Wine & Drink

Molson Is Just Teasing Me

As a booze writer I occasionally get sent samples from companies who want me to try their products, hoping that, if I enjoy them, I'll write about them, or perhaps just drink them.  Sometimes I ask companies for specific products to try, because I have a writing assignment about  a particular market segment.   That's just the way the business works.

I was recently sent a cute little beer cooler from Molson-Coors, which was stocked with a selection of beer brands they either make or represent in the country. I forget sometimes who makes what and who owns who, in the current state of the beer, wine and spirits world. In some ways I believe it's better not to know, actually. It would be much simpler if every company was small and independent. The products would probably be much better too, but that's another story.

Anyhoo, the cooler had a few of the usual suspects (Coors Light, the ultra light "67," Rickards Red and White),  but there were two beers in it that I'd never had, including a very forgettable but inoffensive light beer called Keystone, but also a canned Kellerbier beer from Ontario's Creemore Springs Brewery. When I saw this I got a little bit excited. 

You have to understand my history with Creemore. I lived in Ontario from 1987-98, and was very active in the beer scene there, as a homebrewer, beer judge and volunteer with CABA, the Canadian Amateur Brewer's Association (www.homebrewers.ca), and eventually as a writer for Great Lakes Brewing News (www.brewingnews.com/greatlakes).  When Creemore opened as a small microbrewery I was right on top of it, loving their European style lager.

Creemore, which only made one brand in those days, their lager, was always in our fridge, as my wife loved it too, maybe even more than me. As a brewer, I always suspected it was not made with real lager yeast at cold fermentation temperatures, as it was somewhat ale-like, but, as a drinker, I loved it.  It is a refreshing beer, with spicy hop aromas, balanced hop bitterness, lots of malt flavour and a crisp finish. It's the perfect crossover beer that appeals to (most) beer geeks, but folks who normally drink Alpine and Keith's might like it too. 

Since we moved here to New Brunswick I've been pestering Creemore and other Ontario craft brewers to sell their beer here. Wellington County was another of my favourites. None of them have made the effort - I assume it's because it's just not a profitable prospect for them. It's more effort than it is worth, due to excessive mark-ups and shipping.

However, ever since Creemore was purchased by Molson, and then eventually ended up being available in Quebec, and in the airports (I guess Molson-Coors bought the airport contracts...), I figured it was time to ask again. Still nothing. Molson-Coors is clearly not interested in introducing this delicious brew to the Maritimes.

I've read stories from other beer writers who say Creemore doesn't taste the same since Molson bought it, but I don't agree. I still drink a pint when I'm in Ontario, and it tastes the same to me. 

Anyway, the cans of Kellerbier made me think..."Finally, we're getting a Creemore beer in Atlantic Canada! They wouldn't send me a sample if I couldn't buy it." I shared the beer with my wife, and we both loved it. Very aromatic Euro hops, good bitterness, pleasing malt. This is a yummy lager. I love it even more than their flagship brand.

But I was wrong about the sample. It was just a standard national mixed pack. Like the nerd at the high school dance, I ain't getting any.

Dear Molson: You have a nice new brewery here in New Brunswick. Craft beer is still one of the few market segments that is growing.  Please bring in Creemore in the bottle and on tap.  Or brew a similar beer here. I know you can do it. Stop teasing us.

Cheers!

 Craig 

Craig Pinhey is a Sommelier, experienced beer judge and freelance writer. Visit him at frogspad.ca. Follow him on Twitter as frogspadca.

Excitement Abounds Over New Breweries in New Brunswick

While mainstream beer drinkers might be all revved up for summer, 6-packs of the new Blackberry Moose Light in hand, heading for the beach and cottage, lovers of craft beer got some thrilling news recently: two new micros are opening in the province.

