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Friday Wrap-Up for February 22, 2019 – News from Ninepenny Brewing, Hampton Brewing, 2 Crows, Bootleg, Upstreet, Tide House, YellowBelly, and much more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2019-02-22
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Acadie-Broue, Annapolis Brewing Company, Annapolis Cider Company, Battery Park, Bootleg Brew Company, Boxing Rock Brewing, Cask and Kettle Irish Pub, CAVOK Brewing, Craft Beer Corner, DME, Dolma Food, Escarpment Laboratories, Flying Boats Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Good Robot Brewing, Hampton Brewing Company, Henley House, Holy Whale Brewing, Hops Connect, Landwash Brewery, Loyalist City Brewing Co, Marky's Laudromat, Niche Brewing, Ninepenny Brewing, O'Creek Brewing, Off Track Brewing, Peppers Pub, Propeller Brewing, Roof Hound Brewing, Sober Island Brewing, Tatamagouche Brewing, The Joyce, Tidehouse Brewing, Upstreet BBQ Brewhouse, Upstreet Craft Brewing, YellowBelly Brewery. Leave a Comment

Here we are in the shank of February and I think it’s safe to say lots of us are already looking forward to Spring (*shakes fist at groundhog*). Plenty to tell you about in these parts this week, with some new openings, plenty of new beers, and even some brewery jobs opening up. Let’s get right to it!

In case you missed the big news, Ninepenny Brewing in Conception Bay South is opening their doors tomorrow! Saturday from 2 – 10 PM, they will be pouring three of their beers for onsite consumption and to take away in growlers. Pop by to try their Porter (4.9% ABV), Pale Ale (4.7% ABV) and White IPA (5.7% ABV), which may also be complemented by some other great Newfoundland Craft Beer. They’ll be open Sunday at 2 PM as well, if you need a refill on that growler! To learn more about Ninepenny, check our yesterday’s Profile with them, and keep an eye on their social media (Fb/IG/Tw) for the latest and greatest news from CBS!

Southern New Brunswick also has a new brewery to call their own, as Hampton Brewing Company has recently launched their first two beers. While they wait for their forever home in the town of Hampton to come together, they are brewing in Saint John, thanks to their buds at Loyalist City. HBC’s first two beers to hit the taps are their take on hoppy brews, an ode to their love of the styles. Victory! is a 5.5% ABV American Pale Ale, with Citra and Vic Secret hops to the tune of 50 IBU, for a citrus, tropical, and piney aroma and flavour profile on top of a smooth base. Crush is a 4.6% ABV Session IPA, featuring loads of late addition Centennial and Mosaic hops (also about 50 IBU), for a citrus and stone fruit character with a floral touch. This smooth mouthfeel and medium-light body make this a beer one can truly enjoy for a full “session”. Find the first two Hampton Brewing beers at the Cask and Kettle and Peppers Pub in Saint John and at The Joyce in Fredericton, and other local-beer-friendly establishments in between very soon. We’ll have a full Profile with HBC early next week!

There was a new beer release from 2 Crows last week, and the jerks didn’t even remember to let us know! As a result, there’s still some left at the brewery for you to grab, so we might as well tell you all about it now. Jamboree is their latest sour beer, brewed with Pilsner, wheat malt, raw wheat, and oats. After being soured with Lactobacillus, the wort was fermented nice and warm with Ebbengarden Kveik yeast from Escarpment Labs. Once complete, they conditioned the beer on a whack o’ fruit… specifically, 190 kg of strawberry purée and 130 kg guava purée. Woo! They also dry-hopped the beer with Huell Melon to add more fruit flavour (and to hold back that Lactobacillus, as the wort was not boiled after souring). They’re using the words “crazy tropical, lush, fuzzy, and smooth” to describe this one, and we’ll take their word for it! Available at the brewery on tap and in cans.

Over in Newfoundland, Bootleg Brew Co. continues to play with new beers with the release of Cherry Bomb!, a “Sour Red Ale”. This kettle sour features a portion of Rye malt in the grist to add a touch of spice in the aroma, which also has notes of dark fruit, thanks to the addition of cherries (you probably gathered that from the name, we’d guess). Pretty sessionable at 4.5% ABV, there’s “just enough sweetness to balance the tart”. Drop by the Bootleg tap room in Corner Brook for a taste/growler.

The Neon Friday series from Upstreet returns today, with the release of Neon Friday Session IPA. This actually isn’t the first Session IPA in the series, but we’re pretty sure it’s the first one with a shortish name! This one was hopped with Amarillo, Cashmere and Motueka. Bittered in the medium-low region (on paper) of 25 IBUs, this 4.5% ABV brew has “lime and melon aromas, with hints of tropical stone fruit and tangerine”, and a soft mouthfeel. They’ll be celebrating its release today at the Craft Beer Corner from 5-7 pm with a Daytime Disco, featuring DJ Bradford Rooney. As for the beer, you can find it on tap and in cans at the taproom and Craft Beer Corner in Charlottetown, and on tap at the Upstreet BBQ Brewhouse, with cans following at the private stores in Halifax in the near future.

We’ve got a pair of releasesMore bottle releases at Tidehouse, with this week’s featuring the brewery’s first stab at the strong Wheatwine style. King Friday was brewed with over half of the grist made up of Wheat malt (as is common for the style), and hopped entirely with Ahtanum. It is indeed strong, at 9.5% ABV, making it similar to a Barleywine, but lighter in colour. TH is describing the beer as sweet and malty, definitely meant for sipping (as we hope any beer with this ABV would be!). Bottles of this one (in both 341 mL and the “one-person-all-night-party” 750 mL) will be available at the brewery today at 2 pm. Also available today is a new beer from frequent guest brewer Ian Wheatly, with his Lil’ Witty. Wheatly’s take on a Belgian Witbier is true to style with lots of wheat in the grist, and coriander and orange peel to enhance the citrus and spice from the yeast. Lightly bittered with Magnum to balance, this 5.1% ABV beer is available on tap for samples and pints, and to go in growler fills.

