Beer in the news

[canuck]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-bruns ... -1.2553206" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The new head of NB Liquor doesn't expect to see beer and wine for sale in New Brunswick corner stores any time soon.

Brian Harriman has been on the job as the president and chief executive officer for about a month and has launched a review of the Crown corporation's retail strategy.

Brian Harriman
NB Liquor president and CEO Brian Harriman is the first person hired as the head of the Crown corporation in a non-political process. (Jacques Poitras / CBC)

​Harriman says he'll look at the idea of sales in convenience stores, but he doesn't expect it to happen.

"Ultimately that decision isn't mine," he said. "That really belongs to the province if they wanted to privatize NB Liquor or a portion of it.

"But as part of my mandate to optimize profits for the province, we're certainly going to look at all options, different channels within the retail network that we could employ," said Harriman. "I'm not sure that I'd want to include corner stores but we'll look at all options that are available to us."

Harriman says he does think NB Liquor can bring in more revenue without having to raise prices.

"I think we can through product mix, I think we can through that, not necessarily all about price," he said.

"As we can help consumers learn and understand more about spirits, more about wine, and find ways to stabilize the beer category, and get a bigger product mix in the basket, there's probably a bigger opportunity to do it without necessarily driving price increases."

Harriman was hired in the first non-political, competitive process to fill the position of CEO of the Crown corporation.

He is originally from Miramichi and worked for the global liquor company Diageo for more than a decade, last serving as the Canadian vice-president of sales.

Diageo sells many well-known brands, including Guinness and Captain Morgan.

[mr x]

Stabilize the beer category. What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

[benwedge]

Stabilize the beer category. What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

Beer sales are in decline across Canada and they make very nice margins off of the macro-brewed stuff, partly from a labour efficiency standpoint. So, if I were a betting man, he's saying that they need to find a way to stop that decline and slow the transition to lower-margin craft products.

[CurtisD]

Stabilize the beer category. What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

Beer sales are in decline across Canada and they make very nice margins off of the macro-brewed stuff, partly from a labour efficiency standpoint. So, if I were a betting man, he's saying that they need to find a way to stop that decline and slow the transition to lower-margin craft products.

ANBL has done a great job of sourcing craft product lately (Muskoka, Central City, Amsterdam, Church Key, Lake of Bays and soon Le Trou du Diable) and it is flying off the shelves at premium prices. They've also stepped up their game in terms of making the private ordering system easier.

Hopefully they see this as a growth opportunity.....I think there is a growing market segment who are just plain not going to spend a dime at the store if there aren't good craft options. They're better off selling me something at a lower margin than nothing at all. Besides, with the big push to newer, larger stores, they could double the size of the craft section and not put much of a dent into the total floor space. Move to selling more cans if they have to.

I may be in the minority, but if there is going to be a government monopoly on alcohol sales, they damn well better stock what customers demand.

[mr x]

Am I the only man in Britain who hates craft beer?
Britain is undergoing a craft beer revolution, and pubs are brimming with idiosyncratic ales. But not everyone is happy...


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking ... -beer.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's a timeless scene. One as quintessentially British as a man running up to bowl on a village green, or a commuter gazing up at a board full of weather-affected train cancellations.

A timeless scene wherein a man walks up to a bar in a centuries-old tavern and orders a pint of best. Why, I did this very thing at my "local" only last week, as my forefathers must surely have done for centuries before me. But this time, I found myself disappointed.

“Best? As in bitter?” the landlady asked.

“Yes,” I answered, rather perplexed at having to explain something so obvious, as if being asked to outline the rationale behind using my legs to walk.

“Oh, we don’t have that any more. We’ve got all these, though.”

She pointed hopefully at a "handmade ale", an "organic pale ale" and a "Kentish craft ale".

“Erm, OK,” I replied, instinctively ill-disposed to making a fuss about these things. “I’ll try the pale ale.”

