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Friday Wrap-Up – News from Sunset Heights Meadery, Unfiltered, Nine Locks, Spindrift, and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2016-03-24
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Bad Apple Brewhouse, Big Spruce Brewing, Bore City Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Flying Boats Brewing, Gahan House Harbourfront (Halifax), Garrison Brewing, James Joyce Irish Pub, Mama's Brew Pub, Meander River Farm and Brewery, Nine Locks Brewery, Picaroons, Railcar Brewing, Spindrift Brewing, Stillwell Beer Bar, Sunset Heights Meadery, Tatamagouche Brewing, The Auction House, Tideview Cider, Unfiltered Brewing, YellowBelly Brewery. Leave a Comment

Happy early end of the work week! With tomorrow being Good Friday, we thought we’d post this week’s Wrap-Up a day early, to give most of you something to read to break up your work day. Let’s get to it, there’s lots to go over!

• Sunset Heights Meadery once again had some entries in last weekend’s Mazer Cup International Mead Competition in Colorado, and once again, they came away victorious! They swept the Session Mead category, winning Gold, Silver and Bronze medals for their Scuttlebutt, Cinfully Yours, and Punky Pie, quite a feat considering the Mazer Cup is the world’s largest mead competition. Congratulations to the Sunset Heights family!

• Halifax’s Unfiltered Brewing released a beast of a beer late last week. 1-1-9 is a barrel-aged American-style barleywine, coming in, you guessed it, at 11.9% ABV. Despite the high alcohol content, the beer is very smooth (dangerously so?), thanks to the barrel character and assertive 100+ IBU bitterness to balance it into a praise-worthy brew. Due to its limited nature, this beer is *only* available at Unfiltered’s taproom, Charm School, located adjacent to the brewery, so best drop by soon to grab a glass.

• Dartmouth’s newest brewery, Nine Locks, has added two new beers to their core lineup this week. The Dirty Blonde and Porter are both now available, joining their ESB and IPA. The 5.0% ABV Dirty Blonde is a light and crisp brew featuring lots of wheat, for a pleasant easy-drinking beer with a quenching character. The Porter features lots of chocolate and biscuit notes thanks to the darker kilned malts used in the beer, but is still a very light and enjoyable 5.0% ABV beer. The four beers are currently available at the brewery for growler fills and cans, and are in the wild at neighbouring Mic Mac Bar and Grill, and at spots around HRM.

• Spindrift’s Seventh Wave Series continues today, with another small-batch release. Gross Michel is a 4.6% ABV Hefeweizen, an unfiltered German-style traditional wheat beer. Featuring a light 10 IBU bitterness, the wheat malt gives a cloudy appearance and robust white head, with notes of clove and banana from the yeast. As usual, the beer will be available for growler fills only, starting today at noon, and won’t last long.

• Halifax’s Garrison Brewing has released a pair of beers this week; one brand new, and one a returning favourite. Hug A Ginger is a 4.2% SMaSH beer, featuring Maritime Pale Ale Malt and Cascade hops, as well as ginger root, for an enjoyable melding of citrus and ginger aromas, and malt and light ginger with a bitter finish. This limited release is only available at the brewery, on tap for samples and growler fills. This week also marks the return of In Session ISA, Garrison’s take on a Session IPA. Big hop-derived tropical fruit and citrus flavour and aroma dominates this beer, from the copious additions of Belma, Crystal, and El Dorado. All of that in a small, 4.5% ABV package, means that you can drink a couple in a single session, without it slowing you down. In Session is available now at the brewery for samples and growler fills, and in six-packs province-wide at the NSLC.

