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Friday Wrap-up – News and Brews from Fredericton Craft Beer Fest, Ladies Beer League, Lion & Bright, Uncle Leo’s, and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2014-02-28
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2014 Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, Big Spruce Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Gahan House (Charlottetown), Gahan House Home Brewer's Challenge, Garrison 2013 Home Brew-Off Challenge, Garrison 2014 Home Brew-Off Challenge, Garrison Brewing, Ladies Beer League, Lion & Bright, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Propeller Brewing, Pump House Brewery, Rogues Roost Brewpub, Stubborn Goat Gastropub, Uncle Leo's Brewery. Leave a Comment

Happy Friday, everyone! Today also marks the last day of February. Wow, time flies when you’re having fun/beer! Lots of beer news for you this week, so let’s dive right in!

• As part of next weekend’s Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, there is a separate fundraiser going on, to benefit the Fest’s charity, Team Diabetes. Check out the Golden Growler Auction! There are only twenty of these snazzy Golden Growlers available, screenprinted with the list of breweries and suppliers attending the 2014 FCBF. To win one, you must put in your bid before 11:59PM on Friday, March 7th. The twenty highest bids will get a growler (sorry, not full, but it can be filled down the street at the Picaroons Brewtique), as well as a charitable donation receipt. What a no-brainer! If you’re not on Facebook, you can also submit your bids via Twitter and email. Right now, the minimum bid to win is somewhere around $30, so don’t be shy! Be sure to mention how many growlers you’d like, as you can bid in multiples, as well. If you won’t be able to pick up the growler at the Fest, they will make arrangements to get it to you.

• After a little break for the holidays and New Year, the Ladies Beer League is back with another great event! They will be hosting a screening of Beer Hunter: the movie, about the life of Michael Jackson, at Lion & Bright Cafe & Wine Bar in Halifax, 7pm March 25th. Your $15 movie ticket also gets you some tasty popcorn, and a pint of a special cask of Uncle Leo’s beer (unsure which of their beers it is, yet). Tickets are only available online, and in short supply, so buy yours today! The movie will actually be introduced and attended by some people who had the opportunity to meet and work with Michael during his career. Sounds like a great date night to me, and there will also be a limited number of copies of the film for sale after, for future viewings. As with all LBL events, everyone is welcome! And be sure to check out LBL’s new website, with an FAQ, and the future possibility of purchasing a membership, which will give discounts at local establishments.

• The Parcel of Rogues that Picaroons brewed up for the 25th Anniversary of the Lunar Rogue is back. This time, in addition to being on tap at the Rogue, it will also be available for growler fills at the Brewtique. And don’t forget, if you’re in the Fredericton area tomorrow (March 1), Picaroons is having the official launch of their Maple Cream Ale at the York St. Train Station, with free food, beer samples, and music, from 11 am – 3 pm.

• As their official launch date gets ever closer, the people over at Les Brasseurs du Petit Sault have started a countdown to opening, estimating at about 95 days. They’re making leeway in the process, as they’ve already chosen the names of their flagship beers (a Belgian Blonde and Witbier… no, they’re not revealing the names yet!), are testing brewing recipes at the NBCC in Grand-Sault, and preparing to have some tastings of their first batch within the next few weeks. Their building is also taking shape quite nicely, with their brewing equipment expected within a month.

• The Pump House Brewery in Moncton is looking to add to their brewing team! They’ve posted a job listing here, looking for someone to fill the position of Head Brewer and add to their brewing talent. Check out the link for the full job requirements; they are looking for someone with 5-15 years of brewing experience. If you’re interested in responding to the posting, you can send them an email.

• For those of you living on PEI who are entering the 1st Annual Homebrewer’s Challenge (we originally posted on the event here), those at the Gahan House have decided to change some of the dates in order to give homebrewers sufficient time to brew their beer. The registration deadline was last Friday, but those registered now have until 5:00 pm, Friday April 4th to pass in their six-pack to the Gahan House. The preliminary judging and other events noted in our post will then be held over the next week, with the judging of the top 5 entries taking place on Saturday, April 12th.

