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Friday Wrap-Up for Sept 18, 2020 – News from the Canadian Brewing Awards, Tire Shack, Port Rexton, North Brewing, 2 Crows, Quidi Vidi, Breton, Saltbox, Rough Waters and much more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2020-09-18
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, 3Flip Brewing, Birch and Anchor, Bogside Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, Brasseux d'la Cote, Breton Brewing, Canadian Brewing Awards, Copper Bottom Brewing, Escarpment Laboratories, Garrison Brewing, Good Robot Brewing, Long Bay Brewery, Moosehead Breweries, North Brewing, Oh My Cheeses, Ol' Biddy's Brew House, PEI Brewing, Port Rexton Brewing Co., Port Rexton Pride, Propeller Brewing, Queer Beer NL, Quidi Vidi Brewery, Roof Hound Brewing, Rough Waters Brewing, Route 19 Brewing, Saltbox Brewing, Secret Cove Brewing, Shoreline Malting, Tatamagouche Brewing, Timber Ship Brewing, Tire Shack Brewing, Topside Brewing, Uncle Leo's Brewery, White Rabbit. Leave a Comment

Here we are heading into the last week of Summer in Atlantic Canada, and what a crazy summer it’s been. And things aren’t likely to get any less crazy in Fall, what with the pandemic still being a thing, and the West coast on fire, and, oh hey, another hurricane is bearing down on NS and possibly PEI. GOOD TIMES. So hey, maybe have a read below to get some ideas about where to stock up on beer this weekend and we’ll all see where the wind blows us. Hopefully it’s not off the Eastern seaboard.

Let’s kick off today’s news with a round of congratulations for the Atlantic Canadian breweries who took home medals at this year’s Canadian Brewing Awards! While the Awards and Conference looked quite different than in previous years, it’s always great when well-crafted local beers are getting nation-wide recognition.

Bogside Brewing: Silver in German Style Kolsch for Lighthorse Lagered Ale and Silver in Wheat Beer – German Style (Weiss) for Wheat Kings County

Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault: Gold in French and Belgian Style Saison for Saison du Djâbe

Brasseux d’la Cote: Gold in Fruit / Fruit Wheat / Field / Pumpkin Beer for La Classic Rosé

Copper Bottom: Silver in American Style Imperial India Pale Ale for Parkman Ave

Garrison Brewing: Bronze in Bock – Traditional German Style for Bringing Sexy Bock

Good Robot: Silver in New England Style India Pale Ale for Creature Feature

Moosehead: Bronze in Light (Calorie-Reduced) Lager for Cracked Canoe, Gold in Experimental Beer for Shaker Tropical Pina Colada, Silver in Smoked Beer for Small Batch Rauchbier

PEI Brewing: Silver in North American Style Premium Lager for Beach Chair Lager, Bronze in Session Ale for Setting Day

Propeller Brewing: Silver in Session Ale for Azacca Session IPA

Tatamagouche Brewing: Gold in Baltic Porter for Two Rivers Baltic Porter, Silver in Belgian-Style Brett Beer for Square One, and Bronze in German-Style Sour Ale Berliner-Style Weisse or Gose for Saltwater Cowboy Gose

Tire Shack Brewing: Gold in Cream Ale for The Specialist

Uncle Leo’s Brewery: Silver in North American Style Pale Ale for Sunburst

To see how the rest of the country fared, check out the full list of winners here. Congratulations all!

Speaking of Tire Shack, there’s lots going on in their taproom the coming weekends, as they move into full-blown Oktoberfest celebration mode! They’re turning their taproom into Oktoberfest central for the next three Fridays (starting today) from 4 PM, and Saturdays from 1 PM. A German-inspired menu will be available thanks to catering from White Rabbit, and Tire Shack has brewed up a Munich Helles named Helles Yeah!, that they’ll be serving in 1-L Maß glasses, branded with their logo. For $20, you get the beer, and the glass to keep. In the mood for more than just Helles? Well, they’ve got two other beers that should be pouring just in time for the festivities: Zenith Libation, a cardamom-infused Wheat beer (the first time they’ve had it since they first opened), and Cherry Pie Sour, a kettle sour brewed with 40 kg of cherries, along with vanilla, almond, and cinnamon. Proper attire for the Oktoberfest celebration is encouraged, we understand your servers and beertenders may be partaking in the fun too! If you’re not able to make it to the brewery for a pint or Maß, worry not as these three beers will be canned next week, and available by the weekend. And if you ask nicely during your visit, you may even be able to grab cans of their Gold medal winning The Specialist Cream Ale, though it is currently sold out on tap. And full disclosure, our quip last week about the Moncton housing market was way off base, looks like plenty of folks are moving to the city (and province), with housing sales up 20%+ over last year! Colour us embarrassed!

While on the topic of great events, and a beer to pair with it, let’s hop to Newfoundland for a spell. It’s Port Rexton Pride this weekend in the Bonavista town, and the eponymous Port Rexton Brewing has once again teamed up with Queer Beer NL to brew a celebratory beer. Queer Feeling II is a 4.7% ABV Belgian Witbier, and stays true to style with addition of citrus and spice, to offer a bright hazy colour with a full mouthfeel and lingering fluffy head (thanks to all that wheat), with notes of banana and orange with a zippy coriander spice. On tap and in cans at the brewery now (with $0.50 going to PRP for future events and fun), the St. John’s Retail Shop is also fully stocked for your visit Thurs through Sat, 12 – 7 PM (closing at 5 PM Sat). And if you find yourself on the Bonavista this weekend, be sure to drop by the PR Skerwink Trail parking lot at noon on Sunday, for a BBQ and distanced walk in town, as they team up with pals Oh My Cheeses.