• Tatamagouche Brewing is releasing a new beer today: The Grog. A small, hoppy, Belgian Ale (think Belgian Session IPA), The Grog is part of a Parti-gyle brewday, where two (or more) beers are created from the same grain bill/mash, with a higher alcohol beer from the first runnings (due to the higher sugar content), and a smaller beer from the later runnings, and boiled separately. In this case, the higher ABV beer will be a Belgian entry to their Giant Beer series, with The Grog weighing in at 3.0% ABV. Just because the alcohol is low, however, does not mean it is lacking in flavour. This beer’s focus is on the hops, using Hallertau Blanc and experimental hop ADHA-529 (lending flavours of coconut and lime) in the boil, and was further dry-hopped with both of these, plus Centennial. This batch will be on draft and growlers only, with it available at the brewery now, and pouring soon at Battery Park, Lion and Bright, and Stillwell, as well as the four private beer stores in HRM for growler fills (Bishop’s Cellar, Cristall Wine, Harvest Wine, RockHead; check their website or social media for the current growler line-up).

• Good news for cider fans in Nova Scotia! John Brett, of Tideview Cider, has been hard at work, and a first trial cider debuted at Bar Stillwell last weekend. The 7.2% ABV still (uncarbonated) cider was served from a cask on the bartop, and featured a blend of apples that features a celebrated variety known as the Hyslop crab apple, for an enjoyable dry and tannic finish. Brett’s plans going forward will focus on smaller batches, sourcing primarily from his own orchard in the Annapolis Valley. Keep an eye out for Tideview Ciders once they get back into commercial production, which could be as early as next year.

• Bad Apple Brewhouse from Somerset, NS, has debuted a new beer this week. Just Rockin’ IPA is the 6% ABV, lower alcohol brother of The Impresser Double IPA. But just because it is lower in ABV, does not mean it is lacking in flavour! Fermented with Conan yeast for some great apricot and fruit ester character, and hopped generously in both the boil and dry-hop for a big blast of hop flavour and aroma. JR made its debut at Stillwell last night.

• Petit-Sault has just released their Pink Boots Society brew, Buzz, a “Honey Rye Ale”. This is the second year that the brewery has participated in the annual multi-brewery Big Boots Brew Day, initiated to raise the profile of women in the beer industry. Five women were involved in the brew day, led by Petit-Sault brewer Julie Long, with the end-result being this 6.1% ABV beer, which was brewed with Rye, Munich, and Honey malt, along with 60 lbs of pure, NB honey. Hopped with Magnum and Saaz to 21 IBUs, this copper-coloured ale is “full-bodied, sweet and malty, with floral notes of NB wildflower honey and a hint of pepper, and flavours of light honey and caramel”, according to Long. It’s available on tap now at the brewery taproom for growler fills, and can also be found this weekend at three of the four ANBL growler stations (KV excluded). A portion of the proceeds from sales of this beer will go towards a scholarship for women studying biotechnology at NBCC. And in other PS news, they’ve hired a new brewer to join their team – Patrick Dionne is an Edmundston native who has recently completed a Masters in Biochemistry from the Université de Moncton.

• Moncton’s Bore City has a new beer on tap in the city, an APA named Equilux. Heavily-hopped with two truly delicious varieties – Equinox and Citra – the beer has “prominent tropical/citrus notes, with plenty of grapefruit”, according to the brewery. Clocking in at 5% ABV and 50 IBUs, it’s on tap now at the Tide & Boar (but is going fast) and should be following soon at Marky’s Laundromat.

• Fredericton’s Mama’s Brew Pub will be releasing a new beer on tap tomorrow, aptly named for the holiday weekend. Hoppy Easter is an American Pale Ale that was generously hopped with Comet, Citra and Amarillo, both in the boil and in the dry-hop addition. With these three varieties, expect lots of fruit, citrus, and dank character in the beer. It comes in at 65 IBUs, and a sessionable 4.9% ABV.

• Picaroons and Railcar have teamed up for their very first collaboration brew in support of the Ministers Island Barn Raiser taking place Friday, April 1st. Raisin D’Roof is a, experimental, “darker brew” that was brewed with 2-row, Crystal 20 L, and Chocolate and Wheat malts, along with 30 lbs of Golden raisins that were blended and added to the boil. Hopped with local Cascade, Centennial, and Goldings, the beer weighs in at 6% ABV. Look for it on tap at the Brewtique in Fredericton and at the Railcar tasting room on April 1st. It will also be pouring at the fundraiser in St. Andrews; if you’d like tickets to that event, there’s a few left here.