St. John’s brewery and brewpub YellowBelly continue their series of winter ciders this week with another apple and fruit blend. Strawberry Passion Fruit Apple Cider is a 6.5% ABV cider, featuring, you guessed it, Passion Fruit and Strawberry. Tropical notes of citrus, mango, pineapple, capped by strawberry bring memories of summers past, and a hope for the months to come. It is available now on tap at the brewpub, their airport location, and the YellowBelly Takeaway, where it can also be grabbed in growler format.

In the Annapolis Valley area and itching for something smokey? Annapolis Brewing has you covered with their 1921 Smoked Lager. Released earlier this week at their taproom, the beer had beechwood smoked malt in the grist to provide plenty of smokiness in the flavour. Hopped with Hallertau, it was fermented with a German Lager yeast strain, and then lagered (natch) to bring the flavours together even more. The brewery’s first Lager comes in at 5.3% ABV and 24 IBUs, and you can drop by right now (do it!) to give it a try.

Continuing with Annapolis Valley news, by popular demand, Annapolis Cider is re-releasing a favorite from their Something Different series, Hopped Pear. A sparkling perry and apple blend coming in at 6.3% ABV, the perry was created with two separate fermentations, one of Flemish Beauty pears fermented dry and then dry-hopped, and one of Bosc pears, also fermented dry before being finished with a touch of fresh-pressed apple juice. Put together, the two create a crisp and refreshing perry with a distinct hop character that is balanced by more mellow notes of ripe pear and fresh apple. A slight bitterness completes the picture and highlights the dryness of the overall product. As always, this one is available at the cidery on Main Street in Wolfville with $0.50 from each refill being donated to Refresh Annapolis Valley.

The mad scientists at Niche Brewing in Hanwell, NB, have yet another new beer for you this week, one they’re calling Vibrant. A mixed-fermentation saison with raspberry and hibiscus, it weighs in at 5.9% ABV. Based on a grist of mostly Pilsner malt with a healthy portion of wheat added, it was fermented with Niche’s house culture. Raspberry puree was added to the mix after fermentation had slowed down and the hibiscus was introduced during conditioning. Slightly floral and herbal, with a slight tannic quality and a light funkiness, the raspberry is predominant, but the hibiscus certainly makes itself known. This deep red brew will be released to tap accounts in New Brunswick next week, but the first two kegs are actually going to Nova Scotia, where Stillwell has spoken for two kegs (along with one each of Single Origin, Niche’s coffee sweet stout, and Counting Stars, their latest NEIPA).

O’Creek Brewing, a nanobrewery in Dieppe, has debuted a brand new beer this week. Coffee Island is an 8.8% ABV Imperial Stout, which features the addition of cold brewed coffee during conditioning. The grist consists of Chocolate, Roast, Coffee and Carapils malts (on top of the 2-Row base). Chocolate malt notes blend with the intense coffee, all on a lovely balanced beer. Grab a pint of it on the guest taps at CAVOK Brewing or Marky’s Laundromat, and at this weekend’s beerfest at Dolma Food (more details below).

As the region gets ready for the premier bash of the year in a couple of weeks’ time, the folks behind the Fredericton Craft Beer Festival have teamed up with Flying Boats Brewing to create a special beer just for the fest. Flying Sasquatch Pale Ale is described as a “medium-bodied East Coast Pale Ale” and it features Canada’s first patented and trademarked hop, Sasquatch™ from Hops Connect (who generously provided the hops for this brew). Most of the hops were added towards the end of the boil, imparting a balanced herbal and grassy character with a gentle orange and tangerine citrus flavor and aroma. Coming in at 5.6% ABV and 42 IBU, you’ll find it in select ANBL stores as of this weekend in 473 mL cans, at ANBL growler stations starting February 28th, and on tap for pints and fills (and in cans as well) at Flying Boats’ taproom at 700 Malenfant Boulevard in Dieppe!

Digby’s Roof Hound Brewing is getting ready to launch one of their biggest beers yet, a Russian Imperial Stout named Star Anise Destroyer. With a big grist that includes a pretty hefty portion of Dextrin malt (to help give that full body that you may expect from the style), this 9.7% ABV brew was dry-hopped with a pound of hand-crushed star anise pods (is dry-star-anised a word? It should be!). Brewer Les Barr was looking to bring some black licorice character to this beer, similar to a Jager liqueur, and it sounds like he may have succeeded! Hopped to a high-IBU level to help balance all that roast and sweetness from the grain bill, it’s “surprisingly smooth and refreshing for such a big beer”, according to Barr. Look for bottles to be officially released on March 1st; it’ll also show up on tap at the Roof Hound tap takeover at Battery Park on March 7th… don’t worry, we’ll have more details on that event, soon!

Attention, Mount Pearl, Newfoundland hop lovers! Your local brewery, Landwash, has just released their first DIPA, Dream Island #1, and it’s sounding delicious! With a grist that includes flaked oats and malted oats to boost the beer’s mouthfeel and haziness, it was hopped heavily with Simcoe and Mosaic, giving the final product notes of “orange zest, tangerine juice, and mango flavours”. Who are you to say no to Simcoe and Mosaic? This one comes in at a hefty 8% ABV – it IS a DIPA, after all – so don’t be too eager to chug that hop goodness down. As you may have expected from the name of the beer, this is the first in an intended series of DIPAs, so look for more entries, soon. It’s currently available on tap at the brewery (along with six other brews; cans may appear in the future.

For you Good Robot regulars out there, we’re pleased to report that their weekly Beta release returns next Tuesday, after a brief hiatus this week. They’ve teamed up with Colin Smith to brew Barrel, Ontario, an attempt at brewing a beer similar to a certain flagship from a certain Toronto brewery that is owned by a certain company that maybe we’re not going to mention here… oh, the hell with it, it’s a beer similar to Tankhouse Ale. Basically expect a Red Ale hopped with a “solid” amount of Cascade (to 36 IBUs), and weighing in at 5.1% ABV. As for Alpha beers, it’s all cans next week… Damn Fine Coffee and Cherry Pie and Espinazo del Diablo. Finally, in other Good Robot news, they’re looking to hire a part-time salesperson; if you’re interested, check out the application here.