I felt on reasonably safe ground here – I had enjoyed pints of Greene King and Directors’ IPA (India Pale Ale) on many occasions before, and enjoyed them. So imagine my dismay when this one tasted of sour fruit with notes of distilled badger sweat. Really not very pleasant.

Had I not been meeting a friend for the traditional communal evening activity of watching the footy on Sky Sports, I might have turned on my heel and taken my custom elsewhere. Instead I stayed and decided to try one of the other ales.

This time, the "handmade ale" offered a slightly different taste sensation: I was getting sour fruit with notes of stoat urine and a hint of stale crisps. Whose foul, contaminated "hand" could possibly have created such an abomination?

So I ordered a third pint, this time the Kentish craft beer. But I was disappointed again – this time, a full-bodied gobfull of teenager’s sock juice fought for tongue space with a frisson of fresh turtle spew.

In summary, then, three pints of highly fashionable designer beer, all of them revolting. At which point I snapped.

“Can I not,” I implored the barmaid, “just get an honest-to-goodness, common-or-garden, not-mucked-about-with, traditionally brewed pint of bitter?”

“We don’t have any on draught now," she explained. "Not my decision. It’s the landlord.”

Naturally, he wasn’t around to answer for his crimes.

You might expect all this to happen in a new-fangled, £15-for-fish-and-chips, specials-on-a-chalkboard gastropub. But no, this was as downhome and unpretentious a boozer as you could hope to encounter: fruit machine in the corner, horseshoes on the wall, pool table in the back room, broken toilet roll dispenser in the lav.

If a pub as basic as this can jettison traditional ale for the new breed of so-called "craft beer", what hope is there for the rest of the country’s drinking dens? I realise that this is still a relatively rare scenario, but it’s happened to me more than once recently. And I have no doubt it's going to become a common occurence.

Around 250 new British microbreweries began beer production in the last year, and there are now over a thousand breweries in the UK, the highest number since the 1940s. Consumption of beer from independent brewers rose by 5.7pc, or 22.3m pints, in 2012, according to the Society of Independent Brewers (figures for 2013 are expected to show similar growth).

More and more pubs are going to be replacing established brands with novelty-named brews, yet no-one seems to be complaining. So I have to ask: AM I THE ONLY MAN IN BRITAIN WHO CANNOT STAND CRAFT BEER?

OK, I’ll admit it: Perhaps it’s me, not the beer, that is the problem. I just don’t have very broad tastes, like a dyed-in-the-wool rock fan who insists that this hip-hop malarkey is "just noise".

But to squeeze a few more drops from the music analogy, I suspect that a lot of craft beer fans are demonstrating a pronounced bias towards the hip new indie breed, at the expense of the alcoholic equivalent of a long-established major label mainstream act. If it’s a DIY affair, made by two blokes with large beards and asymmetric hair in a shed somewhere near Brighton, and is best described as "an acquired taste", then by some twisted logic it must be superior to the familiar, comforting strains of your traditional, mass-marketed brews.

Clearly, my views fly in the face of those who claim to be experts on the subject. Many of these new ales are CAMRA-approved, critically acclaimed, and multi-award-winning. You know, just like those later Radiohead albums that are highly inventive, interesting, groundbreaking and… and… just nowhere near as good as their two classic albums.

I don’t have to look far to find someone who disagrees with my view. My friend Jim, who was drinking the same beverages as me, had no complaints.

“Elderflower,” he offered, authoritatively, when asked to pin down the taste sensation he was experiencing. Hmmm.

He also likes the idea of the craft beer movement.

“Some mates of mine started their own brewery actually,” he said. “They actually just started with a home brew kit in their living room.”

“Ah,” I said. “So that’s why it always tastes like bad home brew.”

To each their own, of course – I wouldn’t dream of spoiling someone else’s night by moaning loudly at someone in a pub about the beer they’re enjoying. Or, at least, I’ll try not to in future. All I ask for is choice.

But wait, there’s more choice than ever on the taps of our public houses, I hear you cry, ales are offered in varying golden, dark, pale, organic, honey-filtered, triple-fermented and double toe-looped varieties. That's what's so wonderful about the craft beer revolution, you would no doubt add.

