Thursday, November 6, 2014

Trail Way Brewing to open in Fredericton New Brunswick



FREDERICTON, NB - Two local homebrewers, Jake Saunders and Dan Mason, from the Fredericton area are about to open Trail Way Brewing, the city's third craft beer brewery. The brewery, which they hope to open in mid to late December depending how the licencing process goes, will be located off Canada Street in the Devon/Marysville area and situated along the Nashwaak Trail, which is where the name "Trail Way" came from. 

Both Dan and Jake have been homebrewers for several years with most of their experience in all-grain brewing. Jake in addition to his homebrewing obsession is the current President of New Brunswick Craft Brewers Association.

The pair say a lot of the decision timing and the partnership. Both Saunders and Mason had a lot of fun sharing their brews with friends and family but had issues with brewing on a consistent basis. Brainstorming over a kitchen table at a NBCBA meeting the two, who knew each other quite well and enjoyed very similar beer styles, hatched Trail Way Brewing Company. They are excited to share their beer on a larger scale and it was a bit easier knowing they weren't going it alone.

Trail Way is starting with a one barrel electric brewing system. "We’ve pieced it together from various suppliers & manufacturers – we have 7 one BBL conical fermenters and 1 brite tank. At this point nearly all brewing equipment has been purchased and is on-site" they say.

Initial distribution will be in the form of kegs to pubs and restaurants in the Fredericton area and they hope to to start with 2 or 3 accounts and have interest for a couple of places. Once demand is gauged they want to open more accounts if their capacity allows. 

When asked about what they will be brewing up they say "We both tend to brew a lot with American hops, but we also both love to experiment with different ingredients such as spices, fruit, etc.  We’re keeping it pretty broad and will focus on full-flavoured ales. With our homebrewing background, we’re excited to do a lot of specialty beers and one-off batches – possibly experimenting with some casks & barrels as well"

The partners say they are beyond excited to serve their beers in the Fredericton area and look forward to interacting with the public and receiving feedback on their beer. They also want to thank everyone who has helped them get to this point and a huge thank you to theirr significant others Catherine Saunders and Alex Sorensen on their efforts and support. Both of the ladies have been extremely encouraging of our brewing over the years and made this decision to open a brewery that much easier.

Check out Trail Way Brewing on facebook and on twitter and keep a look out for some TrailWay beers in the coming months!