Quidi Vidi Brewery

All posts tagged Quidi Vidi Brewery

Friday Wrap-Up – New Beers from Garrison, Quidi Vidi, PEI Brewing, Picaroons, Upstreet and much more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2015-10-30
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2nd Annual Hammond River Homebrew Competition, Boxing Rock Brewing, Celtic Knot Brewing, Cristall Wine, Garrison Brewing, Good Robot Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, Harvest Wines, North Brewing, PEI Brewing Co., Picaroons, Port Rexton Brewing Co., Quidi Vidi Brewery, Rockhead Wine & Beer Market, Spindrift Brewing, Uncle Leo's Brewery, Unfiltered Brewing, Upstreet Craft Brewing. Leave a Comment

Good morning! We’ve got a bit of beer news for you this week (as usual), just in time to end off your October…

• Today, Garrison Brewing is releasing the second beer in their Star Trek-themed series, just in time for this weekend’s Halifax sci-fi convention, Hal-Con. Vulcan Ale – Genesis Effect is a “Red Session IPA” that has been hopped with Comet, Galaxy and Warrior. Described as “hoppy and spicy” by brewmaster Daniel Girard, this 5.4% ABV beer will be jointly released in the U.S. by Shmaltz Brewing (out of upstate New York), in the Federation of Beer line of officially licensed Star Trek beers. It’s available in 650 mL bottles at the brewery, all four private liquor stores in the city, and select NSLC stores. Also out in celebration of Hal-Con is Raspberry Ginger Ale, hitting the shelves today as well.

• In other Garrison news, we have some more details on the Gastronome IPA they brewed as an exclusive release at harbourstone sea grill & pour house. Proud Rose-Mary was inspired by the restaurant’s Chef Trevor Simms’ approach to food, and features the addition of fresh orange juice and rosemary. It comes in at an ABV of 6.5%; you can find it on tap now at the harbourstone. Look for the Gastronome beer to change quarterly, in conjunction with the menu changes at the restaurant.

• Movember starts Sunday, and Quidi Vidi Brewing in St. John’s are releasing a special beer in collaboration with Fogtown Barber, to celebrate the hairiest of months. Fogtown Lager will be released 2pm Sunday afternoon at Quidi Vidi, during a “Shave Down” event to kick off the month, complete with food from Mallard Cottage and live music. For those that sign up to the QV Mo Team before Sunday, they’ll receive a free Fogtown Lager t-shirt (while supplies last), and if they raise more than $250 before the end of Movember, a free hat, in addition to other great perks. Check out the details on their Facebook page. The beer itself is a 5% ABV pale lager featuring Crystal hops, and will be hitting the shelves and taps in St John’s and region beginning Monday.

• The PEI Brewing Co. is getting ready to release their next barrel-aged beer. The beer is named Hell Street, and is their Reanimator Doppelbock that has spent some time in the PEIBC barrels. It has been bottled, capped, and wax-sealed, and is all ready for its official release next Thursday at the brewery. PEIBC also tapped Scared Wit-Less earlier this week, their latest cask at their tasting room; it’s described as a 7.5% ABV Pale Ale that has had coriander and chamomile added, to boost the spicy and flowery aromas and flavours.

• Picaroons released a new beer of sorts yesterday at the Brewtique – Gourd Browny is a reiteration of their Connell Stamp, an English Brown Ale. Hopped with Fuggles and Goldings, and infused with a “special blend” of pumpkin pie spices from local bakery/cafe the Chess Piece, this one is available only for growler fills at the Brewtique, while supplies last. And Picaroons is looking to hire a manager to run their Uptown Saint John location, which will be opening in 2016. Send along resumes to beerguy@picaroons.ca.

• Good news for Upstreet fans – they’re now officially selling some of their beers in bottles! Both their Commons (Bohemian Pilsner) and Do-Gooder (American Pale Ale) are available for purchase in a 500 mL format at the brewery (starting today at noon) for takeaway, and should follow at PEILCC stores later next month. Look for their Rhuby Social and White Noize to follow in the near future, along with other seasonals to be brewed over time.