• And, speaking of Railcar, they’ve debuted a new beer, the 7% ABV Columbus Wreck IPA. Their hoppiest beer ever, it features a heavy dosing of Columbus hops mid- and late-boil, for a nice blast of both flavour and aroma, on top of a medium-bodied base. It is currently available at their Florenceville-Bristol brewery and taproom for pints and growler fills. And look for further distribution of Railcar’s beer in the coming months, as they look to expand to a 6 hectolitre system.

• There’s a new beer fermenting over at YellowBelly, and it’s definitely an interesting experiment! Brewmaster Liam McKenna wanted to make a statement of sorts in support of those who try to prevent the wasting of food in the world, so he took a crack at making beer from stale bread. While the majority of the grist was made up of some typical malts such as 2-row, Munich, Carastan, and a little Midnight Wheat, there were also five malt bags of stale, sliced, and lightly toasted bread from local Rocket Bakery. Featuring some white, rye, and multigrain bread, as well as some bread with raisins, keep in mind this beer may contain traces of nutes. Hopped entirely with Willamette, they’re expecting the beer to be low in alcohol at ~4% ABV, and mildly bitter at ~25 IBUs. We’ll keep you updated on the release of this one!

We’ve got several new events to let you know about this week, with a couple happening this evening:

• The Ladies Beer League are holding a “Beer and Banh Mi” tasting tonight. Certified Cicerone Angeline MacLennan will lead attendees through three pairings of beer with spicier fair at Indochine Banh Mi. The event starts at 7pm, and there are still a few tickets available for purchase.

• Schoolhouse Brewery will be taking over the guest taps at Good Robot this Saturday, bringing a selection of six of their small-batch beers. Featuring their “Locally Hopped” series, including Big Red Schoolhouse Imperial Red Ale, Debarrs Reserve Biere de Garde, and Scotian Export Scottish Ale, as well as the new Schoolhouse Red Lager, and flagships Chequers Robust Porter and Principal Pale Ale. The event kicks off at noon, with fun schoolhouse games and snacks throughout the afternoon and evening.

• Gahan Halifax is holding a Brewmaster’s Dinner next Wednesday, March 30th from 7-9 pm. Featuring four courses of locally-sourced food, paired with four different seasonals/one-offs created by brewmaster Karen Allen, there will also be a one hour meet-and-greet starting at 6 pm, where Allen will be on hand to talk Gahan beer! Tickets are available at the brewpub now.

• Halifax’s Auction House will be hosting their latest Beer School March 30th, with special guests Meander River. The event begins at 7pm, and there are food pairings made specifically for the evening. Folks from Meander Rover will be giving a presentation, and moving throughout the bar chatting with patrons. Contact Auction House for more tickets.

• Fredericton’s James Joyce will be hosting another in their series of Meet Your Maker events, this time featuring Shediac’s Flying Boats. Brewer/owner Marc Melanson will be attending, and is keen to answer any questions you have concerning his beers! The event will be held on Friday, April 1st, starting at 8 pm, and will feature four FB beers on tap: Dixie Clipper IPA, Empress Irish Red Ale, S-55 Special Mission Pale Ale, and Double Oatmeal Stout. Expect fun and games, with some Flying Boats swag to be won. As always, there is no cost to attend, just pay by the glass!

• There are still tickets available for Propeller’s next Prop’r Cask Night, April 1st, featuring Black Sheep restaurant. Your $30 ticket allows you to tour Propeller’s offerings, as well as Gottingen St brewery, and enjoy some specially-prepared appetizers from their food partners.

• No tickets necessary, but a reminder that Stillwell is hosting a Tap Takeover so massive, it is two days long: Montreal’s Dieu du Ciel! brewery. Join the crew from the brewery on both April 1st and 2nd for a dozen rare and special beers, paired with Montreal-inspired food from Chef Ruppel and crew. There are a *different* special kegs locked and loaded to go for both Friday and Saturday, so multiple visits may be required this weekend!

