My goodness the last few days have been busy. A large number of new beer news has come across my desk, some official, some through back channels. Either way, as expected early March has been marked by new beer releases and other news.

I will start with a scoop (sort of). I was in Calgary for much of last week and while there learned that in the coming days newcomer Tool Shed Brewing, who are still working to assemble their Calgary brewery, and Alberta craft pioneer Big Rock have agreed to a collaboration beer. They will be getting together later in March to brew up a Coffee Stout made with coffee from Calgary artisanal coffee roast Phil & Sebastian. Word has it that Phil & Sebastian have over the years rejected many attempts at making a beer with their coffee because not enough of its unique character comes through. According to Tool Shed, after some considerable experimentation, they have figured out a way to impart the distinctive flavours for which Phil & Sebastian are known. Better yet, all proceeds will be donated to the Olds College Bremaster and Brewery Operations Management program, which started up this past fall.

This is an interesting collaboration simply because it pairs a longstanding brewer with a couple of guys who have yet to fire up their own brew kettle. At the moment I won’t discuss HOW Tool Shed thinks they found a way to impart a particular coffee character – I will save that for the review. But it should be an interesting combination.

In some other news:

• Wild Rose Brewing’s latest seasonal, out just in the last couple days, is Life on Mars. Billed as a Biere de Mars, it claims to have the earthy, rustic flavours of a French Farmhouse Ale. Supposedly it is the result of a lobby effort by a couple of the brewery’s delivery guys.
• Alley Kat has two announcements this week. First its latest Big Bottle Series beer is 61/2 Bears Oatmeal Export Stout. They say it is a re-creation of their popular Three Bears Oatmeal Stout “only bigger and better”. This beer clocks in at 6.5% and offers the same roastiness of the original Bears, but more, apparently. They also  have announced the impending release of Scona Gold Gluten Reduced. Scona Gold was one of the original line-up of Alley Kat beer back in the late ’90s. I remember it to be a full-bodied cream ale, but it has been a long time. This new version is a Kolsch brewed as a standard barley beer with gluten removed post-fermentation. Alley Kat can’t guarantee the actual gluten levels and so are being careful not to promise that it is gluten free. Still, an interesting development. Not sure how I feel about the takeover of the Scona Gold name (a beer that I have long thought should be re-introduced), but it is interesting that they have jumped into the gluten-reduced market.
• Grizzly Paw has released its Chinook Red IPA seasonal in 650 ml bomber bottles. It is an amber IPA, offering an interesting mixture of classic northwestern hop flavour and bitterness with a substantial malt base. Chinook is likely to have a linited release around the province, so if you find one, grab it.
• Big Rock is also releasing in the coming days its Monk’s Misery Gruit. Gruit is an ancient beer mixture that uses a variety of spices instead of hops to offer the balance to malt. Gruit was originally considered desirable for its medicinal properties but was gradually overtaken by hopped beer as the go-to drink. Big Rock’s version has lavender, wormwood, mugwort and heather, which means regardless if it is to your liking it will be a very interesting beer

I leave until last the latest insights into Hog’s Head. And I do so because the list of things they are up to is rather dizzying. First, they have begun releasing a series of their beer in six-packs for the first time. Clockwort Orange came out last week in six packs for the first time. The folks at Hog’s Head report it has been their biggest on-tap seller since its release. They are also releasing Bear Beer in six-packs. This is a wheat beer released in conjunction with radio station The Bear. Also, they are announcing a new mixed pack to be released at the end of the month which will have bottles of Hop Slayer, A Whole Lota Rosie and Baby Back , along with a new beer called Boss Hog’s Breakfast, an interesting Oatmeal IPA running at about 80 IBU.

But what may be the biggest news for beer geeks is the announcement, coming later this month, of their planned four-part series called Freak Show Series. The first installment is called Black Hog Down (get it?) a formidable 11% Imperial Stout that I suspect may be reminiscent of the old KGB Imperial Stout many of us loved. Finally they tell me their summer release will be Something About Cherry (again, get it? Our friends at Hog’s Head clearly like cultural references), a wheat ale with maraschino cherries. Not sure what that will be like, but it is likely to be a patio favourite.

I am still waiting for what non-Alberta breweries have planned for the spring, so expect another news update soon.