Acadie-Broue is a tiny Moncton brewery that launches their one brand, Tintamarre Saison, at Marky's Laundromat at 382B Rue St. George in Moncton this weekend. Acadie-Broue is both a part time job and labour of love for brewer/owner Patrice Godin, who already has a full time job as a microbiologist at Environment Canada.  I had a small taste of one of his test batches a while ago when Patrice helped judge with me at the Garrison Ultimate Brew-Off.   It tasted Belgian.  Saison is a Belgian style ale that varies widely in its home country, depending on the brand. The yeast used has a big effect, and the traditional brewers each have their own distinct yeast (or yeasts!), so that each beer is unique.  

I asked Godin about the name.  "Tintamarre is an old French word that was used on the farms and fields of France back in the days," he explains, "Bells would sound at lunch break to announce a pause for the workers.  People far in the fields would not hear it.  People were then transmitting the message by hitting on their harvesting baskets (called marre).  "Tint ta marre" = ring your marre.  So the word means to make noise."

That's why Godin says he is starting off with a bang!

But the beer name's relevance goes deeper, still.   "In more recent history the Tintamarre tradition came from the fact that the French wanted to demonstrate to the English that they were still present on the Acadian territories," adds Godin. "So they were making noise.  Since it's the first Acadian Brewery, the name Tintamarre was perfect, like saying 'Hey we're here and we now have our own beer'.   There are street parties all over the Acadian Peninsula called Tintamarre around the 15th of August.  The biggest being the one in Caraquet, every 15th of August.  25000 people go into the streets and make noise by hitting pots and pans with utensils. Acadian history 101 my friend."

Acadie-Broue has a relatively tiny production capacity (11 barrels per year or 1300 litres). Thus Tintamarre is exclusive to Marky's for now, and is Acadie-Broue's only brew. As for the future, who can say?

The other brewery on the horizon is a café/micro-brasserie in Dalhousie, on the North Shore on the Restigouche river.  I don't have the details, but Café Artisan is the name of the place, and rumour has it that it will be modelled after a very nice little bakery/café/brewpub in Carleton, on the Gaspé  Peninsula, Quebec,  called Le Naufrageur.  Apparently, the brewer from Le Naufrageur (Sebastien Dancause) is helping with brewing at the new pub.  If the beer is anythign liek that of Le Naufrageur, who brew everything from Blonde to Sout, with Belgian beer in between (there are 14 brands listed at Ratebeer.com), then New Brunswick beer fans will be happy. I'll report more on this when I get up there to Dalhousie to try the beer. I might even continue on to the Gaspé  to hit up La Naufrageur while I'm up there!

Cheers to new beers !

 Craig 

Craig Pinhey is a Sommelier, experienced beer judge and freelance writer. Visit him at frogspad.ca. Follow him on Twitter as frogspadca.

Dumb Rulings and Boozy Beer

Bear geeks were abuzz online recently as word got out that the Alcohol and Gaming Commission (yes, I know what you are thinking: those two things should not be regulated by the same body) of Ontario has banned Austria's Samichlaus, the famous high alcohol beer, which clocks in at a massive 14%. It was banned not for its boozy quality, but because the name translates to St. Nicholas, making it Santa's Beer, I suppose (which could explain Rudolph's red nose). The fear is that it would appeal to kids, although I somehow doubt that's true. 

The LCBO claims they dropped it for other reasons, but it seem suspicious, since they recently also banned Crystal Skull Vodka, saying it appealed to kids.   Although premium vodka, it comes in a ridiculous crystal skull, which only fans of bad heavy metal would find at all appealing. 

One must wonder about the idiocy of regulators when it comes to booze packaging.   Here in New Brunswick, the ANBL sells those mini sugary shooters that look like kids candy, right at the checkout. Whenever I buy booze and kids are around, they are always after those things.  Coolers, in general, appeal to teens, mainly teen girls (hence the cooler bellies on many of those 1st year university girls).    Hypocrisy is pretty common in the booze bizz. 

