Maritime Brewers Bring Home 23 Medals and Brewery of the Year at 2024 Canadian Brewing Awards

The 2024 Canadian Brewing Awards occurred this past week end in Hamilton Ontario with the Gala happening Saturday night to had out the awards for the best beers in Canada. 

This year over 1,800 beers were entered from across Canada in 61 categories with the most-entered category being Category 38 - New England Style India Pale Ale. 

From the 61 gold medal winners Best of Show or "Beer of the Year" was Corsaire Dark Mild from Corsaire Microbrasserie of Quebec.

The award for Brewery of the Year went to Nova Scotia's own Boxing Rock Brewing who won the most awards with three gold medals. 

The breweries in Nova Scotia brought home twelve medals including five gold, five silver and two bronze. Boxing Rock Brewing took an impressive three gold for their IPA, Puck Off and Temptation Red Ale before their Brewery of the year honours. Tanner & Co Brewing won a gold for their Belgian Blonde and silver for their Wheat. Tatamagouche Brewing delivered a pair silvers for their Two Rivers Baltic Porter and Arvo. Newcomer The Brewery By Quinn's took a silver for Tommy' Tipple and a bronze for Meltdown Manor DIPA. Finally, Schoolhouse Brewing scored a gold for Vice Principal, Garrison Brewing took silver for Ol' Fog Burner and Saltbox Brewing achieved bronze for Old Foundry Stout. 

Moving to New Brunswick breweries, six breweries took seven medals. Grimross Brewing achieved a gold and silver for Diggin' Oat Stout and Maritime IPA respectively. Two breweries won gold to round out the top awards for the province, Tire Shack Brewing for its Tiki Bar and Long Bay Brewing for Mild Sedation. Foghorn Brewing was awarded silver for Irish Goodbye, Trailway Brewing attained bronze for Fetch Lager and Novum Boreas also got bronze for their S'more Noir. 

Lastly to the red dirt island of PEI, four breweries took a medal each. Bogside Brewing got a silver for Proper Pub Ale and Libra Beverage, Copper Bottom Brewing and PEI Brewing all won bronze for Libra Pale Ale, Eclipse and Beach Chair Lager respectively.

It was an outstanding showing again from our Maritime breweries. For a list of all the winners go here. 

Maritime Brewers take 14 awards at 2021 Canadian Brewing Awards

The 2021 Canadian Brewing Awards took place in Quebec City on September 18th and 165 awards were handed out. Maritime breweries collected 14 awards, with 4 each going to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and 6 to New Brunswick. The hardware brought home was by mainstays and newcomers. A full list can be found here and the Maritime winners are listed below.

Prince Edward Island

For North American Style Pale Ale the Gold was given to Broadside from Copper Bottom Brewing. They also took Gold in American Style Imperial India Pale Ale for Parkman Ave. In addition Copper Bottom won a Bronze in the Oatmeal Stout category for Ken's Stout. 

Rounding up PEI newcomer Modern Brewer’s Village Green took a Bronze in the Belgian-Style Tripel with Tripel.

New Brunswick 

Fredericton's Grimross Brewing took three Bronze awards with Baltic Porter, Cheval D'or in the French and Belgian Style Saison category and Maritime Cream Ale in the Cream Ale category.

In the North American Style Amber/Red Ale category Havre St-Pierre - American Amber Ale from Four Rivers Brewing took Bronze. 

Moosehead Breweries took a Bronze for Grapefruit Radler in Fruit Beer. 

The lone Gold for N.B. was for the multi-award winner  Barram from Brasseux d'la Cote for Wheat Beer - North American Style.

Nova Scotia 

The four awards in Nova Scotia were divided between different breweries. North Shore's Tatamagouche Brewing won a Bronze for Giantess Barley Wine.

In the Sweet Stout or Cream Stout category Deja Moo! earned a Silver for Garrison Brewing.

In the tough New England Style India Pale Ale category a Silver went to Galaxy IPA  from Propeller Brewing Company. 

Lastly a Gold in Smoked Beer was taken by Uncle Leo's Smoked Porter by Uncle Leo's Brewery.

