Maritime Beer Report - September 26, 2014

Hello and welcome to September 26th edition of the Maritime Beer Report. 

Oktoberfest is in the air and the PEI Brewing Company has several events planned. The 2nd Annual Growler Challenge and the first Art Battle of the season all happening on October 18th. Watch here for more details. PEIBC also announced new growler prices, it will now cost 11 dollars for a regular fill and 13 to top up with a seasonal.

AWOL Brewery is to be congratulated on taking number one for Canada in the SJPORR Challenge for his D.A.G. Red and is now going to the internationals. The DAG Red is an amber ale with Rye Soaked Oak chips. Good luck and that judging will be in December. 

Big Axe Brewery has released their new Rusty Axe Amber Ale. From Big Axe "Rusty Axe Amber ale is brewed with brown sugar glazed carrots, roasted squash and homemade brittle, it boasts mild flavours of fall vegetables, hints of vanilla and cinnamon. This beer erupts with soft caramel flavour, mild hoppy taste, followed by a well rounded malty middle and finishes off with a hint of the harvest spices like nutmeg and clove". This is a 5.6% ABV and 28 IBUs ale and will soon be available at pubs in Fredericton.

Big Tide Brewing Company says its Indian Beach Pumpkin Ale smells "soooo good in the brew house this morning. All of the spicy warm flavors of the pumpkin ale brewing and the aroma of fresh Cascade and hallertau hops". Watch for this one soon.

Picaroons Traditional Ales announced a couple of "surprise" beers this week. Page Turner is an amber session ale, made with Gooseberries, brewed in celebration of Goose Lane Editions 60th Anniversary. It will be available on tap at The Brewtique beginning October 3rd, coinciding with Goose Lane's anniversary celebrations and UNB's celebrated "Poetry Weekend". It will also be available at Goose Lane's anniversary events in Toronto on September 30 and at James Joyce Irish Pub Fredericton on October 3rd. Picaroons will be donating proceeds to Laubach Literacy New Brunswick. 
Picaroons also announced the Tabulator. It is a "conservative Extra Special Bitter that's been dry-hopped quite liberally with an uncountable amount of green hops". It is a limited edition small batch brew and was tapped at 10 AM at The Brewtique in Downtown Fredericton. They also say it may possibly some other places too

Railcar Brewing Company has a couple of items this week, first they are looking for a part time cashier / growler filler. To apply email resume to mitch@railcarbrewing.com. Second Mitch says "after today’s ANBL visit it could be another 2 to 4 weeks before we are open for growler sales. As the next Board of Directors meeting is not until October 10th. All inspections are now done and we are just awaiting listings and Brewery Agency Store agreement. Will keep everyone updated as we know more. Thanks for your support and patience" 

Authentic Seacoast Brewing Company had pictures up this week of employees spicing and roasting pumpkins for their Rare Bird Craft Beer Pumpkin Ale. Look for this one probably next month.

Garrison Brewing Company released Sweet Rye'd Harvest Wheat Ale, its collaboration beer with  Beau's All Natural Brewing that I talked about a couple of weeks ago. They say that this tasty harvest ale features Rye and Beau's own Bog Myrtle.  They also say "Spicy and aromatic, this is the fall brew you have been waiting for! $12.95 here at the brewery and Private Stores. This beer weighs in at 6.0% ABV, and 40 IBUs.They also tell me that a couple of beers will be released next week end during City Harvest, There perennial favorite 3 Fields as well as a 8% ABV pumpkin brew called Double Jack.

Meander River Farm released their wet-hopped pale ale, Meander River Homegrown. All of the hops in this one batch, seasonal brew were grown on the Farm in Ashdale. 

Propeller Brewing Company release two of their seasonals this week, Pumpkin Ale and Nocturne Dark Lager. These are available at both Propeller shops now and the pumpkin at least a few select locations.

Tatamagouche Brewing Company says their first seasonal, Lagerhosen, is now available. It is available in growlers, kegs and 650mL bottles as well as at all THREE Oktoberfest events this weekend.

Tickets are now on sale for New Brunswick Beer Tours, On November 1st spend a full day exploring brewers up the Saint John River valley north of Fredericton. This trip starts and ends at King Street Ale House and visits three breweries with cider samples and a lunch included. Tickets available now on eventbrite. 

If you are in the Portland Hills area of Dartmouth stop by Piez Bistro for Sociables for Prostates. For 10 dollars you get three Piez bites and three Nova Scotia Craft Beer samples. Best of all five bucks goes to help research a cure that affects 1 in 8 men in Canada.

That is all for this week and however you decide to spend this first week end of autumn, enjoy responsibly.

Maritime Beer Report - September 19, 2014

Hello and welcome to the September 19th edition of the Maritime Beer Report.

