May 1, 2018
PEI farmers discovering Island conditions can be ideal for hops For centuries, hops have been grown and used as medicinal plants as well as a key component in brewing beer. Despite the multitude of craft breweries opening in our region in recent years, farming hops is only now slowly catching on. Currently there are approximately 27 acres of hops being…
May 1, 2018
Tracing the roots of this perennial plant Hops have been a part of the landscape for centuries. Whether they are a wild species, or descendants of plants brought into the fields by European settlers, they can be found across PEI. Chris Long, head brewer at the PEI Brewing Company said there are definitely local hops out there in the wild.…
March 31, 2018
Mad Cow Disease’s lingering impact on the beef industry of PEI Despite not one single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy being found on Prince Edward Island, the bad news hit the industry as hard here as anywhere else. BSE, otherwise known as Mad Cow Disease, has been found officially in Canada since the 1990s. The first reported case was back…
February 1, 2018
And everywhere in between Out of adversity comes opportunity. That old Ben Franklin chestnut couldn’t be more true for Peter Toombs and Diversified Metal Engineering. DME is a big player in the world of brewing and is based here in Prince Edward Island. But the seeds of its creation came from a failed—if warmly remembered—experiment in local craft brewing. “DME…
December 1, 2017
Kings County’s first brewery opens Copper Bottom Brewing finally opened its doors in early November, somewhat later than the husband-and-wife owners Ken Spears and Ashley Condon had hoped for. But the delayed opening doesn’t seem to be affecting interest in their taproom or beer. “The reception has been phenomenal,” Condon said. “Everyone seems to be loving the beer and both…
November 1, 2017
Local farm mills heritage wheat The room is sparkling clean and seems to be hermetically sealed from the outside world. This is Crystal Green Farms’ milling room. It holds the only flour operation in PEI growing and milling heritage Red Fife wheat. Brian and Kathy MacKay are proud of what they’ve accomplished. Their interest in organic farming was the inspiration…
October 1, 2017
The Fathers of Confederation, conviviality, and commensality Canada may have been born out of deliberated consultation, but it gestated in a sea of Canadian Champagne.* Prince Edward Island grabs hold of the title “Birthplace of Confederation” in the way a tenacious drunk holds on to parking meters. We can not let it go. When the Charlottetown Conference delegates from the…
September 28, 2017
It’s not often (if ever) that The PEI Brewing Company closes down production for two days, but the Fall Flavours Great Big Barbeque is probably a good reason. Murphy Hospitality Group closed the brewery Thursday, September 28 2017 to make way for eight local chefs and their creative takes on barbeque. The event was hosted by celebrity chef Corbin Tomaszezki…
September 1, 2017
PEI delicacy comes out of its shell One hundred and seventeen years ago the Malpeque oyster was proclaimed “the Best Oyster in the World” at the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris. It’s still considered the best by many in the culinary world. If you haven’t had the pleasure this year’s Feast and Frolic dinner at the PEI International Shellfish Festival…
May 1, 2017
PEI’s only shellfish hatchery will be owned and operated by Lennox Island First Nation After 10 years as a storage shed, the facility that saved the Island oyster industry back in the 1930s is rising from the dead. In 1930, a laboratory was established on the Bideford River in Ellerslie to help restore the oyster fishery in Prince Edward Island…