SALTBOX BREWERY TO BREW BLUENOSE 100 COMMERATIVE ALE

(Lunenburg, NS) - Saltbox Brewery has been approved to make and distribute an official  commemorative ale to mark the 100th anniversary of the launch of the historic schooner.

“We are delighted to work in conjunction with the Bluenose 100 Committee”. said Andrew Tanner, Founding Partner and Vice President of Marketing for Saltbox. “Our Brewery is known for it’s strong commitment to local lore and community outreach and we can think of nothing more exciting for us than to be part of this celebration of excellence”.

Current plans are to have the commemorative cans available to the public by late March.

Tanner also said that negotiations are well advanced to have the cans in the NSLC this summer and Saltbox would be supplementing this effort with distribution of it’s own. In keeping with its’ long-standing practice of financial support for local endeavours, Tanner said that a portion of the sale proceeds will be donated to the Bluenose Heritage Trust. Previously, Saltbox has used its Lumberjack Ale to support the Junior Hockey team, its Dory Racer to support International Dory Racing, and recently donated to the fund-raising efforts at Health Services Foundation of the South Shore using proceeds from its Essential IPA. This spring it plans a co-brew with a portion of the proceeds going to Bluenose Coastal Action Foundation.

Nicknamed the Queen of the North Atlantic, Bluenose rose to global fame as undefeated champion of the international fishermen’s races. The age of sail was well past when Bluenose was sold to the West Indies Trading Company and then wrecked off the coast of Haiti in 1946. In 1937 artist Emanuel Hahn’s sculptured profile of the ship was stamped on the Canadian dime and the ship still decorates that coin today.

Nine Locks Brewing Launches Campfire Collection NEIPA

(Dartmouth, NS) - Nine Locks Campfire NEIPA (6.5% ABV and 40 IBU) has just about all the hops they could muster. Cloudy, golden and bursting with flavours of passion fruit, apricot, mango and red apple… with a counterpoint of zesty citrus. Campfire NEIPA delivers rich, pallet-filling body followed by a malty, sweet finish.

The Campfire Series will have seven releases that will each be a different style of beer. The releases will be super limited batches, sold in retail store only. Nine Locks is using them to test new products and push the boundaries of what they have previously brewed. They’ll be released throughout 2021. The brewer will be keeping an eye of feedback and any that perform exceptionally will be brought back as a seasonal or permanent listing.

The idea of Nine Locks was conceived fireside and this series name is a nod to their history as well as a way to connect the brand back to the outdoors which brand promoted. The can design is new for this series and is a nod to camp patches we collected as youth. 

Brightwood Brewery opens Brewery and Beer Garden

(Dartmouth, NS) - Brightwood Brewery has branched out with a satellite brewery and beer garden on the Dartmouth waterfront at Alderney Landing. Onsite will be their 1/2 Bbl Robobrew system that will be used for test brews. 

They will be selling their own beer on 6 taps as well as cans and a cider they collaborated on with Chainyard. Also because it is a brewery licence they can sell beer to go.

They have no food options but encourage everyone to grab some local eats at Evans Fresh Seafood and Port City Cafe and come out and enjoy the view. The new beer garden is dog friendly, so bring your best friend. Grand opening is Thursday, July 16th with the hours being 11:30 AM - 11:00 PM. 

MOOSEHEAD BREWERIES AND MOONSHINE CREEK DISTILLERY COME TOGETHER TO SHOW THEIR ‘COMMUNITY SPIRIT’

(Saint John, NB) - Moosehead Breweries and Moonshine Creek Distillery have announced a one-of-a-kind collaboration. Pre-sale begins Wednesday, July 15, for Community Spirit, a rye lager virgin oak barrel aged whisky inspired by the work the two New Brunswick companies did together to produce hand sanitizer at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As COVID-19 started to make its way into Canada in mid-March, Moonshine Creek wanted to support efforts to keep the community safe by producing hand sanitizer - but the family-run small business didn’t have the ingredients required to produce significant quantities. Moosehead had the same goal, but lacked product with the high alcohol content required to make hand sanitizer. And so the companies came together and throughout the early weeks of the pandemic, Moosehead shipped a total of 24,000 litres of beer to the distillery to be used in the production of sanitizer. 

