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Friday Wrap-Up – News from Bad Apple, Sea Level, Meander River, Schoolhouse, Propeller, Ducky’s, and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2014-04-25
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Atlantic Beer Festival, Bad Apple Brewhouse, Bellwoods Brewery, Big Axe Brewery, Big Tide Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Celtic Knot Brewing, Ducky's Bar, Garrison Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, Henry House, Ladies Beer League, Meander River Farm and Brewery, Noble Grape, PEI Brewing, Propeller Brewing, Schoolhouse Brewery, Sea Level Brewing, Stillwell Beer Bar, YellowBelly Brewery. 2 comments

Happy Friday everyone! Time for another dose of Atlantic Canadian beer news to finish off the last Friday of the month…

• Bad Apple Brewhouse has released a new beer, Smokehouse Lager, a Rauchbier brewed with 100% beechwood-smoked malt. This copper-colored beer comes in at 6.7% ABV with about 27 IBUs, and is described as “smoky, slightly spicy, and malty” by BAB owner/brewer Jeff Saunders. The beer is available in growlers and squealers at the brewery, and might be on tap at your local soon.

• Staying in the Annapolis Valley, Sea Level has released their latest beer, Southern Cross IPA. Inspired by the New Zealand hop, and the Crosby, Stills and Nash song, the beer weighs in at 6.5% and 78.8 IBUs (calc). The Southern Cross hops lend a resiny spiciness and citrus and pine aromas. Available on tap now at The Port Pub, in growlers and cans at the brewery, and this weekend in cans at the private beer stores in Halifax.

• Finally in Valley news this week, both Meander River Farm and Brewery and Schoolhouse Brewery are in the final stretches before opening their doors very soon. At Meander River, they have brewed their inaugural batch of Lunchbox Pale Ale on their 3 barrel system, and are looking forward to opening in the next few weeks. At Schoolhouse, they were going through their inspection for Excise License this week, and are also looking forward to opening in the next little while. Look for profiles from both of these great breweries very soon.

• In the big city, Propeller Brewing has released their latest seasonal beer, Black IPA. Weighing in at 6.7%ABV and 83 IBUs, this unfiltered beer features a healthy amount of bittering, flavour and aroma hops, and is then dry-hopped for an even more explosive nose. The most prominent hop used in the beer is Ahtanum, which gives a great citrusy nose, with a bit of earthy note as well, which fits well with the style. To give the beer its distinctive black colour, Blackprinz and CARAFA malts were used. These choices were very specific, as both are very dark in Lovibond, so that a small percentage in the recipe goes a long way in the colour, but do not transfer any astringency or husky bitterness to the flavour. Pick up 1.89l and 1l growlers of this latest release at both the Gottingen St and Windmill Rd Propeller locations, and look for it on tap around the city (including Henry House, where it was tapped last night).

• Big Tide Brewing continues to remain busy in Saint John, as they’ve added two new one-off brews to their tap selection at the brewpub. A single batch was brewed with a base of Canadian Wheat malt, a selection of special Crystal malts, and UK hops, and was then fermented with a dry ale yeast. After fermentation was complete, the beer was split into two vessels. One of these, Ale Mary, was filtered, while the other, Sunset Raspberry Wheat, was not. We think it’s safe to assume that the unfiltered beer also has had some raspberries or raspberry extract added at some point of the brewing process! Both beers are meant to bridge the gap for Big Tide’s return to brewing summer beers; they clock in at 4.5% ABV.

• New Brunswick’s newest brewery, Big Axe, may have just opened last week, but they’ve already added a seasonal beer to their line-up, which is available for growler fills at the brewery now. The beer is named Maple Wheat Amber Ale; specific details on the beer are unknown at the moment, but we’ll be sure to update when we know more.

• We mentioned recently that Ducky’s Bar in Sackville was expanding their tap selection, and would be featuring local breweries. Well, they’ve released their opening tap selection, and it’s looking great! As previously mentioned, two taps will be dedicated to Celtic Knot, starting with their Not Joe Average Pale Ale and Dark Passage Oatmeal Stout. Also pouring will be Hammond River‘s award-winning Hop Flash IPA, PEI Brewing Co. Cole’s Cream Ale and Beach Chair Lager, and Garrison Raspberry Wheat and Nut Brown, with Picaroons Dooryard joining them soon. Kegs will rotate as they empty, so look for more offerings from these breweries, as well as others in our region!

