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!

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.

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. 

North Brewing Announces Major Expansion

(Halifax, NS) - North Brewing announced that it is expanding to a larger production facility at 899 Portland Street and will include a 5000 sq foot production space and 100 seat taproom with a full kitchen. 
In addition to a new space North Brewing is launching the “North Brewing Co. Conservation Initiative” (NBCI), a fundraising effort to acquire and protect ecologically significant land in Nova Scotia in partnership with the Nova Scotia Nature Trust. North Brewing is launching the NBCI with a beer named ‘Blanc’. “Blanc is a grisette fermented on Sauvignon Blanc grape skins from our friends at Benjamin Bridge,” said Josh Herbin, co-owner of North Brewing. “It’s a unique and beautiful beer.  We’re excited for people to try it and to learn more about what we are working to achieve with the NBCI. Fifty cents from each can of Blanc sold will be donated to the Nature Trust to kick off our larger fundraising efforts” said Herbin.
Construction at 899 Portland St. is scheduled to begin in December and the North Team is targeting a late spring/early summer opening for its taproom. North Brewing will be closing its Agricola Street production space and retail store in the winter/spring of 2019.  
Josh Herbin owner and head brewer said: “We will dearly miss working in the neighbourhood that raised us as a business, but are beyond excited to outfit a new space that will allow us more capacity and flexibility in production moving forward. When people come into our current location and see how little room we have to work, they are always amazed by the volume and quality of beer we are able to produce. Our new production location and adjoining taproom will allow us to consistently keep our core brands in stock, while satisfying our unending desire to experiment with one-off brews, wood-aged beers, and wild fermentations. We can’t wait to see you all there!”

13 Barrels Brewing Opens in Bathurst NB

(Bathurst, NB) - 13 Barrels Brewing has become the third brewery to open in the northern New Brunswick town of Bathurst. The name is derived from old Bathurst folklore from Prohibition Days when in the summer of 1920 Joseph Gammon, an upstanding Bathurst citizen who upheld the Prohibition Laws of the day, mounted a posse. They ventured up the Nepisiquit River and seized 13 Barrels of illegal alcohol thus keeping the town safe from the evils.
The new company is a family-owned business operated and managed by David and Margot Young who have extensive business and management experience. They have also been fans of locally produced craft beer for many years and have keenly watched the growth of the industry in New Brunswick over the past decade and believe Bathurst would be an ideal location to launch their brewery. 
13 Barrels Brewing Company will operate from a new 5100 square foot building on the waterfront with a 15 BBL system and a Tasting Room with a view of the harbour. 
Ben Doucet will take on the Head Brewer role and is a native of Bathurst and returns to his home town to manage brewing operations. Prior to 13 Barrels he worked at Picaroons Traditional Ales for the last five years.
Initially, the brewery will be producing four signature beers included an IPA, American Pale Ale, American Red and a New England IPA as well as specialty and seasonal brews coming in the future. Beer will be sold in the Tasting Room by the glass as well as in growlers and canned products for take-home enjoyment. 

Matchstick Beer Factory Opening Soon in Hampton

(Hampton, NB) - Matchstick Beer Factory is about to open in the town of Hampton, about 30 km outside Saint John. The nanobrewery will be run by a husband and wife team, Luke MacGregor and Heather Avery, with Luke doing the brewing and Heather taking care of the day to day.
The name came from the Flewelling Match factory that used to be on Saint Andrews Street in Hampton and with Luke's background in engineering he wanted the brewery to have an industrial vibe.
Luke has been homebrewing since 2006 but his earliest brewing was making root beer and cream soda when he was a kid. When asked why they wanted to open a brewery Luke said "Besides my love of making and drinking beer, the plans started when we moved to NB from NS in 2015. We bought an old house with a large garage/barn, and the planning began. I was on the road a lot for work, and have two young kids and a wife at home that still likes me, so I was thinking of ways to change jobs to stay home more. I've since moved on to a local job which has given me time to focus on the brewery at night once everyone else is in bed and on most Friday's, as well as a few hours on the week ends". 
Matchstick Beer Factory will be opening with a 1 BBL system from Blichmann, which when maxed out makes about 180L. Once revenue starts coming in they will double it to produce closer to 350L (almost 3 BBL), Fermenters are all 3 BBL and the bright tank is also 3BBL.
They are starting off brewing English and Canadian/American ales, starting with two beers. The first is the Matchbook Pale Ale, which is hopped with El Dorado, Mosaic and Amarillo, with heavy dry hopping to give it a nice fruit punch. The second is the Fired Up Red, which is a strong English style ale, with a hefty 8% ABV and with a bit of rye in the mash to give the huge malt backbone a bit of spice. They have a few other recipes that they'll start rolling out once they get a couple months under their belts, which include a rhubarb Hefeweizen (likely summer seasonal only), a Belgian blonde fermented with American yeast, and a few others. They will throw a few IPAs in there as well and they have a few other recipes that Luke is working on.
Look for their beers at the Match Factory Restaurant in Hampton and at Bootstrap Brew Pub in Quispamsis initially over the next week or so. 
Luke noted "...how helpful other breweries and home brewers have been in getting this operation going. I haven't met one brewer who didn't make time to show me their brewery, discuss suppliers, sell me old equipment that they've outgrown, give advice on my plan or offer help in any way. I grew up on a farm in NS, and the attitude of Maritime brewers has reminded me of the helpfulness we received on the farm from other farmers".
Matchstick Beer Factory won't be open to the public until they get a commercial space set up. Matchstick Beer Factory is operating out of their home and due to zoning regulations they can't have sales from their location. They are looking at commercial properties now, but won't realistically have anything set up until next summer at the earliest. 