In other hiring news, Sober Island Brewing Company in Sheet Harbour is looking to high a full-time Head Brewer. This person will be responsible for their 850 litre (7 BBL) brewhouse, supplying the Henley House, packaged product to the NSLC and private stores, and licensees across the province. As this is a head brewer position, previous experience and education are big pluses! Check out the full job posting here, and start/continue your path in a growing craft brewery!

And if brewing isn’t in the cards for you (not right now, at least), maybe you can try your hand as a Sales person, or working on a packaging line? Halifax’s Garrison Brewing is looking to hire people in both of those positions, as they continue to expand their offerings far and wide. The Sales Person will be responsible for HRM accounts (existing and new), and is a full-time position. The Packaging position is part-time (for now), and will be working on the bottling and canning lines, as well as other maintenance and tasks in the brewery. Pop them an email to apply or learn more about either position!

For those of us keeping track of the goings-on in Charlottetown, it has been announced that a purchase agreement in the sale of DME Brewing’s Charlottetown facilities has been agreed upon. CIMC Enric is a Dutch company, and manufacturer of equipment used in brewing, distilling, and other related industries. They intend to keep the interim staff who have been working for the past couple of months, and possibly hire back some of those who lost their jobs. The purchase gives them access to all records, inventory, customer base information, and everything else to continue operating. We’re keeping our ears to the ground on this front, hope to share more good news soon.

The events slate is a little light this week, but we expect we’ll see that change in the next couple of weeks!

Just one new event to tell you about this week, and it should be a fun one! Put on your favourite retro snowsuit or outfit for an outdoor rooftop beefest in Moncton. Dolma Food is hosting Winter Beerfest On The Rooftop, tomorrow from 4 – 10 PM. Acadie-Broue, CAVOK Brewing, Holy Whale Brewing, O’Creek Brewing, and Tatamagouche Brewing will all be sharing their finest beers for you, plus VALK Fermentation will be a special guest and will be collaborating with Acadie-Broue for an exclusive kombucha beer. Dolma’s BBQ will be fired up and roasting a pig, and there will be much more to enhance the afternoon and evening. Tickets are available two way: purchase a pre-sale ticket for $15 which includes entry, 2 drink tickets and your glass for the evening  and to take home (available online or in store), or pay at the door for $25. Additional beer, or pulled pork sandwich or churros, are $5. Check out the links above for more details!

Before you go, just a couple more things!

Boxing Rock recently released this year’s version of La Rive du Sud (7.5% ABV), their Bière de Garde that they’ve been brewing annually since 2014. Various malts in the grist lend the beer biscuit, caramel and toffee notes, with a “noteworthy complexity”. And keep your eyes open for 14 Carrot Gold, a collaboration beer featuring the juice from 1100 lbs of carrots. No, you didn’t read that wrong. Stay tuned for more info!

Off Track Brewing has debuted another in their line of experimental and limited releases, with Sankara Amber Ale. This 5.3% ABV beer is malt-forward, with notes of toast, caramel, and is lightly sweet, but well-balanced, with Northern Brewer hops bringing its typical woody profile to the mix. Grab one (or all 5, so the legend goes) on tap at the brewery this weekend. And keep an eye out for the return of their Let’s Dance, a 6.8% ABV Double IPA, also on tap at the brewery now.

Propeller wants you to know that their popular XPA, their 5% ABV “Extra Pale Ale”, is back again for a limited time, available at their stores only. If you’re in any NSLC stores, however, Dark Berry Sour should be popping up there next week. Finally, tonight’s cask beer is an Oatmeal Stout that is essentially a preview of a beer that should be released, outside of a cask, in the near future.

Friday Wrap-Up for February 8, 2019 – News from Loyalist City, Port Rexton, Grimross, Sussex Ale Works, Baccalieu Trail, TrailWay, Tatamagouche, and more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2019-02-08
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Antigonish Townhouse, Baccalieu Trail Brewing, Big Spruce Brewing, Bootstrap BrewPub, Boxing Rock Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Craft Coast Canning, Darlings Island Farm, Flying Boats Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Godspeed Brewery, Good Robot Brewing, Grimross Brewing, Hammond River Brewing, Heritage Brewing, Jamieson's Irish Pub, Long Bay Brewery, Loyalist City Brewing Co, Newfoundland Salt Company, Niche Brewing, Off Track Brewing, Port Rexton Brewing Co., Propeller Brewing, Shipwright Brewing, Stillwell Beer Bar, Sushi Shige, Sussex Ale Works, Tatamagouche Brewing, The Carleton, Tidehouse Brewing, TrailWay Brewing, Unfiltered Brewing, Upstreet Craft Brewing, YellowBelly Brewery. Leave a Comment

February 8th, how time flies! More wicked weather in our region this week, and no, we won’t shut up about it until we get consistently above-freezing temperatures. Great news, your friendly neighbourhood brewers haven’t slowed down their releases, with plenty of new and returning favourites available this week, and lots of events to keep you warm. Grab a pint and follow along!

After releasing their Winter Warmer several weeks ago, Saint John’s Loyalist City Brewing is heading in a different direction with their latest beer (and first Lager), Starlight, a German Pilsner. This crisp beer was brewed with a grist made up entirely of German Pilsner malt, and hopped with Hallertau Tradition from local Darlings Island Farm. After being cold-fermented with a Lager yeast strain, the beer was lagered for two months before packaging. The gold-coloured brew has a “grainy-sweet aroma with hints of light honey”, with the hops giving some herbal notes as well. That sweetness and herbal presence comes through in the flavour as well, with a crisp, clean finish. Easy-drinking at 4.5% ABV and 37 IBUs, most of this beer will be available in cans at ANBL stores; there are a few kegs available as well, which will be on tap at the brewery’s unofficial taproom at the BunkHaus Hostel & Cafe.

Newfoundland’s Port Rexton has a new beer from the eponymously named Port Rexton Brewing Company, and though it’s the second iteration of this one, some significant changes to how it’s made should give you extra reason to check it out. Salted & Soured Pale Ale features both tartness due to a souring with Lactobacillus and salinity from an addition of salt from the Newfoundland Salt Company. Belma hops provide some bright berry and tropical fruit notes to this brew with a “sure I’ll have another” ABV of 4.5%. This version of the beer is the result of two brewings, one soured and one not, which were then blended, allowing the team to dial in the balance of tartness, salt and hop character to exactly where they wanted it. Look for it on tap at the brewery and in town this coming weekend and also, as of last evening, at the Port Rexton Retail Shop in St. John’s for growler fills.

