Welcome to the August 30th edition of the Maritime Beer Report.
As reported a couple of week ago, Picaroons has returned Upstream Ale to select ANBL stores for a limited time to raise funds for the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation. It is a 4.5% pale ale that was released for the first time last summer and is available in 500 ml bottles until the promotion ends on September 29th or while supplies last.
Picaroons also announced this week that it is teaming up with the New Brunswick Craft Brewer's Association for the New Brunswick Home-Brew Challenge.The invitation is out to home brewers to submit their versions of a Standard/Ordinary Bitter. You must register by November 1st, and have your entry delivered to Picaroons Brewtique by November 15th. The winner will be picked by a panel of beer tasting experts and the winner will be announced at a gala event at the Picaroons brewery on December 1st. The winner will be awarded the opportunity to brew a full batch of their beer for release via the Brewtique, plus a free one year NBCBA membership. For full details visit NBCBA.org
Fredericton Beer Fest announced they are very excited to have confirmed new venues for Fredericton Craft Beer Festival 2014 on March 8 th and Fredericton Beer Run on August 4th. I asked for some details but they don't want to release them just yet.
PEI Beer Fest is a week away and looks to be shaping up to be awesome. They reminded everyone on their site that "Your tasting session ticket includes all of your beer samples plus a sample from each of our food pairings and more food samples can be purchased". Wish I could go, hopefully next year.
Big Spruce is sharing lots of pictures of their initial Hop Harvest IPA, I am really looking forwrd to it and hope some makes it down my way
Full prep is on at Sea Level Brewing for the next seasonal special brew -the popular NEW SCOTLAND HEATHER ALE. The countdown is on! I also notced that Sea Level recieved and installed a larger canning machine this week which is good news for their fans.
Hell Bay brewing is working on their next seasonal for the fall, it is probably going to be a bitter, stay tuned for further details.
Boxing Rock announced its Temptation Red Ale is now available at the Hart & Thistle in Halifax and the next batch of the Vicar's Cross double IPA is hitting the shelves today. "There is a very limited supply though...so get yours early! We have a little bit at the store in Shelburne and there will be some tomorrow morning at the Seaport Market. You should also be able to get some at Harvest, Cristall, Bishop's and Premier later today...and soon in the NSLC too!". Boxing Rock welcomed the Bridge brewing boys this week to work on a collaboration wet hop brew. It is Vienna IPA that will be available at both locations in the near future. I for one am looking forward to this one.
I dropped in to Rudders in Yarmouth, Hell Bay and Boxing Rock this week to say hi, very friendly people in all locations.
Garrison mentioned today that to celebrate Labor Day they were announcing that a COLAB beer on tap called "Le Diable d'Halifax" it's a colab with Micro-brasserie Le Trou du diable from Shawinigan Quebec. It's a tasty hopped up German Lager! Available in EXTREMELY limited quantities, for sample only... Sorry, no Growler / Growlito fills this time guys! They also said they were collecting hops for their 3 Fields Harvest Wet-Hopped IPA. Look for this in a few weeks.
MSN Travel listed 10 must visit Canadian brew pubs of which Le Trou du diable was listed, In our region The Gahan House in PEI, Pumphouse in Moncton and Rockbottom in Halifax all made the list. Congrats guys
Final item tonight is from The Atlantic Canada Beer Blog. Meander River Farm, which has supplied hops and other ingredients to a number of breweries in the area, will soon be brewing its own beer.The farm has been waiting for a number of months to get approval to operate a small on-site brewery, and with that approval recently received, preparations have started to build a 3 barrel brewhouse that is planned to be producing beer before the end of the year.Meander River Farm intends to offer Community Supported Brewery shares that will allow the public to pay an up-front amount in exchange for beer over time. Good luck guys.
Whats new for maritime beer reviews on youtube - elhalock reviews Boxing Rock Vicars Cross DIPA and Maxwell Star reviews Ol Fog Burner. Check them out
That it all for this week. Until next time enjoy responsibly.