• Tickets are now on sale for the Atlantic Beer Festival, in Moncton, Saturday May 31st. There are two sessions, 2:30-5pm, and 7:30-10pm. Free buses are available to the downtown area after each session of the festival. Tickets are available online, at the Pump House brewpub and Barnyard BBQ, and are priced at $49 (taxes and fees included). We hope to have a full brewery/beer list for you soon.

• The Overcast is an arts and culture newspaper based out of Newfoundland. They have an excellent interview with Liam McKenna, brewmaster at Yellowbelly Brewpub in St. John’s. For those of you who do not know Liam’s brewing history (including a time in Dublin), it is a great insight into what makes Liam tick. We hope to share a profile on Liam and the Yellowbelly soon, as we caught up with him on a visit to Newfoundland earlier in the year.

• Don’t forget to pick up bottles of Alewife’s Revenge, the collaboration between Boxing Rock Brewing and the Ladies Beer League. It is now on sale at the private beer stores in Halifax and Dartmouth, on tap around the province (including Antigonish Townhouse), and a special cask of it starting at 4pm for Cask Friday at the Stubborn Goat.

• Speaking of the Ladies Beer League, they’re teaming up with Noble Grape to present an Intro to Beer & Brewing session on Sunday, May 25th from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm. This is an introductory course meant to cover the basics of home brewing for beginners and enhance the knowledge of intermediate home brewers, while allowing those interested a chance to also connect with Halifax’s home brewing community. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here; the course will be held at the Noble Grape location on 95 Akerley Blvd in Darmouth. Another session is currently scheduled for Saturday, June 14th.

• Stillwell Beer Bar is following up on their first Bellwoods beer releases earlier this month with another deadly trio this weekend. They will be pouring Brettal Head All Brett Pale Ale, Lost River Baltic Porter, and Hellwoods Russian Imperial Stout, beginning at noon Sunday. Be sure to drop by for great beer, food, and company. We might just see you there!

That’s it for now… have a great weekend!

Friday Wrap-Up – Burgers n’ Beer Events Planned for NB, Brews and News from Garrison, Propeller, Sea Level, Rockbottom, Bad Apple Brewhouse, and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2014-03-28
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Bad Apple Brewhouse, Burgers n' Beer, Celtic Knot Brewing, Garrison 2013 Home Brew-Off Challenge, Garrison Brewing, Grimross Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, PEI Brewing, Propeller Brewing, Red Rover Brewing, reLiSH, RockBottom Brewpub, Saint John Beer Fest, Sea Level Brewing, Stillwell Beer Bar. 3 comments

Happy Friday, and end of March! Don’t worry, the snow has to start melting sometime soon… right? Regardless, here’s what’s new for craft beer in our region this week:

• Despite just wrapping up the 2014 Fredericton Craft Beer Festival earlier this month, organizer Lloyd Chambers is bringing another beer idea of his to fruition… Burgers n’ Beer! Partnering with reLiSH Gourmet Burgers, there will be three small events throughout New Brunswick. The first will be held on Tuesday, April 15th in Fredericton from 8-10 pm (at the new uptown location), and will include six reLiSH sliders paired with six 8 oz pours of craft beer and cider. The tentative brewery list includes Grimross Brewing, Red Rover, B.C.’s Central City Brewing (with their Red Racer IPA representing), and Celtic Knot and Hammond River Brewing, both in Fredericton for the first time for this event! A custom 8 oz tasting glass is also included, and Adam Clawson of Red Rover will be doing a small presentation on all three of his ciders pouring at the event. Tickets are $45, taxes and fees included, and can be purchased online here. Future events are also planned for reLiSH locations in Moncton (April 29th) and Saint John (tentatively May 9th).

