Red Rover Craft Cider Opens New Retail Outlet

(Fredericton, NB) - New Brunswick craft cider pioneer Red Rover has opened The Ciderhouse,  a Taproom and growler fill station at 546 Queen Street in downtown Fredericton. The space is shared Abbey Café & Gallery, a casual quick serve Café and Art Gallery serving coffees, light fare including vegan. 
The Ciderhouse will be fermenting on site by shipping cider by tanker and pumping into the fermenters. The centerpiece is the bar which is constructed from a single tree and boosts an 800 pound bar top. There is also a stage that will offer music in the future.

Red Rover Craft Cider is now available at ANBL stores

(Fredericton, NB) - Red Rover Craft Cider is excited to announce that they will now be available at select ANBL stores. This has been a long process for Red Rover starting back in 2012 due to the uniqueness of their company and the lack of policy covering them up until now.

They will initially have their Spring Cider, Fall Cider and double Gold medal winning* Fire Cider in 750 ml bottles at the Fredericton, Saint John and Dieppe stores with more stores being added soon.


* 2015 Canadian Brewing Awards Cider with Herbs/Spices and 2015 Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards Specialty Cider and Perry

Maritime Beer Report - August 15, 2014

Hello and welcome to the Maritime Beer Report for August 15, 2014.

PEI Brewing Company has a new beer out. The Blood Orange Tangerine IPA is now on tap at PEIBC. They've only got a few kegs of this stuff so it won't be around for long. This one comes in at 6.5% ABV and 55 IBUs.

Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault released L'Effrayab' Tintamarre today on Acadian Day. They describe it as a rustic and refreshing collaboration effort with Acadie-Broue inspired from french flanders creations. Its aroma is filled with citrus and spices. 

Railcar Brewing Company is having a label design contest for their "Railcar Red". Bragging rights and a $250.00 gift card are the prizes. Hit up their facebook page until August 30th to enter and get full contest details.

Big Spruce Brewing has released this years Tip of the Spear IPA and they say that is even hoppier than 2013! This one is 6.4% ABV and 53 IBUs.  They also say that they are once again brewing home brewer Tim Gregory's winning entry from our Home Brew Challenge last year - Tim's Dirty American IPA. 

Propeller Brewing Company has released its latest One Hit Wonder series brew – Summer Blonde Lagered Ale. From Propeller "Weighing in at a modest 4.8% ABV and 22 IBUs, Summer Blonde Lagered Ale is a light bodied, refreshing beer that has high drinkability. Wheat, Pale and Pilsner malts give this ale its distinctive smooth, creamy body. Just enough Centennial hops were added to this brew to perfectly balance its bready finish. After a week of fermentation this ale has been Lagered at a cool temperature for 3 weeks to give a clean crisp finish." 

Sea Level Brewing is hiring a full time Retail Manager. Details are on their facebook page and they ask you to personally deliver your resume to Randy at the brewery between 9am-4pm. 

Prince Edward Island Beer Festival tickets are now on sale for the September 5th and 6th event. It will be at the Delta Prince Edward and tickets will run you 40 dollars for the Friday or Saturday night sessions or 30 for the Saturday afternoon. A ticket gets you a glass, beer samples and live entertainment.

Fredericton Craft Beer Festival and reLiSH have partnered again to bring you Burgers n' Beer on Tuesday, September 30 at 8:00pm. This evening event will pair rarely sampled beer/cider with delicious sliders prepared by the fine chefs at reLiSH's new Fredericton Uptown location. Adam Clawson from Red Rover Brewing will join you to chat about his new local NB Craft Cider. You will get 6 - 8oz beer / cider samples each paired with a unique slider and a custom tasting glass. Tentative beer sample list is Microbrasserie le Naufrageur, Red Rover Brewing and Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault.

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

Maritime Beer Report - August 8, 2014

Hello and welcome to the Maritime Beer Report for August 8, 2014. 

Gahan House is busy hiring for their new location in Halifax, if you are interested in a job check out their website. Check out my blog post about their newest location.

Picaroons Traditional Ales has brewed up a limited release Apricot Ale, Pride Sally Pride. It is available The Brewtique, Vault 29, 540 Kitchen & Bar, The Lunar Rogue Pub, and boom! Nightclub! It was created in cohoots with the Fredericton Pride Committee. Picaroons has also brought back for a limited time their 506 Logger beer. 

Red Rover Brewing say that they will be the first New Brunswick a Brewery (cidery) selling refillable bottles at a Farmers Market this Saturday. Get a Refillable 1L Flagon at Boyces Farmers Market in Fredericton.

Big Spruce Brewing announced that the Tasting Deck now open and it looks great. They also released Pump Le Mousse, the grapefruit wheat ale that I mentioned a few weeks ago. They also say that they have "Nova Scotia's first internationally conspired brew - a Coffee IPA brewed with fresh organic dark roast coffee from Café Milagro in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. We proudly mashed this in today with Bryan Druhan, brewer at Phillips Brewing in Victoria, BC. "

Garrison Brewing Company released they have a bunch more jobs available. From the brewer "As our brewery expands, so does our team! Check out the following positions: Shift Brewer, Packaging Supervisor, Bottling Line Labourer, and Marketing, Events & Retail Coordinator".

Meander River Farm announced they have Honey Brown. From MRF"Made with toasted malts and local Cosman & Whidden Honey, this lightly hopped 5.2% ABV copper coloured brew shows a light coffee flavour on the front, a rich toffee taste in the middle and a smooth honey finish. Stop by the Farm today and Friday from 4-7 or Saturday and Sunday 11-5 for a taste and growler fill while it lasts!"

Propeller Brewery has announced the upcoming launch of a new series of beers . From the Canadian Beer News "The Propeller Lambic Style Series is a collection of beers inspired by the classic wild and sour ales of Belgium, and described as follows:

Propeller Lambic Style has been brewed in keeping with its origins using unmalted wheat and aged hops. We fermented this unique brew using yeast similar to that found indigenously in the Senne Valley of Belgium, southwest of Brussels. Aged in oak wine barrel, this brew displays tart, musty and complex flavours.

Four beers are planned to be released in the series, with the first being Propeller Framboise, a 4.2% sour beer brewed with whole raspberries, and bottle conditioned for several months to add “effervescent and refreshing carbonation.”

Propeller Framboise will be debuted on Saturday August 23rd at Bar Stillwell in Halifax, where it will be available by the bottle or glass while supplies last. Retail sales of 750 ml bottles will launch the following Monday August 25th at both Propeller stores."

Rock Bottom Brewpub will have Thulsa Doom II DIPA On tap Friday, August 8th at 5:00 PM. Coming in at a healthy  8.8% ABV and 130 (calculated) IBUs. 

The Townhouse Brewpub & Eatery released that now on tap they have Terrys British IPA, 5.4% ABV.

If you see me tomorrow afternoon at Seaport Beer Fest say "Hi", so until next time enjoy responsibly. 

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.