I just fear that the juggernaut of hype behind these ostensibly cuddly, organic, unobtrusive drinks is shunting more old-fashioned vehicles off the road.

Am I the only one who suspects that customers are overwhelmed by the choice and feel obliged to somehow ‘appreciate’ the variety of (sour fruit-based) tastes, when in fact, many of these ever-revolving selection of pale imitations are nothing more than the Emperor’s new booze?

Answers on the back of a beermat, folks. Or in the comments section below, if you insist, like an increasing amount of publicans, on doing things the 21st century way.

[Broob]

Guy sounds like a dick.

[mr x]

Budweiser, King of Beers, clings to its mass-market rule in many NYC bars, despite the rise of craft brews

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/e ... -1.1710401" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There are still some places where the King of Beers continues to wear the crown.

Sure, the rise of craft beers has made Budweiser the old fogy at the bar, but there are plenty of locals who still love the legendary lager — and plenty of Bud bars happy to keep serving the pride of St. Louis.

“It still sells here, and it’s here to stay,” says John Powers, a bartender at Farrell’s Bar and Grill, the Windsor Terrace watering hole that was once the East Coast’s biggest seller of Budweiser.

The bar’s regulars are wise to Bud’s legacy.

“It’s the best beer in the city,” says Tom Cannizzaro, 49, a plumber in the neighborhood. “It’s a clean, fresh taste — nothing compares.”

Actually, everything compares nowadays. Thanks to the boom in brew pubs, home brewing and craft beers like Brooklyn Lager, sales of Budweiser have drained by more than 60% since Anheuser-Busch sold 50 million barrels in 1988. Now the company sells fewer than 17 million a year of its signature brand.

Over the past five years, Bud sales are down 25% nationally. The trend may be worse locally: Farrell’s went through about 18 barrels daily for decades, according to Ed Mills, a senior bartender there. Now the bar pulls four to six barrels a day.

But the few places that still specialize in Bud are proud to pour the patriotic potion, even if it flies against the fancy fads of today’s beer world.

“There’s an American appeal to this beer,” says Nick Costa, a manager at Off the Wagon in the West Village. “It’s a blue-collar beer.”

Costa says that “simplicity” and “consistency” are key to the age-old appeal of Budweiser, which was first brewed in 1876 by Adolphus Busch, a German immigrant. Costa thinks the lager’s low cost will help it outlast whatever high-priced hops may be the beer of the moment.

“With craft beers nowadays, it’s kind of a crapshoot,” he says. “Bud isn’t the most fancy of beers, but you know what you’re getting.”

He adds that the easy enjoyment of Bud makes it the best companion for watching sports — the true test of any brew’s worth.

“With football, you just wanna kick back with a Bud and enjoy the game,” Costa says. “You’re not sitting there and talking about the hop varieties in your beer.”

Bud boosters say they enjoy the lower alcohol content — about 5%, compared to 6% to 10% for most craft beers — because that means they can keep drinking.

“It’s always light,” said Jose Alvezo, 48, an auto parts salesman enjoying Bud at 7B Horseshoe Bar on the Lower East Side. “I could easily have six today and be fine tomorrow morning.”


Budweiser faces a brewed awakening

It sells like hotcakes, but is Bud any good?

The pride of Anheuser-Busch is, of course, one of the most popular beers in America, but it consistently falls at the bottom of beer critics’ polls.

Beer Advocate, for example, rates it a 56 out of 100. “Awful,” the website says.

Budweiser may be mass produced, but it is brewed traditionally — albeit with one quirk: One of its main ingredients is rice.
A row of lager finishing tanks stand at the Anheuser-Busch InBev NV brewery in Fairfield, Calif., which serves markets throughout the western U.S.
Ken James/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A row of lager finishing tanks stand at the Anheuser-Busch InBev NV brewery in Fairfield, Calif., which serves markets throughout the western U.S.