• Big Spruce Brewing in Nyanza is hosting a special guest brewer in the brewhouse today: Aaron Spinney, head brewer at Sawdust City, in Gravenhurst, ON. They are brewing a big Wheat IPA (You Spin Me White Round Wheat IPA), weighing in around 6.5-7% ABV and with 70 IBUs, and will have loads of dry hopping. The big wheat component will give a different mouthfeel and head from normal IPAs; the beer should be a great addition to the lineup. Aaron has some connections to the Bras d’Or Lake area, so brewing with Jeremy and crew at Big Spruce was a no-brainer! Be sure to follow along with the fun on Big Spruce’s and Aaron’s Twitter accounts for up-to-the-minute details.

• More great news for Big Spruce: In order to keep up with the growing demand for their beer both on and off Cape Breton Island, they got several fermentors and conditioning tanks on the way from DME in PEI. Two 10 bbl fermentors are scheduled to arrive within the next week, and a third will be through the doors shortly thereafter. And then in late spring, they will be adding two more conditioning tanks to the brewery. This will allow them to increase production by about 70%, in order to keep their head above water during the busy summer to come. This will mean some shuffling of things around the brewery, and construction of the Sprucetique, where visitors will be able to sit and enjoy a paddle of samples while deciding which to purchase in a growler, while enjoying their beautiful view of the Bras d’Or lake. All this after just one year of brewing and selling beer! Congrats to Jeremy and the Big Spruce crew, and thanks to you for drinking it!

• Another busy week at Garrison Brewing in Halifax, punctuated with a home brewing flavour: Last Saturday, the first round of judging was performed in this year’s Home Brew Off competition. Seventy-six homebrewed Weizens were judged by a panel of 10 BJCP-certified judges (acbbchris was among them), narrowing down the field to a top 13 best beers. This week, that lucky thirteen was further reduced down to a final four of beer awesomeness, by Brewmaster Daniel Girard and his crew. Those four beers will be further tasted and tested (again by certified judges), and the winning beer will be crowned the 2014 Home Brew Off Winner! 2013’s Home Brew Off winner, Peter Welton, was in the brewery for a long day Monday, in order to brew his Belgian Blonde. This beer will be released at the Gala event, March 13th. The beer name is a closely guarded secret (only revealed at the Gala), but we can tell you that the beer will weigh in at 7.5% ABV and 24 IBUs.

• The Stubborn Goat in Halifax is inviting Propeller Brewing for today’s Firkin Friday, and Propeller has answered the call with a cask of Black IPA, dry hopped with Simcoe! They brewed up a special batch of this beer specially for the Goat, and will be releasing a full batch in the spring, so be sure to grab a pint. As always, the casks are tapped at 4pm, and once it’s gone, it’s gone, so best to get there promptly.

• A quick reminder that Beerthief Offering #10 from Brooklyn Brewery closes Sunday, March 2nd. Check the full details here, but the quick summary is that members can order East India Pale Ale, Brooklyn Pennant, Local 1, Local 2 or Sorachi Ace beers, to be delivered at their local NLC. As always, contact Tom to place your order.

• In other Beerthief news, on Sunday March 16, there will be a combination tasting and presentation about their March 2015 River Cruise to the Netherlands and Belgium. There will be an assortment of excellent Belgian beers served (including Saison Dupont to start), and the presentation will go over the itinerary and beer specifics of the cruise. Mike Buhler will be part of the planning process of the cruise, and will be leading the tasting (both on the 16th, and during the cruise). Seating for the presentation/tasting is very limited, so reserve your spot with Tom today!

• Rogues Roost Brewpub in Halifax has released their latest seasonal, a Porter. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get all of the recipe details before press time, but we can assure you it will be worth a visit!

• And finally, coming back to the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, we’re having a contest for you to win two VIP tickets to the sold-out event! Starting today, take a picture of a beer brewed by any of the breweries that will be at the festival (check out the full list here), and tweet it or share it to the FCBF Facebook page, with the hashtag #FCBF14. The contest will run until next Thursday, March 6th, at 11:59 pm; the lucky winner will be announced in next week’s Friday Wrap-Up. Extra points for creativity! And if you already have tickets to the fest, feel free to still participate; the FCBF will refund the cost of your 2 VIP tickets if you win!