• Details are now available for the release of Barrel-Aged Triskaidekaphobia, the collaboration brew between Big Spruce, Boxing Rock, and Ladies Beer League. On April 9th, Stillwell will be hosting a launch party, with the folks from CKDU spinning tunes all day, from noon. While the event is open to all, there will be a select number of special tasting glasses available, which come filled with your first pour of the 11%.0% ABV Triska. Grab them here, with the proceeds going to support CKDU.

• This is the last week for Early Bird Tickets to the NS Craft Beer Week Full House event. The culmination of 9 days of celebrating beer across the province, with more than 20 NS breweries in one spot. Your ticket will get you in the doors, and your first dozen samples. Grab them now, before the price goes up April 1st.

A reminder that the provincial liquor stores will be closed Friday and Sunday, and may have reduced hours Monday, but many of the brewery and private stores will be open for your holiday beer needs. Best to double-check online/by phone, to avoid possible disappointment. Have a great long weekend!

Friday Wrap-Up – News from Bore City, James Joyce, Red Rover, Meander River, Grimross, Hammond River and more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2016-01-22
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2nd Annual Hammond River Homebrew Competition, Big Spruce Brewing, Bore City Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Breton Brewing, Craft Beer Cottage Party, Gahan House (Charlottetown), Good Robot Brewing, Grimross Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, James Joyce Irish Pub, Liquid Assets, Meander River Farm and Brewery, Picaroons, Propeller Brewing, Red Rover Craft Cider, Roof Hound Brewing, Spindrift Brewing, The Auction House, Upstreet Craft Brewing. Leave a Comment

Happy Friday, loyal beer fans! Grab a pint and get your weekend started with some light beer reading.

• After receiving their license to brew just a few weeks ago, Bore City Brewing in Moncton have sold their first kegs. One of their first three flagship beers, Marécage (a 7% ABV Belgian Saison), will be on tap tonight at the James Joyce in Fredericton, just in time for the Joyce’s One Year Anniversary of their expanded keg fridge! For those of you in Moncton, fear not… the beer will also be on tap this weekend at Les Brumes du Coude, with other tap accounts following in the near future. We’ll have a Q&A post on this 1/2 BBL brewery for you very soon!

• More details on James Joyce’s event: It is the one year anniversary of their expanded keg fridge (allowing them to carry beer from every brewery in New Brunswick), and they will be fully stocked tonight – with Happy Hour pricing on Fredericton breweries’ beers – serving birthday cake, and having a grand time! New Saint John brewery First City will have their Chocolate Coffee Stout available. Drop by for the fun, beginning at 5pm. And keep an eye out for their Wassailing event February 6th with Red Rover, similar to their “Meet Your Maker” event, where they will be pouring multiple ciders during the evening. Red Rover’s Bee Cider, made with honey from the hives on James Joyce’s roof, is currently available in the pub.

• And speaking of Red Rover, their cider is now available at the ANBL Growler filling stations for the first time this weekend. After a very successful launch of their bottles last week, their Fire Cider is on tap at the Dieppe, Fredericton, Sackville and Saint John growler stations while supplies last. And check out ANBL’s page for availability of their bottles.

• Meander River recently released their newest seasonal, Cold Porridge Oatmeal Stout. Featuring 20% rolled oats in the grain bill, the 5% ABV Stout features an aromatic coffee and cocoa profile. As the brewery puts it, “The breakfast of champions!” On tap now at the brewery and the Flying Apron Cookery, kegs were also sent to Battery Park.

• Also out this week from Meander River is their latest seasonal cider, Winterlude.  This unique blend features McIntosh, Northern Spy, Russet, and GoldRush apples, all sourced from Davison Farms in Falmouth. The 5.5% ABV cider has a semi-dry finish, crisp character, is cleanly fermented, and lightly carbonated. As with all of their ciders, the recipe blend changes with the seasons and apple availability, so if you’re a cider fan, it’s always a good idea to try the latest release.

• The new beer from Grimross that we mentioned a few weeks ago is now available on tap at the brewery. Ryes-N-Shine was brewed with approximately 40 kg of Tangelos (both the fruit and zest were used) and a “significant amount” of Rye malt. Fermented with two yeast strains (one a Belgian Saison strain, one American), this light-coloured ale comes in at 4.9% ABV and 23 IBUs. Owner/brewer Stephen Dixon describes the beer as “light and crisp, with a clean palate”, with the rye and citrus being subtle, but present. Look for it on tap at Grimross tap accounts in the province as well.

