Heritage Returns to Ottawa, Starts Contract Brewing for Magnetawan River

OTTAWA, ON – Five years after moving from Ottawa to nearby Carleton Place, Heritage Brewing has returned to Ottawa and moved into a new 6000 square foot brewery on Campbell Avenue. The first beer to be made at the new location was the Spring seasonal Maple Bush Lager, which was brewed in mid-April for release in May.

With the increased capacity, the brewery will be expanding beyond their own Heritage and Scotch-Irish line-ups with contract brewing. The first brewer set to take advantage of this service is Ken Lawrence who will be launching his Magnetawan River Brewing Company with Algonquin Red, an Irish-style red ale that he describes as “similar to Smithwick’s”. A test batch will be brewed soon, but there is no word yet on when the beer and brewery will be officially launched.

[via: Omnivore’s Ottawa]

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OCB Discovery Pack No. 2 Returning in May

TORONTO, ON – The Ontario Craft Brewers have announced that the second edition of their popular Discovery Pack series of mixed six-packs will be returning to LCBO store shelves in May after selling out its first run late last year.

The beers in this pack include Robert Simpson Confederation Ale, Mill Street Tankhouse Ale, Trafalgar Elora Irish Ale, Black Oak Nut Brown Ale, Cameron’s Auburn Ale, and Nickel Brook Apple Pilsner.

The OCB have also announced that Discovery Pack No. 3 is due out in November and will feature six different canned beers.

Mill Street Seasonal Sampler

TORONTO, ON – Mill Street Brewery is set to become the only craft brewery in Ontario to offer a mixed 6-pack with the upcoming release of their Seasonal Sampler.

The package will be available at the LCBO starting in May, and will include 341 ml bottles of Mill Street’s five regular bottled products – Organic Lager, Tankhouse Ale, Coffee Porter, Stock Ale and Belgian Wit – plus their Pilsner, a reformulated version of a beer previously available only on draught at the Mill Street Brewpub.

This version of the Sampler will be available through the summer, and in the fall, the Pilsner will be swapped for another beer more suited to the cooler weather.

[via: Great Canadian Pubs & Beer]

Sleeman and Chef Ted Reader Announce Partnership

GUELPH & TORONTO, ON – Sleeman Brewery and BBQ chef Ted Reader have announced a promotional partnership that will see them collaborating on various ventures for the next three years.

The partnership will officially kick off on May 14th with the launch of BeerandBBQ.ca. The website will feature BBQ recipes developed by Ted that incorporate Sleeman beer as an ingredient, grilling contests from Napoleon Gourmet Grills, online newsletters, special offers, information on the best BBQ joints in Canada and more.

Moosehead Cracked Canoe

ST. JOHN, NB – Moosehead Breweries are launching their first new national brand since taking Moosehead Lager coast-to-coast almost two decades ago. Cracked Canoe is a new light lager (3.5% abv, less than 100 calories) aimed at an older demographic.

The New Brunswick Business Journal quotes brewery spokesperson Joel Levesque as saying “research showed that there was a segment of the beer-consuming market, the older, more mature consumers, that were looking for something different, something lighter in taste, lighter in calories and lighter in alcoholic volume.”

Levesque also notes that “(largely) no one else is in this market segment; there are some premium import brands that are in this area, but ours will be priced considerably lower.”

Cracked Canoe will be officially launched later today with a press conference at Canoe Restaurant & Bar in Toronto, and will be rolled out to stores all accross Canada (except Quebec) by May 1st.

Propeller Hefeweizen

HALIFAX, NS – Propeller Brewery have added a new beer to their line-up, Propeller Hefeweizen. Here are the details from the brewery:

Nothing refreshes more than this naturally cloudy wheat beer with yeasty aroma and flavours of banana and clove. Propeller Hefeweizen is made with a special weizen yeast, German Noble hops and equal amounts of barley and wheat malts and finished with higher than normal carbonation.

This 5.3% abv beer is available in growlers at the brewery, and in 341 ml bottles at the NSLC and other locations.

Beau’s Beaver River I.P. Eh?

VANKLEEK HILL, ON – Beau’s All Natural Brewing will be releasing their new spring seasonal beer on April 24th. Originally planned to be called Van Kleeck Ale, the name has been changed to Beaver River I.P. Eh?, and is described by the brewery as follows:

Inspired by the Beaver River (rivière Castor), which connects Ottawa to many communities to the East, this IPA is designed to appeal to Hop Heads. Taking the malt and yeast profile of a traditional British style India Pale Ale and adding an American-style citrusy punch, our Beaver River is both assertive and drinkable. Beaver River is brewed with local spring water and the ingredients are 100% certified organic.