Grimross has a new canned beer out this week, brewed in honour of Sara Burns, one of the shooting victims in Fredericton from last August. Burns was an officer with the Fredericton Police; the beer, Grimsby, was named after her horse. It’s an American Pale Ale hopped and dry-hopped with Delta, giving it “a touch of citrus and some grassy notes”. Well-balanced and refreshing, it weighs in at 5.2% ABV and 20 IBUs. The brewery teamed up with Craft Coast Canning and Ginger Design for the release of this beer; all of the proceeds will go towards the Sara Burns Police Memorial Fund, which will fund several initiatives to make the city of Fredericton a safer place to live. While the majority of the beer will be sold in cans, a few kegs will be tapped in the Grimross taproom for pints and growlers. And while you are at the brewery today picking up cans, make a plan to stay for a pint of today’s cask, Pugnacious Porter aged on local wild blackberries. The 20 litre pin will be tapped at 2 PM.

While serving pints from local breweries at their bar, the crew at Sussex Ale Works are continuing to experiment with their own beers, as they’ve got yet another new one on tap right now. English War Bride is a SMaSH beer brewed as in the English style – all Maris Otter for the grist and East Kent Goldings for the hops. Lightly bready and herbal/spicy, it comes in at 6.2% ABV and 38 IBUs. As always, drop by the brewery/taproom at 597B Main Street in Sussex for a taste if you’re nearby.

Back over in Newfoundland, one of the Rock’s newest breweries, Baccalieu Trail, has released a brand new American Pale Ale named Bay Run. Utilizing only late additions and a healthy dry hop of Centennial, Simcoe and Azacca lends a “burst of fresh citrus fruit aroma, with some floral qualities” to complement the “clean, crisp finish” of this 4.9% ABV and 36 IBU beer. It’s on tap right now at the brewery’s location in Bay Roberts… head on over and pick up a growler!

Now that TrailWay’s “Summer IPA”, Good Weather, is long gone (<shakes fist at winter>), they’ve decided to replace it with another seasonal IPA, Stormy Weather. It has one major similarity with it’s cousin, in that it features a large portion of Vic Secret in the hop bill… however, the “supporting” hops are quite different (but secret, so don’t ask us for specifics!). It’s still light-coloured and extremely hazy, of course, but with more “overripe tropical fruit and berries” in the aroma/flavour, as opposed to the citrus characters of Good Weather. You can grab cans/growlers of this 6% ABV IPA when the taproom opens today.

You may recall the Barrel-aged Baltic Porter released by North Shore Nova Scotia’s Tatamagouche Brewing which had matured for 9 months in barrels from Glenora Distillery and was initially released in October of 2017. What you might not know is that there was some beer that remained unbottled and has been cradled in the loving arms of one of those barrels ever since. Thankfully, the folks at Tata didn’t forget about it and they’ve packaged the remainder, which has now been aging for 2 solid years, for your enjoyment. Only available at the brewery store, there’s a two bottle per person limit. With winter still in full force, this big ‘un originally listed at 10% ABV will likely make a very fine sipper on a cold February night. And while we have you, details are out for Tata’s annual Oyster Cloister party and beer release: Next Friday, Feb 15, they will be releasing their oyster stout, and celebrating with live music, oysters (of course!), and tons of special beers at the brewery. This is a ticketed event, so drop by the brewery to pick them up, or grab them via email or phone (902-657-4000).

Not content to bask in the success of their first bottling run (Evolution has damn near sold out a week after release), Niche Brewing in Hanwell, NB, continues to feed the demand for their beers with another new release this week, another entry in their series of one hop Session IPAs. You Had Me At…Galaxy features one of the most popular hops in the business right now, the tropical and passion fruity Australian Galaxy. Featuring a bit of crackery malt character and a medium bitterness, it came in a little higher than previous YHMA editions at 5% ABV, but we don’t expect anyone will complain. Kegs are already on their way to The Joyce Pub, Peppers Pub, Britt’s pub + eatery and Laundromat Expresso Bar, and more will go out as homes are found for them. And those in Moncton should pop by the Growler Station at the ANBL on Vaughan Harvey Blvd to grab pours of their Single Origin Coffee Sweet Stout, and Coalescence, their Sour Milkshake IPA w/grapefruit.

It’s been a little while since we’ve seen a new release from Halifax’s Unfiltered Brewing, but they’re giving us both barrels this week with the re-release of a fan-favorite and an all new beer. Oak-aged Sour Motherfucker is their kettle sour aged on tart cherries and aged on oak. Look for a tart character with definite cherry presence along with a slight creaminess and tannic presence from the wood. Last seen with ABVs of 6.4% and 6.8%, this one weighs in quite a bit heavier at 7.5%. Meanwhile, also on the docket is Fruity Motherfucker featuring a co-pitched (i.e., multiple yeast strain) fermentation, a double-dry hop of dank Mosaic and orange-y Citra and a re-fermentation on apricots, mangoes and blood oranges. The result is a 7% ABV beer that will smack you upside the head with tropical fruit, citrus and pithy character. You can find both of these beers available today at noon in all your favorite packages: cans, growlers and pints.

After recently celebrating their annual brewing of their FemmeBot Alpha batch (which we’ll have more details on in the future), Good Robot has settled down in time to fill us in on the details of next week’s releases. In Beta world they’re bringing us Mad Love, a Red Ale brewed with Mary Ann Daye. Other than a description of “easy and smooth”, we don’t have a whole lot to share for this one! Oh, it’s 4.5% ABV and 21 IBUs. As for Thursday’s Alpha, Creature Feature I is making a return. It’s a 6.4% ABV, 46 IBUs NEIPA hopped with Amarillo, Cascade and Citra.