Once the sanitizer production was complete, the companies saw an opportunity for further collaboration. They decided to craft a unique whisky by blending the workable materials, known as heads and tails, of the distilled Moosehead Lager into the second distillation run of a rye spirit, which was then blended with maple tree water.   

While the spirit itself is currently in a three-year aging process, 500 certificates for bottles of the whisky will be made available for sale on Wednesday July 15, at 9:00 a.m. ADT at moonshinecreek.ca. 

Certificates are $100 each, and 100% of proceeds from every sale will be donated to New Brunswick Food Banks - a $50,000 donation, assuming all certificates are claimed. Consumers from anywhere in Canada can make the purchase and will be able to redeem their individual certificate for their 750ml finished bottle in June 2023.

“As a family-owned and operated business, all of us at Moosehead are so proud to have partnered with Moonshine Creek - not only on our first-ever craft spirit collaboration, but also on the project that started it all: the development and distribution of hand sanitizer for our community,” said Andrew Oland, President, Moosehead Breweries. “And we’re proud that this project will continue to give back to that same community, by supporting food banks across New Brunswick.”

“This unique collaboration really demonstrates just how much we can accomplish when we come together,” said Jeremiah Clark, Co-Owner, Moonshine Creek. “Community Spirit was born out of a literal sense of community spirit and we hope that in three years, when Canadians open and enjoy the finished whisky, they’ll remember how Canadians worked together in a time of crisis to better us all.” 

For more information on Community Spirit, or to purchase one of 500 limited-edition certificates, visit: www.moonshinecreek.ca. 

Good Robot Brews Unity Beer

(Halifax, NS) - Good Robot Brewing's brewer Giovanni Johnson has worked with a group of BIPOC (black, Indigenous and people of color) Nova Scotians in the food and beverage industry to create the Change is Brewing Collective. He says, “The Change is Brewing Collective is coming together for BIPOC people in Nova Scotia to honour the Black experience.” 

Their first brew as a collective is a blackberry pale ale called Blackberry Freedom. The beer is a challenge to other breweries in Nova Scotia to consider how they can be more inclusive for Black, Indigeonous, and People of Colour in their communities. 50% of all proceeds of the beer will be donated to BIPOC youth and community groups. 

Blackberry Freedom will be available in cans or draft on Good Robot’s online store at https://www.goodrobotbrewing.ca/  or at their taproom and retail space at 2736 Robie Street in Halifax on July 11th.

Rock Bottom Leaving and Nine Locks coming to Spring Garden Road

(Halifax, NS) - After ten years on Spring Garden Road Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery has announced its permanent closure. It was a great place in a great spot but never really found the success it should have had. The space will be taken over by Nine Locks Brewing. The new second location will have all available Nine Locks Beers on tap as well as retail for take away and the brewhouse will be used to brew beers for Your Father's Moustache (YFM) and act as a test brewery for new and different beers. The food choices will be scaled back and be a limited selection from YFM. Look for it to open late summer.

While I was chatting with owner Shaun O'Hearn, He mentioned changes coming to YFM as well, the last renonvations bumped the taps behind the bar to 30 which carried Nine Locks Beers and a variety of Molson products, he says they are going to still have Nine locks showcased but will be adding craft beers from around Nova Scotia, The Maritimes and beyond, hoping to have special beers not available elsewhere in Halifax that you can enjoy in their restaurant. YFM will be reopening in a couple of weeks with the changes coming soon.

New website supports local craft alcohol producers during COVID-19 crisis.

(Fredericton, NB) - DrinkNB.ca launches zero-contact craft alcohol delivery through web service to maintain social distancing efforts whilst supporting local businesses.

A new online store launches today in Fredericton with the goal of providing customers with a solution to the issue of how to maintain social isolation and/or social distancing whilst supporting all local craft alcohol businesses. At DrinkNB.ca customers can shop for all their favourite craft alcohol products and have a single order delivered directly to their home using a zero-contact protocol.

Adam Clawson, owner of Red Rover Craft Cider, came up with the idea for DrinkNB.ca following the recent announcement that many businesses would begin closing to the public in the effort to fight the spread of covid-19. He explains: "Breweries and other small alcohol producers are struggling to reach customers, many of whom are now practicing social isolation for the safety of themselves and their communities. The DrinkNB service allows them to support their favourite craft alcohol businesses without leaving their homes and maintains social distance for everyone involved."

