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!

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.

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. 

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. 

morALE brewsters launches in Oromocto NB

(Oromocto, NB) - morALE brewsters is opening about 20 kilometres southeast of Fredericton in the town of Oromocto. The nanobrewery is a team of four serving military members and one military wife that includes Rémi Lévesque, Nicholas Matheson, Bruno Plamondon, Samuel Roy and Johanna Osborne.  They all come from different areas within Canada, NB, NS and QC, but some of them have been in Oromocto for over 15 years. 
In December 2015, Bruno and Rémi were talking about home brewing at work and Bruno suggested that it would be fun to gather a small group of craft beer fans to start brewing together. The plan was to experiment with different recipes with the idea/hope that if they come up with some good ones they could transition into a real side business.  By January 2016, they officially sat down and all five joined together.  In the summer of 2017 they were very happy with their recipes and they decided to get more serious equipment. The real reason was the reactions of their friends when they were sharing beers and their comments were so positive that it convinced them to try one step closer to a real brewery.
Currently, it is a nano brewery right in Jo and Rémi's basement and are able to offer is kegs only. Local pubs in the Oromocto area is where they want to be involved in the community.  Their first beer sold by the pint will be starting Friday August 31st 2018, and will be at Griffin's Pub in Oromocto, NB.  Being very new they want to start slow and make sure that they will be able to provide to those they offer product to. It is part of their dream to eventually have their own taproom in Oromocto, NB. 
morALE brewsters are starting with a cream ale (CORNFLAKE) because that seems to be the fan favourite and the perfect introduction for them. They have seven registered styles of beer available at this time, that they will soon be able to offer by the keg, to limited local pubs in the Oromocto area.  Those include a red IPA (RED OVER BLUE), an APA (HOPS HONOUR), a brown ale (BOOT CAMP), a milk stout (BUG OUT), a Belgium blonde (PTE BLOGGINS) and a seasonal wheat cucumber ale (9ner DOMESTIC).  They kept the list within classic styles that they were confident to reproduce with consistency.
They add "We are very excited about this venture and we are looking forward to meet all beer fans and brewers to share stories and fresh craft beer with!!!"

Hop To It Brewing : More than Just the 19th Hole

A small craft brewer north of Moncton is currently serving a single customer in Irishtown but hoping like others to grow. I recently got to ask owner and brewer Luke Rasmussen of Hop To It Brewing a few questions about his operation and plans 

MBR: What made you want to open a brewery?
HTIB: I started getting into craft beer and wondered about the process of making it. I spent a few months researching equipment and how to use it effectively until I decided on what I want to try and do. The plan was to build my own electric brewing system and just brew for fun as a home brewer. After about 5 months of sourcing, buying parts and assembly, I had a mostly functioning brewery.
The subsequent months were spent making all manner of different beers as I tried to learn everything I could about the brewing process. The golf course across the street got word of my little adventure and offered a tap if I could get a license to sell.

MBR: "How hard could it be to get a license?"
HTIB: About 8 months of red tape hard.

MBR: How big is your brewery?
HTIB:The brew house is 21 Gallons and I have 2 different fermenters. One is 42 Gallons and the other is 14 Gallons each with a matching brite tank.

MBR: Do you plan on selling your beer beyond golf courses?
HTIB: Definitely, the seasonal nature aside, most average golfers are not going to a golf course to experience craft beer. It's just a bonus for a few that happen to enjoy both. Once I have a steady production schedule, I'd like to be on some of the rotating taps in the Moncton area.

MBR: When did you open?
HTIB: September 5th 2017 is when I poured my first commercial beer.

MBR: What styles of beer are you planning to make?
HTIB: Currently I make a kolsch-like beer and a pale ale with plans to make an IPA and a smokey beer in the near future.

MBR: Anything else you would like to add?
HTIB:I'm hoping to move to town sometime soon so I can have a constant water supply. Currently storing city water in 7 gallon jugs
I'm also looking into the possibility of canning some of my beer, although I will need some larger storage tanks first.

Thanks Luke for your time and you will find Hop To It on tap at Maplewood Golf & Country Club

Bore City Brewing Adds Grand Monk Artisan Ales Brand

(Moncton, NB) - There have been many changes at Bore City Brewing since their opening in 2015, from their brewer to their beers and with the recent expansion to a 3 BBL system they thought it fitting to introduce a fresh branding to their beer. 
Corporately they will remain Bore City Brewing but their beer will now be branded Grand Monk Artisan Ales and will be available in bars and restaurants throughout New Brunswick.The expansion will still offer no retail space but with a much larger capacity, they hope to be available at more ANBL locations for growler fills and plan on bottling by this fall. 