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

Friday Wrap-Up – News on Beer Festivals, Red Rover Brewing, Bad Apple Brewhouse, Picaroons, Lunar Rogue Pub and more

Posted by acbbchris on 2014-01-10
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Bad Apple Brewhouse, Big Spruce Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Garrison 2014 Home Brew-Off Challenge, Garrison Brewing, Great Canadian Beer Expo, Lunar Rogue, PEI Brewing, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Pump House Brewery, Red Rover Brewing, RockBottom Brewpub, Rogues Roost Brewpub, Stillwell Beer Bar, Stubborn Goat Gastropub. 2 comments

Happy Friday everyone! After a couple of slow weeks due to the holidays, we are back and bigger than ever! Lots of news this week, so let’s get right to it.

• Last month, we mentioned the Great Canadian Beer Expo, a travelling beer festival, would be coming to six different cities in the Maritimes, starting in late January. While we had never been able to get solid details or a beer list from them (which we had contacted them for several times, in hopes of doing a full write-up), we thought it was worthy of a quick mention on the blog. In the past week, thanks to some detective work begun by members of the Brewnosers Homebrew Club, it has been determined that the event might have been nothing more than a work of fiction dreamed up by a single man, Jonathan Brett. He had previously organized “Mud Immortal“, a fall event in St. John’s, Newfoundland, that came under fire for poor management, dangerous conditions, and not following through on promises of charitable donations. In the last couple of days, the events have “officially” been canceled, and people who have purchased tickets should have received information on how to get refunds.

• On a happier note beer-festival-wise, we are looking forward to two legitimate and ANBL-approved events taking place this spring: the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival being held at the Fredericton Convention Centre March 8th, and the Saint John Beer Fest at Market Square April 5th. Tickets for both are still available, we hope to see you there!

• As the initial launch of Red Rover Brewing Company gets closer, co-owner/brewmaster Adam Clawson has confirmed that the plan is to have up to four varieties of cider available when the Ciderhouse opens towards the end of the month. With a spring, summer, and fall cider pouring, along with a “surprise” variety, there should be plenty to satisfy the palates of cider fans in New Brunswick! Look for their ciders to be available for growler fills at their Ciderhouse location, as well as on tap at various bars/restaurants in the area. Check back here for more details, and keep an eye on the Ciderhouse Twitter page for the latest availability.

• It’s been a busy first two weeks at the Bad Apple Brewhouse in Somerset, NS. The first customers arrived mid-morning December 31st, eager to pick up the American Pale Ale from Atlantic Canada’s newest brewery, and the visitors haven’t slowed down since (even during the nasty weather last week). As promised, the Black and Tackle Russian Imperial Stout is being released Saturday, on sale in bottles and growlers at the brewery. This robust beer features a boatload of roast coffee and chocolate flavour and aroma, with a nice hop bitterness to balance it out. It weighs in at 9%ABV and 110 IBUs (calc). Look for it on sale in HRM soon. BAB-branded glasses join t-shirts and decals in the shop. At 20oz, they are a proper glass for a proper beer! Drop by today, the brewery hours are 3-8pm Mon-Thurs and 1-10pm Fri-Sun.

• The Lunar Rogue Pub in Fredericton will be celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. For this special event, Picaroons is brewing up a series of seasonal beers that will be available exclusively on tap at the Rogue; the first beer should be pouring sometime during the week of January 27th. The style of beer has not yet been announced; however, they ARE looking for some help in naming it. If you think you’ve got a catchy title for this new beer, post it to the Facebook page of either Picaroons or the Lunar Rogue – if your entry is selected, you’ll win a Picaroons Draught & Dinner Party for six, valued at $300. Enter as many names as you like; deadline for submissions is next Friday, January 17th. We’ll keep you updated on details of the new beers as they become available!