Lunenburg’s new brewery, Shipwright Brewing Company, has another new beer on the taps this week. Lil Dingy ISA is an India Session Ale with a sessionable ABV of 4.5% and a moderate 30 IBU. Light in body as you’d expect for the style, it still packs plenty of flavor thanks to two Southern Hemisphere hop varieties, Ella and Vic Secret, which bring tropical, pine and citrus flavors to the mix on top of a clean malt finish. We don’t have official word on packaging, but we expect you’ll probably be able to have a growler filled, grab a crowler, or enjoy a pint of this one at their taproom or their roommate Grand Banker.

Back again to the rock and St. John’s, where YellowBelly has a new Doppelbock on the go that appears to be known as The Navigator. Describe as “an old school barley sandwich” this one, as is typical for the style, leans heavily to the malt side, with Pilsner, Vienna, Munich and Caramunich bringing bready and sweet flavors and a solid mouthfeel. A bit of Spalter Select rounds out the beer from the hop side of this 7.1% ABV brew. Available on tap for pints at the brewery or the Underbelly or get a growler to go at the Takeaway shop.

Halifax’s Tidehouse Brewing is pouring a whole slew of new and returning favourites in their Tiny Taproom these days, so let’s get you up to speed. Kashmir is a 7.6% ABV Double IPA, marked by a smooth and low bittering from Cashmere hops, with some Hallertau Blanc, on a simple and keeps-out-of-the-way base of 2-Row, Carafoam, Flaked Wheat, and Vienna malts. Tropical fruit and a touch of sweetness, the Th crew are proud of the balance and drinkability of this release. Grab a sample, pint, or growler now.

From restrained to anything but, the Tidehouse crew love to have fun in the brewhouse (a benefit of being small and nimble), and are sure to catch some ire from traditionalists. We say, beer is supposed to be fun, so brew (and drink) what you’d like! Which brings us to Choco-Nilla… This 9.6% ABV beer began life in late December as a high gravity Imperial Stout, to which they added an irresponsible amount of Chips Ahoy chocolate cookies (think 15+ bags), marshmallows, and Fluff in the boil. Additions of vanilla and lactose were also incorporated, lending some residual sweetness to offset the very fermentable baked goods and sugary snacks. The result is a thick, sticky, and complex stout that starts with chocolate and biscuit on the nose and vanilla and more chocolate on the palatte. Choco-nilla is on tap for pints and growlers now.

The fun doesn’t end there, as they’ve got a pair of returning beers in bottles, one available now, and one being released Tuesday. Enigmatic is a bottle-conditioned version of their India Saison (one of their beers at launch), think hybrid of IPA and Belgian Saison. A light malt bill supports a playground for both hops (Ahtanum, Azacca, and Amarillo) and yeast (a Belgian Saison strain), allowing the two to come out and play and shine through. Also returning in bottles is Tidehouse’s ode to Valentine’s Day, The Sex. Featuring a “definitely outlawed in Russia” label, this 11.9% ABV Russian Imperial Stout is fermented on raspberries, and then given an extra bump with the addition of Port. A change in the bittering level of this release counters the residual sweetness from malt and raspberries, helping to keep everything in its place. Look for these bottles to hit the shelf at the Tiny Taproom on Tuesday. A note that all of their bottle releases going forward, of which there are plenty more in the works, will be bottle conditioned, and given the appropriate time to carbonate in the bottle before release.

You will no doubt see some new bright aquamarine cans on the shelf at Propeller Brewing’s Gottingen and Windmill locations today, as well as popping up at the private beer and wine stores in the area. Not a beer, but rather the second in their line of ready-to-drink beverages (the first being their The Perfect Storm Ginger beer and rum blend). Winter Blues is a 7.0% ABV “tiki-style” beverage, a mix of pineapple, lime, and falernum (yup, we had to look it up too!). A mix of star anise, allspice, clove, and toasted almonds, the mix originated in the Caribbean, with a Nova Scotian twist put on it. This RTD is a collaboration with Shane Beehan, an award-winning mixologist working in Halifax. The mix is the first release under the new Windmill Craft Cocktails line, which will see more one-off releases in the coming months.

Mark your calendars for these events coming in the next few weeks:

Next weekend, The Townhouse Pub in Antigonish will be hosting a multi-day tap takeover by Nyanza’s Big Spruce Brewing. From Friday Feb 15 until Sunday the 17th, they’ll have more than 6 taps (and maybe a couple of casks) of the good stuff pouring, with some special food pairing dishes created to complement.

Details are a bit light at the moment, but circle next Saturday on your calendar, as award-winning Toronto brewery Godspeed will be taking over the taps at Bar Stillwell on Barrington. From noon on February 16th, there will be a dozen taps (plus some cans) a-pouring, with food pairing provided by a pop-up by Sushi Shige next Saturday, February 16th.

The following weekend sees a battle of the heavyweight Halifax brewers Garrison and Propeller, as they go head-to-head at The Carleton in “Chef Dolente’s Craft Draught Showdown”. On February 21st, both breweries are bringing their best beer forward to pair with five courses of food, with Daniel Girard of Garrison and Pat Robichaud of Propeller on hand to talk about their choices. Attendees will vote after each course, with the winning brewery crowned the new champion. The real winners, of course, are those in attendance! Tickets are available online now, for $60 +HST (gratuity included).

Darmouth’s Jamieson’s Irish Pub is holding another of their dual tap takeovers in a couple of weeks, with this one featuring Tatamagouche Brewing and Good Robot. The takeover will take place from February 21st-24th, with each brewery having 8 taps to play with. As always, there’ll be plenty of food and live music to go with the beer! Stay tuned to Jamieson’s social media pages for the full taplist, which should be announced shortly.

February 20-26th is the first ever KV Craft Beer Week, with breweries and restaurants in the Kennebecasis Valley taking part in some sweet events and deals. Bootstrap BrewPub, Hammond River Brewing, and Long Bay Brewery are teaming up with local restaurants Amici Pub, Barrel’s Head, Boaz, Commons Creperie, Peddlers Creek, The Robertson, and Vito’s to offer discounts on beer and food in the region. Check that first link for the deals on pours and pairing throughout the week, and pop-in. The week also features the KV Craft Beer Festival, taking place on February 23rd at the Quispamsis Qplex, with beer pouring from the attendees above, as well as other breweries in the South of New Brunswick. Tickets are $45+HST and available at The Barrels Head, Bootstrap and Long Bay.