The so-called "animal" wines, like Yellow Tail, Goats do Roam, Little Penguin, and the like are all arguably marketed towards young drinkers. Many of them are also designed (yes, wine can be designed, as opposed to made) with a flavour profile aimed at kids. i.e. sweet. 

When it comes to beer, marketing to youth is less common, since kids don't really like the bitterness of beer.  However, there has been a move to young people drinking high alcohol beer. Hence the popularity of Colt 45 and those horrible high test Fax products.  Breweries can get really silly with high alcohol beer. Remember the ice beer fad a while ago? Let's make beer with no flavour but lots of booze. Go crazy, kids!  But they never used cute marketing. 

There are several brewers now battling to brew the highest alcohol beer, getting up to spirit levels by concentrating the alcohol (not distilling) using various techniques. I won't give the names of these, because I don't want to promote them. I don't see the point, really, as beer is still, to me at least, the traditional beverage of moderation. 

In any case, these are not being marketed to kids. They are for the most extreme of beer lovers, the same guys and gals who can't get enough bitterness in a brew. Why not try this with alcohol, too?  

I remember my first trip to Belgium in the mid 80's, seeing all the fruit beers and high alcohol Belgian ales,  colourfully marketed, often with cartoon characters. Yet, I saw no kids drinking them... 

Nowadays, youth drinking is a big problem in Europe. I saw it myself in Barcelona. Gangs of pre-teens roaming around with brown bags, fighting and vomiting in the downtown at 2 in the morning. Nice.  I don't think they are drinking Belgian Trappist ales, mind you.  I'm guessing it's cheap hard liquor and fruit juice (homemade coolers, basically). 

But is this behaviour due to booze companies marketing alcohol to them, or is it more just a sign of the times we live in, where young people get old fast, with the help of easy access to media and pretty much information they want, often without a responsible parent maintaining any control. 

I think it is the latter. 

Cheers! 

Craig  

Craig Pinhey is a Sommelier, experienced beer judge and freelance writer. Visit him at  frogspad.ca . Follow him on Twitter as frogspadca. 

Disclaimer: Craig Pinhey is a freelance writer. The views expressed by Mr. Pinhey in BruBlog are that of the author's.   

Spring & Summer Vino

As the seasons go from winter to spring we change many things in our day to day routine. For me wine is just one more thing that changes with the seasons. In the winter I tend to lean more towards the big and bold comfort wines that match so well with rich winter dishes. As the temperatures warm I tend to enjoy lighter more fresh and crisp flavours in my food and so my wine preference changes to match that. 

Here are a few whites that I have been tasting lately and will enjoy during the hot summer months to come. 

UPC #5601012045505 - Gazela Vinho Verde $10.29

From the north of Portugal in the Minho region comes this very fun and interesting style of wine. Vino Verde translates to mean green wine, which is a reference to its young and fresh nature. Traditionally these vines are trained high so that farmers could grow other crops underneath the shade of the vines protecting the other crops from the hot afternoon sun. 

As is the case with most Vinho Verde this one has a slight fizz on the palate giving the wine and extra fresh character. The wine is light in body with crisp acidity and a nose of melon and mineral. 

Try this wine with delicate and simple salads, sea food or on its own as a nice refreshing sipper. 

UPC #8002235024129 - Zonin Prosecco Special Cuvee $19.29

Italy's sparkling wine produced to the North in Veneto is one of my favourite substitutions for Champagne. The major difference and reason for its affordability is that Prosecco's second fermentation takes place in a steel vat. The CO2 produced from the fermentation is absorbed into the wine, which is then bottled under pressure and caped to preserve the bubbles inside. Champagne's second fermentation takes place inside each individual bottle and so the process is much more labour intensive.

The Zonin Prosecco has a nose of mineral, yeast and citrus. On the palate the bubbles come to life leaving behind dry crisp and clean acidity making the mouth water. A very refreshing bubbly. 