• Garrison Brewing has just released last year’s Garrison Home Brew-Off winner. Saint Peter’s Belgian-Style Strong Ale, a Belgian Blond Ale, was brewed with the winner of 2013’s competition, homebrewer Peter Welton. Coming in at 7.5% ABV and 24 IBUs, the beer is described as having a “hazy but vibrant orange color and a fluffy white head”, and exhibits a “smooth, spicy, and fresh aroma with notes of vanilla and banana, with the juicy flavor matching the aroma and finishing with a lingering warmth”. Look for the beer in bottles at the Garrison retail store, and at private liquor stores and NSLC stores throughout the province.

• Returning this week from Propeller Brewing is their popular Double IPA. A “heavily dry-hopped” Imperial IPA, it packs a punch at 8.2% ABV, with 85 IBUs. The brewery describes the beer as having “a huge amount of piney, floral, and citrusy hop aroma and flavors, balanced by sweet malt flavors”. You can find the beer in bottles and growlers at the Halifax and Dartmouth Prop Shop locations, and in bottles only at NSLC and private liquor stores in the province.

• Hot off the recent release of their El Rojo Diable Double IPA (which is just about gone, by the way), Sea Level Brewing is releasing another new beer. New World Alt is a Düsseldorf Altbier brewed from a recipe given to Brewmaster Randy Lawrence from a brewer friend of his in Düsseldorf, Germany. Described as a “clean, medium-bodied ale” with a background hop presence provided by the Hersbrucker hop, the beer is lagered for three weeks at zero degrees before packaging; it comes in at a very drinkable 4.8% ABV. New World Alt should be available at the brewery sometime next week, and will follow shortly afterwards at their regular outlets.

• The Rockbottom Brewpub in Halifax recently provided details on their next beer dinner on their Brewer’s Blog. Starting at 6 pm on Monday, March 31st, the three-course meal looks spectacular as usual, and features beers from brewer Greg Nash that includes Balticus, Fathom IPA, and Wreckoning RIS. Tickets are $35 and can be reserved by calling the brewpub.

• Meanwhile at Rockbottom, Nash has released some early details on two new beers that he’s brewed recently. The first is a Double IPA that is fermented with “Conan”, a well-known yeast strain in the brewing world as it is the one used by The Alchemist brewery in Vermont in their world-famous Heady Topper DIPA. The original yeast was cultured from a can of Heady Topper by one of the members of the Brewnosers, and Nash continued to grow this yeast until he had enough for a full-sized batch. Dry-hopped multiple times, the beer’s ABV will come in around 8% with 130 IBUs (calculated). The other beer is a SMaSH (single malt and single hop) India Pale Lager. Brewed with Pale Ale malt and Galaxy hops, the beer is fermented on lager yeast at cool temps, and then lagered and dry-hopped with more Galaxy. Look for this one to finish somewhere between 6.5-7% ABV, and with 80 IBUs. Both beers should be available at the brewpub sometime in the near future!

• Details are still very slim, but we can report that Bad Apple Brewhouse has brewed a new DIPA. Supposedly bigger and hoppier than the crowd-pleasing Conception DIPA that was pouring at the FCBF this month, this should be one heck of a beer! Stay tuned for more details as the beer approaches completion/packaging.

• The PEI Brewing Co. has started a new “Cask Program” run by brewer Karen Allen. We’ll have some more details in the near future, but for now they’re sending three pin casks to Halifax early next week to be tapped at Stillwell sometime soon. The first cask, Cherry Blaster, is the same sour, barrelled Saison that’s been served before, but instead of dry-hopping this one, they’ve added a tart cherry concentrate. The second cask is Business Lunch IPA, a “sessionable pale ale” dry-hopped with Mosaic and Cascade. Finally, Spray Tan Imperial IPA is a DIPA that has been double dry-hopped; first with Cascade and Falconer’s Flight, and then with Centennial in the cask. Keep up-to-date with Stillwell’s tap list on their Twitter feed.

• And a reminder that the 2014 Saint John Beer Fest is fast approaching! This year’s event is once again being held at the Market Square Atrium in downtown Saint John, on Saturday, April 5th. It was just reported this morning that all tickets are now sold out (including regular admission and VIP). The brewery/beer list has recently been posted on their Facebook page linked above. We hope to have a more detailed post on the festival sometime next week!

