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Friday Wrap-Up for June 24 2022 – News from Banished, Half Cocked, Upstreet, Big Spruce, Annapolis Cider, Long Bay, Serpent, Copper Bottom, Annapolis Brewing, and more!

Posted by acbbaaron on 2022-06-24
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 902 BrewCast, Annapolis Brewing Company, Annapolis Cider Company, Banished Brewing, Big Spruce Brewing, Breton Brewing, Copper Bottom Brewing, Eventide Mead, Half Cocked Brewing, Long Bay Brewery, Propeller Brewing, Serpent Brewing, Timber Ship Brewing, Upstreet Craft Brewing. Leave a Comment

Happy Summer, folks! It’s the last Friday of June, which means many kids are counting down the last days of school for another year. And for those who celebrate, joyeux journée Saint-Jean-Baptiste aujourd’hui! We’ve got plenty of new brews, as well as Anniversary and Re-Opening celebrations for you to attend this weekend. With next week’s Canada Day falling on a Friday, we’ll be sending out the news to you a day early (brewery pals please take note).

The region’s newest brewery, Paradise’s Banished Brewing, has rounded out their offerings with 3 more beers since we shared the news at the beginning of the month. Let’s get you up to speed on what to drink, and where to drink them!

– Paradise Town is their 5.5% Fruited Sour, featuring Pink Guava puree added for a tropical kick. Look for more iterations of this beer as they play with the fruit additions throughout the year.

– An Elaborate Series of Mirrors is a 5.0% American Lager, crushable, quaffable, however you want to put it, this beer is made for easy enjoyment.

– Tall Trees, with a label reminiscent of the Redwoods in the Pacific Northwest, is a 7.0% West Coast IPA. Piney and citrusy, there is a serious bitterness in here to match the aromatics.

All three have been canned, and join Out The Gate Trappist-inspired Single, Space Puffin NEIPA, and NO NO NO YES NO EI Pale Ale at Avalon-area Marie’s, NLCs, and on tap at better bars in town, including Bar Brewdock.

Half Cocked Brewing in North Grant, just outside of Antigonish, is celebrating their Grand Re-Opening this weekend. After undergoing major renovations over the past two years, which saw more than a 20-fold increase in their production capacity, as well as opening a welcoming taproom and patio capable of accommodating more than 100 people, they are ready to toast how far they’ve come! They have released two new beers to toast with, including Almost Friggin’ Famous, a 8.0% Double Friggin’ IPA. The alcohol is tempered by a solid bitterness from the Simcoe and Centennial hops used throughout, which also lend big pine character to the flavour and aroma. Brewed in collaboration with Good Friggin’ Company, an apparel company based in Lower South River. Even friggin’ better is that $0.25 from each can goes to their Small Town, Big Stages bursary, an award given to High School graduates going into a Music program, with 3 awards of $1000 to be distributed this year.

Also new on tap and in cans at Half Cocked this weekend is Something Sour, a 5.0% dry-hopped Sour, featuring the lovely Idaho 7 hop. Refreshing and tart, the hops and Lacto work together for a citrus bomb of grapefruit and tangerine on the nose and palate.

The brewery is celebrating tomorrow from noon ‘til late with The Crafty Cooks food truck running a BBQ all day, and live music starting at 3 PM. The Ceilidhmen are taking the stage 3 – 5 PM, with Jason Spracklin playing 6 – 8 PM, with Mitch (of Good Friggin’ Company) & the Good Company band starting their set at 9 PM (the final set will have a $10 cover, half of which goes to the bursary). As it will be outside, bringing a lawn chair or blanket is a good idea, if you need a break from the dancing. Congratulations to Greg, Nick, and the entire Half Cocked Crew!

Another brewery celebrating this weekend is Charlottetown’s (and Burnside’s) Upstreet Brewing. Hard to believe that it’s been 7 years since they opened their doors on Allen Street, but here we are! As is tradition, they are also taking the opportunity to release their annual De Novo, taking the opportunity to begin anew. De Novo VII is a Mango Apricot Saison, taking up the mantle from last year’s introduction of fruit (absent from the 5 previous releases), and doubling the fruiting rate again. The spicy pepper character from the yeast plays well with the mango character, with the apricot offering a subtle tartness. Neither fruit takes over the beer, and is not at all sweet, as the Saison yeast dried it out nicely. Dry-hopped with German Callista for a bit more stone fruit on the nose. The 6.26% (also their birthdate!) Saison is canned again this year, for sale at all of their locations, and may even be on tap at a favourite Halifax-based bar in the next while.