This wine is great with Sea food like oysters, lobster and trout. Nothing wows a crow like a bottle of bubbles. 

UPC #183103000013 - Dr Loosen Riesling $15.99

German Riesling (Riesling in general too) is probably the most misunderstood and over looked wine of all time. The labels don't help their situation and so maybe I've got a topic for another post.

Riesling comes in just about any possible style you can think of from bone dry to super sweet and everything in between. 

In this case with have a wine that is in the off dry style. Its not viscus and sweet but not bone dry either. A little trick you can use when trying to figure out if your wine is sweet or dry is to look at the alc %. The lover the alcohol the sweeter the wine is going to taste. 

This Riesling is in at 8% but what saves it is the sharp acidity that balances out the sweetness so that it's not over the top. On the nose you'll find ripe pear and green apple with a bit of citrus. On the palate the wine is light to medium with a round fruity character up front and crisp vein of acidity to balance.

This wine is best with food that carries a bit of heat. Asian flavours like Thai, green curry and sushi are best friends with wine like this. The fruitiness helps curb the aggressive heat of the spice yet keeping all the exotic flavours. 

Those are only three of the many options out there for summer wines so get out there and experiment with the whites and don't shy away from the roses too as there are a few good ones. Perhaps another post in the making...

Cheers,

Joel      

Joel Williams is a New Brunswick-based sommelier. You can reach Joel at joel@bytheglass.ca

From the Ordinary to the Extraordinary

On April 1st (really!) I drove to Halifax to help judge the 4 finalists in the Garrison Brewing Company's 2nd Annual Ultimate Brew-Off, where homebrewers submitted entries into a competition hosted by the brewery, and co-sponsored by Noble Grape, the local home wine and beermaking chain. This year's challenge was to brew a Belgian Witbier, which is rather tricky, as it calls for the subtle use of spices and flavourings, a significant percentage of unmalted wheat, and, ideally, a Belgian wit yeast culture. The best wits in Belgium have a refreshing lactic sourness to them. Too much sournesss would, of course, ruin the beer, so homebrewers must be careful if they really want to try to emulate that aspect of the style. 

This year's winner was Scott Tilford, who captured the slightly sour essence of this cloudy white ('wit' means white in Flemish) ale. The other brews were good, as well, showing refreshing character and, in some cases, the spiciness expected from Belgian Ale.  Congrats to Scott, as he gets to brew this beer with Brewmaster Daniel Girard in time for next years Brew-Off.

Speaking of which, last year's winner, Brian Harvey (who also came 2nd in the 2010 Wit contest), had his "Harvey's Bitter" released at the party. Draft samples were given to everyone at the Brew-Off party, and bottles could be purchased to take home. Harvey's is an "Ordinary Bitter," meaning it is low alcohol (3.8%), and only moderately malty and bitter. The draft tasted great: nice and smooth, light in body, with subtle malt flavour and a balanced bitter finish.  A day later I tried the bottled version, which was quite a bit different. It was colder, coming from the fridge, and had more carbonation, and this seemed to highlight some vegetal DMS  (dimethyl sulfide) aromas and flavours, leading some drinkers to comment that it reminded them of Keith's. A rather bitter and malty Keith's, perhaps.  The DMS doesn't wreck the beer, but I'd prefer it without it. I noticed it tasted much better served less cold, right from the cellar. I pour it vigourously, too, to lower the carbonation. 

There is no reason that a 4% or lower in alcohol beer needs to be flavourless, like Big Brewery "lite."  I'd love to see Garrison make this a full time product, perhaps with a few tweaks. I'd also like to see it on tap here in New Brunswick.