Beaver River I.P. Eh? will be available in bottles at the brewery, and on tap at various locations in Eastern Ontario including Play, Pub Italia, and Cheshire Cat.

Ontario Brewing Awards 2009

TORONTO, ON – The 6th annual edition of the Ontario Brewing Awards took place today, with a presentation and sampling event at the Esplanade Bier Markt in Toronto. Here’s the complete winners list for this year:

NORTH AMERICAN LIGHT LAGER
GOLD: Cool Stonewall Light
SILVER: Flying Monkeys Antigravity Light
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Cool Stonewall Light

PILSNER
GOLD: Steam Whistle Pilsner
SILVER: King Pilsner
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: King Pilsner

DARK LAGER
GOLD: King Dark Lager
SILVER: Steelback Tiverton Dark
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: King Dark Lager

AMBER ALE
GOLD: Old Credit Amber Ale
SILVER: Great Lakes Devil’s Pale Ale
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion

BITTER
GOLD: Grand River Galt Knife Old Style
SILVER: Mill Street ESB
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Grand River Galt Knife Old Style

SPECIALTY
GOLD: Mill Street Belgian Tripel
SILVER: Great Lakes Winter Ale
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Grand River Curmudgeon IPA

FRUIT BEER
GOLD: Black Oak Summer Saison
SILVER: Nickel Brook Green Apple Pilsner
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Black Oak Summer Saison

WHEAT BEER
GOLD: Mill Street Belgian Wit

NORTH AMERICAN LAGER
GOLD: Wellington Trailhead Lager
SILVER: Cool Beer
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Cool Beer

CREAM ALE
GOLD: Mill Street Stock Ale
SILVER: Nickel Brook Draught
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Cameron’s Cream Ale

AMBER LAGER
GOLD: Creemore Springs Premium Lager
SILVER: Great Lakes Red Leaf
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Creemore Springs Premium Lager

PALE ALE
GOLD: Mill Street IPA
SILVER: Black Oak Pale Ale
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Mill Street Tankhouse Ale

HONEY BEER
GOLD: Steelback Red Maple
SILVER: Old Credit Holiday Honey Beer
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Old Credit Holiday Honey Beer

DARK ALE
GOLD: Muskoka Dark Ale
SILVER: Black Oak Nut Brown Ale
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Wellington County Dark Ale

PORTER/STOUT
GOLD: Scotch-Irish John By Imperial Stout
SILVER: Black Oak Nutcracker Porter
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Black Oak Double Chocolate Cherry Stout

BOCK
GOLD: Creemore Springs urBock
SILVER: Mill Street Helles Bock
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: Creemore Springs urBock

Two New Breweries in Ontario

TORONTO, ON – Last weekend, two cask ale events in Toronto featured soft launches for new breweries from two of Ontario’s most respected craft brewers.

The Cask Ale Crawl was an event that took place at six different pubs across the city, and one of the ales available at The Rhino was Cheshire Valley Dry Stout, a pilot batch from brewmaster Paul Dickey. Known for his work as head brewer at Pepperwood Bistro & Brewpub in Burlington and as associate brewer at Black Oak Brewery, Dickey is setting up Cheshire Valley Brewing as a contract brewing operation, and will be making his beers at the new Black Oak facility in Etobicoke.

The Cask IPA Challenge happened at Volo on Sunday April 5th, and featured 18 different IPAs and Pale Ales from craft brewers all across Ontario. One of the new beers was Number 9 IPA from Michael Duggan, the former head brewer at Mill Street Brewery who is currently at Cool Brewing. Similar to Dickey, Duggan will be running his yet-to-be-named enterprise on a contact basis, using the equipment at Cool to brew his beers.

Granville Island Brockton IPA

VANCOUVER, BC – Granville Island Brewing have just added a new beer to thier regular line-up, Brockton IPA. From the press release:

British Columbia’s own Granville Island Brewing is celebrating 25-years of innovation and quality with the launch of Brockton IPA, a golden-coloured, well-hopped and refreshing India Pale Ale.

Named after the Brockton Oval in Stanley Park, the Brockton IPA was chosen by Vancouverites in a series of taste tests to complement the true West Coast lifestyle.

“Brockton IPA reflects our twenty-five years of innovation and dedication to high-quality handcrafted premium beers that Vancouverites have come to know and love,” says GIB brewmaster Vern Lambourne. “Its crisp flavour and aroma can be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates the taste of a true West Coast IPA.”

Brockton IPA is available now at the Granville Island retail store and other retail outlets. It’s also been added to Granville Island’s mixed 12 pack, where it is featured along with Island Lager, English Bay Pale Ale and Cypress Honey Lager.