Joining that is Fireworks 2022, Upstreet’s annual collaboration with The Inn at Bay Fortune, and their Fireworks kitchen. Sourcing Pilsner, Wheat, and Rye malts from Island Malt House, with lime basil and a variety of mints varietals hand picked and dried by Farmer Kevin at the The Inn’s farm. Just a little bit of estate-grown Comet hops were added in the whirlpool. The mints come through on the nose, with the basil complementing the herbal and hay notes of the saison yeast. Packaged in a 500 ml bottle, this 6.0% Saison is available now at the brewery’s spots, with some limited draught as well, and in bottle at The Inn at Bay Fortune, where Chef Michael Smith might even sabre a bottle for you!

What’s the plan for the celebratory weekend, you ask? Well, tonight, Craft Beer Corner is transforming into a late night dance party, which kicks off at 11 PM. Ramzoid and guest will be spinning tunes under the party lights until late. (The CBC will be closed 9 – 10 PM to prepare, with a $10 cover when they reopen).

Tomorrow, the taproom and parking lot on Allen Street will be alive with the sound of music, as acts from across the province will be playing all afternoon and evening, from 3 until 8:30 PM (no charge). Brackley Bay Oyster Co will be shucking all afternoon as well!

Sunday, DJ Nimo is capping the weekend with a set beginning at 9 PM at Craft Beer Corner, so get your groove on to celebrate! No cover charge for this evening’s fun.

Congratulations to Hogie, Mitch, and everyone at Upstreet on the continued success!

Big Spruce’s new releases continue to feature interesting styles, with this week’s release of Altruist showing off their take on the Altbier style. Originating in the German city of Düsseldorf, Altbier is a malt-forward but highly quaffable ale that features sufficient bitterness to keep flavours well balanced, and generally is great with food. Altruist comes in at a sessionable 5% and is available now on-tap in Nyanza. Keep an eye on their online store for a potential release in cans.

In Wolfville, Annapolis Cider is releasing the latest in its Something Different series. This one is a 6.5% wine/cider blend that they’re calling Strawberry Sangria. The cider starts with pressed apple juice and adds fresh-pressed local strawberries and cranberries, along with a dose of orange juice, a traditional sangria ingredient. It is then blended with Riesling from Sainte Famille Wines in Falmouth. The resulting drink pours with a pink salmon hue, and features a pleasing acidity and lots of berry notes. As an added bonus, $0.50 from each bottle sold will be donated to Ronald McDonald House Charities Atlantic, a great organization that provides accommodations to families with sick children while they access medical care. Bottles of Strawberry Sangria are available now.

Long Bay Brewery in Rothesay NB has a pair of new beers this week that we’re excited to tell you about. First up is Wasted Day, a hazy and flavourful New England IPA, that is the pinnacle of years of experimental brews, with recipe and technical changes made along the way. Loading up the mash with grain and hops that are full of thiol precursors, that the yeast can then liberate into strong tropical aromatics and flavour. When a dry-hop addition comes in during fermentation, this restarts the process, with the more permanent haze being produced. During a final conditioning phase, a big addition of Eclipse to complement with notes of pine and mandarin orange. All in a tidy 6.0% package, Wasted Day is on sale in cans and draught at the brewery now. 

Joining it is The Big Brew, a 5.0% Golden Ale brewed in honour of the 50th Anniversary of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Saint John. Brewed using Bairds 2.0 Malt, a Kolsch-style yeast, and hopped with Mandarina Bavaria, this crisp and clean golden ale is available on tap and in cans at the brewery and select retail and tap accounts. Half of all profits of the brew go towards the organization, helping to connect kids with mentors in the community.

Let’s continue the news with another of Serpent Brewing’s Beer Creation Series releases, Inherited Taste. Chris Carrigan signed up to be part of the supporting community of Spryfield’s brewery, and chose a fruited kettle sour for his beer. The peach kettle sour is actually the brewery’s first foray into that style, and they took hold with both hands. Crisp, refreshing, and tart, with a nice level of the eponymous stone fruit on the palate. Carrigan’s daughter designed the label which adorns the 345 ml bottles, which are available now at the brewery.

Montague’s Copper Bottom is releasing a new beer that they’ve been patiently sitting on for over a year. Tandem is a flanders style brown ale, also known as an oud bruin, with a grain bill featuring 2-row, wheat, chocolate malt, light munich, carafe. This one saw a light hop addition of Centennial and Warrior hops before spending over 12 months in a chardonnay barrel, continuing to ferment with the bugs from the wood, adding a distinct tartness. You can also expect a vinous and oak quality from the barrel, along with rich malt flavours of plum, fig and raisin. Bottles of the 5.1% ABV Tandem will be available soon in Montague or for delivery through Copper Bottom’s online store. 

Annapolis Brewing Company has a new beer pouring, and in cans, at their Annapolis Royal location. Summer Session Pale Ale is a light 3.0%, perfect for imbibing in volume during the warmest season. Barley and Wheat malts make up the grist, with Mandarina Bavaria and Huell Melon hops after fermentation, leading to spicy and floral aromatics, along with melon, stone fruit, and citrus in the glass. Pop by their taproom and retail shop this weekend to grab a few!