• Judging for the Hammond River 2nd Annual Home Brew Competition took place last Sunday at the Saint John Ale House. The style was Strong Scotch Ale (aka Wee Heavy); judges were impressed with the quality of the entries received, but ultimately a winner had to be selected. Nova Scotia homebrewers Keith Forbes and Mike Orr received the top prize with their Tilted Kilt, and actually came in second with their other entry, Kilted Tilt! Third place went to Newfoundland’s Mark McGraw, with his More Than Just a Wee Heavy. Both Forbes and Orr will be travelling to Hammond River soon, to brew a full-sized batch of their beer with owner/brewer Shane Steeves, to be released at select HR accounts. Congratulations to the winners!

• Spindrift is continuing their series of weekly brews on their Pilot system (their 7th Wave series), with this week’s new beer being released today at the brewery at noon. Knotty Buoy is another interesting one: it’s a sour mashed Wheat Lager that has been aged on chopped rhubarb, cranberries, and hibiscus tea. Described by the brewery as “pouring ruby red, with a clean tartness complimented by bright fruit aromatics”, it comes in at a sessionable 4.3% ABV (and 10 IBUs). As always with the 7th Wave beers, there will be a very limited amount available when released, and only for growler fills, so get there quickly to fill up!

• Charlottetown’s Gahan House has released a new dark lager this week. Cast Iron is 5% ABV and 36 IBUs. Dark brown in colour thanks to Blackprinz malt on top of a 2-Row, Munich, and Cara60 grain bill. The beer features a moderate malt and slight roast character, leads into a medium hop bitterness, making this an easy to drink take on the European style. It is on tap at the brewery now, and can be taken away in growler fills as well.

• Over in Nyanza, Big Spruce is releasing their latest “Conspiracy” beer; this one is being described as a “Pine Needle IPA” that was brewed in collaboration with Ontario’s Sawdust City Brewing. Read Between the Pines has a “deep pine needle complexity”, with plenty of tropical fruit and pine thanks to large, late additions (and a dry hop) of both Nelson Sauvin and Simcoe, and a “big splash” of Galaxy as a second dry hop. Weighing in at 7.2% ABV and 48 IBUs, this sounds like a great one! It’s available for growler fills at the brewery right now, and show follow at select accounts very soon. And keep your eyes peeled for the 3rd Annual Big Spruce Homebrew Competition-winning Czech Dark Lager, brewed by Eric Gautier and Justin Clarke at the brewery, to be released next week. Finally, the 2016 version of Coade Word: Snowmaggedon was brewed earlier this week, and will be popping up on tap sometime in February.

• Speaking of embracing homebrewers, Boxing Rock has released a beer brewed with homebrewer Jason MacDougall. MacDougall visited Shelburne in December, and brewed up a Scottish Ale featuring a healthy portion of Peat Malt, and 35 kilos(!) of Heather flowers. To offset the floral kick, local wildflower honey and a light dose of Fuggles was added to the mix. Professor McDougall’s Oban Heather Scottish Ale weighs in at 5% ABV and will be available this weekend at the brewery, Alderney and Seaport Farmers’ Markets, private beer stores, and on tap in Halifax and Antigonish.

• Also released this weekend is their collaboration with Charlottetown’s Upstreet, Rumble in the Alley 2. This SMaSH IPA was brewed with Dark German Munich malt and Ontario-grown Santiam hops from Clear Valley Hops in Ontario. The resultant IPA features malt notes of biscuit and honey, and hop notes of spice and citrus. Rumble in the Alley 2 will be available this weekend at the brewery, and at the private stores, Farmers’ Markets, and on tap, next week.