• Spindrift Brewing will be opening the doors at their storefront at 21 Frazee Drive in Dartmouth this Wednesday. From 11am-6pm, they will be celebrating their grand opening with schwag, samples, cans, and growler fills of their Coastal Lager. Drop by to meet the gang, and get a peek inside the brewery. Going forward, their storefront will be open Monday to Friday, 11am-6pm for all of your Spindrift needs.

• The crew at Halifax’s Good Robot may have been assimilated and replaced by actual robots after their acquisition by AB InBev-SAB Miller, but at least they’ve been keeping busy in the brewhouse! There are a pair of experimental brews available now, only on tap at the brewery. Damn Fine Coffee and Cherry Pie Pale is a light-bodied and -hopped beer, with loads of cherry character in a golden package. The second beer is de la Rocha, a habanero dark ale, with intense chile heat, again with a light body, and no discernible hop character. Both brews are Beta versions, so be sure to drop by and give the beers a try, and share your feedback with the ‘bots. For those with young ones (or young-at-heart), the brewery will be decorated for Halloween tomorrow, and there will be tricks and treats for visitors of all ages.*

• There is a new brewery in the development and licensing process coming to Port Rexton, Newfoundland. Alicia MacDonald and Sonja Mills had been working towards opening a brewery in Truro, NS, but while visiting Mills’ family in Newfoundland, they fell in love with the area and possibilities for a brewery. There is still much to be done, including an environmental assessment of their location and securing final funding, but we are looking forward to trying Port Rexton Brewing Co. beer in their brewhouse next summer.

• There will soon be a pair of different Craft Beer Advent Calendars available in our region. Much like a traditional chocolate or gift advent calendar, the idea is to get a new surprise every day during the first few weeks of December. The Craft BeerAdvent Calendar will feature 24 craft beers from across Canada and the US. Though the beer list is secret (no spoilers, please!), we do know that none of the beers are otherwise for sale in our region, and many of them were brewed specifically for the Calendar. Craft Beer fans are sure to find some new favourites in the box. The calendar will be available at select NSLC locations and NLC locations in the next couple of days, so be sure to drop by your local store to grab one.

• And if one new brew a day isn’t enough for you, some of the private beer stores in Halifax are putting together their own Advent Calendar. Drop by Cristall Wine, Harvest Wines, or RockHead Wine and Beer Market before November 20th to reserve your calendar, for pickup November 30th. The 24 beer in these are a mix of local, domestic, and international beers for a true taste of the World of Beer.

• Hammond River has confirmed that they will be holding their Second Annual Homebrew Competition on January 17th, 2016. This BJCP-certified event will focus on Strong Scotch Ale (aka Wee Heavy), a full-bodied, deeply malty, strong Scottish beer style. Brewers will be limited to two entries each (two 12 or 16 oz bottles for each entry required), and entries will be due on January 15th; they can be shipped or dropped off to Hammond River in Quispamsis. Prizes will be given to the top three beers, and the winning entry will also be brewed as a full-size batch on HR’s system; of course, the winning homebrewer will be invited to assist with brewing this batch! Each entry costs $10; get brewing, homebrewers!

That’s just about all we’ve got this week… have a fun (and safe) Halloween tomorrow! Look for North Brewing’s Strong Dark Belgian to make its return shortly. Karl Whiffen from Uncle Leo’s dropped by Halifax brewery Unfiltered this week; we’ll let you know what they brewed up shortly. Boxing Rock underwent an expansion this week, to make room for more capacity in the brewhouse. Celtic Knot’s Caledonia 70/- seasonal is back on tap in the region. Look for it in Moncton and Saint John at your favourite watering hole. And a reminder to drop by Port City Royal tomorrow at 2pm for the tapping of an aged cask of Hammond River’s Sterke Monnik, their 10.3% Belgian Quad.

