New Atlantic Canada Beer Blog

A new beer blog has popped up that will cover the Atlantic beer scene, which is properly titled - Atlantic Canada Beer Blog.

Started as a new year's resolution by a gentlemen named Greg, ACBB will strive to provide coverage to the breweries operating in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador. From tasting notes to brewery profiles to book reviews, ACBB will try to offer insight into what our east coast breweries are up to. Yesterday's post focused on Shiretown Beer, a brewpub in Dalhousie, NB. 

The site, which went live on January 1st, already has a nice list of Atlantic breweries and brewpubs, complete with live links, and a listing of Atlantic Canada beer events. There are also listings for miscellaneous Atlantic Canada websites (homebrew groups, other bloggers) and all the provincial liquor boards. 

www.atlanticcanadabeerblog.wordpress.com - Reach Greg at atlanticcanadabeerblogger@gmail.com

Meet Bryan Carver: Gahan Brewery, Charlottetown, PEI

Meet Bryan Carver, brewer with the Gahan Brewing Co. in Charlottetown, PEI.

Carver, a construction worker by trade, got into the brewing industry by chance. When Gahan was building their bottling plant, Carver was one of the contractor's on site and he be-friended Gahan's Brewmaster Trent Hayes, who eventually got him into brewing beers for the brewpub (Gahan Brewing Co. has a brewpub and a larger brewing and bottling facility).

With some staff changes, Carver went on to be brew full time at the brewpub, brewing a number of brands that aren't available in bottle. He now spends his days between both locations, which he says keeps things interesting.

Meet Bryan Carver!

Where is the Gahan Brewery situated and what beers do you currently produce?
Gahan Brewery is located in Charlottetown, PEI. We have a brewpub and bottling plant currently producing our beer. At the brewpub we make Sir John A's Honey Wheat Ale, Island Red, 1772 IPA, Harvest Gold Pale Ale, Sydney Street Stout, Iron Horse Brown Ale and usually have a seasonal beer on too. We bottle the Honey Wheat, Red, and just recently our IPA and Brown Ale have been added to the line up.

Describe the history behind the brewery.
The first inception of the brewery was a 3 barrel system located at a Lone Star Cafe in Charlottetown back in 1997. In 2001 a larger brew house was purchased and moved into an historic property in Old Charlottetown. Demand grew beyond the production capability and in 2007 a new DME 20 hectoliter system was set up at our current bottling plant.

What is your best selling beer?
Sir John A's Honey Wheat and Island Red Ale have been pretty much neck and neck in sales. We have been seeing good growth with our IPA and our seasonal beers sell pretty well at the brewpub.

What's new at the brewery? 
We just started bottling our IPA and Brown Ale. Next we are getting ready for an expansion that will give us a bit more room to grow, as well as exploring canning options available to a brewery our size. We also just won a Gold at the Canadian Brewing Awards with our Sir John A's Honey Wheat Ale, which was our first medal and a great feeling at the end of another busy summer.

What is the best aspect of working in the Canadian craft brewery industry?
Definitely the people. I have been very fortunate getting to know many top notch people from all over the world, all passionate about beer. There is a great sense of community in a relatively small industry, especially in this part of the country.

Where can someone find your products?
Our bottled beers are available at PEI Liquor Commission stores and growlers are available at the pub. A lot of restaurants across the Island carry our beer too, Albert and Crown in Alberton, Ship to Shore in Darnely and Island Stone Pub in Kensington just to name a few.

Tell us something about the Gahan Brewery that not a lot of people know about.
We are a small crew of a few guys that love beer and spend a lot of time making sure that all aspects of the operation are well taken care of. During the summer we are run off of our feet for three months, which is unfortunate because we hardly get to enjoy the beauty of PEI in the summer. At least we have beer close at hand!

PEI is a small province - how is the local support?
Local support is great! The Gahan House is one of the busiest restaurants on the Island. I can't believe the amount of people that come in every day of the week. During the summer we can hardly keep beer on the shelves at the liquor stores.