Picaroons Releases Flood, Sweat and Tears IPA

Photo from Picaroons

(Fredericton, NB) - Picaroons Traditional Ales introduced Flood, Sweat and Tears IPA. This limited edition beer celebrates NB's resilience during the great flood of 2018. Picaroons says "Ringing in at 7% ABV, this one-off is a tad citrus-y from some orange peel additions as well as little fruity from their signature Ringwood yeast. It's a little hazy and is all wrapped up with a nice crisp and bitter finish". It's on sale now at The Picaroons Roundhouse and The Brewtique in Downtown Fredericton, and will be flowing out to the Picaroons General Store in Uptown Saint John, The 5 Kings Restaurant & Picaroons Brewhouse, and to ANBL locations throughout the rest of the province. 

Picaroons Releases Melonhead for 2018

Photo from Picaroons

(Fredericton, NB) - Picaroons Traditional Ales says Melonhead is back and announces this years winner of the cat contest. This years winner is Henry Smith and his "cat mom" Jordan "he actually likes playing fetch and drinking from people glasses. He's sweet". Melonhead, a crisp pale ale infused with natural watermelon extract, will not be available in bottles this year but in 473 ml cans and of course on tap. Look for Melonhead cans on the shelves of Picaroons retail stores and ANBL stores. 

Picaroons Releases Version 16 of Pivot IIPA

Photo from Picaroons 

(Fredericton, NB) - Picaroons Traditional Ales says that PIVOT #16 has arrived. In this Pivot they are bringing a whole new flavour profile to the table. They used Fuggles, Northern Brewer and in the hop percolator they used Willamette, to provide a "beer that any fans of English IPAs will really enjoy". They also say that "This combination of hops allows the aroma of their Ringwood yeast to shine through, provides earthy flavours, a nice lingering bitterness, and a slight fruity finish". The Imperial IPA is now shipping to all Picaroons outlets and ANBL locations throughout NB. 

Fils du Roy Releases La Grande Barbe Wheat Beer

(Petit-Paquetville, NB) - Distillerie Fils du Roy has released a new wheat beer highlighting one of Acadia's earliest beer pioneers. La Grande Barbe "The great beard’’ is a wheat beer created in honor of Nicolas Denys (1598?-1688). He began growing wheat in Acadia and made plans to build a flour mill and a microbrewery, which he wanted to substitute beer for wine that had to be import.
We do not know a lot of what he look like, except that he had a full, white beard which caused many of the Mi'kmaq to refer to him as “La Grande Barbe".
The 5.5% ABV beer is available now in 750 ml bottles.

Trailway Brewing releases Scrumlurkers American IPA

Photo from Trailway Brewing 

(Fredericton, NB) - Trailway Brewing releases Scrumlurkers American IPA. From Trailway - "Anyone out there a fan of the segment "Scrum lurkers" on the Jay and Dan show? Well, we are!" This Friday they are releasing a beer in honour of this segment, as it brings the brewery plenty of laughs on a weekly basis! Scrumlurkers, a 6.5% ABV ale, has a hop profile they had been seeking out for a long while. Through their many weekly one off IPAs they developed this hop schedule that is an intense tropical and citrus fruit with a sweet candy and vanilla character that "lurks" in the background. Complex and really delicious! Find it on tap and in cans tomorrow at the brewery. 

New Brunswick Brewers Place in Eight Categories at Canadian Brewing Awards

Photo by Grimross Brewing

(Halifax, NS) - The 2018 Canadian Brewing Awards were held in Halifax on May 26th with four brewers taking home awards in eight categories. Grimross Brewing took home four awards, Foghorn Brewing grabbed two awards and Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault and Pump House Brewery taking one each.

Photo by Foghorn Brewing 

Grimross took Gold in European Style Amber to Dark Lager category for Après Lager, Silver in American-Style Black Ale category for Maritime Black IPA and bronze in Porter category for Pugnacious Porter and Maritime Cream Ale in the Cream Ale category. 

Photo by Les Brasseurs
du Petit-Sault

Rothesay brewer Foghorn Brewing nabbed two bronzes Golden Grover in the English Style Pale Ale category and one for Esty Special Bitter in the English Bitters – Best Bitter or ESB category. 

Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault achieved Gold for Col. John Baker Dubbel in the Belgian-Style Dubbel and Pump House Brewery took bronze in the Dry Stout category with its Muddy River Stout.
Full results for the 2018 winners available here.

The Gahan House Restaurant and Brewery Opens in Fredericton

(Fredericton, NB) – Murphy Hospitality Group (MHG) has opened its fourth location of The Gahan House Restaurant and Brewery in Fredericton at 426 Queen Street in New Brunswick's capital city. 
The restaurant features a 120 seat dining room, two seasonal outdoor patios and a 5 BBL DME brewing system. The restaurant will also feature an oyster bar with a variety of fresh, local oysters. The brewery is up and running with Spencer Gallant as brewer.
The Gahan brand, which was established in Charlottetown, PEI in 2000 also operates brewpubs in Charlottetown, PEI, Halifax, NS, and most recently Saint John, NB. A third New Brunswick location is slated to open in Moncton later this year. 

Picaroons Traditional Ales releases new version of Pivot

Photo from Picaroons 

(Fredericton, NB) - Picaroons Traditional Ales have released the 14th iteration of their Pivot series. This time they moved away from the big bang tropical and citrus hops and ventured into a melon territory using only two hops: Ekaunot and Huell Melon. Upfront there is a pleasant mild bitterness from the Ekaunot, followed by some honey dew, berry, and grassy notes before it winds down with a medium dry finish.

Valonray Farmhouse Brewery Opens In New Brunswick

 (MacDougall Settlement, NB) –  Valonray Farmhouse Brewery says "After almost a full year of hard work, we are proud to announce that will be opening our store front for direct sales" . They opened on Saturday at 749 MacDougall Road in MacDougall Settlement with five beers, Single, Pale, Blonde, Saison and Triple, that were all open-fermented and bottle-conditioned. 

Photo from Valonray Brewing

Valonray's aim is to offer Belgian style barrel-aged ales with ingredients used from local sources, with some ingredients grown directly on the premises with the goal of becoming an authentic Belgian style, farmhouse brewery within the next few years. Eventually they will expand to barrel aged sour beers, such as lambics and gueuze style ales, which can take years to develop and produce. They currently have four whiskey barrels and plans on doing a bourbon barrel triple soon. The tap room will be located on the premises with views of the hop fields which are on the farm of owner Philippe Fontaine, whose family has owned it for seven generations, and wife Allison Fontaine with an expected opening in the summer 2018.

Photo from Adam Jones

The brewery is located just 5 km from the Northumberland Straight, 10 km from the tourist destination town of Shediac and 20 km from Moncton. They currently have hours for Friday and Saturday but say they will be expanded over the summer.
Watch for more updates on Valonray's Facebook page. 

Thanks to Adam Jones for checking out the brewery and sending me the details. 

Flying Boats Brewing Opens Taproom and Retail Store in Dieppe

(Dieppe, NB) – Flying Boats Brewing has recently moved its production facility from his garage in Shediac to a modern 15 BBL facility at 700 Malenfant Blvd in Dieppe, New Brunswick's fourth largest city. 

Photo from Jason Babineau

Photo from Jason Babineau

Photo from Jason Babineau

The brewery has been in operation at the new location for a over a month now and on the week end opened a taproom and retail store on location. On Saturday there were eight taps flowing for pints, 4 oz samplers and growler fills. There was Dixie Clipper IPA and Empress Irish Red Ale available in 473 ml cans with S-55 coming soon. 
They have initially posted hours of  11:00 AM to 7:00 PM from Wednesday to Friday and 11:00 to 5:00 PM on Saturday. For more details check Flying Boats Facebook page.
Thanks to Jason Babineau for pictures and info from the opening 

Picaroons Releases Pivot IIPA version 11

Photo from Picaroons

(Fredericton, NB) - Picaroons Traditional Ales have bottled their eleventh version of Pivot Ale. This time around they steered away from the tropical train and leaned more on the citrusy and herbal end of things. Hopped with Lemondrop, Zeus, and Warrior, this version has some herbal earthiness as well as lots of spicy peppery notes from the Zeus hops that's all blanketed by the lemony citrus and fruity notes from the Lemondrop and Warrior. This batch will start hitting the taps and shelves very soon.