*The folks at Good Robot were not replaced by actual robots.

Friday Wrap-Up – News from Celtic Knot, Boxing Rock & Ladies Beer League, Garrison, Stillwell, and more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2015-03-06
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: ANBL, Beerthief, Big Axe Brewery, Boxing Rock Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Canadian Brewing Awards, Celtic Knot Brewing, Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia, Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, Garrison 2015 Home Brew-Off Challenge, Garrison Brewing, Ladies Beer League, NS Craft Beer Week, Quidi Vidi Brewery, Stillwell Beer Bar. 1 comment

Happy Friday, everyone! We haven’t quite escaped Old Man Winter’s clutch just yet, so grab a coffee, or coffee stout, and let the beer news warm you up!

• There’s a new beer in the works at Celtic Knot Brewing: Terminus will be the first in a series of one-hop IPAs planned by owner/brewer Bruce Barton. Featuring the El Dorado hop, the beer should come in at 6.5% ABV and approximately 67 IBUs. El Dorado is a fairly new hop variety that exhibits notes of tropical fruit, citrus, and orange candy aromas and flavors. We’ll be sure to let you know more about this beer when it’s released!

• The Ladies Beer League will be brewing up another collaboration with Boxing Rock Brewing this month, and they want you to be a part of it! Open to any & all LBL members, they are holding a draw for a few spots on the brew team for the day. Fire them an email with your name, contact info, LBL Membership number, and answer to the following trivia question, “What was the name of the Ladies Beer League/Boxing Rock 2014 collaboration beer?”. If you are picked, you’ll be joining the crew in Shelburne to help brew the Cinnamon Challenge Robust Porter later this month. Transportation to/from Shelburne and food will be provided. If you’re not a member yet, you can apply online.

• The 7th Annual Garrison Brewing Home Brew-off Gala was last night, and once again many in the local homebrewing and beer appreciation community were in attendance. From a record 84 entries, the judging panel whittled it down to 14. From there, Brewmaster Daniel Girard and his crew picked out the top four, concentrating on adherence to style, drinking pleasure, and carbonation. Yesterday, the final round of judging took place, and a winner picked. acbbchris was one of the judges in the final, and can honestly say that it was quite difficult: all of the finale beers were very well crafted, enjoyable, and great examples of the style. However, there can be only one winner, and David Martin was crowned as this year’s victor. Congratulations to the finalists, and all who entered their beers.

• The Gala also served as the launch party for the 2014 winner, Jason McDougall‘s beer: Professor McDougall’s Weisse-Guy Hefeweizen. Jason talked about his great brew day with Daniel and co., and had this advice for anyone thinking of opening their own brewery, “Be sure to buy a house beside the brewery, because you’ll be spending a lot of time there!” This 5.4% ABV Hefeweizen gives off a powerful banana nose, thanks to the Weihenstephan yeast used to ferment the beer. Low bitterness from Hallertauer hops has the balance slightly sweet, which also plays well in the style, and will go perfectly with the approaching patio weather. Available now at the Brewery store, it will also be in the private stores & NSLC, and on tap shortly. And remember, Beer & Science are Sexy!

• The Beerthief Artisanal Beer Club is hosting a Beer & Food tasting next week. On March 11th, Executive Chef Peter Anthony of Magnum & Steins is putting together a four course meal to pair with Quidi Vidi beer. QV’s Iceberg, 1892 Traditional Ale, British IPA, and Winter Ale will be paired with a great selection of food prepared especially. RSVP by calling  709-576-6500 or emailing Magnum & Steins.

• The event details for Nova Scotia Craft Beer Week continue to trickle in. The latest one announced is the 2015 Stillwell Open. The theme is “Backyard BBQ Beer”, and breweries are encouraged to brew a beer in this vein, to pair with Chef Ruppel’s BBQ creations. The unique part of the event is that the entries will be poured blind, without attendees knowing which brewery, or exact style, they are drinking. Folks are encouraged to vote for their favourites, and as beers are eliminated as crowd favourites, their identity will be revealed, until only one beer remains, and is crowned the champion. Tickets are now available to get in on the first pours and food from 12-5, and then the doors will open to the public for the last hour of voting. Starting at 6pm, the beers will be revealed, one per half-hour.