• Good Robot is releasing a new beer today that is definitely on the “different” side. When homebrewing last summer, they discovered a currently-unidentified microbe in the brewery that “generates a lemon-like, funky character” when added to their beers. They’ve investigated with a bit of microscopic viewing, and know that it’s neither Brettanomyces (a wild yeast) or Lactobacillus (a bacteria); they plan on sending it to the professionals for some thorough work. In the meantime, they’ve added it to a batch of their corn beer, and then dry-hopped it with Falconer’s Fight and Cascade to add even more citrus character to the aroma. The final product, Bank of Azealia, should be available at the taproom later today for pints and growler fills.

• Next Tuesday, January 26th, is Australia Day. Needing only the flimsiest of reasons to throw a party (OK, OK, their head bartender is Australian), the crew at Good Robot will be going all out to celebrate. Starting at 4pm, they’ll be blasting the Triple J Hottest 100, playing Australian movies on the projector, and serving kangaroo sausages, meat pies, and holding a meat raffle. While they won’t have Toohey’s or VB, they will have tinnies of Foster’s in the fridge in case their lineup of brews doesn’t quite quench your thirst after your walkabout. For the rest of the details, check out the Event page. And drop by this Sunday at 4pm for some vinyl love, courtesy of Black Buffalo Records, for an event called The Spins.

• The latest season of CTV’s MasterChef Canada begins February 14th, and Digby resident Les Barr will be among the competitors. Les is also the man behind Roof Hound Brewing, a mid-sized brewery slated to open in Digby County later this year. We expect to see Les cooking with beer whenever possible, and flexing his homebrewing muscles during the competition. We wish Les lots of luck, and look forward to following along with the progress of his cooking, and brewing.

• Thinking about opening or expanding a brewery or other beverage business? Springboard Atlantic is hosting a Liquid Courage event Feb 18 at Acadia University. Featuring keynotes from Greg Taylor of Steam Whistle Brewing and Dominic Rivard of Muwin Estate Wines and Bulwark, the seminar will feature presentations on how to build brands, do consumer research, quality testing, and exporting beyond provincial and national borders. More details can be found here. The seminar runs 8:30-4:30, and registration is now open.

• Details on the Craft Beer Cottage Party, part of Savour Food and Wine Festival, are emerging. Being held 7-9:30pm, Feb 27th in the Halifax Seaport Market location, the event will feature twenty local breweries, plus a few others from outside the region. Already lined up, with a list growing daily, are: Bad Apple, Big Spruce, Boxing Rock, Bulwark, Gahan, Garrison, Good Robot, Hell Bay, Meander River, Nine Locks, North, PEI Brewing, Picaroons, Propeller, Rare Bird, Spindrift, Tatmagouche, Uncle Leo’s, Upstreet. Also in attendance will be Innovative Beverages Agency (representing Muskoka and Central City), Goose Island, and Mill Street. Your $50+HST (or $65+tax to skip the line and take home a gift bag) ticket offers unlimited tasting during the evening. There will be food vendors onsite, including The Stubborn Goat. Entertainment includes live bands, and cottage party games. Tickets are available online now.

• There are good things coming this spring to the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. Currently a craft beer wasteland, a new store carrying Nova Scotia liquor, wine, cider, and beer will be opening in April. Liquid Assets is a subsidiary of Ironworks Distillery, and will be located post-security, on the domestic/international departures level. It will mean being able to grab a bottle before getting on a flight, without having to worry about breakage in checked luggage, or having forgotten a gift while visiting the area. Look for more details on selection and exact opening date soon.

• LATE ADDITON: Propeller has released their latest One Hit Wonder Friday afternoon, Fog City Coffee Porter. This 5.5% ABV, 30 IBUs, Porter was brewed with whole bean coffee from Java Blend in both the boil, as well as “dry-beaned” during fermentation and conditioning. As with all OHW brews, this is a growler- and draft-only release, with it on tap now for growler fills at the Windmill location, and later Friday evening on Gottingen St. And don’t forget to pick up tickets to their returning Prop’r Cask Night, next Friday, Jan 29, 6-9pm. This edition will feature the food catering of friend-to-beer Studio East, and a special cask of Fog City, cask conditioned with even more coffee beans. Tickets are a steal at $30 (all in), which offers unlimited samples of both food and beer at the Gottingen St. Brewery, and lots of fun mingling with fellow food and beer nuts. Tickets are available now!

