Top 5 Maritime Beer Report Blog posts of 2016

It has been a busy year and with 2016 winding to a close it is time for me to reflect on what happened and what people liked to read. Here is the top five read posts from this year.

5. Mama's Pub becomes a Brewpub from March 1st. 

4. Beckwith Road Brewing Rolls into NB Craft Beer Scene from August 2nd. 

3. Government reducing markup charged to NS Craft brewers from December 20th 

2. The Gahan House Restauarant and Brewery comes to Moncton from June 29th. 

1. Trider's Craft Beer to open Brewery in Amherst from June 27th.

These five stories account for over 10 000 page reads alone showing Maritimers thirst not only for their beer but their beer news also. 

2016 Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards

The third annual Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards were held from November 4th to the 6th in Halifax. The judging of over 257 entries was on Friday and Saturday at The Dome and the Gala on Sunday evening at The Stubborn Goat Gastropub. 

Thirty-five breweries and seven cideries shared the 42 medals awarded in 14 categories as well as seven special awards ( To see full medal counts see Table 1 and category details see Table 2). The People's Choice Award returned this year by an online survey of all the submitted beers and ciders. 

The big winners of the evening were Bad Apple Brewhouse and Big Spruce Brewing each taking four medals with Bad Apple being awarded Brewery of the Year and Big Spruce nabbing the Beer of the Year or "Best of Show" with their Ra Ra Rasputin Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout. Rockbottom Brewpub also had a great showing as well getting a gold for the IPA category and Brewpub of the Year.

The Cider House of the Year as well as two medals went to Annapolis Cider Company and the Cider of the Year was awarded to ShipBuilders Cider from ShipBuilders Cider Company. 

The People’s Choice returned this year for Beer and Cider with upstart Port Rexton Brewing's T-Rex Porter grabbing the beer category and Annapolis Cider Company's Crisp & Dry getting the cider category. 

It is a real pleasure to join in the celebration of the best of craft in our region. Hats off to CAPS-Atlantic for having this and thanks to the organizer Mark DeWolfe, Head Judge Chris MacDonald and with judges and stewards for their tireless work behind the scenes. 

Table 1 : Medal counts 

Brewery	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Bad Apple Brewhouse	1	2	1
Big Spruce Brewing	1	1	2
Tatamagouche Brewing	0	1	2
Annapolis Cider Company	1	1	0
Uncle Leo's Brewery	1	1	0
Upstreet Craft Brewing	1	1	0
Brasseurs du Petit-Sault	1	0	1
Garrison Brewing	0	1	1
Good Robot Brewing	0	1	1
Paddy's Brewpub	0	1	1
Propeller Brewing	0	0	2
Alexander Keith's Brewery	1	0	0
Hell Bay Brewing	1	0	0
Lazy Bear Brewing	1	0	0
Moosehead Breweries	1	0	0
PEI Brewing	1	0	0
Pump House Brewery	1	0	0
Rockbottom Brewpub	1	0	0
ShipBuilders Cider	1	0	0
Boxing Rock Brewing	0	1	0
Breton Brewing	0	1	0
Oland Brewery	0	1	0
Spindrift Brewing	0	1	0
Elderkin's Cider Company	0	0	1
Red Rover Craft Cider	0	0	1
Trider's Craft Beer	0	0	1

Table 2 : Full Beer and Cider Category Breakdown 

North American & European Style Lager
Gold:    Moosehead Breweries – Moose Light
Silver:  Oland Brewery – Schooner
Bronze: Propeller Brewing – Nocturne Dark Lager

German Style Specialty Ales
Gold:    Uncle Leo’s Brewery – Altbier
Silver:  Uncle Leo’s Brewery – Vohs Weizenbier
Bronze: Garrison Brewing – Rise ‘N’ Stein

UK Style Specialty Ales
Gold:    Pump House Brewery – Barley Wine Ale
Silver:  Garrison Brewing – Irish Red Ale
Bronze: Trider’s Craft Beer – Rod’s Red

North American Style Specialty Ale
Gold:    Upstreet Craft Brewing – One Way Black IPA
Silver:  Spindrift Brewing – Riptide IPL
Bronze: Good Robot Brewing – Leave Me Blue Kentucky Corn

