VANKLEEK HILL, ON – Beau’s All-Natural Brewing has announced a slew of beer releases and supporting events for February. So many, in fact, that the month is being renamed “FeBREWary”, at least for Beau’s and their fans.

On February 2nd, the spring seasonal Beaver River IPA will make an early return, just in time for the Champlain Winter Carnival which takes place in Vankleek Hill on the weekend of February 4th & 5th.

On February 9th, Beau’s will launch Mates With Dates, a double-fermented brown ale made with dates that was crafted in collaboration with British brewer Alex Barlow. Barlow will be on hand to celebrate the release with events in Vankleek Hill, Ottawa, and Toronto on February 8th-10th.

February16th will see the release of the 2nd annual edition of WinterBrewed, an amber ale infused with fair trade organic coffee from Bridgehead Coffee, made to celebrate Ottawa’s Winterlude festival. Joining it this year will be Collabrrrewator, a doppelbock brewed using more than 150 pounds of three different coffees. Launch events for the beers will take place on February 18th at the Beau’s brewery during the day, and the Sparks St. location of Bridgehead in the evening.

Finally, the next installment in the Beau’s Barrel Aged Beer Series will be unveiled on February 25th. A bourbon barrel-aged version of Mr. Hyde, the rye ale originally released last Hallowe’en, this brew will be limited to 400 litres, and will be available only to members of the Greener Futures fundraising campaign.

For more details on all of these beers and related events, visit the Beau’s website.

WHITEHOUSE, YK – Yukon Brewing has recently made two new seasonal brews available for growler purchases, and has a third following later this week.

Now on tap are English Mild and Yukon Crude Stout, which are described as follows:

We once read a statement that the English Mild is “readily suited to drinking in quantity”. While we always encourage responsible use, we get where the author was coming from! This beer is a rich brown in colour, but light in body with a slight malt accent, and only enough bitterness to provide a bit of balance. If a darker beer scares you, try this one… it will cure your fears and might even turn you into an advocate.

Yukon Crude falls into the category of Dry Stout, although the alcohol content is most definitely at the high end of the range. We used a bit of oatmeal for body building (yes, beer requires body building, too), but not nearly enough to be an Oatmeal Stout. True to the style, we used a portion of roasted, unmalted barley, which accounts for a good deal of the dryness. The use of Chocolate and Black malts delivers a secondary note of cocoa, which lasts into the finish. The word that best describes this beer, we think, is sumptuous.

And according to a recent tweet, a new Scottish Ale is set to join these two on Friday, although no further details or tasting notes have been announced.

VANCOUVER, BC – The Vancouver branch of the Campaign for Real Ale Society British Columbia (CAMRA BC) held its 2012 Annual General Meeting this past weekend, during which the winners were announced for the annual CAMRA Vancouver members poll recognizing the best in the city’s craft beer and brewing scene.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Local Brewpub
Gold – Central City Brewing Company
Silver – Steamworks Brewing Company
Bronze – Yaletown Brewing Company

Best BC Brewpub
Gold – Central City Brewing Company
Silver – Howe Sound Brewing
Bronze – Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub

Best BC Brewery (non-brewpub)
Gold – Driftwood Brewery
Silver – Red Racer Beer
Bronze – Phillips Brewing Co

Best Local Beer Establishment (Café, Bar, Pub, Taphouse, Restaurant, etc)
Gold – Alibi Room
Silver – St. Augustine’s
Bronze – The Whip Gallery Restaurant

Best Local Beer Server/Bartender (knowledge, enthusiasm for Craft Beer)
Gold – Nigel Springthorpe
Silver – Alibi Room – All Servers & Bartenders
Bronze – St. Augustine’s – All Servers & Bartenders

Best Local Private Liquor Store (beer selection & service)
Gold – Firefly Fine Wines & Ales – TIE
Gold – Brewery Creek Liquor Store – TIE
Silver – Legacy Liquor Store
Bronze – Central City Liquor Store

Best Local Cask Night
Gold – The Whip Gallery Restaurant – Real Ale Sundays
Silver – St. Augustine’s – Manichean Mondays
Bronze – Yaletown Brewing Company – Making it Real (Ale)

Best Local Beer Event
Gold – Vancouver Craft Beer Week
Silver – CAMRA Vancouver & Malone’s Urban Drinkery – Oktoberfest & Harvestfest  - TIE
Silver – Central City Summer Cask Festival – TIE
Bronze – Alibi Room 300^th Tap Rotation

Best BC Beer
Note: this is a beer must be available throughout the year, not an event one-off or a seasonal
Gold – Driftwood Brewery – Fat Tug IPA
Silver – Red Racer Beer – IPA
Bronze – Crannog Ales – Back Hand of God – TIE
Bronze – Red Racer Beer – ESB – TIE

Best BC Seasonal Beer
Gold – Driftwood Brewery – Sartori Harvest IPA
Silver – Driftwood Brewery – Flanders Red
Bronze – Central City Brewing Company – Thor’s Hammer Barley Wine

Best Local Beer Blogger or Writer
Gold – Leo Nomoto – Vancouver Beer Blog
Silver – Paddy Treavor – VanEast  Beer Blog
Bronze – Barley Mowat

VANCOUVER, BC – Red Truck Beer has launched a new website that offers a variety of information about the small North Vancouver brewery and its products.