In the extraordinary category, after the Brew-Off we went down to the Hart & Thistle to try the latest hop bomb from Greg Nash. I started with  the E-Rosinous Zone "West Coast" IPA, which, although sporting a vaguely dirty name, was a typical Nash beer: super hoppy, although moderate in bitterness by his standards at 55 IBU. It had loads of hop aroma and flavour, though. The alcohol was 6.5% - good for a balanced IPA. I quite enjoyed it. Next was his Blackout CIA (Canadian India Ale), which was VERY bitter. A bit much for my palate at the time...I think I was beered out by that point. It got its name because there was a power blackout during the brew.  This extreme beer had 82 IBU and 7.3% alcohol, as well as a dry finish highlighted by roasted malt flavours.  I'm sure that lovers of extreme beers in New Brunswick would love to see these on tap here. All we need is for Nash to start up a micro, something that he is rumoured to be close to doing. 

While these beers have come and gone, Nash has replaced them with more of his crazy concoctions (go to hartandthistle.com to find out). These are the yin to the yang of a beer like Harvey's Ordinary Bitter, and the world is better off - better balanced - having both types.

Cheers!

Craig 

Craig Pinhey is a Sommelier, experienced beer judge and freelance writer. Visit him at frogspad.ca. Follow him on Twitter as frogspadca.

Disclaimer: BruBlog is written by Craig Pinhey. The views expressed in BruBlog are not necessarily shared by DiningFeed.com, Delora Media or any of its management.  

Building your wine cellar

Approximately 75% of the wines you see on the shelves today are meant for drinking now. They are fruit forward plush and smooth. This is for the most part how they are designed to be. Cellaring wine years ago was done out of necessity. 100 years ago many wines that would have been drunk in their youth would be very tight, tannic or rough. Cellaring the wine would smooth out the tannins and open up the fruit character. As you continue to cellar wine the fruit character gives way to more complex aromas of dried fruit, spice, wood and leather (red wines).

In any good cellar there should be three categories. Wines for early drinking, Short term cellaring and long term cellaring. Nobody likes having a bunch of wine they can only look at so it is important to try and have a balance of things you can open up now and some in the foreseeable future.

The early drinking wine is like your house wine. These are the $10-$15 dollar wines that you can enjoy with your dinner on a casual basis. Wines in this category are not really built to stand up to cellaring.

I like a window of about 3-5 years for my short term cellaring. There is a range of wines out there at $25-$50 dollars that will age and develop very well from a number of countries. They are probably very tasty now but with a little more time in the bottle will develop more complexity and character. Australian Shiraz, Mid range Bordeaux and Burgundy, good Canadian Bordeaux blends, Italian Chianti Classico, and California Cabernet are all good choices for short term cellaring.

The last category is reserved for your “Big Guns”. Long term cellaring could be 10 – 30 years or even longer. This part of your cellar also tends to carry a bit or a price tag with it as well. For me these are special bottles to be shared on special occasions with special friends. A lot of people will splurge on a special wine because the vintage is the same year they were born or the same year as the birth of a child. Very good Bordeaux and Burgundy from good years will stand the test of time. Supper Tuscans are also designed to age as is Barolo, high end California Cabernets, Chilean Cabernet and Vintage Port. Ice wine and other dessert wines tend to age very well also. These are the wines you will be spending the most money on so do your home work. The computer is your best friend here. Look up info on the producer, the quality of the vintage from the region in question and tasting notes. Also try and use a few sources for tasting notes. Don’t just blindly follow the Robert Parkers and Wine Spectators of the world as they are only one side of the coin.

Know your pallet! This is important as you may not enjoy the effects long term cellaring has on your wine. Some people really enjoy it when their wine still has that youthful edge and power to it with a few years cellaring. Others may really like it when the wine has turned soft with complex aromas of leather, dried meat, barn yard and cedar.

It’s all about what you like but please try not to forget about the white wines out there too! Some of the most interesting wines I’ve tried were older white wines. There is a much smaller window to choose from here but are few regions and grapes to keep in mind are German Rieslings, Alsatian Rieslings and Gewürztraminer, White Burgundy (AKA Chardonnay), High end California Chardonnay, Australian Semillon and really good Chennin Blanc from the Loir (if you can find any).