• The Pump House Brewery just tapped another new beer at their brewpub location in Moncton. Pompier à Vos Garde is in the style of Biere de Garde (meaning “beer which has been kept or lagered”), a farmhouse ale originating in Northern France. The style ranges from blond to brown; Pump House’s take is of the brown variety, and is brewed with 2-row, Crystal, and Carafa dark malts. Described by the brewery as being lightly hopped with “three distinctive hops”, the beer should have some fruity esters noticeable in the taste, and be quite smooth despite the 7% ABV. Get down to the brewpub before it’s gone!

• Tomorrow, Jan. 11th, is Sir John A. MacDonald’s birthday, and the PEI Brewing Co. is celebrating with two separate events. First, there will be free live entertainment and birthday treats available at the brewery from 1 pm – 5 pm, along with brick-oven pizza and beer. At 8 pm that evening, the doors will open for more music, food and beer, with live bands starting to play at 9 pm. Cover for the evening session will be $10 per person. While there are no one-off beers planned for the event, all of the regular PEI Brewing Co./Gahan beers will be pouring, with special emphasis, of course, on their Sir John A’s Honey Wheat Ale.

• Speaking of the PEI Brewing Co., they’re partnering with PEI 2014 to help celebrate the province’s 150th anniversary, or sesquicentennial (and yes, I did have to re-check the spelling on that word). The brewery is releasing a Fathers Commemorative Beer Pack, a 4-pack of some of their regular-release beers that have been re-branded and re-labelled for this packaging. Included will be Blueberry Ale (re-named 1864), Coles Cream Ale (Premier George Coles; note that this beer was previously only available on tap), Iron Bridge Brown Ale (Colonel John Hamilton Gray), and, of course, Sir John A’s Honey Wheat Ale. Four-packs should be available at PEILCC stores and at the brewery today; look for them in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Ontario in the coming weeks.

• Today, the Stubborn Goat Gastropub is starting up a new series, Cask Fridays. They want to showcase this special way of  serving beer that is especially friendly to one-off or unique twists on regular beer (sometimes with added fruit, whisky, oak, or other interesting ingredients). Today’s first event will feature Garrison Brewing, with cask-conditioned versions of their Winter Warmer and Spruce Beer, tapped at 4pm. The Goat has also put out the call for other breweries interested in taking part in the first of many events; contact Geir to be a part of it!

• Speaking of Garrison, were you considering entering the 2014 Garrison Home Brew Off? If you need a little push, Steven Haynes from Noble Grape will be at Garrison from 10am-2pm on Saturday the 18th doing an all-grain brewing demonstration of a Weizen (this year’s competition style). It’s the perfect opportunity for home brewers of all experience levels to drop by and learn about brewing this style of beer. Entries are due Feb 20th, plenty of time to brew, but don’t wait much longer! Entries can be dropped off at Garrison or your local Noble Grape.

• Also in Garrison news, they are partnering with a University of King’s College professor to bring the students of his Brewing Science course some special experiences this term. They will be hosting lectures (at the brewery) and leading some short seminars (Cask Ale and sensory workshops), ensuring a new generation of good beer lovers. Where were these courses when we were in school!? I wonder if I could audit it?

• Next Saturday, January 18, Halifax’s Stillwell Beer Bar is hosting a tap/cask takeover featuring Nyanza’s Big Spruce Brewing and Shelburne’s Boxing Rock Brewing. It is a closed event, from 12-5pm, requiring a ticket (available at the bar or by email), after which the bar is open to all. Your $10 will get you first crack at some great beer and food, a special glass to take home, and a drink ticket. From Boxing Rock: Many Hands Pale Ale (their collaboration with Halifax’s Bridge Brewing, and the last keg around!), Hunky Dory Pale Ale, Temptation Red Ale, Crafty Jack English Brown, U-889 RIS with Vanilla beans, Vicar’s Cross IIPA. From Big Spruce: Tim’s Dirty (recent homebrew competition-winning IPA), Blackout Conundrum (brewed over two days when the power went out at the brewery), Organic Conspiracy IIPA (collaboration with Crannóg), Regatta Red (first time on tap at Stillwell), Bitter Get’r India Black IPA, Kitchen Party Pale Ale and Cereal Killer Oatmeal Stout. And the brewers from both breweries will be there to talk shop and answer all of your questions.