• Brasseurs du Petit-Sault has released a new beer they’re describing as a “Session Pale Ale”. Named Lt. Ingall (after British soldier Lieutenant Frederick Lenox Ingall, who led troups from Fredericton to Edmundston in 1837 to defend the territory from the Americans), it was brewed entirely with malt from MaltBroue, a maltser from Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, QC (very close to the brewery). This brew was a sort of “test project” with MaltBroue and the NBCC in Grand Falls; they also had brewing engineer Jean Michel LeGraux, former head brewer for Belgian Trappist brewery Chimay, on hand during the process. Hops used in this beer include Columbus, Chinook, Citra and Willamette; quite drinkable at 4.6% ABV, it’s on tap now at the brewery for growler fils, and at the Sackville, Dieppe, and KV ANBL growler stations this week.

• We have some more details on the new beers now available from Big Axe Brewery. The first one is Partridgeberry Belgian Wheat, a 5.6% ABV Belgian Witbier brewed with “a mixture” of Pale malts, and hopped with Saaz and “other aroma hops”. Featuring the addition of orange peel and coriander – standard for the Witbier style), they also added five pounds of partridgeberries in secondary fermentation, giving the beer a “mild but complex tartness, and a wild berry aroma”, according to the brewery. Beer #2 is Chaga Porter, a 5.4% ABV dark brown ale featuring chaga, a variety of mushroom harvested locally in birch forests by Fiddlehead Heaven Forest Products. Featuring “traditional English aroma hops” and dark malts, the beer has “mild roastiness and a pleasant caramel character”, along with the flavors offered from the chaga. Big Axe has also revised their recent Big Axe Blonde; it’s now hopped with Perle and El Dorado, and the ABV has been decreased slightly to 4.6%. All three beers should be available at the brewery, and will be pouring at the FCBF tomorrow.

• To celebrate this weekend’s sold-out Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, the ANBL growler program is going all New Brunswick! For the first time since its launch, all four of the locations will be pouring only beer produced in the province. It is also the first time that newcomer TrailWay Brewing will be available for growler fills (check out their tasty Primetime APA at the Prospect St Fredericton location). And the price across the board is a very reasonable $10, whether you are buying Grimross’ Cheval D’Or, Railcar’s Artisan Brown Ale, or Pump House’s IPA. We expect them to whip through these beers quite quickly, so be sure to fill up your growler today! And the charity auction for 32oz FCBF-branded growlers is closing at noon today, so be sure to get your bids in now!

And finally today, in case our brewing brothers and sisters missed it, the official call for entries for the 2015 Canadian Brewing Awards is open! Last year’s competition saw almost 1000 entries, and they are hoping to break that barrier this year. There were several winning beers from the Atlantic Provinces in 2014, so let’s show the rest of the country that the beer quality continues to be as good as anywhere else in the country. Forms can be downloaded here, and are due April 1st. The beer must be delivered between April 7-18, with the judging taking place at the end of April. This year’s Awards & Conference are taking place June 4-6, 2015 in Niagara Falls, ON.

A Profile on Newfoundland’s Quidi Vidi Brewery

Posted by acbbshawn on 2014-06-11
Posted in: Profiles. Tagged: Quidi Vidi Brewery. 4 comments

QUIDI VIDI BREWERY LOGO

 

Quidi Vidi Brewery in St. John’s, Newfoundland was the province’s first craft brewery when it originally opened in 1996. Today, it is also Newfoundland’s largest craft brewery, producing about 7,500 hL (750,000 liters) of beer annually. During a recent trip to The Rock, Chris caught up with Justin Fong and Einer Holtet for a tour of the brewery. They were also kind enough to spend time answering our enquiries.

