took his first stab at the Lambic style, he fermented the beer in the barrel with only the wild yeast Brettanomyces, and a souring bacteria, Lactobacillus. After racking the beer out of the barrel, he left the resulting “cake” – the slurry containing the yeast and bacteria – and brewed and fermented another batch in the barrel. This time, he noticed some sour character developing in the beer after only 10 days; the beer continued to gain complexity very quickly. Patrice continued to let the beer mature and condition for another 6 months, before submitting it to the ANBL, where it was recently approved for sale in New Brunswick.

This beer is named “Zirable”, the Acadien word for “It’s gross”. When naming this beer, Patrice was taking an anti-marketing approach… we’re sure this is the case, as we can’t imagine this beer is anything other than the OPPOSITE of gross! It has an alcohol content of 5% ABV, and is described by Patrice as being sour and acidic, but not overwhelmingly so, with lots of “woody flavors” due to the small barrel size (and therefore more contact with the beer). Patrice plans on giving the beer a bit more time to condition, so look for Zirable at Marky’s sometime in early-to-mid 2014. There will only be ONE keg of this beer available, so stay tuned to Acadie-Broue’s and Marky’s Facebook pages to find out exactly when it will be tapped!

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m excited about these beers! Ok, I’m excited about most beers, but still, they sound great, and if we go by Patrice’s usual track record with what he brews at Acadie-Broue, we won’t be disappointed!

Note: There will be a French version of this article posted tomorrow morning.