A few more notes for this week: Breton Brewing has put together a new dark beer, to be released next month. They are staying tight-lipped for now, but we understand this is a Porter to be released around the 14th. We’ll have more details closer to its release. Be sure to drop by The Auction House on Wednesday for their monthly Beer School, where the beers from a particular brewery are paired with special dishes from their kitchen. January’s brewery is Picaroons, with head brewer Myles MacKenzie making the trip himself to share some knowledge. Tickets are now on sale for a pair of Beer and Chocolate Dinner, hosted by Picaroons. Both are being held at 7pm on February 10th, with one at BrewBakers in Fredericton, and the other at Shadow Lawn Inn in Rothesay. This three course meal will feature chocolate-infused dishes, paired with beer.

Friday Wrap-Up – News from Hammond River, Sea Level, Red Rover, Railcar, Maybee, Fredericton Poutine Fest, and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2016-01-15
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Boxing Rock Black Box Challenge, Boxing Rock Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Fredericton Poutine Festival, Good Robot Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, Hell Bay Brewing, Johnny Jacks Brewery, Maybee Brewing, Meander River Farm and Brewery, Paddys Irish Brewpub, Railcar Brewing, Red Rover Craft Cider, Sea Level Brewing, Spindrift Brewing, Upstreet Craft Brewing. Leave a Comment

Good morning, beer fans! After the beer news overload we experienced last week, things have slowed down a bit… maybe the snow and colder weather has something to do with it? Either way, there’s still some news to share for this week!

• Hammond River has a couple of new beers in their pipeline… first up is a revamp of one of their first flagship brews, Hop Flash IPA. Brewer Shane Steeves simplified the grain bill to contain 2-row as the base malt, plus some CaraRed (the original beer also had Munich and Melanoidin malt in the grist). The hops have changed slightly: Warrior is used for bittering, with Chinook, Cascade and Centennial added during the boil for flavour, and Amarillo in the dry-hop (as opposed to Cascade in version 1). It still comes in at 66 IBUs and 6.6% ABV, but as Steeves explains, “The goal is to show how a different grain bill and slightly different hop profile can affect the taste profile of a beer”. Look for Hop Flash 2 to appear within a few weeks. HR will also be brewing a new beer soon, inspired by several Nut Brown Ales that Steeves brewed in his homebrewing days. This one is being categorized as a “Nut Red” Ale (“a cross between an American Amber and Irish Red”, says Steeves), with “lots of toasty, biscuity, and nutty flavours”. The recipe is still being hashed out, but we can expect it to come in at approximately 5.5% ABV. Finally, their Imperial Vanilla Porter is available once again at most HR accounts, with a lucky two (James Joyce and the Barrel’s Head) receiving the 9.2% ABV Bourbon version!

• Sea Level has just released their first Belgian-style beer, a Farmhouse Ale named New Moon. Fermented with a Belgian yeast strain to give the beer some spicy phenolics and fruity esters, there was also some Chinese rock sugar and dried orange peel added in the fermentor, with more orange peel added in the brite tank for further conditioning. A strong beer at 9% ABV, it is currently available in cans at the brewery retail store, and should also be at Harvest Wines & Spirits and Bishop’s Cellar today. Look for it to also pop up on tap at select accounts.

• Last Friday, we hinted at a big announcement coming from Red Rover, and they confirmed earlier this week that one of their goals has finally been reached! As of Tuesday, 750 mL bottles of their ciders are now available for sale at select ANBL stores. The initial launch includes their Spring, Fall, and Fire ciders, which are available at all four Fredericton ANBL locations, with most stores in Saint John following shortly, along with Dieppe (Regis St.); check online for updates on stock and locations. We can likely expect new seasonal releases to hit stores as well. RR’s Adam Clawson had this to say about the announcement: “We are really excited; it is a major milestone in creating a craft cider industry in New Brunswick. We would really like to thank all of our customers for their continued support, as this will now enable Red Rover to reach people unable to get to our farmers market and The Ciderhouse.”

