Hello and welcome to the Maritime Beer Report for March 6th.
Big Axe Brewery introduced three new beers this week. First up is Blonde Ale Version 2. Light golden ale, weighs in at 4.6% ABV. Hopped to 26 IBUs with Perle and El Dorado, that gives this beer fruity and citrus aroma and a clean, refreshing taste. Next up is Partridgeberry Belgian Wheat. Belgian Witbier-style brewed with a mixture of pale malts, Saaz and other aroma hops, oranges and spices like coriander and cloves. Five pounds of partridgeberries were added at the secondary fermentation step, which gives this beer a mild but complex tartness and a wild berry aroma. Lastly is a Chaga Porter. Dark brown in colour this beer offers mild roastiness and pleasant caramel character. Brewed with traditional English aroma hops and a heaping pile of Chaga mushroom to create a unique tasting profile. It weighs in at 5.4% ABV. Chaga is harvested in birch forests and has been used in Europe for its health benefits for centuries. We use New Brunswick chaga that is responsibly harvested by our friend and wild foods enthusiast Dwight at Fiddlehead Heaven Forest Products. These will be available at the brewery and will premiere at Fredericton Craft Beer Festival tomorrow.
Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault says it's finally here! Their Maple Brown Ale, brewed by women, on tap at the Brewtique as of noon yesterday and Saturday at the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival. Out also this week is Lt. Ingall Session Pale Ale. This is the collaboration with our friends at MaltBroue to use 100% local malts. Both these ales come in at 4.6% ABV.
Celtic Knot Brewing says come on over and say hello at Fredericton Craft Beer Festival. he will be bringing Dubh Loki black IPA and Éire Irish red ale. Their next one off will be an all El Dorado hop IPA. It will be called Terminus. This will be the first of many one hop IPAs they plan to brew this spring/summer.
Hammond River Brewing will also be at Fredericton Craft Beer Festival plans on bringing the following beers for patrons to sample.
- Too Hop To Handle Double IPA - His flagship Double IPA brewed with a copious amount of Columbus, Chinook, Cascade, and Centennial hops. 8.4% ABV and 162 IBUs
- Imperial Bourbon Vanilla Porter - An Imperial Porter brewed with fresh Madagascar Vanilla beans and with Maker's Mark Bourbon added. 9.2% ABV and 32 IBUs
- Breakfast Stout - An Imperial Stout brewed with local Java Moose Coffee, Oats, Cacao Nibs, and my homemade Applewood Smoked Bacon. 8% ABV and 60 IBUs.
It's UNB's 50th Anniversary and they've asked HRB to brew a special beer to help celebrate the occasion. So since it's their "Golden" Anniversary the brewer decided to brew up a Golden Ale for them. This beer will be available on tap at the Beaverbrook House in Saint John on March 19th.
Boxing Rock Brewing Company are launching a Rye India Pale Ale called The Next Chapter. It's a perfectly balanced IPA made with New Brunswick grown malt, with a healthy helping of premium rye malt and some dark roasted malt for a fantastic colour. Sorry Nova Scotia the whole batch is heading to New Brunswick. Not only will we launch it at the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival, we've sent some to The King Street Ale House, The Laundromat in Moncton, The Tide and Boar in Moncton, and Pepper's Pub in Saint John. It is available at select ANBL stores in 650 ml bottles and weighs in at 6.3% ABV.
Granite Brewery put out a quick note that they are reviving their India Pale Ale. It will be available next week.
Last night Garrison Brewing held their 7th Annual Home Brew-Off Gala. With a record breaking 84 entries narrowing it down to one winner was challenging. The winner of this year’s competition was Dave Martin
This year’s style was Robust Porter – a dark, rich, malty, beer. Over 100 attendees packed the newly renovated brewery where they watched the award presentation and sampled beer from the finalists along with being the first to try and buy the 2014 winner’s brew Professor McDougall’s Weisse ~ Guy Hefeweizen, brewed by Jason McDougall under the watchful eye of Brewmaster Daniel Girard.
Launched at last night’s gala Professor McDougall’s Weisse ~ Guy Hefeweizen glows hazy deep gold with notes of banana and clove with a hint of bubble-gum. This beer goes great with gouda cheese and cured meats. It is a 5.4% ABV and 8 IBUs beer.
Professor McDougall’s Weisse ~ Guy Hefeweizen is hitting the shelves at NSLC, all private’s stores for brewery fresh at Garrison in the Halifax Seaport
Rock Bottom Brewpub says they changed up one of their "Standard" Beer on tap. For the next while they will not be carrying the Bigwater Brown but instead we will switch over to the Loyalist ESB. The Loyalist E.S.B.is a classic English pub ale. Burnished copper coloured with an aroma of toast, honey, and pear. A crisp malt body featuring bitter chocolate and toffee. Earthy, balanced bitter finish. Perfectly pairs with crispy appetizers and of course Fish'n Chips. It is a 5.6% ABV and 35 IBU beer.
Thanks for joining me again this week and I hope to see some of you tomorrow in Fredericton and as always enjoy responsibly.
