A little over a year after opening its doors and kegs to the public, PEI’s Upstreet Craft Brewing is ready to expand its reach to the other side of the Confederation Bridge. Having upgraded their production capacity during the Spring, it’s only natural for the fledgling brewery to now set its sights on New Brunswick.
As Mitch Cobb, Upstreet’s co-founder and CEO explained to us, “Our team is thrilled to be introducing our beer to New Brunswick. The response on PEI has been overwhelming and has allowed us to increase our capacity much faster than we anticipated. It seems like the perfect time to explore new opportunities and connect with other communities.”
While this will be the first time their beer has flowed on the New Brunswick side of the bridge, Upstreet has been bridging the gap between the two provinces for a while now. They’ve made it a priority to source their ingredients as close to home possible, even if it does involve crossing a body of water. As a result they’ve been sourcing 100% of the hops used in most of their flagship beers entirely from New Brunswick.
While highly anticipated, Upstreet’s unveiling in New Brunswick will be small-scale at first, with their products only available in select locations for the time being. Fredericton’s Snooty Fox, Ducky’s in Sackville, and Saint John’s Pepper’s Pub, along with the Saint John Ale House will all be carrying Upstreet brews.
Despite the slow introduction to the province, the brewery has been in high spirits, as it is still a very significant event. As Cobb puts it, “As a young company, these are exciting milestones that we are very proud of and we’re excited to share the Upstreet experience with new craft beer enthusiasts. We hope to make our products available in liquor stores as soon as possible, but want to start by introducing it to the public through our favorite bars and restaurants in the province.”
Upstreet may still be a little way off from a full deal with ANBL to sell bottled products in liquor stores, anyone interested in trying this new beer without the wait is strongly encouraged to check out any one of the four local pilot locations to see for themselves what all the excitement is about.