The website at launch will offer:
● Over 40 unique products.
● Items from ten local producers including Flying Boats, Graystone, Grimross, Long Bay, Maybee, Red Rover / Coastliner, Trailway and 3Flip with more to come.
● Twice weekly delivery schedule in Fredericton and the surrounding area.

The project was able to come together rapidly, with only a few short days from concept to today's launch. Clawson notes: "Everyone I contacted about drinknb.ca was enthusiastic about the idea. It couldn't have gone live so quickly without the support of others in the industry."

Drinknb.ca is operated by Red Rover Craft Cider in Fredericton, NB. Red Rover is New Brunswick's first craft cider producer and a founding member of the New Brunswick Craft Alcohol Producers Association.

Broue du Païen Opens in Sainte-Marie-de-Kent, NB

If you have been in some ANBL stores in southeastern New Brunswick you may have seen Bouctouche Pale Ale on the shelf. Broue du Païen started up after new years and I got to ask owner and brewer a few questions. 

MBR: Who is behind Broue du Païen? 
BDP: My name is Maxime Sonier, I’m 30 years old and I do everything from the brewing, the canning and the delivering of the product. It’s pretty much a one man operation thus far plus the occasional volunteer helper. 



MBR: What is the significance behind the name? 
BDP: Païen is a word that, when growing up in the Acadian peninsula, I would hear a lot to describe someone who could be considered a ‘’small town hick”. When I decided to leave my job as a mechanic and take on brewing full time, I grew out my beard and my wife started jokingly calling me a Païen. I wanted to pick a name that would be representative of my heritage, but also light-hearted and comedic. Broue du Païen just translates to ‘’Païen’s Brew’’ but I’m also happy to have anyone refer to it as ‘’BDP’’. Seeing as the beard helped inspire the name, I included it on the can. I have plans on changing up the ‘’Hops Beard’’ on the can to represent the IBU of each style (i.e. the Païen character on the can will be sporting a Mustache for a Lager and a long Gandalf beard for a DIPA). 

What made you want to open a brewery? 
I had been making Home Brew for about 9 years. I started off with a cheap Mr. Beer kit, moved up to partial mash kits and kept modifying the kit instructions to improve on them. Couples years after I decided to go all grain and start making my own recipes from scratch using the BeerSmith software. After multiple successful recipes I decided to take the plunge and try doing this professionally. I have always been a beer fanatic and my goal was to make beer that everyone could enjoy. To this day, I still brew for the people and not for myself. Nothing makes me happier than seeing someone enjoying my creations.

How big is your brewhouse? 
I currently have a fairly small brewhouse using a 2bbl Blichmann System, 4x 2bbl Conical Fermenters and a single 2bbl Brite Tank from Stout. As of now I’m limited to around 4000 Cans a month but I’m already looking into adding an extra 2 bbl Unitank. 

How do you plan on just selling your beer via ANBL or will there be kegs?
At the moment I’m just focusing on can sales through ANBL since I don’t have much volume but I’m not turning down the idea of potentially doing keg sales. If the demand is there, I will have to look into it. 

What styles of beer are you planning to make beyond the pale ale? 
I have lots of ideas and tailored recipes I would like to release, but realistically, it can’t all happen at once with my small set up. I’d love to have an Irish Red, IPA/Session IPA and possibly a nice crisp Lager out within the next year. I want to name each style after an Acadian Town. I started with Bouctouche seeing as it’s the nearest town to me with an ANBL. 

Anything else you would like to add? 
ANBL just provided local vendors with a letter on January 22nd indicating that they will be applying Sale Targets and Thresholds for Local products as of April 1st 2020. Some local businesses could end up off the shelves as a result of this, especially ones just starting out. It will be more important than ever to support your favourite local breweries, wineries and distilleries. Being such a small start-up business myself, I sincerely hope that this change will not affect my growth potential and my ability to try out new recipes and products. I am incredibly grateful to all who have supported me so far and hope I can continue to do what I love!