In addition to short blurbs about the brewery, brewmaster Dave Varga, and the eponymous red truck that’s used for delivery’s, the site provides notes on the brewery’s base brands – Red Truck Ale and Red Truck Lager – as well as upcoming limited releases. Other useful info includes a list and map of bars that serve Red Track’s draught-only brews, a merchandise page, and details on ordering kegs for delivery or pick-up.

Along with the new website, Red Truck has announced a new upcoming limited release, Red Truck Sticke:

Once a year, breweries and brewpubs in Dusseldorf will make a higher strength version of their Alt. This beer, lasting only a day or two because of their popularity, is called Sticke, or “secret” in their dialect. This ale is usually darker in colour than traditional alts; it has a restrained fruit aroma and flavour; a light caramel and burnt sugar malt sweetness; and distinct, herbal, hop bitterness.

Red Truck Sticke was brewed on January 1st, and should be released soon at select bars and pubs in Vancouver and area.

Brewed using fresh cranberries from Bala, Ontario, the original release of Cranberry Pilsner served as a fundraiser for the United Way, with 50 cents from each bottle sold set aside for a donation. The contribution of the money raised will take place this Thursday, January 26th at a special edition of the brewery’s Thursday Night Session tasting series. Admission will be limited to 25 people, and those interested in attending should contact info@railwaycitybrewing.com to RSVP.

For those unable to attend on Thursday, bottles of Cranberry Pilsner will be available at the brewery store while supplies last, alongside fellow seasonal Black Coal Stout and other Railway City brands. It will also be available on tap at select licensed establishments throughout southern Ontario.

OTTAWA, ON – A post on Facebook earlier this afternoon has revealed that the new Ottawa location of the Mill Street Brew Pub will be opening today at 4:00 PM, three days ahead of the originally announced opening date of January 27th.

According to comments the post, Friday will still serve as the official grand opening day, with a private kick-off from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM followed by a public event with full menu service and a live band.

Reservations will be taken starting on January 31st, with admission and service being first come first served until then.

FERNIE, BC – Following on last year’s packaging redesigns for several Fernie Brewing brands including Buck Wild Ale and First Trax Brown Ale, the brewery has revealed a revamped look for its popular The Griz Pale Ale.

As shown in the photo above, the new cans feature striking green and gold graphics along with a distinctive grizzly bear image, and text describing the legend of The Griz, “a mountain of a man built tough enough to fight any grizzly with his bare hands”.

New cans of The Griz Pale Ale will be arriving in stores in early February.

TORONTO, ON – Following on the back-to-back launches of Golden Beach Pale Wheat, Ol’ Woody Alt and Lone Pine IPA through the last couple of months of 2011, Sawdust City Brewing is getting ready for this week’s lift-off of its next beer.

Long, Dark Voyage to Uranus is a big and bold Imperial stout that brewmaster Sam Corbeil describes as follows:

8.5% ABV, 85 IBU and 2.57 billion SRM, this decadent treat is loaded with rich, sinful flavours of chocolate and espresso. It has a big bitter kick though, so approach with caution… this is not for the faint of heart.

Only 500 litres has been brewed for this first batch, and distribution and availability will be limited to a handful of Toronto’s better beer bars, as well as Gambrinus Bistro in London and The Griffin Gastropub in Bracebridge.

REGINA, SK– From April 9 to 14, 2012, the best homebrewers from across Canada will compete in Regina at the 2012 National Homebrew Competition Canadian Qualifier & ALES Homebrew Open.

Now in its 18th year, the ALES Homebrew Open is the largest and longest running competition of homebrewed beer, cider and mead in Canada. It is organized by Regina’s Ale and Lager Enthusiasts of Saskatchewan (ALES) club, and is hosted by the Bushwakker Brewpub.

Medal winners from this competition advance to the 2nd round of the American Homebrewers Association National Homebrew Competition, the largest competition of its kind in the world, taking place June 21 to 23 in Seattle during the AHA National Homebrewers Conference. Additionally, any medals won earn points towards the Canadian Brewer of the Year award for 2012.

Prizes and medals will be awarded in 28 categories of beer, cider and mead as classified by the internationally recognized Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). Certified judges will be evaluating entries in accordance with BJCP style guidelines and scoring systems, and awarding gold, silver and bronze medals in each category, along with an assortment of prizes donated by sponsors from throughout North America.

Submission details and other information about the competition can be found on the ALES website, or by emailing competition@alesclub.com.

VANCOUVER, BC – The owners of esteemed Vancouver craft beer bar St. Augustine’s have announced plans to open Parallel 49 Brewing later this year.

Co-owners Anthony Frustagli, Nick Paladino and Mike Sleeman – who are all avid homebrewers – have partnered with former Dead Frog brewmaster and current Vancouver Homebrewers Association president Graham With, and hope to have Parallel 49 up and running by mid-spring.

While the final decisions have yet to be made on the styles and names of the initial Parallel 49 products, the team is aiming to launch with three year-round brands and one seasonal in 341 ml bottles, a monthly series in 650 ml bombers, and draught distribution for all brands.

Details on the brewery’s progress will be announced as available on the Parallel 49 Twitter feed and mailing list.