• While we’re on the topic of new, local releases at the ANBL, both Railcar and Maybee Brewing announced this week that some of their beers should be on shelves very soon. Railcar’s first beers will be their Artisan Brown and Café Buzz Porter; both will be available in 500 mL bottles, and should be for sale by this weekend. Look for Railcar Red to follow in another two weeks. The Perth-Andover and Woodstock stores will likely be stocked first, with stores between Grand Falls and Fredericton hopefully following in the near future before further expansion to Saint John and Moncton by summer. Maybee Brewing will start off with their Work Horse IPA (one of their first two flagship beers), which will be available in 500 mL cans sometime next week. As above, be sure to check online for exact info on stock and locations. While not showing up at publishing time, check out these links for the ANBL’s current inventory of Railcar and Maybee beers.

• Tickets are now on sale for the Fredericton Poutine Festival on Saturday, April 2nd. This is the first time the event has been scheduled outside of the fall season, but after the continuing popularity of recent festivals, it was decided to have another one! April’s event will be very familiar to the most recent one on November 21st: it will take place at the Crowne Plaza, and will feature three different sessions, two of which offer various ticket options for anywhere from 4 to 16 beer tickets for 4-oz samples of a selection of over 20 local craft beer. And, of course, unlimited samples of approximately 15 different types of poutine, even more than last time! The brewery list is still being finalized, but this year’s festival will feature a majority of breweries located in Fredericton. Check out the ticket link for more details, and be sure to buy yours quickly – previous events have sold out quickly, and more than 40% of tickets have already been sold since going on sale yesterday morning at 11 am!

• Boxing Rock has released details on the Black Box Challenge, their first homebrew competition… with a twist. After paying a $45+HST entry fee, entrants will pick up their Black Box, which contains eight different malts, five hop varieties, and two yeast strains. Using any or all of these ingredients, you can brew any style that you want (under 9% ABV)… but you can’t use any outside ingredients (well, except water of course!). Each Black Box is identical, and contains enough ingredients to brew a 1-gallon test batch and two 5-gallon batches (depending on the style). Only one entry per person, and the number of entrants is being limited to twenty (you can register and pay online). Judging will take place at Stillwell on Sunday, March 6th; all entrants are required to make a short (<5 min) presentation on their entry for judges, highlighting their recipe planning, the brewday, and your final product. That presentation, along with the beer, will be judged, and the winning entry and brewer will be invited to scale up their recipe at Boxing Rock in Shelburne. The beer will be released in time for Nova Scotia Craft Beer Week in May. Half of the entry fees and proceeds from the full-scale batch will be donated to the Shelburne Loyalist Food Bank. Sign up today (there are only a few boxes left!) and pick up your Box from Stillwell starting Jan 23rd. Good luck!

• We’ve spotted several other new beers in the wild this week, but haven’t been able to gather too much information for you just yet. Rest assured, we’re on the case! In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for the newest beers from Hell Bay (the return of their very popular R.I.P. (A), their 7.3%, 120 IBU, IPA), Meander River (Cold Porridge Oatmeal Stout), and a pair of new German-inspired beers from Paddys Irish Brewpub (Decem-beer Bock coming in at 6.1% and 15 IBUs, and a 6.8% Weizenbock).

Don’t forget to pick up a growler or pint of Spindrift‘s The Abyss Schwarzbier, being released today (with a special coffee-infused cask debuting last night at the Craft Beer and Local Food event). Check out the fun as Upstreet visits Halifax this weekend, with tickets for their Sunday Beer Pairing Luncheon at Stubborn Goat now on sale. And grab a pint of Johnny Jacks’ latest creation, Showshoe Winter Ale, at Sour Grape Cafe, and now on tap at the James Joyce. Brasseurs du Petit-Sault have re-brewed their Canon Franchetti Cappuccino Stout, and it should be available by mid-February; this batch is also going to be bottled this time around. And look for a trio of AlphaBrews (large scale Experimental batches) from the mind of Good Robot Brewmaster Doug Kehoe: their “Märzen“, a traditional Festbier with a cherrywood-smoked malt twist; a “Saison“, with a chewy plum spice character; and v3.0 of Burban Legend APA, dry-hopped with El Dorado for a citrus and watermelon aroma.