Hello and welcome to your beer report for January 22, 2016.
The Gahan House in Charlottetown has released and new beer called Cast Iron Dark Lager. It is a dark and very sessional lager, with a medium-light body. Flavours of malt forward, subtle roast and chocolate. Get this 5% BAV 36 IBU lager only on tap for a limited time.
PEI Brewing Company says its Black Banks will be back on shelves later this month Also look for their next barrel aging beer in bottles next month.
Bore City Brewing is now a professional brewery. They dropped off their first keg at Les Brumes du Coude. It was Marécage and they have also sent some beer to James Joyce in Fredericton.
Hammond River Brewing held its Second Annual Home Brew Competition over the week end. The style for the competition was a Strong Scotch Ale and there were entries from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. The final results are:
1st Place Tilted Kilt brewed by Keith Forbes & Mike Orr (Nova Scotia)
2nd Place Kilted Tilt brewed by Keith Forbes & Mike Orr (Nova Scotia)
3rd Place More Than Just a Wee Heavy brewed by Mark McGraw (Newfoundland)
The winners will be brewing up their Strong Scotch Ale in the very near future.
Picaroons Traditional Ales announced its Beer & Chocolate Dinners are back. A multi-course chocolate infused dinner - each course paired with a different Picaroons. This year they will have one in Rothesay at the Shadow Lawn Inn, and one in Downtown Fredericton at Brewbakers. Both will be happening on Wednesday February 10th. Look for all the ticket information on their facebook page.
Big Spruce Brewing released Read Between the Pines a Pine Needle IPA, created with Aaron Spinney of Sawdust City Brewery. The pine needles from both Ontario and Cape Breton give it an underlying complexity. Nelson Sauvin and Simcoe hops make for a rich, aromatic hop profile. It is a hefty 7.2% ABV and 48 IBUs.
Boxing Rock Brewing is releasing Oban Heather Scotch Ale. Boxing Rock partnered up with Jason "Professor" McDougall to brew something special. Jason won the 2014 Garrison Home Brew-off and had his beer, Professor McDougall’s Weisse-Guy Hefeweizen, released early last year.
Oban Heather Scottish Ale is 5% ABV made with loads of Golden Promise Malt, it has a perfect malty biscuity base to showcase the 35 kg of Scottish Heather flowers they put into the brew. To balance all the heady floral notes of the Heather, they also added lots of wildflower honey from their producer in the Annapolis Valley, and just a hint of peat smoked malt. A touch of English Fuggles hops were added to balance the whole affair.
Sticking with Boxing Rock, Rumble In The Alley Round 2, the second collaboration between the Boxing Rock and Upstreet Craft Brewing in Charlottetown, will be available for a limited time. It is a SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) IPA made with 100% Dark German Munich malt and 100% Ontario grown Santiam hops from Clear Valley Hops in Ontario.
This collaboration features great malty flavours of biscuit, honey and toasted grain with a unique hop structure featuring a fragrant floral nose followed by a lemon-lime flavour touch, finishing with that unmistakable Santiam character: spicy and citrus notes and floral aroma resulting from copious dry-hopping.
Good Robot Brewing released a new a new one-off today. Bank of Azealia is a Wild American - literally. Last summer while homebrewing, they discovered that a certain bacterial microbe - which we are currently investigating - in their brewery generates a lemon-like, funky character should it enter their beers. They took a look under the microscope and know for certain it's not brett or lacto, but they need a more thorough analysis before concluding exactly what it is.
More importantly, though, is the flavour, which Doug loves. It only pairs well with light beers like corn, which they used as a base. They then dry-hopped it with Falconer's Flight and Cascade to enhance the citrus character. Bank of Azealia is named after the rap artist Azealia Banks. Like the artist, the beer is tart, funky, wild and definitely not for everyone.
The Menu is
1st Course Mussels - Raven Ale
2nd Course Parmesan Risotto - Cream Ale
3rd Course Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potato Puree - Citra IPA
Dessert Carrot Cake - AVA
Propeller Brewing has a new One Hit Wonder. Fog City Coffee Porter made with Java Blend Coffee is a 5.5% ABV and 30 IBU ale. It is now on tap at Dartmouth and will be on in Halifax later today. They used whole beans in the brew as well as added more during fermentation.
Spindrift Brewing has generated another one-off. Today's release is Knotty Buoy. It is a sour mashed wheat lager was aged on chopped rhubarb, cranberries and hibiscus tea. It beer pours ruby red and its clean tartness is complimented by bright fruit aromatics.
There is something of interest for NS beer lovers. A selection of NS made beer, wine, cider and spirits will soon be available for purchase at Halifax Stanfield International Airport (HSIA). Liquid Assets (a subsidiary of Ironworks Distillery) is scheduled to open post-security, on the domestic/international departures level in April, 2016.It is not a duty-free shop so it will allow travelers coming and going to purchase product. Look for full article here.
Thanks for checking me out the report.