2019 Atlantic Canadian Brewing Awards Results

(Halifax,NS) - The sixth annual Atlantic Canadian Brewing Awards were held on November 16th in Halifax with a gathering at Hopyard Halifax. The judging of 400 entries from 52 breweries and cideries had taken place previously in Halifax. 

Atlantic breweries and cideries shared the 53 medals awarded in 15 categories as well as eight special awards ( To see full medal counts see Table 1 and category details see Table 2). 

The big winner of the evening was Bogside Brewing taking four medals, including two gold, Brewery of the Year as well as New Brewery of the Year with Moosehead Breweries nabbing Beer of the Year with their Small Batch Rauchbier Smoked Lager.

In the Cider category there was a tie between No Boats On Sunday and Gagetown Distilling and Cidery for New Cider House of the Year and Red Island Cider captured New Cider House of the Year. 

It was another great year for Atlantic craft. 

Table 1 : Medal counts 

Brewery	Gold	Silver	Bronze	HM	Total
Bogside Brewing	2	1	1		4
Big Spruce Brewing		2	2		4
Nine Locks Brewing	1	1	1		3
Spindrift Brewing	2				2
Copper Bottom Brewing	1	1			2
Graystone Brewing	1	1			2
Tatamagouche Brewing	1	1		1	3
Boxing Rock Brewing			2	1	3
Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault		1	1		2
Trider’s Craft Beer		1	1		2
Alexander Keith’s Brewery			2		2
Breton Brewing	1				1
Good Robot Brewing	1				1
Upstreet Craft Brewing	1			1	2
Moosehead Breweries	1				1
Landwash Brewery	1				1
No Boats on Sunday	1				1
Gagetown Distilling and Cidery	1				1
Bannerman Brewing		1			1
Grimross Brewing			1	1	2
PEI Brewing			1		1
Quidi Vidi Brewery		1			1
Uncle Leo’s Brewery		1			1
Propeller Brewing		1			1
Lunn’s Mill			1		1
Sober Island Brewing		1			1
Saltbox Brewing			1	1	2
Red Island Cider		1			1
Chain Yard Urban Cidery			1		1
Hill Top Hops’ Brewhouse				1	1
North Brewing				2	2
Roof Hound Brewing				1	1
Riverdale Orchard				1	1

