Maritime Beer Report - July 25, 2014

Hello and welcome to the July 25th edition of the Maritime Beer Report.

PEI Brewing Company had something slightly different on tap this week. They had Keller Beer on tap that they described as "the perfect unfiltered, naturally carbonated Beach Chair Lager". On tap for now at PEI brewing.

The saga of ANBL's new Brewery Agency Stores policy continues. Stephen Dixon of Grimross Brewing and Mitch Biggar of Railcar Brewing met with ANBL this week. Grimross tells me that they are relatively unscathed in this issue and expansion plans continue. Railcar on their facebook page remain cautious but seem to be pushing ahead until Mitch says "they can't". What remains in question is, will New Brunswick ever have another microbrewery?

Big Axe Brewery announced their Grand Opening on Saturday August 2nd at 519 Otis Drive, Nackawic, that is Exit 231. They will have Julio's Garage Band playing from 5 pm to 9 pm. They say come on out to enjoy a beer and some live music and support your local Brewery.

Big Tide Brewing Co. released that after a 2 year absence  Haffe Wit is back. They describe it as "a lightly hopped and unfiltered wheat/barley brew. Brewer Chris Welch flavours the batch with his own blend of herbs and spices, giving the Wit a taste truly unique among our other beers".

A bunch of news coming this week from Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault. Their blonde ale, Bob LeBoeuf makes its long awaited premiere to the brewery and they are having their Official Opening and you're invited tomorrow Saturday, July 26th. Between 11 am and 5 pm, take a grand tour of our new facility downtown Edmundston and take part in the official ceremonies at 2 pm.
In other news from them their brewers Gavin Anderson and Jason Dionne were joined by Acadie-Broue's Patrice Godin of Moncton and the trio worked on a surprise beer for the World Acadian Congress. I will update you as I hear more.

Grimross Brewing sent me their notes on their newest beer Summer Serendipity. They say it is a slightly hazy straw colored Belgian Ale. The grain bill is mostly Pilsner, with Wheat and Rye. Aroma is floral with hints of tropical fruit. Taste is tropical fruit with a lightly balanced hop bitterness. Refreshing summer beer. They also add the brewery build is progressing nicely at their new 4000 sq ft. space at 600 Bishop Drive, Fredericton NB.

Red Rover Brewing Company, who had one of my favorites at the Brewers Bash, is releasing Scrumpy Cider in celebration of the New Brunswick Highland Games Festival. This 7 % ABV brew is an authentic traditional Scrumpy cider. They say to try it first on tap at the Games and at The Ciderhouse hand pulled for a limited time.

Big Spruce Brewing announced one of my favorite seasonals was being brewed this week. Jason Spears mashed in their annual batch of Tip of the Spear Black Spruce Tip IPA. Look for this one later next month.

Propeller Brewing ‏is trucking along with yet another One Hit Wonder. This time it is an American Red Ale is on tap at the Prop Shoppes and this one is a  5.7% ABV.

That is all for this week, thanks for joining me and watch for the first anniversary show next Friday. So until then enjoy responsibly.

Maritime Beer Report - July 18, 2014

Hello and welcome to the Maritime Beer Report for July 18, 2014.

Mitch Biggar from Railcar Brewing Company released this distressing news "Due to a recent board (late June) of directors meeting NBLC informed us today that we will not be able to obtain our Brewery Agency Store license which allows us to sell to the public for offsite consumption until we have sold 100 HL during 12 months through NBLC first.

This is a major show stopper for us so we may close before we even open. As our business plan accounted for direct sales from Brewery."

This I feel is unfair to Railcar and counter-productive to business in New Brunswick. It is unfair to change the rules without notice for any business. There is a petition started by Southan Farms stating "Allow microbreweries with applications into the Province to sell beer on-site to the public for consumption off-site to proceed under the old regulations in place when the application was made." I have this pinned to the top of the Todd the Beer Dude facebook page, I signed it and I encourage you to as well to help out Railcar.

Celtic Knot Brewing announced that they have new fermenters which will allow them to double their output and experiment with some new one offs and recipes.

Grimross Brewing has released their new beer "Summer Serendipity" and it is in the fridge at the Brewtique now. The say the notes are "Floral sweet lemongrass aroma, tropical fruit taste and subtle hop bitterness".

Rare Bird Craft Beer released Maple Ale this week. It uses fresh sap from local maple farms went in to make this new brew. They say "we add a nice balance of hops and malt along a hint of fresh local maple syrup and spice to create a copper coloured, light-bodied ale that celebrates the bounty of our Nova Scotia forests." It is currently available the Rare Bird Pub in Guysborough on tap at Stillwell Beer Bar in Halifax with a more locations coming. This beer is 5.5% ABV.