What is the highlight of your brewing career - to date?
Getting our IPA into bottles was a great highlight. The beer selection on PEI is limited and getting a strong hoppy ale on the shelves was way past due. Also, George Wendt was in Charlottetown a couple of years ago performing in 'Hair Spray'. He walked past a co-worker as he was moving garbage cans of spent grain and proceeded to say "You do good work, God's work!" Knowing he said that put a grin on our faces for weeks.

Name your favourite non Gahan Brewery produced beer?
The beers I have had from Central City have been great, their Red Racer IPA is terrific. Picaroon's Best Bitter is another great beer that I wish was in my fridge more often.

Best time for a pint?
Sunday Afternoon, without question.

PEI's Gahan Brewery Opens Bottling & Production Facility

Charlottetown's only brewery, the Gahan House Brewery, has officially opened a bottling and production facility on Walker drive, not far from the Gahan House on Sydney Street, according to the article in today's The Guardian.

According to the article, Sir John A's Honey Wheat and Island Red will continue to be bottled (they're currently being bottled and sold through ten PEI Liquor Commission stores), but on a larger scale, enough to cover stores across the island. Kegs will also be available for sale at the new brewery location. With the increase in volume, Kevin Murphy, the President of Gahan Brewery, states in the article that they are now in a better position to begin exporting their beer to other provinces, including Ontario.

The Gahan House (brewpub) will continue with operations as normal.

Sociable! The Elbow Bender's Guide to Maritime Pubs

There are days when I miss the East Coast more than anything in this world. It is an amazing place to live and I'll always remember the year I spent in Halifax. So, when I received an email from a reader in Nova Scotia, who informed me that a new pub guide had just been released by a local bluenoser, I had to obtain a copy. Thankfully Bob Connon, the proud author, shipped me an autographed copy early last week and after a hectic weekend at the Toronto Festival of Beer I finally had a chance to thoroughly skim through it last night.

Sociable! The Elbow Bender's Guide to Maritime Pubs takes readers on a virtual journey through the three maritime provinces (New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia) and explores the best pubs and breweries that each province accommodates. Connon, a musician who plays traditional Irish music every Sunday at Paddy's Brew pub in Wolfville, NS, visited 45 exceptional pubs and took extensive notes to paint a glowing picture of what each pub offers. The book is full of beautiful colour photographs, with many profiles showing both the exterior and interior of the pub. Connon interviewed owners, brewers, managers and other customers to get the full story behind each pub and his writing brings the atmosphere of each one into your hands.

Connon confesses that he is by no means a beer connoisseur and that the pubs selected weren't chosen based strictly on their beer line-up; however, he believes that the key ingredient to a successful pub is the serving of fresh, quality beers, ahead of food, music, scenery, history and ambiance. To Connon, a great pub is a combination of all the above mentioned ingredients, but it starts with the beer. He reminds us that a pub is more than about the pint glass in your hand, is a place to get away and relax in the confines of a social atmosphere.

This maritime pub guide will come in handy for any serious pub/beer lover who is planning a trip to any of the three provinces, as Connon provides in-depth descriptions of each pub, which includes the location, beers available, if there is public transportation available, wheelchair access, hours, entertainment options and much more. The guide would also benefit any maritimer looking to explore what their own province has to offer and may provide some surprise day trips along the way as Connon has laid out a map, complete with an index and dotted with pub locations.

Connon has also profiled the booming micro breweries like Propeller and Garrison's in Nova Scotia and Pumphouse and Picaroons in New Brunswick. Brew pubs are also highlighted with profiles on the Granite, Rogue's Roost, Paddy's, the Rare Bird Pub and Rudders in Nova Scotia; the Gahan House in PEI; and the Pumphouse brew pub in New Brunswick. Alexander Keith's, Oland, Sleeman and Moosehead also get a brief mention. A maritime beer book wouldn't be the same if Keith's wasn't profiled, craft beer or not, it's a large part of Nova Scotia history.

