PRINCE.EDWARD.ISLAND (CBC) - For the first time in decades, beer bottled on Prince Edward Island will be available in Island liquor stores starting Tuesday.

Gahan House Brewery has started bottling and selling two brands of its beer in Island liquor stores. The beers, Sir John A. Honey Wheat and Island Red, are in 500 ml bottles selling for $3.50 each.

The brewery has been operating as a brewpub since 1997, moving to its current downtown-Charlottetown location and taking on its current name in 2001. Chris Wright of the Gahan House Brewery said the beer had to pass through rigorous testing before being made available for retail sales.

"Because of the expense of it, P.E.I. doesn't have its own lab, so they use the one that's in Ontario," said Wright.

"We had to send a sample of both of our products that had to be analyzed and pass specific rigorous tests before we could even get the opportunity to list it."

The last time Island bottled beer was available in P.E.I. stores was in the 1980s. Red Rock Brewery sold several brands of bottled beers in Island liquor stores until it went bankrupt.

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