A trade deal between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia is good news to Fredericton's Picaroons brand beer.
 
Sean Dunbar, one of the owners of Northampton Brewing Company, which makes Picaroons, says his company hopes to market their Dooryard Ale, an organic specialty beer, in Nova Scotia.

"Our applications will begin to go to Nova Scotia, I expect, this fall," he said Monday. "We'll get through the summer season and try to assess our capacity to make sure we can make enough beer for that market, and then we'll ship some beer."

Under the old trade agreement, the breweries were subject to expensive handling and distribution fees.

Dunbar says he has been unwilling to test the Nova Scotia market in the past out of fear that import rules could suddenly change.

He says he no longer expects any surprise changes.