Big Axe Brewery brewed their first batch of  Seasonal Harvest Ale they are kegging it tomorrow and say to stay tuned, what I can say is they showed a bowl of carrots, squash and toffee.

Big Tide Brewing Company brewed Indian Beach Harvest Ale this week with fresh Cascade and Nugget hops grown at Dunhams Run vineyard. Indian Beach Nut Brown is a classic, British style Brown Ale,brewed with a blend of Canadian and European malts.

Hammond River Brewing says that the ANBL contacted them asking if  they would participate in their Growler program at the KV store. This is thanks to you taking time to contact ANBL and request growlers of their beers. HRB beer will be starting October 2nd at the KV store available for Growler fill ups. As a tribute to his Dad, the beer that he is choosing to kick off the program is Gammie California Steam Ale. In other HRB news they are brewing up inaugural Pumpkin Spiced Ale and should be available on tap in about 2.5 weeks. Also, in the next week or so, they'll be brewing up another new beer and it will be an Imperial Vanilla Porter. This beer won a gold medal last year in Calgary in a home brew competition. HRB plans on having two versions of this beer, the Vanilla Porter itself, and another with Bourbon added. 

Picaroons Traditional Ales released seven different batches of Harvest Ale, each brewed with maritime malts, and single hopped with different  fresh, local, hops from their hop farmer friends around the maritimes. One batch will be the Kitchen Sink batch which will have a plethora of all the hops from all farms. You can once again find out about HARVEST ALE's hops and farmers by checking out the batch number on your bottle and going to the Picaroons web  site to check which hops and from where. Cool concept.

The Pump House Brewery released their latest Seasonal Brew, the Oktoberfest Bier. Now available at the Orange Lane location.

Railcar Brewing Company received their brewers licence this week so now they only need to get product listed. Congrats to Mitch.

Shiretown Beer Black Currant Wheat is ready and at the brewery in a very limited quantity. The colour on this one looks fantastic

Big Spruce Brewing is brewing its first pumpkin beer and for this one he is smoking the pumpkin. They also say that their first keg of Harvest Double IPA is on tap at the brewery. Hoppily Remarried is 7.1% ABV

Boxing Rock Brewing Company has been busy these past few weeks. Not only have they commissioned a new fermentation tank, effectively doubling their capacity from this time last year but their Many Hands Harvest Ale collaboration with North Brewing will go on sale tomorrow. It is available on tap in select locations and in growlers.

Gahan House - Halifax reports Karen's upcoming beers with release dates will be Maple Whisky Porter tomorrow, Belgian Pale Ale today and Peach Wit on September 26th. They are also introducing 'Brewster on the Bar' starting next Tuesday, September 23rd. during which they will have a cask of Coffee Porter on the bar.

Meander River Farm had its 5th Annual Hop Harvest last week end. They send thanks to everyone who helped out and their farm yielded 174 pounds of hops this year with 134 pounds for Garrison and 40 pounds for their own brewery.

Propeller Brewing Company says their Organic Ale rolls out to NSLC stores Sept 29th. and their Pumpkin Ale is out now and available at both Prop Shop locations.

Sea Level Brewing's seasonal New Scotland Heather Ale is now on shelves. This hybrid ale uses locally grown heather flowers and a unique combination of wet-hopped Cascade, Fuggles and Hallertau hops grown on Sea Level’s own hop farm. This beer is ABV  5% and approximately 20 IBUs. Their 355ml Cans will also be at Bishops Cellar, Cristall Wine Merchants, Premier Wines and Spirits and Harvest Wines and Spirits and on tap at Stillwell, Obladee Wine Bar, Agricola Street Brasserie, and Auction House. Sea Level is predicting it will be around for two weeks.

LOCAL CONNECTIONS HALIFAX started selling tickets for the Craft Beer & Local Food Celebration at The Halifax Club on January 15th. This was a great event last year and the tickets are going fast, if you want to go don't wait as they will be gone soon. 

Halifax Oktoberfest is tomorrow in Halifax and is always a good time.

Mirella Amato, Canada's only Master Cicerone and author of "Beerology" is coming to Halifax. Please join the Ladies Beer League for a very special book launch and signing with Mirella Amato on October 6th from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm at Lion & Bright.  Tickets are on sale now and it includes the book. 

That is all for this week, until next time enjoy responsibly.

Maritime Beer Report - September 12, 2014

Hello and welcome to the Maritime Beer Report for September 12th.

PEI Brewing Company acquired some barrels from Jack Daniels to barrel age some Sydney Street Stout. This will give the stout a mild bourbon and wood flavour. They say it will be available around Christmas. They also released a Fall four pack featuring Black Banks Cascadian Dark Ale, Blueberry Ale, Harvest Time Golden Lager and Sir John A Honey Wheat Ale. Sorry for us mainlanders this is only available on PEI. Lastly their Transmitter or Coffee Stout B is now available at the brewery.