Breton Brewing releasing Gingerbread Holiday Ale

(Sydney, NS) - Breton Brewing is getting into the holiday spirit by releasing Gingerbread Holiday Ale, a gingerbread inspired London ESB with hints of ginger and cinnamon. The ABV is 5.5% with an IBU of 35. They are very excited with the design on this can, as it features a snowy, winter-y scene that has the holiday's written all over it! This is a bit of a departure from their regular design. This beer will be sold in a Holiday Gift Pack that will have two 473 ml cans and a 16 oz glass (with a new design) for $14.39 and will be available at NSLC locations as well as the brewery. 

Sussex Ale Works Opens For Business

(Sussex, NB) - Sussex long known for dairy, its balloon festival and the gateway to Fundy now has a brewery and taproom. Rick Lockhart long time resident of the town is the owner and operator of Sussex Ale Works Inc.  
Mr Lockhart  used to work away in the mining industry, but after many years of working in almost every province in Canada and some overseas work, decided to come home and spend more time with his family.  He wanted to follow his passion for craft beer and open a craft brew pub on his own but lacked  the experience and know how to move into commercial brewing and operate a pub business.  He had heard of a new craft brew pub/coffee roaster business in Alma, NB about 60 km from Sussex.  He approached the owners of the Holy Whale Brewing Company and convinced them to hire him to assist in the build and operation of their brewery. 

Sussex Ale Works brewhouse is a 1 BBL, Stout Tanks and Kettles system with 4-1 BBL fermenters and a 2 BBL fermenter. Besides the licenced brewery it also  has a special facility licence for a taproom with a capacity for 40 patrons.  Future plans include applying for an agency store licence with ANBL, which when approved they will be able to fill growlers, with their own product for take away. Mr Lockhart plans on brewing specialty ales and lagers with some seasonal products using as many local ingredients as possible. 

They currently offer a great line up of local beers, ciders and sodas, in a comfortable and inviting environment for the people of Sussex and visitors to our area to come in and enjoy.  A lot of detail went into the construction of the taproom, with the help from Kim Jakobsen Design in Saint John, NB.  They have strived to repurpose as much materials as possible in the construction such as the used brick bar front and a well worn pew bench from the Holy Whale.  

Sussex Ale Works is now open seven days a week from 5 PM to 10 PM Monday to Thursday and Noon to 10 PM from Friday to Sunday at 597B Main Street in Sussex. 

Spindrift Announces Bottle Series and Brand

(Dartmouth, NS) - Out of the Hold is a new family of brands under the Spindrift Brewing corporate umbrella. The releases will always be bottle conditioned, often barrel aged/fermented with bottle sizes varying some between releases with the most common size being 500 ml. Each release will have it’s own name and label and some of which will return in subsequent years and others just being one offs. Single releases will range from 400 to 2000 bottles to start. They will always be available at the brewery and often Halifax's private stores. The Out of the Hold program will begin to focus on relevant flavours, styles and brewing techniques, ranging from Imperial Stouts, to Sours, to Saisons. 
There are two releases tomorrow November 1st, two more on November 15th, and another on December 1st. The series will really kick into action in the new year when they are able to adhere to a true production schedule for the program.

Photo from Spindrift Brewing 

Releases tomorrow are 'Cherry Brett Beer' and 'Golden Brett Beer'. Both use our Pils as a base and have been aged extensively in French oak barrels previously used for red wine. Cherry Brett Beer was fermented with Brettanomyces bruxellensis, and conditioned on dark sweet cherry puree for many months. Golden Brett Beer was fermented with Brettanomyces bruxellensis Vrai. Both are carbonated to give elegant effervescence, they are great showcases of the two brett strains used.

2018 Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards Results

(Halifax,NS) - The fifth annual Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards were held on October 28th in Halifax with a Gala and Dinner at The Stubborn Goat Gastropub. The judging of 376 entries from 56 breweries and cideries had taken place the previous week end in Halifax. 