Here are a few suggestions for your short term and long term cellar projects...

UPC #7804320333175 - Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon $23.99

This is produced by Concha y Toro and is worth every penny. They also do a Syrah, Merlot and Chardonnay. All are great wines to tuck away for 3-5 years. 2007 was an amazing vintage as well so these guys could probably go even longer.

UPC #8014629170015 - Pio Cesare Il Bricco Barbaresco DOCG $104.98

Produced in Piedmont Italy this Nebbiolo is from a much respected producer and can stand the test of time. This wine is a good candidate to age over 10 years.

UPC #3337690105492 - Bouchard Pere & Fils Meursault Charmes $81.29

Coming from Burgundy France is a Chardonnay by another much respected producer. A great addition if you can get your hands on one.

Remember one thing when trying to decide what to open this weekend – A good bottle can only wait as long as you!

Cheers,

Joel

Joel Williams is a New Brunswick-based sommelier with By the Glass. You can reach Joel at joel@bytheglass.ca

Decanting your wine

Decanting was a process that came to be out of necessity, due to the fact that many wines were not filtered or clarified to the point that they are today. When wine was served it was common to pour it into another vessel to avoid any sediment or solid matter finding its way into the glass or mouth. Another more common use for decanting wines today is to aerate a young wine. Aeration helps soften the youthful edge and grip some young red wines have.

Wine making techniques today have become more hands on and more often than not the wines are bottled crystal clear, free of any sediment. That being said there are still some producers that will label their wines with things like “unfiltered” or “Minimal filtering”. Too much filtration and handling can strip a wine of its intensity and character. After a few years in a bottle these wines will start to accumulate sediment. 

As wine ages the color pigments start to bind with tannins (fuzzy feelings you get on your cheeks and gums) and become denser, falling out of suspension creating sediment and so the need to decant.

There is no perfect rule or science when it comes to decanting but there are a few general guidelines to keep in mind.

The older the wine the more gentle you need to be-

It is possible to ruin an old wine by decanting it with too much force. Taste it first and ask yourself how much intensity and structure the wine has before decanting. The shape of the decanter plays an important role in the process. If I have a very old wine I would use a very narrow decanter. The more surface area exposed to oxygen the more intense the aeration will be.  Sometimes for the older wines decanting directly into another empty wine bottle is the best thing to do. There are also times when decanting is just not possible at all. In this case I would pour very slowly, look past the sediment and enjoy the wine for what it is...old.

You can be a little more heavy handed with the younger wines-

With the younger wines using a decanter with a narrow top and a wide base is the best tool. This is the more common shape for decanters and they are designed to speed up the aging process of young wines making them more expressive and approachable sooner. Tip them upside down and let the decanter to its thing.

The method will vary depending on the age of the wine. To decant an older wine with sediment peel the foil off and pour slowly into a decanter. Use a candle or light to look through the neck of the bottle. Make sure you pour in one steady stream and stop once you see the first signs of sediment getting to the neck. When you stop there should be a few inches left. If you really want to get every last bit pour the final few inches through a coffee filter (works for me). With the young wines there is no finesse or flair needed. Simply pour the wine into the decanter and let it stand for about 30-60 minutes.

Get a few friends together and dust off the decanters with these wines:

UPC #7804320117294 - Marques de Casa Concha Syrah $24.99

Great Chilean Syrah from 2007, one of their best red wine vintages in years. Decant now or short term cellar wine. Sure to impress.

UPC #3448820801716 - Chateau Hourtin Ducasse $28.29

Classic French Bordeaux from the great 2005 vintage. This wine really changes with a bit of time in the decanter. Will also improve with short term cellaring.

UPC #9313467077128 - Katnook Estate Odyssey $55

Great Australian producer here with high end Cabernet that will through some sediment if you can find any...only a few in Edmundston.