That particular grain isn’t common in craft beers, but many light lagers, such as Asahi Super Dry and Coors, do use it.

“Although more costly than brewing with all malt, rice [sets] Budweiser apart from other lagers,” the company says on its website.

Oh, it’s set apart all right.

“If flaccid had a taste, this would be it,” opines the website Brew Chief, which gave Budweiser a rating of one mug (out of 10). “Repulsive,” the snob continued.

By comparison, Brooklyn Lager received a nine-mug rating or “Delicious.”

[McGruff]

Bud is still a good beer after you cut the lawn, but I usually just drink water cause it's close to Bud. The truth is IMO, Bud is what it is, every time, never had a bad one.

[NASH]

Mmmmm.... acetaldehyde

[LeafMan66_67]

Good Q&A session / history with John Kimmich from The Alechemist

[mr x]

How beer has gone bling (would you believe $17 a teaspoon for one deluxe brew?)


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/foo ... e17403430/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

By rare-wine standards, the winning bid of $738 (U.S.) for a three-bottle lot at a Boston auction two weeks ago was hardly over the top. At $246 apiece, the items paled next to the retail value of, say, Lafite or Mouton. One detail made Lot 174’s price stand out, however. The 650-millilitre bottles contained beer, not wine.

Very fine beer, as one might imagine. As in Goose Island Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout, a Chicago craft brew released in 2010 after maturing for two years in whisky-soaked barrels that had contained the most prized of Kentucky bourbons, Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 23-Year. To beer geeks, the Goose Island Rare is what’s known – with a nod and a wink to Melville – as a “whale.” To wine folk it might be considered the Mouton of malt, the Haut-Brion of hops.

It was also just one of 48 beer lots in a Feb. 25 fine-ales lineup presented by Skinner, a Massachusetts-based firm that bills itself the first live auctioneer of rare suds. Other top draws included four 375-millilitre bottles of Cantillon Blabaer, a sour Belgian lambic style fermented on blueberries with wild yeasts, which sold for $738, and four bottles of Drie Fonteinen Armand’4 Oude Geuze, another Belgian lambic, at $554. Priciest of all was a 12-bottle set from The Bruery, a cult producer in Orange County Calif., which donated the bottles to raise funds for Boston Marathon bombing victims. It fetched in $1,169, almost $100 a bottle.

It’s official. Beer has gone bling. The rise of craft producers and the thriving online exchange of consumer ratings and gossip on such sites as Ratebeer and BeerAdvocate have spawned a generation of big-game beer hunters. It started innocently enough with enthusiasts trading limited-release local brews, beer for beer, between cities. Then money began changing hands – illegally in most cases, at least in North America.

“I saw a bottle sell for $1,500 on eBay and the bell kind of went off,” said Michael Moser, specialist in Skinner’s fine-wines department. “If someone’s willing to pay it there, why not incorporate it into an open market and legal market?” (Legal notice: eBay does not permit alcohol sales unless by pre-approved parties and has since closed the loophole that some had shrewdly used to sell “collectible containers” that also conveniently happened to contain alcohol.)

Last month’s Skinner auction, the fourth to feature fine ales, did not in fact set a record for most expensive single bottle. That high beer mark occurred last May and was set by Don Quijote 2008, another lambic from the Brussels-based Cantillon brewery that was fermented with vitis labrusca grapes. Drum roll, please: It went for $1,586 for 750 millilitres. Dollars to ounces, even that fell short of a November online auction by Skinner that saw a half-bottle of the same precious elixir hit the hammer at $1,288, or $17 a teaspoon.

Worth it? I have no clue. Regrettably I have not sampled Don Q, as it’s known to wild beerstalkers, and am unlikely to get the chance. A mere 300 bottles were made. Nor has Moser. “That one has eluded me,” he said. “A lot of these have eluded me, I’ll be honest. When there’s only 300 bottles of something, it’s kind of hard to elbow your way in.”