Big Axe Brewery is now selling 950 ml Grunters for $5.50 for bottle and $7.50 for a fill. They also say Chanterelle Cream Ale back on tap as well as Simon Saaz Summer Ale and once it is gone that's it until next summer.

Big Tide Brewing Company now has Golden Ale now on tap. It is 5% ABV and uses Two-Row, Munich and Vienna malt and a bit of caramunich. Coming up they will be brewing with fresh hops this week end and next and getting ready for pumpkin ale.

Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault presents their 950 ml cruchette now available at the brewery. The brewers did some wet hopping with  Cascade and Chinook hops from France Yan Desjardins's farm in the Grand-Falls area. Watch for that beer real soon. Speaking of watching for beer their distribution through ANBL continues with stores in northeast NB now stocking their beer.

Celtic Knot Brewing announces due to overwhelming popularity of the Ring of Fire beer they will be brewing two back to back batches, so if you missed it you will still get a chance.

Hammond River Brewing is brewing a wet hopped Harvest Ale with their own hops. They are expecting a 70 IBU and 6.8% ABV beer. More details as I get them.

Picaroons Traditional Ales announced their Harvest Ales will be returning next week using 100% Maritime ingredients including fresh local hops. More details soon.

Red Rover Brewing Company announced that after the success of the Fredericton Farmers Market, they are now expanding their refillable bottle locations. Starting this Sunday they will now be available at Queens Square Farmers Market, a first for Saint John. 

Boxing Rock Brewing Company and North Brewing Company got together again this year to collaborate on Many Hands Pale Ale 2.0. This years will be different though. In addition to using Cascade, Mount Hood, and Centennial hops they harvested from LaHave Natural Farms, and over ten pounds of Chinook hops from Boxing Rock's own hop plants in Shelburne they used one hundred pounds of buttercup squash also from LaHave Natural Farms. To round out the beer they used Two-Row Pale Malt grown in Quebec, Maris Otter and some Kilned Amber Malt for some beautiful colour. They say the buttercup squash comes through nicely in the beer, with a great hoppy flavour that can only be had from a wet hopped harvest beer. They say it will be a 6.5% ABV and 37 IBU beer, look for it in a few weeks.

Garrison Brewing got together with Beau's All Natural Brewing last month when they were in town to create a collaboration brew. Sweet Rye'd Harvest Wheat Ale will be arriving next week at the brewery, private stores and eventually the NSLC. Brewed with rye, wheat and Munich malt this copper-coloured harvest ale is ripe with aroma of herb and black pepper melon and citrus. The addition of bog myrtle from Beau's provides additional herb and spice character. This beer weighs in at 6.0% ABV, and 40 IBUs,

Meander River Farm says their Honey Brown is back on tap at the brewery along side their Lunch Box Pale Ale. They held their first Shareholder Cask Night this week. They hosted an exclusive Cask tapping at the Brewery with farm fresh food. In the cask was their Wheat Beer dry-hopped with Glacier Leaf hops and infused with peaches and ginger and primed with local honey.

North Brewing Company says the last batch of Halifax Common is available for this year so time is running out if you haven't tried this one 

Propeller Brewing Company launched their newest year-round beer, Propeller Organic Ale, in 6 Packs and Growlers today. This 4.5% Blonde Ale has a clean body, subtle malt sweetness and a crisp finish.

Schoolhouse Brewery is excited to announce the Hants County Hop Series. They still haven't chosen all the hops for the beers but they want these beers to focus on the taste of our local hops and maritime grown grain.  All the beers will all be made single Maritime Malt. They go on to say hops will be added to the kettle as well as a hop back to get the most of the aromatics from the hops. They also go on to say brewing with whole hops can be a bit of a wild card. Recipes can be hard to replicate so these will be one of a kind beers. 

Uncle Leo's Brewery says Vohs Weizenbier is a seasonal beer so get it while you can. This has been a favorite of mine this summer and I for one will be sad to see it go.

Fredericton Poutine Festival announced that ticket for the second annual event on November 8th go on sale this coming Tuesday. Last year was a great success so get your tickets early.

Piez Bistro in Portland Hills in Dartmouth is holding a Sociables for Prostrates that will feature Craft Beer and Cider Tastings that will pair Nova Scotia brewed beer & ciders with PIEZ BITES, samples of Chef Leslie’s prostate healthy food creations. The $10.00 ticket will give you one Tasting Paddle with 3 craft beer samples and 3 PIEZ Bites. $5.00 going to Prostate Cancer Canada. Beers and ciders are tentatively from Garrison, Boxing Rock, Sea Level, Tata Brew, Propeller, Bad Apple, Schoolhouse, Uncle Leo's and Bulwark. This is happening on September 27th. 

Lots of news this week, have a great time whatever you decide to do and enjoy responsibly.