Atlantic breweries and cideries shared the 45 medals awarded in 15 categories as well as six special awards ( To see full medal counts see Table 1 and category details see Table 2). There were a few changes over previous years with a new Sour category being added as well as New Brewery and New Cider House of the Year. The People's Choice Award and Brewpub of the Year were dropped in this year's competition. 

The big winner of the evening was Tatamagouche Brewing taking seven medals and Brewery of the Year with 2 Crows Brewing nabbing five medals and Beer of the Year with their Forever Young. The inaugural New Brewery of the Year went to Four Rivers Brewing in Bathurst NB.

In the Cider category Riverdale Orchard Cidery from Bonshaw PE took New Cider House of the Year,  Cider of the Year for 2 Scots 3 Apples and tied with Chain Yard Urban Cidery for Cider House of the Year. 

It was another banner year for Atlantic craft and organizers are hoping for a bigger and better show next year. 

Table 1 : Medal counts 

Breweries	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Tatamagouche Brewing	4	2	1	7
2 Crows Brewing	1	2	2	5
North Brewing	0	3	1	4
Big Spruce Brewing	0	1	2	3
Uncle Leo's Brewery	2	0	0	2
Breton Brewing	2	0	0	2
Grimross Brewing	1	0	1	2
Pump House Brewery	0	1	1	2
Garrison Brewing	0	1	1	2
Casa Nova Fine Beverages	0	1	1	2
Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault	0	0	2	2
Trider's Craft Beer	1	0	0	1
PEI Brewing	1	0	0	1
Upstreet Craft Brewing	1	0	0	1
Riverdale Orchard Cidery	1	0	0	1
Chain Yard Urban Cidery	1	0	0	1
Four Rivers Brewing	0	1	0	1
Nine Locks Brewing	0	1	0	1
Meander River Brewery	0	1	0	1
A. Keith's Brewery	0	1	0	1
Boxing Rock Brewing	0	0	1	1
Oland Brewery	0	0	1	1
Yip Cider	0	0	1	1

Table 2 : Full Beer and Cider Category Breakdown

North American & European Style Lager
Bronze: Grimross Brewing  – Après Lager
Silver: Pump House Brewery – Oktoberfest
Gold: Grimross Brewing – Braunschweig Pils
Honourable Mention: 2 Crows Brewing – Refresh

German Style Specialty Ales

Bronze: North Brewing  – Little Beast
Silver: Tatamagouche Brewing – North Shore Lagered Ale
Gold: Uncle Leo’s Brewery – Altbier

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

North American Style Specialty Ales
Bronze: Oland Brewery – Oland Export Ale
Silver: Tatamagouche Brewing – Dry-Hopped Lagerhosen
Gold: Tatamagouche Brewing  – Giantess Barley Wine

Belgian Style Specialty Ales
Bronze: Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault – Col. John Baker Dubbel
Silver: 2 Crows Brewing – House Funk Brett Saison
Gold: Tatamagouche Brewing – Square One

North American Style Amber/Red Ales

Bronze: Boxing Rock Brewing  – Temptation Red Ale

Silver: Four Rivers Brewing – Havre St-Pierre
Gold: PEI Brewing – Island Red Premium Red Ale

Fruit & Field Beer

Bronze: Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault – Bonhomme Sept-Heures 
Silver: Big Spruce Brewing – Guava Get Me Some
Gold: Upstreet Craft Brewing – Rhuby Social
Honourable Mention: Alexander Keith’s – Hortonville Pumpkin Ale

Pale Ales

Bronze: Big Spruce Brewing – Kitchen Party Pale Ale
Silver: Alexander Keith’s – Cornerstone Edinburgh Pale Ale
Gold: Breton Brewing Co. – Seven Years Pale Ale
Honourable Mention: Lunn’s Mill Beer – Lunn’s Pub Ale

Stout / Porter
Bronze: Big Spruce Brewing– Cereal Killer Stout
Silver: North Brewing – Twinkle Pony Tiramisu Stout
Gold: Breton Brewing – Cocoa Envy Chocolate Porter
Honourable Mention: Pump House Brewery– Muddy River Stout

India Pale Ales
Bronze: 2 Crows Brewing – Second Situation
Silver: Nine Locks Brewing – Fathom Double IPA
Gold: Uncle Leo’s Brewery – Encore IPA
Honourable Mention: PEI Brewing – After Hours: Snowbird Juicy IPA

Experimental Beers
Bronze: 2 Crows Brewing – Dare To Dream
Silver: North Brewing – Des Pêches Rooib
Gold: Tatamagouche Brewing – Feronia