Table 2 : Full Beer and Cider Category Breakdown

North American & European Style Lager

Bronze: Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault – La Kedgwick

Silver: Bannerman Brewing – Safe Bet

Gold: Spindrift Brewing – Beaufort 10

German Style Specialty Ales

Bronze: Bogside Brewing – Wheat Kings County

Silver: Uncle Leo’s Brewery – Altbier

Gold: Bogside Brewing – Lighthorse Lagered Ale

Honourable Mention: North Brewing – Gus’ 65m Ale

UK Style Specialty Ales

Bronze: Trider’s Craft Beer – Rod’s Red

Silver: Graystone Brewing – Into the Woods Brown Ale

Gold: Breton Brewing – Red Coat 

North American Style Specialty Ales

Bronze: Big Spruce Brewing – Bitter Get’er India

Silver: Copper Bottom Brewing – Centennial Stock

Gold: Tatamagouche Brewing – Giantess Barley Wine

Honourable Mention: Boxing Rock Brewing – Dark as Keji

Belgian Style Specialty Ales

Bronze: Grimross Brewing – Abbey Dubbel

Silver: Les Brassers du Petit Sault – Colonel John Baker

Gold: Upstreet Craft Brewing – FireWorks Farmhouse Saison

Honourable Mention: Upstreet Craft Brewing – De Novo IV

North American Style Amber/Red Ales

Bronze: Boxing Rock Brewing – Temptation Red Ale

Silver: Quidi Vidi Brewing – 1892 Traditional Ale

Gold: Bogside Brewing – Brudenell Brown

Honourable Mention: Hill Top Hops’ Brewhouse – Red Tail Red Ale

Fruit & Field Beer

Bronze: Boxing Rock Brewing – Arnold’s Apricot Wheat Ale

Silver: Nine Locks Brewing – Harvest Pumpkin Ale

Gold: Good Robot Brewing – El Espinazo Del Diablo

Pale Ales

Bronze: PEI Brewing – Vic Park Pale Ale

Silver: Trider’s Craft Beer – Scotian Pale

Gold: Graystone Brewing – Patagonia Pale Ale

Honourable Mention: Roof Hound Brewing – Ear to the Street

Stout / Porter

Bronze: Big Spruce Brewing – Blood Donair

Silver: Big Spruce Brewing – Cereal Killer

Gold: Spindrift Brewing – Out of the Hold - Neat

Honourable Mention: Grimross Brewing – Pugnacious Porter

India Pale Ales

Bronze: Lunn’s Mill Beer – Purple Grain

Silver: Propeller Brewing – Galaxy

Gold: Copper Bottom Brewing – Parkman Ave

Experimental Beers

Bronze: Alexander Keith’s Brewery – Bisset’s Fancy

Silver: Bogside Brewing – Pitcher in the Rye

Gold: Moosehead Breweries – Small Batch Rauchbier

Honourable Mention: Tatamagouche Brewing – Feronia

Wood & Barrel-Aged Beer

Bronze: Nine Locks Brewing – Russian Imperial Stout

Silver: Big Spruce Brewing – Ra Ra Rasputin

Gold: Nine Locks Brewing – Barley Wine

Sour Beer 

Bronze: Alexander Keith’s Brewery – Backyards

Silver: Tatamagouche Brewing – Spring

Gold: Landwash Brewery – Brackish

Honourable Mention: North Brewing – Breakwater Mango Sour

Standard Cider & Perry

Bronze: Saltbox Brewing – Old Orchard Cider

Silver: Sober Island Brewing – Army Cider

Gold: No Boats on Sunday – Original Cider

Honourable Mention: Riverdale Orchard – 2 Scots 3 Apples

Specialty Cider & Perry

Bronze: Chain Yard Urban Cidery – Hopped Up

Silver: Red Island Cider – Ghost Ship Wild Briar

Gold: Gagetown Distilling and Cidery – Hopped Cider

Honourable Mention: Saltbox Brewing – Haskap Cider

Beer of the Year

Bronze: Spindrift Brewing - Out of the Hold - Neat

Silver: Upstreet Craft Brewing – FireWorks Farmhouse Saison

Gold: Moosehead Breweries – Small Batch Rauchbier

Craft Beer Shines as NSLC Announces 2019 Q1 Results

(Halifax, NS) - NSLC Announced Q1 results for April 1st to June 30th and saw sales rise to $174.9 million an increase of $18.1 million or 11.5% primarily due to cannabis. Beverage alcohol sales were $158.8 million and recreational cannabis sales were $16.1 million.
Nova Scotia ready-to-drink products had a strong quarter with sales increasing by 107.7% to $3.3 million with this strong growth primarily driven by coolers and ciders. Beer over all decreased 2.6% to $70.5M or 40.3% of sales over all with Nova Scotia craft beer sales growing by 17.8% to $4.9 million. The Ns craft beer sales now attribute to 6.95% of the beer category. The NSLC now lists products from 30 local breweries, about half of the breweries now open, up from six breweries just six years ago.

Boxing Rock Brewing Opens New Taproom in Shelburne

(Shelburne, NS) - Boxing Rock Brewing opens its newest location today at 218 Water Street in Shelburne. The original location on Ohio Road will remain dedicated to production and packaging and the Test Kitchen in Halifax will remain brewing small batch projects. 
The new taproom will have about 70 seats inside and another 30 on the patio. The 10 taps at the bar will have one cider and one guest tap in addition to their own line up. 
Production onsite will be dedicated to expanding Boxing Rock's barrel program as well as their product line. Kitchen to open later this fall but until then food provided by the Finest Kind mobile kitchen, who have been at the Ohio Road brewery since 2017. The new tap room will also have a space for live music.