ACBB: Can you give me a brief history of Quidi Vidi Brewery?

Justin Fong: Quidi Vidi was started by Dave Fong and Dave Rees in 1996, in a small fishing village near downtown St. John’s. The old fish plant was converted into the brewery after the cod industry collapsed in the early 90’s.

What size/manufacturer/type of system is your brewhouse?

Our brewhouse was manufactured by DME; it’s a 20-barrel system (620 U.S. gallons, or about 2,325 L).

QV Brewhouse

20 bbl DME Brewhouse

How big is the staff at Quidi Vidi?

We employ about 20 staff members year-round, with some additional staff in the summer months for tours and events.

How are your beers distributed? On tap at restaurant/bars, bottles at the LC or private stores, growlers, etc.?

We deliver everything ourselves in vans. We’re in the bars, restaurants, brewing agents (convenience stores) and the NLC. Our beers are available in 341 ml bottles (2, 6, and 12 packs) and 30 L kegs.

Can you tell me about the core beer you offer? Do you mainly offer a specific genre, or genres, of beer (English, German, American, Belgian)?

We don’t offer a core mix at all. Newfoundland has an interesting beer market, so we try and cater to different segments without pinning ourselves in one role. Newfoundland’s craft beer segment is still in its early stages (about a 2% market share). When you couple that with our relatively small population, you need to do a few different things. Our Iceberg Beer is an American-style Light Lager (4.5% ABV) which is brewed with iceberg water. This is our biggest seller right now and does extremely well with the light drinkers and tourists. Our 1892 Traditional Ale is an Amber Ale that commemorates The Great Fire of 1892 when most of St. John’s burned down. This was our flagship beer in 1996 and is currently our second best seller. Our newest full time brand is our British IPA, which has been selling exceptionally well on taps in the pubs of downtown St. John’s. It’s a very approachable IPA, and was brewed to help expand the variety of beer flavors available in Newfoundland. As the province’s craft beer market develops, we’ve been pushing the boundaries with our seasonal beer. Our Winter Ale combined roasted cocoa nibs, coriander and vanilla beans. We weren’t sure if it was going to be too bold and adventurous, but the sales spoke for themselves. We did two brews and sold out before our spring seasonal, Continental Pilsener, was ready!

Fermenters

The very busy fermentors at Quidi Vidi

Where do you hope to see Quidi Vidi in the next 2-3 years?

We’re at maximum capacity right now, so expansion is on the agenda. Within a couple years you should see some of our brands in other provinces in the country. We’ve had a ton of interest over the last couples years in markets all over the world for our Iceberg Beer. With a new brewery in place and some capacity, you may see us in some markets that wouldn’t be first choice for most Canadian craft brewers.

Do you personally have a favorite beer style? Beer? Brewery?

Hah, the answer to that question changes from week to week. We just got back from the Canadian Brewing Awards in Fredericton and had a chance to taste a bunch of great beer. We were at the King Street Ale House and had a couple of beers from Le Trou du Diable which I really enjoyed. A friend of mind was in town about a month ago and brought a nice selection from the U.S.; Heady Topper from The Alchemist definitely stood out.

Is there something specific that got you into the world of craft beer?

For the love of beer, hah. The start is a bit before my time but here’s a quick story on one of the owners and founders, Dave Fong. Dave was from a town called Carboneer about 1 & 1/2 hours outside of St. John’s. While he was studying engineering at Memorial University in St. John’s, he was living in the campus residence. Dave and his friend had a deal worked out with the janitor and were secretly brewing beer in the janitor’s closet. They went back home to Carboneer one weekend and left the janitor in charge of everything. He ended up drinking a ton of the beer and getting hammered on campus. The Memorial campus police picked him up and he ratted on Dave and his friend which led to them getting kicked out of residence! So, I guess you could say they had a deep commitment to beer from a young age.