Big Spruce Brewing noted that their tasting lounge and deck is screened in from the bugs, some bad ass doors, and flights of samples of our beers. Opening very soon. They also said the brewery was smelling like the zest from 40 grapefruits. From Big Spruce "All this heat has inspired a new beer, Pump Le Mousse, a grapefruit wheat beer, coming soon from Big Spruce." I very punny name again, if you don't know what I am talking about, look up the french translation of grapefruit.

Garrison Brewing Co. showed Daniel with some lavender from Meander River Farm this week. Does that mean Honey Lavender Ale will reappear this year? Perhaps at the Seaport Beerfest?  

Propeller Brewing Company and Lion & Bright Café Wine Bar announced Brews and Brats Tap Takeover for Sausage Fest on Tuesday August 19th from 6:30pm to 11pm.  Propeller Brewing Company will takeover all eight taps at Lion & Bright Café Wine Bar with One Hit Wonders and specialty brews. The team in the kitchen will be serving from an inspired menu featuring the the mighty sausage. As well a live DJ will keep the room lively all night. a mere $15 gets you in the door and a ticket for your first beer. As well you will take home an official commemorative Sausage Fest glass. Tickets are for sale on Local Connections Halifax website.
Propeller Brewing Company has also restarted their Open Tours at their Gottingen St brewery. The tours are on Wednesday nights 6:00-7:30pm (July 9th -September 1st). No booking is required for open tours, just show up and have a great time. Arrive early as space is limited.

Ladies Beer League is also working on an event for Sausage Fest with Boxing Rock Brewing with a twist. They are looking for you to create a cask. You pick a Boxing Rock Beer, add some ingredients and share it on their facebook and you may win a shirt.

Halifax Seaport Beerfest has opened the call for volunteers for the August 9th and 10th event. You will receive all kinds of perks! Learn more and sign up at http://seaportbeerfest.com/interested-volunteering

Like to say thanks to everyone that said hi to me at the Picaroons' Brewers Bash last Saturday. It was an exceptional event and I think everyone really enjoyed it. Hats off to the organizers and all the volunteers.

Thanks for joining me again this week and until next time enjoy responsibly.

Maritime Beer Report - July 11, 2014.

Hello and welcome to the July 11th edition of the Maritime Beer Report.

A another new brewery is trying to open in Riverview New Brunswick. AWOL Brewery hopes to brew up unique beers including mead. They have a crowdfunding campaign running right now on Indiegogo to raise $18,000 for commercial equipment to get them off the ground. This is a great grass roots chance to help get a small local business going. There are all kinds of levels to pick from and I really hope you consider helping him out and there are some great rewards as well.

Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault launched their Tante Blanche last week and is available at the Deck Resto-Bar, at Station 127, at Frank's Bar & Grill and at the Fraser-Edmundston Golf Club.

Hammond River Brewing is brewing a new beer. It's a California Steam Ale style of beer and will be called "Gammie'. The name is a tribute to the recent passing of the brewers father, and it's what all of his grand kids called him. HRB says "This will be a very easy drinking beer with bready and toasty notes, along with some fruitiness. This will be brewed with San Francisco lager yeast but fermented a little closer to Ale temperatures, which will make this beer very unique."

Garrison Brewing Company announced their prices are going up this week in relation to growler fills. The prices will now be as follows: Core brands (Tall Ship, Irish Red, Nut Brown, etc.) will be $10 for a Growler fill and $6 for a Growlito fill. Their Premium beers such as our Imperial IPA will now be $11 for a Growler fill, and $7 for a Growlito fill. They will continue to have their All Day Growler Happy Hour on Thursdays with $1 off a Growler fill and $0.50 off a Growlito fill.

North Brewing Company had a great pairing event at Harbourstone Sea Grill and Pour House last night. At the event we got to try the new Halifax Common beer they are releasing tomorrow. It is a California Common style which is new to me. It was a dark straw in color and slightly cloudy. It had some nice fruitiness and biscuit flavors with a slight dry finish. It comes in at 5% ABV and should make a great summer beer. Other news from North is that they now are bottling 650 ml bombers that will allow them to be for sale at private stores.

Propeller Brewing Company are bringing back Prop'r Cask Night after a long hiatus on  August 15th for a special 'Sausage Fest Edition'. Local chef Ludo Eveno of Agricola Street Brasserie will prepare a sausage feast worthy of memory. Of course being a Cask Night, patrons will also get to enjoy a very special one-off beer along with a fine roster of Propeller craft brews. Included in the ticket price is an Official Commemorative Sausage Fest Glass to remember this special event.

Rock Bottom Brewpub July Beer dinner menu for July 29th has been released. It only $35 for three courses each paired with one of our fantastic hand crafted beer.