Cross Creek Brewing Announces Opening

(Oak Mountain, NB) - Cross Creek Brewing (CCB) has announced they have crossed, no pun intended, their final regulatory hurdle and will have their first beers available to the public by August 12th. 
CCB consists of  Patrick Sullivan ( technical, sales, government contact) who is originally from Saint John and now lives in Fredericton. Tom Neal ( main brewer ) who was originally from Woodstock area, but grew up in Montreal and now lives at Oak Mountain. Neal Brewer & Helena (retail experience, business, accounting and book keeping) from Stanley area and now also 
lives in Fredericton.
Patrick says "Like a lot of beer fans I tried the extract kits many years ago. Had mixed results, but I had a couple friends who were really good at it, so I realized home made beer could be pretty good. My friend Tom Neal and I talked about all grain brewing several years ago and he decided to try it and did quite well. And about two years ago he really got serious by building a larger home-built brewing system and made even more excellent beer.  That's when the plan for Cross Creek starting incubating". 
The brewery will start with a 2 BBL brewhouse but producing 1 BBL batches for now as they ease into it. CCB beer will initially be going into  kegs for bars and festivals and later bottling for ANBL later and ultimately their own tap room. They are also excited to attend Woodstock's First Town Craft Beer Festival next month. 
Patrick says they like to make ale that they like to drink,  but they expect to branch into other styles and maybe lagers eventually. Five ales they will launch with are Two Divas Blonde Ale, Cross Creek Pale Ale, Copperhead Amber Ale, Headpond Cream Ale, and Blueneck Kentucky Common Ale.
CCB will be testing the market for a while and if it's positive they will open a taproom somewhere, probably Woodstock NB. 

New Maritime Beer Company Sails into Miramichi

(Miramichi, NB) - New Maritime Beer Company will be opening in the former Speedy Glass location at 55 Newcastle Blvd in Miramichi this summer. They will be Miramichi’s first full scale craft brewery with an on-site taproom. The location will contain a 15 BBL brewhouse,  taproom and retail shop. 
New Maritime Beer announced recently that their head brewer is David Draper who most recently was brewmaster at Falcon Brewing in Ontario and won a gold CBAB in 2018 for Salem Stout. They say "He brews a wide range of beers, and has a love of all things hops. With many years of experience in brewing, David is looking forward to continuing to design great beers, for a whole new audience." 
New Maritime Beer have brewed and kegged their first large scale batch of beer at Four Rivers Brewing Co. and it will be available on select taps in Miramichi next weekend. The beer is Rising Tides Citra IPA and is described as bright and fresh like a coastal sunrise, Rising Tides Citra IPA is a single hop American-style IPA that uses only Citra Hops for a bold and smooth citrus flavour, bursting with bright and juicy tropical tones with a hint of bitterness at the finish.

Smokehouse Nano Brewery Opens In Berwick

(Berwick, NS) - Husband and wife, Mike and Shelley Peters, have opened Smokehouse Nano Brewery (SNB) in the heart of the Annapolis Valley. Their official opening was in May with the first commercial tap in late June.

Mike is the brewer and has been an active all grain brewer since around 1992. He started out doing kit beers until one day they went to a private beer judging at Sea Level Brewing's owner Randy Lawrence’s place in Canning. Randy immediately had Mike hooked on all grain brewing. Around the same time he and his two brothers, Gerald and Tim, decided to register their first brew club. The Fellowship Against Repulsive Tasting Suds was registered with the American Homebrewers Association. Over the course of several years they had a dozen or so club members that would meet regularly to compare their latest brews. Several brews were sent off to various competitions with several awards being won among the 3 of the brothers. Unfortunately life became busy and the club activities diminished, but they all still continued to brew whenever they could. With the recent interest in Craft beer over the past five years and having more time Mike decided to get serious about it again.

The brewery is in Berwick on the property that Mike and Shelley have lived at for the past 23 years. Prior to them purchasing the property it was a long standing icon in the town as a meat shop and smokehouse. Attached to the main house is a large smokehouse that was built in 1958 to smoke all of the products being produced by the original owner Gordon Graham. 

The current set up is a 1 BBL all electric system that uses the HERMS process to regulate the precise mashing temperatures. There are 3 1 BBL Fermenters that are glycol looped for accurate fermenting temperature control.

All of the control process equipment is custom made on site by either Mike or Gerald who has an extensive electrical background in process controls.

SNB is currently on tap at the Union Street Cafe in Berwick and are looking to add bars and restaurants in the area. They currently only offer 20 L kegs at this time but are working on being able to provide cans and refillable bottles in the near future.