• Monday, January 13th, Halifax brewpub Rogues Roost is hosting their second Brewmaster Monday event. For $15, attendees will receive a sample of all six beers currently on tap (including their Blueberry Wheat, just released this week), and have a chance to chat with brewer Jake Saunders about the process of brewing, from recipe development to brewday to serving. These events serve as a great way to introduce folks to the art and great taste of craft beer. Contact Husky Communications on Twitter or Facebook to grab tickets. This edition of the event is almost sold out, but have no fear, they will be doing it again on January 27th!

• And if you’re looking for even MORE beer events in Halifax, the Rockbottom Brewpub is planning a series of monthly beer dinners, with the first being held on January 27th. Starting at 6 pm, the meal will consists of three courses, paired with three separate Nash beers. Tickets are $30; the menu and beer list will be posted on Rockbottom’s Facebook and Twitter pages soon.

Friday Wrap-up – Big Spruce Holding Homebrew Comp, New Beers from Celtic Knot, Grimross and Paddy’s Brewpub, and lots more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2013-11-01
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Antigonish Townhouse, Big Spruce Brewing, Celtic Knot Brewing, Fredericton Poutine Festival, Gahan House (Charlottetown), Garrison Brewing, Grimross Brewing, Hell Bay Brewing, homebrewing, Ladies Beer League, Local Connections, McAuslan Brewery, Paddys Irish Brewpub, Picaroons Traditional Ales, Pump House Brewery, Shiretown Beer, Stillwell Beer Bar, Stubborn Goat Gastropub. 1 comment
Welcome to November! I hope all of last night’s tricks were fun, and your treats were Atlantic Canadian Craft Beer.
• Big Spruce Brewing is holding a homebrew competition as part of their contribution to the Craft Beer and Local Food Celebration event, put on by Local Connections in January (we’ll have a full post on it soon). The full information is available on their Facebook event, but the important details are: The competition is open to all Nova Scotian homebrewers. The style of beer is an American IPA, BJCP style 14B, one entry per brewer. Registration of intent closes November 7th, and beers are due at the brewery by December 2nd. Registration is $25, and that includes a Big Spruce t-shirt. The brewer of the winning beer, as chosen by the judging panel, will brew their beer on the 7 barrel system at Big Spruce, and be released at the event in January. So, homebrewers, start your kettles, and be sure to email Big Spruce to receive and complete the registration form.
• Celtic Knot Brewing has a new beer in the pipeline – an English Barleywine, “Toque and Mitts” was brewed with Maris Otter, Chocolate Malt, Wheat Malt, and Crystal 120 L. A dark and malty beer coming in at about 7.5% ABV, it has approximately 33 IBUs and is brewed with Willamette, East Kent Golding, and Belma hops. We’ll keep you updated as to when this beer is available; it should be out around the beginning of December, available where other Celtic Knot beers can be found, The Tide & Boar and Marky’s Laundromat.
• Details for the beers being poured at the Fredericton Poutine Festival next weekend are now available on the event’s ticket site. Grimross Brewing will be serving their recently-released Belgian Rye IPA, as well as a new beer, their Belgian Porter (details below). Picaroons will be pouring their Yippee IPA, Blonde Ale, Winter Warmer, and 104th Regiment. McAuslan Brewery will have their Pale Ale, Apricot Wheat, and Oatmeal Stout, and McClelland Premium Imports will be bringing Steigl, Erdinger Dunkelweizen, Affligem Blond, and Fruli. Unfortunately, there’s no word yet as to what beers Pump House will have at the event. There’s still some tickets to the festival available; remember, the regular ticket gets your four 4 oz beer samples, while the “Beer Experience” gives you twelve samples.
• Back to Grimross Brewing, their Belgian Porter is just about finished and ready for release. A dark brown beer best thought of as a Brown Porter fermented with a Belgian yeast strain, it is described by owner/brewer Stephen Dixon as having a roasted aroma with hints of chocolate and dark candy, and flavours that start with roast and finish with chocolate and syrup. As mentioned, it should be pouring at the Fredericton Poutine Festival, and will likely be available in growlers at the Picaroons Brewtique soon!