Beer fans in North Shore Nova Scotia should be happy to hear that the first annual Antigonish Craft Beer Festival is a go for March 30. Presented in partnership with CACL Antigonish, Legion Branch 59 and Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre, they’ve got 12 breweries lined up to show you the best of the region’s craft beers, including The Townhouse Pub, Half Cocked, Propeller Brewing, 9 Zero 2, Big Spruce, Meander River, Maybee, Garrison Brewing, Sober Island, Upstreet, and Tatamagouche Brewing. The event runs from 6 to 10:30 PM with the first hour reserved for VIP ticket holders. A regular $40 ticket ($35 if you buy soon enough to get early bird pricing) gets you a souvenir glass and 8 beer samples, with additional drink tickets available at $2 each; VIP tickets are $55, and include complimentary food as well as the beer samples. Tickets are on sale right now, and can be purchased online.

And here be your final bits of beer news; have a great (beer-filled) weekend!!

Boxing Rock has a new beer available at their Local Source Market location in Halifax, a beer brewed by their production brewery team from Shelburne as a test drive for their Test Kitchen. Nick and Daniel brewed up Buddy in December as a beer that their buddies would enjoy. A lagered ale, it’s crisp, clean, and eminently drinkable. Don’t sleep on it though, as some of the small batch that was brewed went back to Shelburne.

Flying Boats has a new entry in their Test Pilot series with Test Pilot No. 4 – Lover’s Quarrel IPA. They’ve released this beer before (first time was three years ago), but this is the first time this 6.2% ABV IPA with Mosaic and Galaxy will be available in cans. Check the brewery or your local ANBL store to pick some up.

Heritage Brewing now has cans available of Freezing Spray, their 6.5% ABV American IPA hopped with Chinook, Citra and Ekuanot. You can grab cans at the brewery, or at select NSLC stores in the near future.

If you’re in or around Bedford this weekend, and in the mood for something light and easy-drinking, Off Track Brewing has just released Got Me Drove, a 5.5% ABV, 12 IBUs Cream Ale. Limited supplies with this one-off, so drop by soon if you’d like to give it a try.

Feeling in a chocolate-y mood now that Valentine’s Day is around the corner? Petit-Sault has you covered with their latest beer, La BuckMousse, a 6.5% ABV “Chocolate Mousse Porter”. Dark, rich, and smooth, they added a “generous” amount of cocoa nibs to this brew. It’s available on tap now at the brewery, and at select ANBL growler stations.

Charlottetown’s Upstreet Craft Brewing has a new release out now, a hybrid reminiscent of two of their other popular beers. Rhuby Sour is a 5.0% ABV beer that combines the rhubarb and strawberry fruitiness of Rhuby Social, with the tart acidity of Major Tom. Available in bottles or on tap at the brewery on Allen Street, as well as their Craft Beer Corner location downtown.

Friday Wrap-Up for January 18, 2019 – News from Port Rexton, Landwash, Ninepenny, Loyalist City, Propeller, Niche, Off Track, TrailWay, and More!

Posted by acbbaaron on 2019-01-18
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Escarpment Laboratories, Garrison Brewing, Good Robot Brewing, Grimross Brewing, Heritage Brewing, Hill Top Hops, Landwash Brewery, Local Source, Loyalist City Brewing Co, Niche Brewing, Ninepenny Brewing, North Brewing, Off Track Brewing, PEI Brewing Co., Port Rexton Brewing Co., Propeller Arcade, Propeller Brewing, Sociable!, Tanner & Co Brewing, Timber Ship Brewing, TrailWay Brewing. Leave a Comment

Happy mid-January! Now that the spill-over cheers (and hangovers) from the Holidays have subsided, it’s back to business as usual for the breweries in our region. That means more new beer releases and catching up on the crush of folks buying beer as gifts for family, or drinking to avoid them. Let’s kick off this week’s round up in Newfoundland this week, which we assure you has nothing/everything to do with acbbchris taking a visit to the Rock and getting to meet up with some of the friendliest people anywhere!

Let’s kick off the Newfoundland Beer News with a visit to Port Rexton Brewing. They are debuting their second-ever lager this week, and are keeping with a simple name, Craft Lager. Crispy lager fans unite, as this one ticks all of the boxes: herbal and earthy notes from Northern Brewer in the boil and Hallertauer Mittelfrüh in the whirlpool, on a dry and refreshing base built with pale malts, fermented with Escarpment Labs’ Isar Lager yeast. This is the same yeast that PRBC used in their Long Trek Helles, released last month. This 5.1% ABV crushable beer is currently on tap at the brewery taproom (reminder that it is open Fridays and Saturdays throughout the winter, 4 – 10 PM), as well as their St. John’s Retail Shop on Torbay Road this weekend. And in upcoming PRBC beer news, they are deep in plans for the latest brewing of their Next Generation 2019 beer, a collaboration with the Class of 2018 Newfoundland breweries. Look for this beer to be released late Winter/early Spring. And in future-future plans for Port Rexton, they are looking to increase their brewing operation in Port Rexton significantly, by opening a second production facility. With their current brewery maxing out their space, a second brewhouse just off of Highway 230 in Port Rexton will allow them to keep up with demand at the brewery, retail location, and now NLC, where they have 6 products across the province. Construction and opening is still months away, but a real sign of the success of local business and breweries in the province!

Good news for those of you in Mount Pearl, or nearby: Landwash Brewery on Commonwealth Drive is restocked with cans and growlers this weekend. One Wave Blonde Ale and That Much Ocean New England IPA are available in both growlers and cans, with growlers (and cans soon) of their Brackish Sour Ale also available. All three, plus their Hazure’s Rock Stout with coffee are available at their taproom for enjoyment onsite. And with the Saucy Mouth foodtruck set up in the brewery, there’s not much need to go anywhere else! And to help keep up with the great demand for beer, Landwash is hiring a full-time production assistant. Packaging assistance, cleaning, equipment maintenance, cleaning, stocking shelves, cleaning, ingredient preparation, and more cleaning are the key tasks for this position, with the possibility of moving to the production side in the future. Experience in the industry as well as a valid forklift license are assets to keep in mind. Reach out with a cover sheet and resume via email to start/continue your job in the brewing industry!