Lots of Anniversary celebrations happening in our region this weekend, so get your drinking pants on, and tag in your Designated Driver!

Head up to Sydney tomorrow to help the crew at Breton Brewing to celebrate their 7th Anniversary, complete with special guests, discounts, and music all day! Open from 12 – 10 PM, there will be giveaways happening throughout the day, with limited edition glassware on sale. Little Rolling Bistro will be set up from 2 – 8 PM with a full menu, and there will be live music from Duane Nardocchio (2 – 5 PM) and Curt Dillon & Calum MacPhee (5 – 8 PM). Be sure to pop by, grab some grub, have a pint, then buy some beer to go. One of those to-go beer could be their newly released Bottle-Conditioned Stirling Hefeweizen. The German Wheat beer was one of their earliest releases back in 2015, and they’ve gone traditional with the extra level of natural re-fermentation and carbonation right in the bottle.

A few more parting words today, and sorry for the late release!

As part of their 25th Anniversary celebrations, Propeller put out the call to their fans on what beers they would like to see return. While we were holding out for Sharp Angus, the public has spoken, and Stone Fruit has taken the prize. A can-only re-release, this 5.0% refreshing beer is bursting with notes of peach, apricot, and mango, and probably is the better choice for enjoying on a picnic or at the beach, rather than a Hemp Ale… You win!

Now fully back in the groove of things, the 902 BrewCast have delved into the world of mead for their latest release, sitting down with Eric and Ronnie of the newly-opened Eventide Mead, located in Burnside. They talk all about the sourcing of the honey from a local producer, dip their toes into the different styles of mead (and hybrids), and where they think this naturally gluten-free beverage can go in the province. Listen in for free wherever you grab podcasts (or right here). And since recording, the Eventide crew has expanded their retail store hours to Thursdays and Fridays 11 AM – 6 PM, at their 196 Joseph Zatzman Drive location.

Speaking of 902BC, their faithful sponsors Bishop’s Cellar have a bunch of tasty beers on the shelves today, including some beauties from Brasserie de Blaugies, de Ranke (yes, XX Bitter is on the list), and Drie Fonteinen. Local breweries are getting some love too, as Big Spruce’s Saison Opener Grisette, Propeller’s White Belgian Witbier, the aforementioned Bottle-Conditioned Hefeweizen from Breton, and Tatamagouche’s Cellar Slammer, now in 355 ml cans, ideal for … well… slamming.

One last thing before you go. Miramichi’s Timber Ship Brewing has been in business for 4 years, operated by two dedicated couples, pouring their heart and soul into the operation. Through community and local business support, they have managed to survive during the extremely difficult last couple of years. Given recent changes to their career and family commitments, they have had to evaluate Timber Ship, and are looking to close one chapter, and begin another with respect to the brewery. They are looking for someone to continue the Timber Ship story, whether that means on the same level, or to expand its reach even further. If you are interested, or know of a potential buyer, please check out their post and get in touch!

Friday Wrap-Up for May 20, 2022 – News from Tire Shack, Rough Waters, Unfiltered, Landwash, Beausoleil and Saltbox, Church, Bannerman, Breton, North, Garrison, Candid, Lone Oak Brewpub, Canadian Brewing Awards, and more!

Posted by acbbdevon on 2022-05-20
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Avondale Sky Winery, Bannerman Brewing, Beausoleil Farmstead Cider, Breton Brewing, Brightwood Brewery, Canadian Brewing Awards, Candid Brewing, Copper Bottom Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Grimross Brewing, Landwash Brewery, Lone Oak Brewing, Lone Oak Brewpub, Long Bay Brewery, Mosaic.Wit, New Scotland Brewing, North Brewing, PEI Brewing Co., Propeller Brewing, Rough Waters Brewing, Saltbox Brewing, Schoolhouse Brewery, Sea Level Brewing, Secret Cove Brewery, Spindrift Brewing, Tatamagouche Brewing, The Church Brewing Company, Tire Shack Brewing, Uncle Leo's Brewery, Unfiltered Brewing. 2 comments

Happy Friday Beer Fans! We’ve got a busy release for you today, as breweries continue to pump out the good stuff in our region, now that patio season is in full effect. And lucky us, as we have an extra day to enjoy it this weekend! Let’s just hope Mother Nature got the memo too… Be sure to check your local breweries’ social media to confirm they are open Monday if you are in the mood for a pint or retail stop that day. Now, on with the new beer and cider news, and check the end for the Atlantic Canadian brewery performance in the Canadian Brewing Awards!

We’ll start out with a gold-medal winning brewery this week, as Moncton’s Tire Shack Brewing have scaled up a small batch hit for wide release. Not a stranger to mango purees and sours in the past, this Mango-Guava Milkshake Sour is absolutely filled to the brim with both mango and guava purees, some lactose (aka milk sugar) that is acidified to keep it balanced and super-drinkable. Think fresh-pressed juice or smoothie, and you’ll be in the right mindset! Also keep an eye out for their new Peach Seltzer available now in cans, pints and growlers. 