Moser, a certified cicerone, the beer-expert equivalent of a sommelier, says flavour is just one component of auction-worthiness. The brew must also be scarce and capable of improving with cellar time.

“We’re talking about the very tippy-top, 1 per cent of beers,” he said. “The vast majority of beer, as is the case with wine, too, are meant to be drunk as soon as possible.”

Which pretty much narrows the field to three styles: barley wine, imperial stout and sours. The first two are robust, high-alcohol potations and the third is a nebulous category of tart brews fermented on wild yeasts to achieve a flavour that can seem like an odd combination of ale, cider and wine.

Falling spiritually, if not technically, near those first two categories is heavily hyped Westvleteren 12, a Belgian Trappist ale made in a style called quadrupel. It’s come to be described by many lately as the “best beer in the world” thanks to glowing reviews on BeerAdvocate and, perhaps more importantly, to the snob cachet of its Soup Nazi-worthy sales policy. “Westy” is available only at the monastery through a phone reservation system involving licence-plate tracking and an agreement not to resell, ever. (Those marketing-savvy but apparently cash-strapped Trappist monks, in need of abbey renovations, recently decided to make an exception by permitting the sale of thousands of gift packs, with branded glasses, in North America.) Moser says Westy 12 is an exceptional brew but tends not to incite the highest auction fever because “it’s brewed all the time.”

Paradoxically, the cellar-worthiness prerequisite means some of the most sought-after beers are unlikely to crop up at auction. They include Pliny the Elder from California’s Russian River Brewing and Heady Topper from The Alchemist in Vermont. The reason: The huge hop content, which imparts an explosive citrus-pine aroma as well as bitter counterpoint to the malty sweetness, diminishes over time. The compounds are simply unstable. “Those more than anything are meant to be drunk immediately,” Moser said.

For now, the live-auction market is largely confined to American bidders, though Moser says people have registered from other countries. In Canada, any auction would have to operate through provincial liquor authorities.

Virtually all of Skinner’s lots have come from two countries, the United States and Belgium. Obviously that’s a function of Americans’ fascination with homegrown brews and dominance on Internet ranking sites as well as of Belgium’s storied place in the history of small-lot brewing. There’s just not much great Canadian craft beer available south of the border.

Moser says there may come a day when Canadian brews find their way to a live auction. In particular he cites a few he’s enjoyed from Quebec’s Dieu du ciel! and Le Trou du Diable. “They’re doing all the right things.”

[chalmers]

As I was reading the part about the charity auction, I couldn't help but remember I've grossly overpaid (on purpose) for things at charity auctions, as the main idea is to help the fundraising, rather than get a good deal on an item. Who knows, maybe the people were also getting tax receipts too?

There are lots of things to spend our money on, some better than others. I wouldn't spend a lot on a painting, but do spend a lot on vacation trips. Whatever floats your boat, I guess!

[GuingesRock]

Good Q&A session / history with John Kimmich from The Alechemist

Started watching the video. Does anyone know more about this LD's avatar beer. hops, malt bill, style.

[dean2k]

Jost news: Tatamagouche Brewing Company

http://www.trurodaily.com/News/Local/20 ... pen-soon/1

[mr x]

Tatamagouche brewery to open soon



http://www.trurodaily.com/News/Local/20 ... pen-soon/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TATAMAGOUCHE - The village of Tatamagouche is buzzing with excitement over the beer that Hans Christian Jost and family will soon be creating.

© BAILLIE SAUNDERS - SPECIAL TO THE TRURO DAILY NEWS

The Tatamagouche Brewing Company is still in the process of creating a home for locally homemade beer. However, Matt Kenny, left, Christiane Jost and Hans Christian Jost look forward to their businesses unveiling in May or June.

Jost is expected to open the Tatamagouche Brewing Company in May or June.

"It's a community brewery. It's going to be everybody's brewery," said Jost.

The plan went into effect after Jost and wife Karen sold Jost Vineyard's two years ago in Malagash. They then bought the library and Houston's Butcher Shop that went up for sale a few months later.