And great news for beer fans in Conception Bay South, as Ninepenny Brewing on the CBS Highway near Manuels River is chugging along, getting closer and closer to opening their brewery and taproom. As the finishing steps are being completed in the taproom, they are looking to hire staff to come aboard and help open the doors. They have job openings right now for an Assistant Brewer and Front End Staff. The Assistant Brewer will help with the beer production, packaging, maintenance and troubleshooting, as well as all of that aforementioned cleaning! Front End Staff will be responsible for working in the taproom tending bar, filling growlers, merchandise, etc. Postings for both positions are open for the next week, and should be responded to with a resume and cover sheet via email.

Let’s head back to the mainland and Saint John, New Brunswick, where Loyalist City has launched their first new beer of 2019, Trap Setter. An 8.7% ABV, 68 IBUs Winter Warmer, it was brewed with a variety of both British and Belgian malts, giving the beer a “wonderful fruity aroma of raisin and dark plum”, to go with a touch of floral hops, as well as flavours of “sweet malt, and subtle toasted notes”. Full-bodied, with a light carbonation, expect a bit of warmth from the high alcohol as it’s going down, typical for the style. Grab a pint of this mahogany-coloured brew at your favourite LC tap account; you’ll even be able to take home a growler in the near future, when kegs hit the ANBL growler program.

Halifax’s Propeller Brewing has another funky beer hitting the taps today, after the great success of their El Dorado Brett IPA we told you about earlier in the month. Golden Brett is a 6.5% ABV pale farmhouse beer, that started with a simple malt bill, including lots of wheat to enhance the grain/cereal flavour. A secondary fermentation with Brett Vrai yeast leads to a complex beer with plenty of barnyard, earth, and spice character, with a dry finish. Grab a sample or pint at the Propeller tasting room today! And in the basement of their Gottingen location, Propeller is opening the first “brewcade” in HRM. Propeller Arcade features more than a dozen classic pinball and arcade games in a cozy space, perfect for passing an afternoon or evening reliving the glory days of the bowling alley arcade. A full complement of Propeller beers will be pouring to keep your whistle wet. The Arcade is slated to open next weekend, with a Halifax Pinball-sponsored knock-out event kicking off the opening. Stay turned to PA’s Instagram for all of the details!

Just outside Fredericton, NB, in Hanwell, Niche Brewing has another beer to bring you, a mixed-fermentation pong to last week’s hoppy ping. Zeste was fermented with Niche’s own house culture of Saccharomyces and Brettanomyces strains before aging for 2 months in stainless steel and then finishing on a blend of lemon, lime and grapefruit zest. Bright and tart, with aspects of the fruit shining through, this is a low-ABV in the saison style, coming in at 4%, perfect for a light and refreshing break from the heavier beers that tend to dominate in the winter months. So if you’re looking for a break from the barleywines, Russian imperial stouts and winter warmers, you’ll want to seek this one out. Look for it soon at The Joyce Pub, Peppers Pub, Sussex Ale Works, Au Bootlegger, and at the Radisson in Hanwell. And Nova Scotia Niche fans take note, a keg of this one is expected to get to Stillwell along with a keg of their Patersbier, Enkel.

The folks at Off Track Brewing are happy to share the news on their first DIPA, Let’s Dance. Before we get into the nitty gritty details, a warning that this was an experimental batch, with only a few kegs packaged… meaning that it’s gone already. However, they’re brewing more of it next week, so let’s tell you about it for when it’s available again! The simple grain bill (featuring a portion of Maris Otter to give “slight bready notes”) allows the blend of Mosaic, Simcoe, and Citra hops to bring forth their mighty flavours of citrus, tropical fruit, and pine. Quite bitter at 93 IBUs, they kept the ABV low, at 6.8%, meaning arguments are sure to ensue about whether it’s an IPA, or DIPA. Have at it!

Back to Fredericton, where TrailWay is releasing a souped-up version of one of their past American IPAs, Seeing Citra. As you may have expected, Seeing Double Citra is the DIPA take on the first beer, coming it at 8% ABV and with higher hop rates, according to the brewery. If you’re a fan of the Citra hop (and we assume that most of you hopheads are), this is the brew for you, as it’s a single showcase bonanza of the American variety, featuring lots of “pungent, tropical mango”. As always, available on tap and in cans at the brewery, starting today, with some local accounts pouring it over the coming days.

If all the new Winter Warmers, big Stouts, and other “winter-friendly” beers has got you overwhelmed, we’d like to point out that Chester’s Tanner & Co. Brewing has a refreshing counter-punch that they’ve got hitting taps and shelves this week. Helles is a Munich Helles, a malt-forward Lager that has more flavour than your typical American Light Lager, but with not too much more alcohol. T&C’s version is light-gold coloured, “mildly hopped” to just 18 IBUs, and weighs in at 5.4% ABV. They fermented it cool, giving the beer enough lagering time to allow it to condition properly, resulting in “a clean bread and light biscuit flavour, balanced by a touch of bitterness”. It’s on tap at the brewery, and should be available in bottles now, as well.

The number of Scratch beers from Grimross has been on the rise lately, with #17 hitting taps this week. Scratch #17: Multigrain Farmhouse Ale was brewed with a blend of Spelt, Golden Naked Oats, as well as flaked and malted Rye, Wheat, and Barley. Hopped with noble varieties, and fermented with the brewery’s house Farmhouse yeast, the final product is “warming and floral, with a balancing hop bitterness, and aromas of citrus, stonefruit, and pepper”. It comes in at a fairly-hefty 6.7% ABV (and 28 IBUs), and is on tap right now at the brewery for pints and growlers. Cans should be available for sale next week (at Grimross and select ANBL stores), and kegs should be hitting local accounts soon as well.