There is much more in the pub guide as well. Everything from what constitutes a 'real' pub to describing 'real' ale and the guide even includes a glossary of terms associated with beer styles. The maritimes are full of many English and Irish style pubs as the first wave of immigrants predominately came from England, Ireland and Scotland, and pubs were some of the first buildings erected. You'll see that this history has continued in the three provinces beautifully profiled in Connon's guide. This is a great book that I highly endorse and recommend for my pub loving brethren out there reading. It even has a great write up on my favourite pub - The Henry House, along with Rogue's Roost, The Knot Pub and the Red Shoe in Cape Breton.

"Sociable! The Elbow Bender's Guide to Maritime Pubs is something every serious beer drinking, pub goer should have on their bookshelf. Beautifully illustrated and carefully written, Sociable! is the ultimate reminder of why pubs have such a special standing in society."

How can you get your copy? If you live in the maritimes, just visit your local Chapters retail store or for those out of province, you can order your copy online by visiting the Chapters/Indigo here. The book retails for $19.95, but order online today and pay only $15.16 (plus s&h).

Gahan House Brews Available in Bottles

I just came across some great news today that the Gahan House Brew Pub in Charlottetown, PEI will be selling 500ml bottles of their Sir John A. Honey Wheat and Island Red beers at PEI Liquor Commission's across the province. For $3.50 each you can pick up a well crafted island beer brewed in the historic Gahan House just off the main street.

I spent some time in Charlottetown PEI when I was living in Halifax over a year ago and fell in love with the old city. The Gahan House was one of the first places we stopped when we arrived and I was lucky enough to get a private tour and tasting with the brewmaster and brought many growlers back to Halifax. Their IPA was reminiscent of a lighter Dogfish Head 60min IPA and it was damn good (I don't know what it's like now).

Here is my old review of the place, albeit short.

Click here to read the story as it appears on CBC.ca.

The Gahan House: Charlottetown, PEI

Located in a historic house just off the main street in Charlottetown, The Gahan House Brew-pub serves as one of PEI's tourists destinations. It is the only brewery in the province and brews beer for a number of pubs/restaurants on the island.

The Gahan House was built in 1880 by the Gahan clan and stayed in the family until the early 1900's. It was then used as a convent house by the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation and in the 1960's it became a rooming house before finally being sold to a local businessman who turned it into The Gahan House Brew-Pub in 2000.

The building itself is very intriguing and we came across other tourists peering in the windows and reading the historic markers on the brick walls. As you enter the pub you immediately come to a L shaped bar with numerous tap handles serving: Sir John A's Honey Wheat Ale, Harvest Gold Pale, Coles Cream Ale, Island Red Amber, Iron Horse Dark Ale, Sydney Street Stout and India Pale Ale. I had the IPA which was excellent. Very hoppy and aromatic, it tasted similar to Dogfish Head 60 min. I also had the Stout, which was decent. Nice and creamy and easy drinking.

It was a Friday night and the place was packed. They just renovated a back room and turned it into a dining area. We sit in the front of the pub where I am more at home. The music is terrible and way too loud, but the beer and food make up for that. There is a nice collection of beer bottles behind the bar and empty growlers are situated throughout the pub. Their is a nice island in the middle of the pub surrounded by bar stools. It is a very nice pub inside and out with exposed wooden beams, original brickwork and hardwood floors. I wasn't a fan of the purple dimmed lighting over our table though. It didn't really fit the historic building motif.

The brew-pub offers tours of the downstairs brewery in the summer months for a small fee. Trent, the brew master, takes me downstairs and shows me the equipment and explains the method behind his madness. He truly loves his job.

Overall: A decent place to go. I would have preferred it a little quieter but I can't have everything. Great beer, terrific IPA and good food. This is PEI's best pub by far.

126 Sydney Street
Charlottetown, PEI
http://www.peimenu.com/gahan/index.cfm