"We were too young to retire," Jost said of his new venture.

"It is something slightly related (to wine), but also something different enough to be a challenge."

Revamping the butcher shop and library began last September by expanding the shop and installing two garage door windows that will open to the streets of the village.

"People will be able to see fermentors ranging from 700 litres to 4,200 litres. There will be a kettle mash tun, where the grains are turned into wort, the process will be visible," Jost said. "The majority of the beer-making process will be open to the public."

Jost said locals are thrilled to have a brewery in the village.

"When word got out that we were opening a brewery, the people that approached Karen and I was just incredible," he said.

"It is a great little downtown here so we want to add to it."

Jost's daughter, Christiane, and her partner, Matt Kenny, are also a part of the brewing journey.

The Josts have been filling their cups full of not just samples of hand-crafted brew, but of knowledge of yeast and malt grains and have attended various festivals, all relating to the micro-brewing industry.

"We've gone to a few beer festivals," said Christiane. "But it's hard to talk to a brewer at a show, so we like to do one-on-one research."

Research has led to current recipes the brewery is hoping to produce in draft form.

"We are mainly dealing with pale ale. We have been experimenting to try and find a good beer that is approachable," said Christiane, who plans to sell about three different types of homemade brew.

"We've been experimenting with reds and stout porter types. We would like to have all three in circulation permanently and add in seasonal ones once we get on our feet."

The Tatamagouche Brewing Company is taking baby steps in the process of making beer, said Jost.

"The learning process are reasons why we are just doing draft. The canning is another whole batch of equations we have to learn about," he said.

Customers can purchase a growler, which are beer jugs made of glass that come in various sizes.

"It will be fresh, hand-crafted beer. It's local as local can get," said Christiane.

People will be able to purchase a growler and take it home. They can return the jug to be refilled, if wanted.

"We want to get the brewing down pat than save the packaging for later down the road," said Jost.

The family is looking forward to opening the brewing business to the public and to experience the taste of local beer.

"The community has been great for us. The brewery is like a small way of giving a bit back," Jost said.

[mr x]

Jost news: Tatamagouche Brewing Company

http://www.trurodaily.com/News/Local/20 ... pen-soon/1

Rumor is that they were going to work with Greg Nash a bit, but opted for Randy Lawrence instead.

[jeffsmith]

Jost news: Tatamagouche Brewing Company

http://www.trurodaily.com/News/Local/20 ... pen-soon/1

Rumor is that they were going to work with Greg Nash a bit, but opted for Randy Lawrence instead.

[thehollowhead]

Who knows, maybe the people were also getting tax receipts too?

From my understanding, if you are purchasing something, or receiving something in kind (rather than a straight donation) CRA states a tax receipt can't be generated. Not sure how it works in other countries though!

[jherbin]

http://thecoast.ca/halifax/brew-looks-l ... id=4288017" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jimmy]

Is a beer engineer a real thing?

[JohnnyMac]

Jost news: Tatamagouche Brewing Company

http://www.trurodaily.com/News/Local/20 ... pen-soon/1

Rumor is that they were going to work with Greg Nash a bit, but opted for Randy Lawrence instead.

Brilliant.

[LeafMan66_67]

Is a beer engineer a real thing?

[Jimmy]

Jost news: Tatamagouche Brewing Company

http://www.trurodaily.com/News/Local/20 ... pen-soon/1

Rumor is that they were going to work with Greg Nash a bit, but opted for Randy Lawrence instead.

Brilliant.

Maybe they prefer butterscotch rather than hops.

[mr x]

Sam Adams pulls support from Boston St. Patrick's parade over gay rights

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/03/14/sa ... p=obinsite" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The maker of Sam Adams beer announced Friday that it is withdrawing its sponsorship of Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade because organizers exclude gay groups.

Boston Beer Co.'s decision came a day after a bar in Boston's South End said it would no longer serve Sam Adams beer because of the brewer's affiliation with the parade, which is scheduled for Sunday.