As for the brewery itself, we’ll give a special shoutout to Alan Norman who was named one of Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEOS of 2022 in Atlantic Business Magazine. We’ve seen Mitch Cobb from Upstreet on this list before, so we’re glad the great work these breweries are doing is getting recognized. Other big news for the team is that they picked up a Gold at the Canadian Brewing Awards for their Helles Yeah! Oktoberfest Munich Style Lager.

Deer Lake’s Rough Waters Brewing Co. has a new release in its Neighbeerly series. For this one, they are partnering with Quadrangle NL, an organization working to create a 2SLGBTQIA+ community centre in Newfoundland, and with NL Beer Fans mosaic.wit on Instagram. They’ve teamed up to create a Mosaic Wit, combining the citrusy and coriander notes of a witbier with the fruity and tropical notes that come from a dry-hopping with Mosaic. This one is only available at the taproom for now, but should see distribution through Rough Water’s typical retail spots on the east coast and Avalon next week. One dollar from every can sold will go directly to Quadrangle. Check out @mosaic.wit’s Youtube channel for a behind-the-scenes video of the brewday and what they’ve been getting up to in homebrewing as well!

North Street’s favourite brewery, Unfiltered, has a few newsbites for the weekend. Up first, Double Orange Ale (affectionately known as DOA) is the wonderful 7.5% Double IPA loaded with Citra. It’s as amazing and delicious as ever. Next up, a new release, Sparkling Motherfucker, is a sparkling rosé refermented on raspberries. It comes in at a highly drinkable 4%, is low-carb, gluten-reduced and also has a bunch of electrolytes (sodium, chloride and potassium) but as they’ll tell you, it’s not a sports drink. Both of these are available on tap and in cans today. 

Hopping over to Newfoundland, Landwash also has some returning beer and some new news in the last week. First up, Caribou Hill is back in a limited release but with wide availability. This beer is a ANZAC Biscuit Brown ale in memory of the Newfoundland troops that fought years alongside the Australian New Zealand Army Corp (ANZAC). The troops had special cookies that they would get from Australia. The beer itself is 5.2% with coconut additions and is widely available at the brewery, NLC and Convenience stores.

Another returning beer is Silvern Voices. This is a dry-hopped sour that is a rotating seasonal release. A few changes for this release include the removal of lactose and really upping the Cashmere dry-hop and adding some Galaxy into the mix. They’ve even switched up their lactobacillus from their other sours to make this stand out even more.  This is 4.9% and very hoppy, bright, tart and refreshing for the summer. This is available now across the island and at the brewery. 

Lastly, but not leastly, their spring Make/Shift collaboration series released with Mysa. Mysa is the beer name, too and is a juicy double dry-hopped IPA featuring Cascade and Nelson Sauvin hops. Using the Escarpment Labs Thiol Libre yeast, expect lots of tropical, fruity flavours like from this 7.4% IPA. This beer is also available now at the brewery, NLC stores and convenience stores across Newfoundland. 

Beausoleil Farmstead, the cidery/winery out of Port Williams, teamed up with Saltbox Brewing Company for a new release last week. Hibiscus is a 6.7% ABV blend of cider and chardonnay that has been infused with hibiscus, giving the final product a subtle pink hue. Cans are out now, following a release at last weekend’s Appleseed Cider Fest in Mahone Bay. 

Celebrating their Third Anniversary last weekend, East Duckworth’s Bannerman Brewing quietly released a month-appropriate lager, Full Bloom Maibock. Brewed in the cooler months, with the plan to release in spring, the Maibock is light in colour and higher in alcohol than traditional year-round German lagers, with Bannerman’s sporting a 6.5% ABV. Leveraging the herbal and spice notes from traditional Noble hops, perfect for the malt-favouring base beer. Available in cans in house and at shops around the Avalon, and pouring on tap for pints and growlers too.

Bannerman is also wading into the Cold IPA frey, with the release of Negative Space Cold IPA. While big variations to the pseudo-style exist, at least we can get behind the end result, a tasty hoppy beer! Their take on it uses a similar malt and hop profile as a more traditional IPA, but fermented cool and undergoing an extended conditioning phase like a lager. After primary fermentation, Cascade, Centennial, and Citra were added for dry hops, giving it a distinctly West Coast vibe, with a clean and crisp fermentation profile. Draught and cans are available from the brewery now, with cans probably seeing distribution before too long.

Breton Brewing is back with some long weekend, summer-themed fun with some updates to some of their more popular offerings. Let’s Jam Sour has a new flavour, as Let’s Jam: Blueberry Pomegranate is available now. The current Strawberry Rhubarb offering has been widely available across the province for a few years and this one will also be 4.0% and available at most NSLCs. In other NSLC news with Breton, Seven Years Pale Ale is now available in 6-pack 355ml cans. 