• And in even more Grimross news, their beers are starting to make their way to Moncton! The Belgian Rye IPA has recently been available on tap at the Tide & Boar, and has reportedly been selling very well. Dixon has confirmed that this beer will continue to be sold at the T&B for the time-being, so if you’re in Moncton and haven’t tried it yet, now’s your chance! Check out their latest blog post for more thoughts from the Grimross Team.
• Continuing with new-beer news, Hell Bay Brewing has released their new seasonal beer, Wee Heavy. A Strong Scotch Ale brewed with six different malts, it’s described by the brewer Mark Baillie as “a slightly sweet, rich and malty beer with caramel flavours and hints of smoke”. Coming it at 8% ABV and just under 20 IBUs, it’s currently available in bottles at the brewery, and should be arriving at Premier Wine & Spirits in Halifax this weekend.
• Paddy’s Pub in Wolfville has released their newest seasonal beer, S’Mashed Pumpkin Ale. Weighing in at 5.2% ABV, the beer features a bright orange colour and hints of pumpkin pie spice, backed up by clean malt flavours of pilsner, Vienna and crystal malts. Like their Acadian Cream, Raven Scottish Ale, Annapolis Valley Ale and Blueberry Ale, the S’Mashed is also available in growlers at the pub. Unfortunately, their Chimney Swift Stout is not available in growlers, as it is served on nitrogen, and this technique does not fare well in bottles.
• Meanwhile, it looks like the Gahan House Pub plans on having a new beer to release soon. Details are extremely slim, but it appears to be brewed with locally-grown hops; where exactly the hops are from, however, remains to be revealed. It appears that the beer has been brewed at the pub, and not at the PEI Brewing Co.
• If you’ve been itching to get your hands on one of those hand-crafted Shiretown Beer steins, they’re available again! This is the third release of the mugs, which are made by Monique (Bujold) Brown of Barlicoco Pottery. Only 15 were made; at $35 each, they’re going fast. They can be purchased at the brewery, or check out their Facebook page for availability.
• A reminder that Garrison Brewing is serving up some special beers as part of their King’s Wardroom Wednesday Firkin events. This week’s beer was “Jack’O’Dubbel”, a Belgian Dubbel style Pumpkin Ale. If you are a King’s student, alumni or friend of one, don’t miss out on these special one-off releases, tapped promptly at 4:30pm.
• The Antigonish Townhouse is catching up with the great demand for their in-house brewed beer, and Terry’s Best Bitter is in steady supply these days. The beer is treated like a traditional Real Ale and is cask conditioned and on hand-pump, so best drunk fresh, right at the bar, we figure. 🙂 We’ve not had a chance to try it yet, but reports are very favourable.
• Stillwell Beer Bar is hiring a couple more people for their soon-to-be-open location. They are looking for both kitchen and front-of-house folks to round out their excellent team. Check their Kijiji ad for more details. Number one requirement: must love beer! There’s been a ton of work done at Stillwell since our visit last month; we’re looking forward to sitting down for a great pint soon!
• Finally this week, tomorrow is Learn to Homebrew Day. Organized by the American Homebrewers Association, this event is aimed at new (or soon-to-be-new) homebrewers looking to learn a bit more about their hobby, but all are welcome to take part. Despite its name, the AHA is an international organization, and there are events taking place in Atlantic Canada. Support your local homebrew shop and ask if they’ll be putting on an event. If not, why not offer to do one to share the great hobby with your friends and family? Sure, they always appreciate that bottle of homebrew you bring to the party/wedding/wake, wouldn’t they like to know how you made it? In Nova Scotia, Noble Grape is showing off a partial mash brewday at their Burnside store beginning at noon, and the Brewnosers are hosting a full mash brewday in Halifax, beginning at 10am (yes, it does take a bit longer to do a full mash, but the results speak for themselves!). Come on by if you are interested in learning more.
And stay tuned early next week, as we’ve got a great interview with a couple of members of the Ladies Beer League regarding the Cask Event taking place at the Stubborn Goat Gastropub November 17th.