In the near future they are hoping to offer both brewery tours and on site sales as they work out the details. All of our current beers are listed with descriptions on their Facebook page.

King Street Beer Company announces official opening May 3rd

Andrew Tanner, President of the King Street Beer Company, announced today that the new location will officially open May 3.
“We are very excited to be on King Street. We believe it has a great future and it is obviously attracting major interest from people looking to invest in a growing Town on the South Shore” He cited three factors contributing to his optimism. “First, the Town has made a major investment to upgrade services along King Street and the waterfront. Second, the Planning Department is demonstrating a willingness to work with investors to get development plans moving forward. Finally, the population of the Town is growing. These are all important contributing factors to the future success of the street”, said Tanner. 
King Street Beer Company will occupy the old Bavarian Restaurant near the corner of Dufferin and King Street. It will feature a brewing area, tap room, and outdoor patio and sidewalk seating area. The plan is to encourage home brewers to show their talents by brewing LaHave River Beer on site. Saltbox Beers and Ciders will also be available on tap. Saltbox owners are major investors in King Street. There will also be a variety of specialized guest beers on tap. Tanner said, “In total, we will be offering 16 different beer and cider selections to our customers”
The building is nearing completion and Tanner cited the tremendous cooperation the Company has received from Jane and Peter Berrigan, the building owners, in getting a state of the art facility built in record time. Travis Bruhm is the contractor on site.

Bad Apple Brewhouse Releases Allie’s Fearless IPA

(Somerset, NS) - A little over a year ago, Jeff Saunders from Bad Apple Brewhouse started chatting with Dale Jollota about creating a beer to honour her daughter’s memory.  Olivia Jollota passed away in 2012 at the age of 15, her mom Dale has created The Olivia Jollota Memorial Trust and has continued to honour her daughter by creating a high school scholarship at Prince Andrew High as well as many community donations for those in need, be it people or animals.  

With all of Olivia’s friend now in fourth year at university or four years in their new career, it seemed appropriate at this time to create a beer that was similar to her personality to share with her friends and public.  

This IPA has been brewed in dedication to Olivia (A.K.A. Allie).  It represents her fun loving, fearless, adventurous, spirited and larger than life personality.  This American style IPA is a different soul from the reincarnated IPA style.  Wet hops from GroupofSe7en give this IPA a big juicy, herbal, citric and fruity character.  Light bodied with a mild bitter finish. Jeff Saunders stated that the nose of the beer “was just like Five Alive” which is fitting as it was one of Olivia’s favorites.  

This is a limited release with only 400 custom screened bottles to be filled. These will be sold for $7.50 per bottle.  There may be a few kegs as well at select bars including Stillwell and Jamieson’s Irish Pub, with Jamieson’s donating $1.00 for each glass poured to The Olivia Jollota Memorial Trust. 

Breton Brewing Introduces Signature Series

(Sydney, NS) - Breton Brewing introduces Signature Series and the first beer Wild Bretton. Breton Brewing along with Brathair Brewing have teamed up once again to create something special. The winner of the 2018 Stillwell Open and the first in their barrel aged Signature Series, Wild Bretton is a Belgian Witbier co-fermented with Amalgamation Brett and aged in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wine barrels.
This beer conveys a light body and a tart lemony finish while offering complex yet refreshing characteristics. Brewed with coriander and orange peel, Wild Bretton will be sure to capture your attention and comes in at 5.0% ABV  and 14 IBU.
The beer will also be available as part of the Breton Brewing Christmas Gift Bags. There are only about 500 bottles of each available, so quantities are limited. 

Propeller Releases Bourbon Barrel Aged Baltic Porter

(Halifax, NS) - Propeller Brewing Releases it's second in their Barrel Aged Series, Barrel Aged Baltic Porter, after releasing it's Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout earlier this year. The Bourbon Barrel Aged Baltic Porter is dark and complex, with roasted coffee and toffee aromas and hints of raisin and dark cherry. After a lengthy stay in oak bourbon barrels, its has aromas and  flavours of vanilla and caramel that are accentuated along with distinct bourbon influence.