If you’re not a fan of hops, and live in Halifax, shame on you! Oh wait, sorry, we meant to say we have good news for you. Good Robot will be releasing No-Hop-Scotch, their take on the hopless Gruit style, for next Tuesday’s Beta Brew. Brewed with Pale malt, Cara 30, Honey malt, and Peat-smoked malt, the orange-red wort was further flavoured with meadowsweet, heather tips, and lavender (herbs are used in place of hops in Gruits). Once fermentation was complete, elderflower cordial and a touch of rose water were added. You’re probably wondering what this 4.5% ABV brew tastes like… well, you only have a few more days before you can find out for yourself, right at the source! As for next week’s Alpha, that’ll be the return of Leave Me Blue (5% ABV).

Yarmouth’s Heritage Brewing has a new IPA available this week. Batch #258 is a 6.5% American IPA with a wide spectrum of flavour and aromatics from the massive amount of hops added throughout the boil and in dry-hopping, including Citra, Ekuanot, and Chinook. Billed by the brewery as a slightly more bitter take on their flagship, Freezing Spray, the grist was kept fairly simple, with 2-row, Wheat, Cara 40 and Carapils, all the better to let those wonderful hop varieties shine through. Pop by their brewery taproom for a pint this weekend! And while there, check out the return of their Golden Horse DIPA, which was fermented with Vermont Ale yeast from Escarpment Labs this go-around.

We’ve talked on and off over the past couple of years about Sociable!, a documentary about the craft beer business in Nova Scotia. It’s been a long time coming, but the final product is now complete, and available to watch online… for free! Featuring interviews with many of your favourite local brewers, it’s definitely worth checking out. Have a watch (or three) here, and congrats to Chris and Helen on all of their hard work!

As usual, there’s beery things going on around the region this weekend and beyond that you might wish to check out:

A quick reminder that Hill Top Hops in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, is holding their Grand Opening tomorrow. Located at 7232 Hwy 14 beside the Tidal Bore Farm Market, they will be pouring the six beers brewed onsite with the hops grown at their nearby hop farm. The fun kicks off at noon and goes all day. In case you missed it, learn more about Hill Top Hops from the Profile we published yesterday.

It’s a bittersweet time for North Brewing – while they’re no doubt excited to be moving to their new production facility at 899 Portland St. in Dartmouth, they can’t help but be sad to be leaving their first “home” on Agricola St., where their brewery has been located for the last six years. As they’re now about to leave, they’re throwing a Farewell Party for all of their North End supporters, on Thursday, January 24th, at Gus’ Pub. Starting at 8 pm, there’ll be live music (featuring two bands, each of which include a North employee), food giveaways from Taco Lina’s, specials on beer, and merch freebies! No cost to attend, just show up for a good time… and keep a stiff upper lip!

We’re not ones to simply tease events without a whole lot of info (ok, maybe we do that SOMEtimes), but the 2 Crows 2nd Anniversary Party is next weekend (January 26th and 27th). We’ve done a little chatting with them… and oh boy, they’ve got some great things planned! We have to keep mum on the finer details right now, but we will be releasing them soon (as will they, of course). Rest assured there’ll be lots of beer (including six new packaged beers, and lots of fun stuff on tap), food, live music…you get the idea. Good times! In the meantime, they’ve told us you *might* want to show up at the brewery this Sunday when they open at noon. That’s all we got for ya, sorry! Whups!! While it’s always a good idea to show up at noon on Sunday at 2 Crows to get a seat, nothing particularly special is happening this coming Sunday, just the usual lineup of excellent beers. Next Sunday on the other hand, well, you might even want to get there a little early. ?

Are you a fan of offal? If you’re not, you may not be any closer to becoming one once you find out what it means. Ok, we’ll tell you – offal is the “entrails and internal organs of an animal, used as food”. But some people think of it as quite the delicacy, and they’ll likely be psyched to hear that Good Robot has paired with RumbleFish Food Co. and the Black Sheep Restaurant to present Offal Night on Monday, January 28th. Black Sheep head chef Steph Ogilvie has put together a four-course meal that can definitely be described as “interesting”, no matter your feelings on whether offal is delicious, or….. or….. I’m not going to say “awful”, that’s too Dad-like. You get the idea; check out the event link for a detailed menu. The meal is $55 + tax, and each dish will be paired with a different Good Robot beer. There will be two seatings (early evening, later evening), and reservations can be made through John at 902-293-5282 or rumblefishfoodco@gmail.com.

And a few more quick mentions before you get on with your day:

Boxing Rock has a new release from their Test Kitchen at Local Source Market, Dr Deluxe’s Apple Pie Amber Ale. Brewed in collaboration with Matthew from Local Source Market, dried apple slices were added to the secondary, enhancing the apple pie experience. Grab a growler of it today!

Garrison Brewing has a new beer debuting today in their retail shop. We told you about the A Thief in the Night event last week, and now one of the beer that attendees were able to preview is now available to the general public. The Cherry Bourbon Barrel-Aged Wintervention is a beer years in the making, as it was brewed in 2017, and has been aging in Bourbon barrels, with cherries added, for almost two years. This 11.0% ABV beer is available at their retail store now, at $15.95 for a 650 mL bottle. Keep your eyes open for more treatments of Wintervention set to hit the shelves in their 2019 Cellar Series.

PEI Brewing Company and Gahan have a new beer on tap these days, the latest in their After Hours series. Hoppy Brett is a 5.0% ABV pale farmhouse beer, fermented with a blend of Escarpment Labs’ Brett D and Brett Q, the first time they’ve fermented exclusively with Brettanomyces. Enhancing the fruit and funky flavour and aroma is a dry-hopping addition of Mosaic. Grab it at PEIBC and all of the Gahan locations, as well as a few favourite bars in the region.

And in great news for the thirsty crowd in Miramichi, new brewery Timber Ship now has their full complement of beer pouring at The Piping Plover Gastropub in town. Drop in for some food and their Ballast Island Blonde, Broken Paddle Pale Ale, Dungarvon Hopper IPA, and/or Miramichi Irish Red. Looking for a reminder on those beers and the Timber Ship story? Check out their Profile we published last week. And keep your eyes peeled here and on their social media for their Launch Party happening at the Plover next weekend.