Honourable Mention: Big Spruce Brewing – Thrice

Wood & Barrel-Aged Beer

Bronze: Garrison Brewing – Barrel-Aged Wintervention
Silver: North Brewing – Midnight
Gold: 2 Crows Brewing – Forever Young
Honourable Mention: Propeller Brewing – Barrel Aged Baltic Porter

Sour Beer (*New Category 2018)
Bronze: Tatamagouche Brewing – Soaked
Silver: 2 Crows Brewing – Cool Kid
Gold: Tatamagouche Brewing – Bliss Mixed Fermentation Saison
Honourable Mention: Big Spruce Brewing – Hugs Bunny

Standard Cider & Perry

Bronze: Casa Nova Fine Beverages- Buddy’s Original Craft Cider
Silver: Casa Nova Fine Beverages – 1606 Good Cheer Craft Cider
Gold: Riverdale Orchard Cidery – 2 Scots 3 Apples

Specialty Cider & Perry

Bronze: Yip Cider – Blueberry Picnic

Silver: Meander River Farm & Brewery – Small Lot Rose Petal Cider
Gold: Chain Yard Urban Cidery  – Ginxberry
Honourable Mention: Chain Yard – Frostbite

Garrison Brewing releases “Hipster Viking” Atlantic IPA

Photo from Garrison Brewing 

(Halifax, NS) - Garrison Brewing releases “Hipster Viking” Atlantic IPA tomorrow, October 26th. This collaboration is from four breweries spanning three nations featuring original label artwork by award-winning and internationally recognized comic book artist Ben Bishop. The breweries included Mason’s Brewing (Brewer, Maine), Lone Pine Brewing (Portland, Maine), Gæðingur Öl Brugghús (Skagafirði, Iceland) and Garrison Brewing (Halifax, Nova Scotia).   
“We’ve often collaborated with brewery buds locally and nationally, but this time we got to go cross border” said Brian Titus, President of Garrison Brewing. “We’ve wanted to work with Chris from Mason’s for awhile and we knew Arni from Gæðingur was coming to Halifax. Throw in Tom from Lone Pine & there you have it – world peace through craft beer!”.  
Releasing just in time for Hal-Con, Atlantic Canada’s largest Sci-Fi convention “Hipster Viking” is an unfiltered Atlantic IPA at 6% ABV. The beer is hazy and golden in the New England style, with a dank, tropical aroma and flavour. The brew profiles new-age hops Mosaic, Ekuanot and Idaho 7. Hipster Viking releases Friday at both Garrison Brewing and Hal-Con, and next week at private liquor stores. 

Upstreet BBQ Brewhouse Opens in Dartmouth

(Dartmouth, NS) - The exciting PEI brewer Upstreet Craft Brewing in partnership with Chef Bill Pratt, Founder and Director of the Chef Inspired Group of Restaurants, opened Upstreet BBQ Brewhouse at 612 Windmill Road. The restaurant will be a traditional Southern BBQ experience including in-house smoked meats and jackfruit as well as pub fare and of course Upstreet beers brewed in-house. So far they have brewed Upstreet's 4 flagship beers including Rhuby Social, Commons, Do Gooder, and White Noize that are available as well Major Tom Sour will be available today and Neon Friday Tropic IPA tomorrow. They have the flagships on tap, plus a few more Upstreet beers, 4 flavours of East Coast Craft Soda, and a few guest taps as well.

Saltbox Brewery Announces $25,000 Research Grant

(Mahone Bay, NS) - Acadia University and Saltbox Brewery are continuing their partnership on a project to develop indigenous yeast strains suitable for making truly local beer. The amount of the research grant made by Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI) is $25,000 to carry forward and further the work already done by the Saltbox/Acadia partnership.

Dr. Russell Easy and Dr. Allison Walker, Associate Professors of Biology at Acadia are leading the project for the University. Patrick Jardine, Director of Operations for Saltbox, is leading the collaboration for the Mahone Bay Brewery.

Mr. Jardine said, “We have made substantial progress in establishing ourselves as a serious craft brewery and research of this kind where we are the corporate sponsor adds to our growing expertise. We already make Blue Nose 1850, a beer made entirely with Lunenburg County hops. Now we can add local yeast strains to our brews to come up with products more rooted in the Lunenburg agricultural community” 

Dr. Easy of Acadia said “This is exciting news for us and we are very happy to continue this work with Saltbox. Research with a distinctly local focus reinforces the ties between the University and the community. It is very encouraging to have NSBI support for this work.”

For more information contact: Dr. Russell Easy Dept. of Biology Acadia University russell.easy@acadiau.ca, 902-585-1156

Behind The Beer at Schoolhouse Brewery

NSLive.tv asked me if I would like to chat with a brewer, well I love talking and beer so Hell yes I said. The result is Behind The Beer at Schoolhouse Brewery http://nslive.tv/btb1-schoolhouse/ . Check it out and let me know what you think