The Dartmouth-Timberlea connectors that are North Brewing have a new release that could be a first for the brewery. Let the Gold Times Roll is a 6.0% Golden Stoute featuring some help from Rousseau Chocolatier for the cocoa nibs and Roastery 46 for some cold brew. Always a fun style that features chocolate, coffee and classic stout flavours, it pours as a golden, clear ale. This is available at all three North locations and available online for delivery.

Halifax’s own Garrison Brewing is celebrating a massive anniversary, as they’ve hit the quarter-century mark. Celebrating 25 years of beer sligning, they’ve got a new beer and a fun contest with the Halifax Wanderers. The beer is  25th Anniversary Pale Ale, a 5.5% hazy beer with a nice mix of malt and fruit-forward hop flavours. This is in a special can and available now.  Check out the Garrison IG for details on their contest valued at $2000 running until May 26th. 

Antigonish’s Candid Brewing Company is celebrating one year in business with the release of 2021. This one is an ode to classic West Coast IPAs, featuring dank, citrusy and pine notes in a 7% ABV package. Speaking of the package, fans of a certain Dr. Dre album will enjoy the label artwork produced by Maritime Grime. In addition to the release, Candid will also be celebrating with live music tonight (Friday) at their College Street taproom. Happy Anniversary from all of us at ACBB!.

Up in the Valley there’s beers afoot, especially in Wolfvegas (that’s Wolfville to non-Acadia students), where Church Brewing decided to do all the things at once, including two collabs! First up, continuing their established history of putting out styles with high drinkability, is Marie, a 4% American Cream Ale, which means it’ll be light, crisp, and fairly dry, perfect for crushing after a hard afternoon of yard work. Then comes Pilsberry, a cranberry Pilsner, combining another very dry and crisp style with the lovely thirst-quenching tartness of cranberries in a 4.5% ABV package. Expect this one to have a hint of pink and to pair well with sitting in the sun on a patio. Also bound to be a hit with the patio drinking crowd is Life After Death, a collaboration with Avondale Sky Winery. Dubbed a “sparkling rosé sour” it’s a beer fermented with Champagne yeast for an ultra dry presentation, and then a conditioning on pinot noir grape skins from the winery. Tart, with some cherry pie flavours, the draught version of this one is quite different in ABV from the bottle conditioned version, with it pouring at 5.5% off the taps and more like 6.2% out of the bottle. You’ll have to visit the brewery to try a pint and then compare with some bottles you buy to take home! Lastly, the other collaboration this week is with up-the-Valley neighbours Schoolhouse Brewing in Windsor. Combining both breweries’ penchant for good beer with fun names they’ve come up with Bible School Dropout, a German Bock. Like all good Bocks, this one leans heavier on the malt side than the hops, and at 6.5% that’s going to mean sweet and smooth on the palate, but it’s also a lager, so you can still expect a fairly dry finish that beckons another sip. You can grab this one in cans from both breweries.

Big congratulations to Lone Oak, who open their Lone Oak Brewpub location at 15 Milky Way in Charlottetown today at 5 PM! With seating for more than 150 inside and out, there is sure to be room to accommodate all drinkers this fine weekend. While reservations are not being taken during the busy season, a quick call to check capacity as you’re headed out the door (and to be put on the waitlist) is a good idea and encouraged (902 892 0600). The brewpub is open from 11 AM seven days a week, and operating until 10 PM or later (the kitchen closes an hour or two before the pub). When visiting, you will be hit with the familiar aromas of the same crew behind The Abby kitchen at their Borden Brewery location, aka Terry Nabuurs and Co. Live music and fun all weekend long, with Matt Hannah and Jeff Doherty taking the stage this evening. Keep an eye on their IG page for more details. Congratulations to Dillon, Jared, Spencer, and the Crew on today’s opening!

A few quick hits from the old crows today, 2 Crows Brewing, ever the supporter of the Halifax classic Bluenose Marathon race weekend, will be opening early on Saturday (10am) and Sunday (11am) to host any post-race celebrations and gatherings. Pastries, coffee and beer, will join a new Electrolyte-based Hop Water in addition to Letna being back and widely available through the summer.  The new Hop Water will only be available at the brewery. 

New Scotland Brewing has a returning cider this week as Barracks is back in a small batch release. This is a 6.2% dry English cider using apples from the Valley. Get this one directly from the brewery! And congrats to the New Scotland Crew who announced that they will be making the move to a new location, offering more space for production, taproom, and music performances. Details coming soon!

Let’s leave you today with results from the Canadian Brewing Awards, announced in Calgary on the weekend. The region’s brewers did quite well, with more than a dozen breweries, representing every Atlantic province, bringing home the hardware. The full results are available here, and be sure to pick up a bottle or can of these beers the next time you stop into your local brewery!