• Beer Battered Halibut Cheeks and Citrus Aioli & Micro Fruits with Belgian IPA 
• Beer Braised Lamb Shepherd's Pie with Porter
• Poached Pear with Vanilla Ice Cream and Beer Caramel Sauce with Bigwater Brown

Sea Level Brewing says that its Blooberry Pail Ale has been on tap for a bit at the Port Pub, but is now in cans! This 5% ABV beer is made with Bloo Juice, blueberry juice made in the Annapolis valley. Seems like a great combination.

Picaroons Traditional Ales is asking for a few more volunteers for the Picaroons' Brewers Bash tomorrow. They say "If you don't have tickets, and would like to get into the festival for just about 4 hours of work, we would love to have your help!!! Please email volunteer@picaroons.ca NOW if you are interested!!  Thanks so much! (Oh, and THERE WILL be a volunteer party at a later date too, with LOTS of beer!)"

Speaking of the Picaroons' Brewers Bash, I will be there tomorrow sampling and taking photos. If you see me say "Hi".

Thanks for joining me again this time and as always enjoy responsibly.

Maritime Beer Report - July 4, 2014

Hello and welcome to the July 4th edition of the Maritime Beer Report.

PEI Brewing Company released a beer late last Friday called VIC Park Pale Ale. It  is now on tap only at PEIBC. They describe it as follows "effervescence and balanced bitterness make it a great summer beer" and this one comes in at 5.2% ABV.

Big Spruce Brewing teased us with a picture of spruce tips a say it is "almost time to brew Tip of the Spear Spruce Tip IPA". This is an extremely delicious beer and if you get the chance to have some don't pass it up. It should be out in 3 or 4 weeks

The Summerfest Blonde is being brewed by Garrison Brewing brewmaster Daniel Girard celebrating their sponsorship of the TD Halifax Jazz Festival. The beer was described by Tenille Goodspeed, Marketing Assistant at the Halifax Jazzfest, as "a light, crystal clear, refreshing beer that is just the thing to have at an outdoor festival" She also relayed that the beer recipe breaks down as about 10% wheat, 90% 2nd Row (Maritime) barley and a dash of Columbus hop with a IBU of 8 and a 4% ABV.

Granite Brewery says the Honey Ginger Beer is back on for the summer. They say "It is a light pale ale with a hint of honey and ginger. It is available in growlers at the beer store". This beer is 4.8% ABV.

North Brewing Company shared that their beer dinner with the Harbourstone on July 10th was sold out, but have decided to add a few more tickets and expand the event. You can get tickets before they are gone on eventbrite.

Propeller Brewing Company has a couple of items to relay, first is that as of today, July 4th, they will be raising prices to $10 for 1.89L Growlers and $6.50 for 1L Flip-Tops. They will continue to have Growler Wednesdays. They say the price increase is due to rising costs of raw ingredients such as malt, hops, and even water. I think we can all understand that. 
They also released news of their newest One Hit Wonder that is a Session IPA and is now available at the Prop Shop. They say "this dry hopped Pale Ale arrives weighing in at a modest 4.5% ABV. and 45 IBU's. However, due to ample late hop additions it packs flavourful hop kick".

Tatamagouche Brewing Co. say they now have 650mL of our Hippie Dippie Pale and Butcher Block Red available at the brewery and the Truro Farmers Market on Saturdays. I noticed they are also hiring. If you are interested in joining Nova Scotia's newest brewery drop them a line.

Lastly, tomorrow is the Stillwell takeover by Bad Apple Brewhouse. when Jeff told me about this a few months ago I thought it was cool but really ambitious. I am glad it is coming to fruition. For more details see my post on my blog listing the 15 beers BAB is bringing.

Thanks for joining me this week. Have a great week and I'll be here again next week so until then enjoy responsible. 

Bad Apple Brewhouse Tap Takeover at Bar Stillwell

Been waiting for this for months since Jeff from Bad Apple Brewhouse told me about it, going to be a lot of fun. Hope to see you there.

Here is tomorrows tap and cask list

1. Cider 7.7% ABV
2. Summer Slurper Session Ale 5% ABV
3. Dry-Hopped American Pale Ale 5.7% ABV
4. East Coast Beer (Sea Salt, Carmel & Dulse Aged on Cedar) 6% ABV
5. Mother Pucker Sour Ale 4.8% ABV
6. That's Falcon Teamwork IPA 6.7% ABV
7. White Side Up White IPA 6.5% ABV
8. Mosaic DIPA 8% ABV
9. Impresser DIPA 10.2% ABV
10. Black & Tackle Russian Imperial Stout 9% ABV
11. Hopscotch Barrel-Aged DIPA 10% ABV
12. Barrel-Aged Black & Tackle Russian Imperial Stout 11.6% ABV
13. Smokehouse Lager (100% Smoked Malt Ale) 6.7% ABV
14. American Pale Ale 5.7% ABV
15. Cask Ale TBA

There are three session with a very few tickets left to the 12 and 8 PM session and the 4 PM is sold out. Contact Stillwell to check availability