Belgian Style Specialty Ale
Gold:    Brasseurs du Petit-Sault – Tante Blanche
Silver:  Upstreet Craft Brewing – Denovo: Farmhouse Saison
Bronze: Tatamagouche Brewing – Tatamagouche Tripel

North American Style Amber/Red Ale
Gold:    PEI Brewing – Island Red
Silver:  Boxing Rock Brewing – Temptation Red Ale
Bronze: Paddy’s Brewpub – Annapolis Valley Ale 

Fruit & Field Beer
Gold:    Lazy Bear Brewing – Braunbär Honey Brown
Silver:  Big Spruce Brewing – The Silver Tart
Bronze: Brasseurs du Petit-Sault – Bonhomme Sept-Heures

Pale Ales
Gold:    Hell Bay Brewing – English Ale
Silver:  Bad Apple Brewhouse – American Pale Ale
Bronze: Big Spruce Brewing/Bar Stillwell – Gimme Citra

Stout/Porter
Gold:    Alexander Keith’s Brewery – Lunenburg Coffee and Cacao Stout
Silver:  Breton Brewing – Cocoa Envy 
Bronze: Tatamagouche Brewing – Two Rivers Baltic Porter

India Pale Ale
Gold:    Rockbottom Brewpub – Fathom IPA
Silver:  Tatamagouche Brewing – Deception Bay IPA
Bronze: Bad Apple Brewhouse – Mosaic DIPA

Experimental Beer
Gold:    Bad Apple Brewhouse – Smoked Porter
Silver:  Good Robot Brewing – Damn Fine Coffee and Cherry Pie Pale Ale
Bronze: Propeller Brewing – Graceland Too 

Wood & Barrel-Aged Beer
Gold:    Big Spruce Brewing – Ra Ra Rasputin 
Silver:  Bad Apple Brewhouse – Smoke Show
Bronze: Big Spruce Brewing – Coade Word: Snowmageddon

Standard Cider and Perry
Gold:   ShipBuilders Cider – ShipBuilders Cider
Silver:  Paddy’s Pub – Fitzgerald's Traditional Cider
Bronze: Elderkin’s Cider Company– Elderkin’s Traditional Hard Cider

Specialty Cider and Perry
Gold:    Annapolis Cider Company – Crisp & Dry
Silver:  Annapolis Cider Company  – Something Different – Peach & Peppercorn
Bronze: Red Rover Craft Cider – Fall Cider

Nova Scotia Craft Beer Sales Grew 25.5% at NSLC

(Halifax, NS) - In the latest NSLC year-end results ending March 31, 2016 saw NS craft beer sales grow by 25.5% to $7.6 million. They also say that the craft beer industry has grown significantly over the past year and now comprise four percent of all its beer sales. 
Here are the highlights from this years report.

• Net income (earnings) totaled $241.3 million; up $13.3 million or 5.8%
• Total sales were $607.6 million; an increase of $16.3 million or 2.8%
• Total volume of alcohol sold was up 1.7%

Local Product Sales Highlights

• Nova Scotia wine sales (made with locally grown grapes) grew by 8.7% to $9.6 million.
• Nova Scotia craft beer sales grew by 25.5% to $7.6 million. 
• Nova Scotia spirit sales grew by 177.3% to $1.5 million. 
• Nova Scotia commercial wine sales (produced here with imported grapes) were up 7.3% to $21.7 million.
• Nova Scotia commercial beer sales were stable in 2015-2016, at $160.5 million.
• Nova Scotia ready-to-drink products, which are largely ciders, had a strong year with sales increasing by 44.4%. The popularity of ciders in Nova Scotia continues to grow, and now comprises 22 percent of all ready-to-drink sales.

2016 Garrison Brewing Home Brew-off Announced

(Halifax NS) Garrison Brewing announced that the style for their 2016 Brew-off. In order to give some basic structure and make judging easier, they've defined the style as "American IPA (BJCP 21A) with an Experimental Feature". This means that IBU's, ABV, colour and flavour all need to fit within the guidelines for an American IPA. Experimentation can come from the addition of herbs, fruit, tea, etc. and must be clearly stated on the entry form. Samples must be received by February 11, 2016 with the awards on March 3rd. This should also coincide with the release of last years winner Dave Martin's Robust Porter.