The 2021 Canadian Brewing Awards took place in Quebec City on September 18th and 165 awards were handed out. Maritime breweries collected 14 awards, with 4 each going to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and 6 to New Brunswick. The hardware brought home was by mainstays and newcomers. A full list can be found here and the Maritime winners are listed below. Prince Edward Island For North American Style Pale Ale the Gold was given to Broadside from Copper Bottom Brewing. They also took Gold in American Style Imperial India Pale Ale for Parkman Ave. In addition Copper Bottom won a ..read more

(Lunenburg, NS) - Saltbox Brewery has been approved to make and distribute an official  commemorative ale to mark the 100th anniversary of the launch of the historic schooner. “We are delighted to work in conjunction with the Bluenose 100 Committee”. said Andrew Tanner, Founding Partner and Vice President of Marketing for Saltbox. “Our Brewery is known for it’s strong commitment to local lore and community outreach and we can think of nothing more exciting for us than to be part of this celebration of excellence”. Current plans are to have the commemorative cans available to the publi ..read more

(Dartmouth, NS) - Nine Locks Campfire NEIPA (6.5% ABV and 40 IBU) has just about all the hops they could muster. Cloudy, golden and bursting with flavours of passion fruit, apricot, mango and red apple… with a counterpoint of zesty citrus. Campfire NEIPA delivers rich, pallet-filling body followed by a malty, sweet finish. The Campfire Series will have seven releases that will each be a different style of beer. The releases will be super limited batches, sold in retail store only. Nine Locks is using them to test new products and push the boundaries of what they have previously brewed ..read more

(Dartmouth, NS) - Brightwood Brewery has branched out with a satellite brewery and beer garden on the Dartmouth waterfront at Alderney Landing. Onsite will be their 1/2 Bbl Robobrew system that will be used for test brews.  They will be selling their own beer on 6 taps as well as cans and a cider they collaborated on with Chainyard. Also because it is a brewery licence they can sell beer to go. They have no food options but encourage everyone to grab some local eats at Evans Fresh Seafood and Port City Cafe and come out and enjoy the view. The new beer garden is do ..read more

(Saint John, NB) - Moosehead Breweries and Moonshine Creek Distillery have announced a one-of-a-kind collaboration. Pre-sale begins Wednesday, July 15, for Community Spirit, a rye lager virgin oak barrel aged whisky inspired by the work the two New Brunswick companies did together to produce hand sanitizer at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 started to make its way into Canada in mid-March, Moonshine Creek wanted to support efforts to keep the community safe by producing hand sanitizer - but the family-run small business didn’t have the ingredients required to produce signific ..read more

(Halifax, NS) - Good Robot Brewing's brewer Giovanni Johnson has worked with a group of BIPOC (black, Indigenous and people of color) Nova Scotians in the food and beverage industry to create the Change is Brewing Collective. He says, “The Change is Brewing Collective is coming together for BIPOC people in Nova Scotia to honour the Black experience.”   Their first brew as a collective is a blackberry pale ale called Blackberry Freedom. The beer is a challenge to other breweries in Nova Scotia to consider how they can be more inclusive for Black, Indigeonous, and People of Colour in ..read more

(Halifax, NS) - After ten years on Spring Garden Road Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery has announced its permanent closure. It was a great place in a great spot but never really found the success it should have had. The space will be taken over by Nine Locks Brewing. The new second location will have all available Nine Locks Beers on tap as well as retail for take away and the brewhouse will be used to brew beers for Your Father's Moustache (YFM) and act as a test brewery for new and different beers. The food choices will be scaled back and be a limited selection from YFM. Look for ..read more

(Fredericton, NB) - DrinkNB.ca launches zero-contact craft alcohol delivery through web service to maintain social distancing efforts whilst supporting local businesses. A new online store launches today in Fredericton with the goal of providing customers with a solution to the issue of how to maintain social isolation and/or social distancing whilst supporting all local craft alcohol businesses. At DrinkNB.ca customers can shop for all their favourite craft alcohol products and have a single order delivered directly to their home using a zero-contact protocol ..read more

If you have been in some ANBL stores in southeastern New Brunswick you may have seen Bouctouche Pale Ale on the shelf. Broue du Païen started up after new years and I got to ask owner and brewer a few questions.  MBR: Who is behind Broue du Païen?  BDP: My name is Maxime Sonier, I’m 30 years old and I do everything from the brewing, the canning and the delivering of the product. It’s pretty much a one man operation thus far plus the occasional volunteer helper.  MBR: What is the significance behind the name?  BDP: Païen is a word that, when growin ..read more

(Halifax,NS) - The sixth annual Atlantic Canadian Brewing Awards were held on November 16th in Halifax with a gathering at Hopyard Halifax. The judging of 400 entries from 52 breweries and cideries had taken place previously in Halifax.  Atlantic breweries and cideries shared the 53 medals awarded in 15 categories as well as eight special awards ( To see full medal counts see Table 1 and category details see Table 2).  The big winner of the evening was Bogside Brewing taking four medals, including two gold, Brewery of the Year as well as New Brewery of the Year with Moosehead Brewe ..read more