Mayor Martin Walsh and U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch have been trying to broker a deal that would have allowed a gay group to march, but those negotiations broke down.

"We were hopeful that both sides of this issue would be able to come to an agreement that would allow everyone, regardless of orientation, to participate in the parade. But given the current status of the negotiations, we realize this may not be possible," Boston Beer Co. said in its statement. "We share these sentiments with Mayor Walsh, Congressman Lynch and others and therefore we will not participate in this year's parade."

The brewer said it would continue to sponsor the annual St. Patrick's Day Breakfast, which is regularly attended by most of the state's major politicians. That is also on Sunday.

A Boston Beer Co. spokeswoman did not immediately return a call.

The parade organizers' phone went unanswered Friday.

The Irish-American mayor said he would not march in the parade unless gay groups were allowed to march.

He tried to broker a deal between the gay rights advocacy group MassEquality and the organizers, the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council. A 1995 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled that the council could include or exclude whichever groups it wanted.

A sticking point was MassEquality's request that its members be allowed to carry banners or signs identifying themselves as gay, which organizers did not want.

Organizers said they had been "misled," because LGBT Veterans for Equality, an affiliate of MassEquality, was not a recognized veterans' organization.

The parade, one of the largest St. Patrick's Day parades in the nation, draws as many as 1 million spectators to South Boston

[mr x]

Microbreweries: Business is hopping
Rural newcomers get head start on spring, from Upper Falmouth to Tatamagouche



http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1 ... is-hopping" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The microbrewery industry in some rural Nova Scotia communities is frothing with activity as the busy spring season approaches.

Upper Falmouth is getting its own microbrewery in the form of the Schoolhouse Brewery, set to open within weeks in part of a rebuilt former schoolhouse.

Preparations have been underway for months at the brewery’s Castle Frederick Road location just outside of Windsor.

The Village of Tatamagouche will soon welcome the Tatamagouche Brewing Co. to a renovated commercial building in the heart of the community.

And Boxing Rock Brewing Co., near Shelburne, is doubling capacity after its first year in business and expanding the premises the addition of a deck for group tours.

These are just some samples of all the activity in the sector around the province.

“One of the exciting things about the microbrewery industry is most activity is happening

outside of Halifax and is generating some buzz for some wonderful rural communities,” Kevin Keefe, president of the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia, said Friday.

Keefe, who owns the Granite Brewery Ltd. in Halifax, said the list of association members currently totals 16 and new names are being added regularly.

“We compete but are also mutually supportive and share a passion for the industry,” he said of the business.

The folks at Boxing Rock Brewing have set their sights on the tour bus industry, while increasing production to meet increasing demand through store and pub sales and sales through Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. outlets.

The brewery offers take-home sales of bottles and growlers (refillable glass jugs) and year-round tours at its Ohio Road location and construction of a deck suitable for welcoming buses carrying visitors is underway.

“There are possibilities of tour bus traffic with the resumption of the Yarmouth ferry service and possibilities for brew tours within Nova Scotia along the successful model of the winery tours,” Emily Tipton, a partner in the business, said in an interview.

The sound of saws and hammers has also been emanating from the Tatamagouche Brewing site where the Jost family is putting finishing touches on the building they are renovating and preparing to install brewing equipment.

Family member Christiane Jost said the plan is to open for business in early June. A variety of craft brews will be available for the local market in take-home growlers.

“We’re at the point now with renovations where we can soon begin with the installation of our equipment and begin brewing,” she said.

Upper Falmouth’s Schoolhouse Brewery has tentative approval from the province to begin sales on April 1 and anticipates take-home and pub sales will begin on or about that date, according to the brewery’s website.

Schoolhouse Brewery has completed arrangements to have its product available at area pubs as soon as formal provincial approval is received.

The Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia plans to have a website up soon to provide brew aficionados with up-to-date information on new microbreweries and regulatory changes affecting the industry, said Keefe.

“The various new microbreweries are creating some economic activity and generating tourism interest some rural areas of the province,” he said.