 UPC #017224707110 - Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon $182.79

If you feel like treating yourself...California cult Cabernet Sauvignon that has had sediment in past vintages. I’ve not tried this vintage but I can say that it will need to be decanted in its youth and will produce sediment with cellaring.

Check out Winners or Stokes as they tend to have good every day decanters at good prices.

Cheers,

Joel

Joel Williams is a New Brunswick-based sommelier with By the Glass. His column appears every second week on DiningPick.com. You can contact Joel at joel@bytheglass.ca

More on Growlers, Hello Sammy, and Microcarbonation?

First, a follow-up to my article last month about Growlers. I spoke to Sean Dunbar of Picaroons about why he doesn't sell them.  He had a revealing angle on the story, that speaks to the frustration that we beer lovers often have with bureaucrats. "The growler question is still up in the air," said Dunbar,  "as somebody has the idea that a bottle can either be recyclable or refillable, but not both, or either."  He further explained that he could sell growlers, but the customer cannot bring them back to a brewery store to refill them. That's, of course, silly, as the whole point of growlers is to refill them, and that is why they are both economical and environmentally friendly in jurisdictions that use them properly.  "In order for us to refill growlers," he added, "we would also have to set up a program of travelling around to every individual recycling center in NB in the off chance that someone might bring a growler in.  If we list the growler as recyclable but not refillable, we would not have to do that, but we would also not be allowed to refill them at our store, thereby pretty much defeating the good things about using growlers."

All the booze business needs is some common sense, but it is in shorter supply than American craft beer in New Brunswick..

Speaking of which, let's move on to some pretty good news. Moosehead Brewery recently announced that they are partnering with the US's Boston Beer Company and will be the representative of their brands in Canada.   I spoke to Moosehead's spokesman Joel Levesque about this, to see if we might have access to all those really interesting brands. I really like Sammy (Samuel Adams Boston Lager) but I know they have a bunch of other goodies, including 7 different Seasonal Brews (Noble Pils, Summer Ale, Winter Lager, Oktoberfest, Old Fezziwig Ale, Cranberry Lambic and Holiday Porter), their Brewmaster's Collection (13 beers including Boston Ale, Cherry Wheat, Cream Stout, Hefeweizen, and the list goes on),  3 strong "Imperial Styles", and 6 Extreme Beers, such as their groundbreaking Triple Bock, Utopias and Millenium. 

Levesque explained that, in addition to the flagship Boston Lager, which is already on tap in several NB locations, and in bottles at the ANBL, they will be listing the Sam Adams Summer Ale in 6-packs, hopefully by May.  The Summer Ale is a seasonal American Wheat, with additions of lemon zest and grain of paradise.  As for other brands,  Levesque says there are no immediate plans, but "if the two listings do well, we will enter into some discussions with Boston Beer about bringing more of their portfolio to the Great White North."    Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Finally, the newest brew to hit the market is the Molson M, a so-called "microcarbonated" beer. I couldn't make it to the press event at their Moncton Brewery, so I still haven't tasted this, but I can't help being skeptical. Firstly it has ridiculous ad copy: "A highly drinkable taste."  That means nothing. Who is writing this crap?   Anyway, the idea is that they have a process that makes for smaller CO2 bubbles, which should make the beer less fizzy and smoother to drink. A common problem with mass marketed beer, which has CO2 injected, is the carbonation is too high. It fills you up too much,  is coarse in the mouth and can give a carbonic acid impression.   The interesting thing is that good, naturally carbonated beer, done in the bottle ( the best example being English real ale) already has these beautiful fine bubbles, making them far smoother and easier to drink.  It's all done naturally, in the bottle, like for Champagne. No new technology was needed, except perhaps a time machine.

 Cheers!

Craig 

Craig Pinhey is a Sommelier, Certified beer judge and freelance writer. Visit him at frogspad.ca. Follow him on Twitter as frogspadca.