 

Quidi Vidi Village

A view of Quidi Vidi Village from the brewery

We then spoke with Quidi Vidi Brewmaster Einer Holtet on his history and vision in the brewing business…

Did you start out as a homebrewer? Care to share some info on your homebrewing history?

I started out as what I like to call a “Home Based Craft Brewer”.  There are still a lot of people who attach a negative connotation to the word “homebrew”, especially here in Newfoundland, so I like to make that little distinction. My “homebrew” has consisted of fine, hand-crafted beer from the outset, none of that old-time bathtub swill that some (particularly the older generations) recall as homebrew. There are a lot of people making great homebrewed beers nowadays, and to a great extent this has fueled the North American Craft Brewing revolution over the past 20+ years.

I remember as a teenager helping my Dad with a couple batches of homebrew, and though I didn’t get a chance to indulge in the final product (MUCH!), it did generate a spark of interest. Then after a senior class trip to Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia I gained an appreciation for great, flavourful beer. I knew my dad still had his home brewing equipment, and wasn’t using it, so I pilfered it from his basement and set up shop in my little bachelor suite.  I bought a “middle of the road” beer ingredient kit to start with, but I just couldn’t leave it at that. I bought a couple pounds of specialty malts and some fresh whole hops to bolster the flavour of the kit.  I brewed that first batch of ale in my little bachelor apartment kitchen, had stunning results, and never looked back. That was the last beer ingredient kit I ever bought – from thereon I started formulating all my recipes from scratch.

What made you decide to take the step into brewing professionally?

When I first started homebrewing, there was not a whole lot of information online regarding home brewing, so I started collecting and reading every book on brewing I could get my hands on.  I amassed a considerable library, and a considerable amount of brewing knowledge over a few short years. I tried brewing many different styles, many different brewing techniques, and experimented with many different ingredients. I even tried malting my own grains, and to this day still grow my own hops.  Craft brewing grew to be my “passionate hobby”, while I worked away in the Engineering field, always with the fantasy of some day brewing professionally.  Finally after about 16 years of brewing at home I decided that the only way for me to advance in my brewing was to go ahead and take some professional brewing courses, whether I ended up with the opportunity to “go pro” or not, I just wanted it for myself.  So, I enrolled in the brewing program at the Siebel Institute in Chicago. By the time I was finished my coursework at Siebel, I had decided that I was going to leave my Engineering career and pursue brewing as a profession.  I ended up getting hired on here at Quidi Vidi Brewery five years ago, and after a couple years of slugging away doing any and all labour-intensive/menial jobs in the brewery, I finally landed in the brewhouse and was given the opportunity I had been waiting for.  In the past 2-1/2 years I have produced five new brands for the brewery, all of which have been very successful. I am proud to say I’ve taken my “passionate hobby” of 20+ years and turned it into a “passionate career”.

Do you have a specific ingredient in brewing that you like to brew with? E.g. a specific malt and/or hop variety?

I have always loved my malty ales. Among my favourite ingredients are the “high kilned” malts such as Vienna and Munich, and caramelized malts such as Crystal. I love the robust flavours and colors they add to beer, and I can’t stop munching them by the handful as I’m adding them to the mill!

From what/where/whom have you learned the most in respect to brewing?

I can’t say I learned a lot about brewing from my father, but I guess I should thank him for providing that initial spark of interest back when we brewed together. In the 80’s!

Obligatory iceberg shot, spotted near Cape Spear, NL

Obligatory iceberg shot, spotted by Chris near Cape Spear, NL

Thanks again to Justin and Einer for spending time with us. We had the opportunity to see them in Fredericton for the 2014 Canadian Brewing Awards, where they took home Silver for their Premium Lager (North American Style Lager) and Bronze for their Iceberg Beer (North American Style Premium Lager). Congratulations! And the next time you’re in St John’s, be sure to drop by Friday evening for their immensely popular Kitchen Parties: live music and great beer and food, right at the source!