Friday Wrap-Up – News and Brews from Paddys Irish Brewpub, BarNone Brewing, Hammond River, PEI Brewing. Tide & Boar and more

Posted by acbbchris on 2014-03-21
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: BarNone Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, Hell Bay Brewing, Paddys Irish Brewpub, PEI Brewing, Tide & Boar Gastropub. 1 comment

Happy Friday, one and all. We hope you’ve recovered from Monday’s festivities, wherever/however you may have celebrated!

• Paddys Irish Brewpub has tapped their latest seasonal release, “Solo Citra”. This Pale Ale beer weighs in a 5.3% ABV and 50 IBUs, with a colour reminiscent of Tangerines and a light body at 1.005 FG. Thanks to the generous dosing of Citra hops, the beer features plenty of citrus flavour and aroma, as well as a significant bitterness, thanks to the light body. It is available now at both the Kentville and Wolfville locations on tap and in growlers.

• BarNone Brewing recently announced that they’re brewing a new beer to help celebrate this year’s 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference, and tying it in with a special event at Baba’s Lounge. From April 1st-7th, Baba’s is holding a 150-hour long music jam in honor of the sesquicentennial; when Don Campbell (brewer/co-owner at BarNone) asked what type of beer they wanted him to brew for the event, they decided on a Red Ale. Don soon came up with “RedEye”, a hoppy Amber brewed with 150 kg of malt and 150 oz of hops, with a 150 minute boil time. Coming in at – you guessed it – 150 IBUs and a color of 15 SRM, it will be served exclusively at Baba’s for the music jam. After that, it may pop up on tap at other restaurants/bars in the area, and will likely be available for Thursday growler fills at the brewery.

• Shane Steeves of Hammond River Brewing has confirmed that he is planning on brewing a new beer in the near future. While details on the recipe are still slim, we can confirm that it will be an Imperial IPA weighing in at about 8.6% ABV and 100 IBUs. The beer will be brewed soon, after Steeves returns from a much-deserved vacation; we’ll keep you updated as to when and where the beer will be released.

• In other Hammond River news, they’ve recently rebrewed their Hop Flash IPA; this time it’s been dry-hopped with two different hop varieties than previous batches. It should be on tap in the Saint John area in a few days… if you can guess the two hop varieties used, post it on their Facebook page to win a Hammond River ball cap!

• Expansion continues over at PEI Brewing Co., as they recently confirmed that they will soon be shipping their beer to Ontario! The first shipment will consist of their Fathers 2014 Commemorative 4-packs, which include renamed and relabelled bottles of their Blueberry Ale, Coles Cream Ale, Iron Bridge Brown, and Sir John A’s Honey Wheat. More on this Anniversary release in our previous post here.

• The Duo Wine Bar at The Tide & Boar Gastropub in Moncton is having their second beer dinner next Wednesday, March 26th. Hosted by chef Michael Savoie, there will be five courses, all paired with a different craft beer; some of the beers include a Picaroons cask ale, a “surprise IPA”, and some highly-rated Belgian beers. Accompanied by such courses as lobster crostini and a marinated salmon with hop salad, the event is almost sold out. Tickets are $115 (inc. tax and gratuity); if you’d like to reserve, email Duo.

• As promised a couple of weeks ago, Hell Bay’s R.I.P.(A.) version 2.0 is now available. Featuring the same base recipe, but triple the hops (but still a smooth, non-overwhelming bitterness), it is available at the brewery in growlers, and will be on tap in Halifax very shortly.

• And finally this week, Garrison Brewing is releasing their latest seasonal, the Baltic Porter, today. This dark and rich beer weighs in at 9% ABV and 30 IBUs, featuring lots of roast character. Bottles are available at the brewery, and shortly at the private stores. Also look for it on tap at better beer establishments in our region. The winner of the 2013 Home Brew-off, Saint Peter’s Belgian-Style Strong Ale is being released Monday (not today, as we originally posted), look for it at the brewery and private stores, as well as on tap at a few bars in the city.