Triple Island Brewing Company

PRINCE RUPERT, BC – BC Beer Blog reports that the town of Prince Rupert will be getting their first brewpub later this year when Rod Daigle opens his Triple Island Brewing Company:

Daigle and his two business partners decided on a brewpub designed around a twin 38-litre Sabco Brew-Magic systems. It may take some time to convert the residents over to full-flavoured ales with character, so it seems sensible to start out modestly. There should be a growth plan in place in case business expands rapidly, but it’s not like there will be a lot of competition up there.

Daigle plans to launch with two beers – a blond ale and probably something hoppier. Several styles will follow; hopefully, he’ll introduce cask-conditioned ale at some point too. The pub menu will be beer-driven with the intention of having suitably paired appetizers, entrées, and desserts. The brewpub décor will emphasize the historical aspect of brewing and pay tribute to North American craft brewers.

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Brecknock Brewing to Launch Soon

SASKATOON, SK – Brecknock Brewing, a new contract-brewing operation specialising in organic beers, will be officially releasing their first two beers – Brecknock Pale Ale and Brecknock Pilsner – at SLGA stores next month.

Currently using the Paddock Wood Brewery as a brewing facility, Brecknock was founded by Jason Dearborn, a former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. CEO Mark Simpson is a former Molson brewmaster, and several other partners are also involved in various aspects of the business.

The brewery takes its name from Brecknock Farm, a farm in southwest Saskatchewan where organic barley is being grown for the beers. The company is also commited to using bio-fuel for all of its fuel needs, including farm equipment, and has partnered with Canadian Green Fuels to be their supplier.

Russell Cream Ale Now Available in Bottles

SURREY, BC – Russell Brewing Company have announced that they are now shipping 6 x 341ml bottles of Russell Cream Ale in British Columbia.

“We are pleased to announce that Russell Cream Ale is now available in bottles,” said Andrew Harris, President. “We began shipping bottles of our flagship brand this month and will roll out other brands this spring. Russell enjoys a strong draught footprint in BC and with the introduction of bottled products we are positioning ourselves to take a leadership role in the retail market in BC.”

In addition to draught, several Russell beers have been available in cans. It’s unclear if the move to bottles means that they will no longer be offering canned product, or if both formats will be used.

Granite Brewery Moving Halifax Location

HALIFAX, NS – The Halifax location of the Granite Brewery closed today (Feb 22nd) and will be moving to a new facility in the north end of the city. Also closing is Ginger’s Tavern, the Barrington Street bar where the brewery was located.

The Granite will continue supplying beer to The Henry House (where the brewery had previously been located) and other area pubs, and owner Kevin Keefe will also be continuing work on an additional Granite location at Mill Island in Windsor, NS.

The Toronto location of the Granite is unaffected by these changes.

[sources: Beer Advocate & Great Canadian Pubs and Beer]

UPDATE: Shop Talk, a small business news blog on the website for weekly Halifax paper The Coast, has posted a story on the closure/move with further details and an interview with Kevin Keefe.

New Beers at Pump House Brewpub

MONCTON, NB – Pump House brewmaster Greg Nash has announced a few recent and upcoming beers at the brewpub via his blog:

• Anise Brown Ale is now on tap. “This beer is truly a delightful experience with notes of mint, licorice and root beer, one of a kind!”
• There will be a special chocolate beer on tap this weekend for Valentine’s Day.
• Maltitude Russian Imperial Stout will be on tap in early March. “Yes it’s conditioning away in the tanks! We’ve added a few kg’s of fresh roasted coffee beans from Down East Coffee to this giant beer and wow! It is truly a beast of a beer, extremely complex and it is tasting delicious.”
• Belgian-Style Rye Pale Ale is brewing early next week and will replace the Anise Brown Ale after it’s gone.

Yukon Brewing To Brew In England

WHITEHORSE, YK – Alan Hansen, the head brewer at Yukon Brewing, has been invited to England in March to brew a special batch of Yukon’s Lead Dog Ale for the JDW Beer Festival. He will be joining other master brewers who have been invited from New Zealand, Finland, and the US, and is first Canadian brewer to be selected to brew beer for the festival.

The JDW Beer Festival will take place for 18 days in April at J.D. Wetherspoon pubs throughout the UK, with over 3 million pints of beer expected to be consumed over the course of the festival. All beers featured in the festival will be real ales, served from casks in their unpasturised and unfiltered form. According to the brewery, Lead Dog Ale was selected since it is perceived as a beer that will make an excellent real ale.

Great Lakes Green Tea Ale

TORONTO, ON – Great Lakes Brewery have launched their newest seasonal beer, Green Tea Ale. First released as a one-off for Toronto’s Festival of Beer last summer, the beer was popular enough to have a wider release this year as a spring seasonal.

Here’s the description from the brewery:

Our new spring seasonal, Green Tea Ale, is now available at our retail store. Sold in our custom 650ml stenciled bottles, it’s part of the LCBO spring beer release, and will be on shelves the first week of March. Brewed with Organic Green Tea and Ontario ginseng, it’s refreshing and deceptively full bodied for 4.2%. The fresh green tea flavour comes through in the middle with a touch of bitterness in the finish. Look for it on draught at a number of bars in the next few days.

Grand River Curmudgeon IPA

CAMBRIDGE, ON – Grand River Brewing officially launched thier newest beer, Curmudgeon IPA, at a tasting event earlier this week where it was sampled alongside several other IPAs.

According to brewmaster Rob Creighton, Curmudgeon IPA was created using English Pilgrim hops for bittering and was finished with Fuggles, and checks in at 6.5% abv and roughly 70 IBUs. The label features a picture of Len Owens, the owner of Cambridge restaurant and pub The Golden Kiwi.

As with all Grand River beers, Curmudgeon IPA is available at the brewery in bottles and will be on tap at select bars and restaurants in Cambridge, Toronto and surrounding areas.

Jim Brickman Resigns from Brick Brewing’s Board of Directors

WATERLOO, ON – Brick Brewing announced today that Jim Brickman has resigned from the company’s Board of Directors.

Brickman founded Brick in 1984 as Ontario’s first modern craft brewery, and served as President and CEO of the company until May 2004. He subsequently served as Executive Chairman from May 2004 to December 11, 2008 when he retired from the company. He remained a member of the Board of Directors until today’s announcement.

Brick Red Cap Ale Moves to Industry Standard Bottle

WATERLOO, ON – Brick Brewing are relaunching Red Cap Ale in industry standard longneck bottles after selling it in old style stubby bottles for the last 7 years.

Originally brewed by the now defunct Carling, Red Cap was Canada’s most popular beer brand through much of the 1950s and 1960s, owning almost half of the market at one point. Brick acquired and revived the brand in 1994, and started packaging it in the classic stubby in 2002 to further Red Cap’s retro image.

According to President and CEO George Croft, the move back to the standard longneck bottle is being done “as part of our on-going commitment to deliver sustainable cost reduction.”