  • 1. European Style Lager (Pilsner)
  • 2. European Style Amber to Dark Lager
    • Silver – Uncle Leo’s Altbier
  • 4. Kellerbier/Zwickelbier
  • 8. Baltic Porter
  • 11. Belgian-Style Abbey Ale/Pale Ale
  • 15. German-Style Sour Ale
  • 17. Porter
    • Bronze – Grimross Brewing Co. Pugnacious Porter
  • 19. Irish and Scotch Ales
  • 21. English Bitters
  • 24. Dry Stout
    • Silver – Tatamagouche Brewing Co. Hierlihy Irish Stout
  • 27. North American-Style Lager
  • 33. North American-Style Blonde or Golden Ale
  • 35. North American-Style Pale Ale
  • 37. American-Style India Pale Ale
  • 40. American-Style Imperial India Pale Ale
    • Gold – Copper Bottom Brewing Parkman Ave
  • 43. American-Style Sour Ale
  • 51. Barley Wine-Style Ale

Friday Wrap-Up for December 10, 2021 – News from Spindrift, Half Cocked, Long Bay, Rough Waters, Lake City Cider, and more!!

Posted by acbbdamian on 2021-12-10
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 902 BrewCast, Big Spruce Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Breton Brewing, Compass Distillers, Copper Bottom Brewing, Delta Force Brewing, Foghorn Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Good Robot Brewing, Half Cocked Brewing, Lake City Cider, Long Bay Brewery, New Scotland Brewing, Ninepenny Brewing, North Brewing, Propeller Brewing, Rough Waters Brewing, Spindrift Brewing, Tanner & Co Brewing, Unfiltered Brewing, World Tea House. 2 comments

We are just over two weeks from Christmas and ‘tis the season as they say! As the weather turns colder, the snow starts falling and we’re all going to get busier, so if you’re like us, you may want to stock up on those holiday bevvies now. With other things going on with the blog boys (that’s us) we have a (mostly) quick-hit style update for you, so let us know what you think about the format. Like, comment and subscribe! (Trust us, you don’t want to see us on YouTube.)

News from Spindrift kicks us off this week, with Hefe Weissbier releasing today (Friday). Made with a malt bill of wheat malt, Superior Pilsen and Carapils, and balanced with Magnum and Perle hops, this is a true to style 5.4% Weißbier, bringing banana and clove flavours, as you would expect. It’s available in 473ml cans at the Dartmouth and Antigonish locations, and also on tap for pints and growler fills.

Speaking of Antigonish this weekend (beer-wise), Half Cocked is releasing two beers and hosting an all-day Christmas Celebration. On Saturday from 2 PM onwards, there will be a pop-up from Teasdale Apothecary Co, leading into live music, tree lighting, ugly christmas sweater contest and food bank donations until close. This celebration coincides with the re-release of Pete’s Sake Blonde Ale and a new release with Teasdale Apothecary Co. Nobo is a Norwegian Farmhouse Ale made with hibiscus, dried cranberries, orange blossoms, bee bread and the Voss Kviek yeast strain. It’s 4.5% ABV and very soft on the palate, with delicate flavours. Both of these ales are available in cans at the brewery, but keep an eye out in coming weeks for kegs to make it to the HRM at Stillwell and Battery Park. With all of the COVID circumstances in Antigonish over the past week or so, be sure to keep an eye on the Half Cocked social media for any event-affecting updates. 

Next up is Rothesay’s Long Bay Brewery, releasing a new Winter seasonal beer, Forest for the Trees. This is a  Black IPA, with a touch of nutty roast flavour leading into big IPA flavours of tropical hops and a bit of resin, pine and a chocolate on the finish. Available now from the brewery and ANBL’s across Southern New Brunswick, you’ll find it in 473ml cans clocking in at 6% and 60 IBU.

Happy Birthday to Rough Waters! They’re celebrating their second anniversary and have a new release to commemorate the occasion. High Tide is a bourbon barrel-aged Witbier and the first barrel release from the brewery. Using their base recipe for Wits End, the beer was transferred to a Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel for aging after primary fermentation. After six months in the barrel, it was bottle conditioned for another month before being released. Apple, oak, and some spice from the bourbon barrel should pair nicely with the coriander and citrus from the witbier. This is available in 750ml corked and caged bottles only from the Deer Lake brewery. 

For the ciderheads out there, Lake City Cider is releasing Cider Royal, a collaboration with Compass Distilling, that sees their acclaimed Gin Royal and blended with the stalwart Lake City Darkside Dry. Classic botanicals from the gin, along with honey and royal jelly notes complement the dry, crisp and citrus notes from the cider. It pours a slight purple colour that is sure to please the eye as well as the palate. A very solid 8.5% ABV, it’s been packaged in 355ml cans available at the cidery and online for delivery. 

No strangers to holiday brews and bundles, North Brewing has both for us this weekend. First, a new release, Sequence, a classic Belgian table beer, is a 3.5% full-flavoured yet crisp and refreshing beer with citrus notes that will provide a lovely low-ABV option to have on hand this season. It’s available now in 473ml cans at all the usual places. And while you’re picking that one up, this week also sees a return of the sour series, Plush! We’ve seen Plush before in Peach, Raspberry and Blackberry variants, but this release is a straight up, unfruited dry-hopped sour. Galaxy and Bru-1 feature in the dry-hop to bring a big kick as soon as you open the can and take a sip.

Lastly, as briefly mentioned last week, North is doing a Holiday Box again this year, which features 12 cans of North beverages, along with a 15oz North stein. The stein is exclusive to the holiday box, but so is one of the beers. Eisbock, (literally, “ice bock”) is made by partially freezing a bock-style beer then removing the ice crystals, thus reducing the water content and raising the richness and ABV. The recently released Timberbock was the obvious choice for this process, and this release marks the first time North has done this style (at least, on purpose according to them!) and we can’t wait to try it.  Order all of these treats and check out more details on the North website or in their Timberlea, Battery Park, and Dartmouth locations. 

A big release in time for the cold weather is here from Copper Bottom: Knox’s Dam is a bourbon barrel aged Russian Imperial Stout. Named after a local site that was once a grist mill, and later a hydroelectric dam that powered the entire town of Montague, “Knox’s Dam now lays claim to one of PEI’s only man-made waterfalls and one of Eastern PEI’s best kept secrets.” The beer was aged for 12 months and tips the scales at a hefty 9.4%, and it’s available now from the brewery only. 

So you know you’re old (and probably a former English major) when you read in your email that Delta Force is releasing a beer, an English Barleywine, no less, called Tom Hardy and you think about how they’ve got another beer called Wessex and how they’re situated in the picturesque Annapolis Valley and you’re mentally whisked away to idyllic scenes from “Far from the Madding Crowd” and “The Return of the Native” and “The Trumpet Major.” And then you keep reading and you see a reference to the movie Inception (which you’ve shamefully never seen) and you’re jarred back into a reality where Tom Hardy is an actor and you were thinking of 19th century English novelist Thomas Hardy and you weep for your lost youth. So aaaanyways, building on the quote by Hardy’s character in Inception, “You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling,” the team at DF along with their good friend (and longtime Stilly bartender) Taylor Mappin endeavoured to interpret the classic style in a large way. Bottled in mercifully-sized 330ml bottles, this 11.5% ABV monster will no doubt make a lovely fireside sipper whilst you read (or, re-read) some classic English lit over the holidays, or perhaps watch that movie about the dreams and the hey hey.

Also available this week from Delta Force is a new batch of their Operation Assay APA. Taking a cue from the turn of the seasons, they’ve subbed in the classic “Chico” American ale yeast strain for the heat-loving Kveik they were using during the warmer months. Still a lovely straight-ahead APA at 5.3% ABV, still packaged in 500ml bottles. You can grab both of these releases through the usual channels and if you throw four more beers into that order, you’ll get 10% off your order!

Sometimes, despite all the best efforts, things go a little bit sideways. Such is the case with one of the summertime releases from Good Robot Brewing in Halifax. Limeade Switcha was a Fall collaboration release with The Limestone Group in their Goodwill Beer series. Unfortunately, any remaining cans of that beer, while still safe to drink, are not safe to hang on to. You can read the full explanation in this Fb post. We’d like to commend the GR team on doing the right thing here: they’re reaching out to the public, taking ownership, providing detailed instructions on disposal, and offering refunds on the affected beer. These things can happen to any brewery; it’s how the brewery responds that makes all the difference.

If you’re anything like us, you’ve enjoyed and appreciated quite a few beers from breweries in our region over the past few years that have featured tea and/or herbal infusions (“tisanes,” apparently!) from World Tea House on Argyle Street and it’s owner/resident tea nerd, Phil Holmans. When the team at 902BrewCast realized this, they decided it would be a great idea to do an episode with Phil and sample some of those beers. That episode is now up and available at the 902BC site or wherever you get your podcasts.

We’ve got another holiday beer box hitting Nova Scotia this season, as New Scotland Brewing takes a riff off of Quality Street chocolate boxes and brings us their Quality Beers 12 Days of Christmas collection. Featured in this box are their favourite releases over the past year along with one annual re-release and three brand new small batch brews. First up is the annual release of Slowburn, a chocolate and chili porter that was found on Nitro at the brewery in years past, but this year it has been canned for the first time ever. A medium-to-full bodied porter that is “double dry-hopped” with local chillies over four weeks bring a spicy and smooth mouthfeel along with black cherry and chocolate flavours at 6.1% and 34 IBU.

For the new releases, we start with Playlist, another porter, but more approachable and in a classic Porter style that is slightly roasty and a malt-forward flavour at 4.6%. Balanced Breakfast is another new can that is made with a bunch of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal! An American Brown ale made with massive additions of the cereal in the mash, the whirlpool and in the fermenter as well, this came out at 7.6% and should have a very interesting flavour profile.

Rounding out the new releases is Merry Citrus, their beer-y take on a Christmas Day mimosa. They’re calling it a Mimosa Lager, as it was brewed as a lager, but with extra enzymes added to mimic the bone dry finish of champagne. Additions of orange peel and orange, lemon, and lime juices make this a bubbly treat for the morning or anytime. Even at 6.3% it’s still lower than your average Mimosa, but if you’re concerned about day drinking you can share with friends! 

A couple of events going on these days, in the form of contests. With prizes!

Shelburne’s Boxing Rock Brewing has a holiday contest on the go this year, partnering with Sportwheels Sports Excellence to give away $1,000 in brand new hockey gear along with a year’s supply of Puck Off Lagered Ale. How much is a year’s supply? The best way to find out would be to enter and win, we think! Check out the official contest page for all the details on entering.

Those of us who are old enough to remember the late ‘90s (or are old enough that they should remember the ‘late 90s, anyway) know that 1997 was the magical year when craft breweries became a real “thing” in Halifax. Although Granite (RIP) had been around for a decade, ‘97 was the year when Garrison and Propeller (and Maritime Beer Company, ‘member them?) managed to cut through the red tape and open up. If you’re at all good at math you’ll be able to confirm that that means 2022 marks 25 years of Garrison Brewing in Halifax. As you can imagine, they’re fixing to celebrate that, starting with a contest. Check out this Instagram post for all the details, and brace yourself, we figure this is probably the first of many #cheersto25years posts to come over the next 12 months; hopefully all of them will involve fun contests and/or tasty beer!

A quick as the quick hits above were, these quick hits are, dare we say, quicker:

Big Spruce brings two returning favourites this week! First up, Kölsch Encounters is a 5.6% lagered ale with a great malt profile and a classic sparkling, crisp, and dry finish. Secondly, The Inhaled Affirmative is a 4.1% Pilsner that is crispy and complex in flavour, with notes of wheat, biscuit and a great balancing bitterness. Both of these are available in 473ml cans directly from the brewery, in-person or online (and usually some gets to Bishop’s Cellar and the other private stores in HRM as well). 

Joining the local craft non-alcoholic release train is Propeller! NA Lager releases today at 0.5% and is crisp and clean with light flavours of citrus and peach. Available in the super-crushable 355ml can format, this is available at both Propeller locations, their online store and several private stores in HRM. 

North Street’s Unfiltered Brewing in Halifax is back with another batch of Inducement IPA! As always they won’t give you anything to encourage you to drink it, but this 7.5% IPA, packed with Simcoe and Falconer’s Flight and available in cans, growlers, pints and kegs is its own reward. Grab it any time after noon today at the brewery and/or Charm School next door.

Keeping with returning favourites, Breton Brewing has a seasonal holiday release back today: Cocoa Envy is a Chocolate Porter with creamy, sweet, roasted flavours and a touch of coffee to boot. It’s 6.5% and cans are available now in their taproom or online for delivery. 

Ninepenny in Conception Bay South, NL, has another perfect release for the season with The Dragon. A Barrel-Aged Imperial Porter at 7.8%, it features oak flavours complementing plum and cherry notes from the porter, along with some fruity apple and pear esters. This is available only at the taproom in 500ml bottles. 

Another holiday release for the fine Maritimers comes from Foghorn in Rothesay. Festivus is a blend of their Maple Rye and Winter Warmer ales, aged for 6 months in oak barrels and conditioned on local blue berries. The resulting ale is complex with dark, sweet, and oak flavours. This 7.5% ale is available in 650ml bottles only from the taproom fridge at the brewery. 

Back in NS, Chester’s Tanner Brewing has a new hybrid beer release. Gamay is a blend of their house Saison recipe and 75lbs of freshly pressed Gamay Noir skins from Lightfoot & Wolfville. There were no commercial yeast additions with this beer: it was fermented solely by the wild bacteria present on the grape skins. Expect this one to have complex flavours and some great cherry notes as well. At 7% and 25 IBU, it is available in 500ml bottles 

Some beer-adjacent kitchen positions are available with a great bunch of folks over in Cole Harbour:

As we’ve previously mentioned, there are some big changes happening at North Brewing, and 2022 will see Side Hustle moving out on their own to Downtown Dartmouth and that means North will be doing their own Indian style street food and diner classics at their Cole Harbour location! Planning to open in January 2022, the North team is looking add full-time and part-time kitchen staff for their new food offerings. Line cooks, prep cooks and dishwasher are all needed; check out North’s job postings to find out more about the positions. Candidates can contact devan@northbrewing.ca with their resumé if interested.