If you’re looking for a new New England IPA hop fix this weekend, North Brewing has you covered with their latest release, Pleasant Disposition (named in honour, we believe, of the writers of this blog). A 6.6% ABV beauty hopped with Strata, Sultana, and Amarillo, it was fermented with Escarpment Labs’ Vermont Ale yeast. Easy-drinking, juicy, and with low bitterness, it’s exactly the type of hazy brew you need to start off/end off your Friday. You can find it on tap right at the source, as well as in cans at their retail shops and online store. 

We can’t speak of pleasant dispositions without bringing up Jeremy Taylor of 2 Crows, who has filled us in on all the news that’s fit to print on the brewery’s two new beers, one of which is also a NEIPA. Let’s start with the beer that landed at 2C earlier this week, Fortitude. Billed as a “Hoppy Wild Ale”, the grist was made up of Pilsner, toasted wheat, and raw wheat, with a mash-hop addition of Sterling; further hop additions were made late in the boil (Bru-1, Galaxy, and Citra). The wort was fermented with a blend of Ebbegarden Kveik, Amalgamation (six Brett strains), and the brewery’s house Saison culture, and then dry-hopped heavily with Enigma, Mandarina Bavaria, and more Galaxy. The final 4.6% ABV, 35 IBUs beer has a perfect blend of hops (dank, tropical, fruity) and funk, with plenty of that lovely fruity Brett character you’d expect. Normally, we’d expect a beer of this nature from 2C to be canned, but they decided to bottle this batch. Instead of picking up individual units, the beer will be sold exclusively as part of a tasting pack (with Zip and Refresh), with $5 from each pack going to the ALS Society of NB and NS. Grabbing the set also gives you access to a live tasting event on Facebook on September 30th at 8 pm, where Jeremy himself will explain the creation and tasting notes of all three beers; he’ll also be signing virtual autographs after the session (ok, we made that last part up).

The next beer, as mentioned, is a brand new NEIPA, sticking with 2C’s series of “stupidly-hoppy” IPAs. Perfect Saturation was brewed with the same base as all four of the previous releases (we’d tell you all four but that would kinda ruin a question for the next ACBB trivia night, whenever that will be!), with Golden Promise, wheat malt, flaked wheat, and a touch of Carafoam. Columbus hops were used in both the mash hop and first wort hop additions, followed by a hopback full of Pacific Gem at the end of the boil. While the wort was fermenting with Foggy London from Escarpment, they threw in some Citra and HPA-016. Finally, more Citra and HPA-016 were added after fermentation was complete, along with loads of Sabro and Galaxy. Expect huge notes of tangerine and pineapple, and “a bit of creamy vanilla coconut” thanks to the Sabro. This 6.1% ABV, 44 IBUs hop bomb *should* be available on tap and in cans at the brewery today (label availability pending). 

We’ve got a new beer from Quidi Vidi to chat up today, along with a challenge for those who want to get outside. Teaming up with AMBA, the Avalon Mountain Bike Association, they have released Oceanside Sour. Featuring black currant, black cherry, and blackberries, this 5.6% ABV beer is in wide distribution at the brewery, convenience stores, and NLC locations now. And what about the challenge? Well, from September 21st to 27th, they are encouraging folks to get outside, get active, and share photos of how you are enjoying yourself with the #getoceanside hashtag. There will also be challenges during that week, with more ways to win prizes by registering through a donation to The Gathering Place. More details here! 

It’s the time of year for Oktoberfest / Marzen releases, so get your palates ready for some toasty, malt-forward Lagers! The folks at Breton Brewing and Saltbox Brewing like the style so much, they decided to team up and brew a collaboration Oktoberfest of their own, called… Oktoberfest Lager. Brewed with a large portion of Munich, this amber-coloured beer is tasting malt-forward as expected, with “a full, bready flavour, and hopped for balance”. Now available on tap and in cans at Breton, and in cans at Saltbox, it weighs in at 5.3% ABV and 25 IBUs. Check out Breton’s online store as well, for home delivery of cans around the province! 

Back to hoppy, hazy beers with Rough Waters, who have just launched their very first NEIPA, Morning Haze. Brewed with lots of flaked wheat and flaked oats to build up the body of the final beer, they hopped it with both Galaxy and Cashmere varieties. Coming in at 6.3% ABV, it’s showing off a “big citrus character of tangerine, peach, and pineapple”. You can find it at their taproom in Deer Lake, NL in pints and growlers; it’s also available in bottles.

If you happen to be driving around Cape Breton to pick up some Oktoberfest over the weekend, why not make a stop at Route 19 Brewing in Inverness? They’re pouring fresh pints of their latest beer, Inverness Lager, at their taproom. Brewed with Pilsner malt from Shoreline Malting, and fermented with Escarpment’s (yeesh, why aren’t these guys paying us an advertising fee?) Krispy Kveik yeast, this 4.1% ABV, 30 IBUs brew has “a perfect balance of fresh-out-of-the-oven sweet bread malt notes, and noble hop bitterness”, all with a crisp, easy-drinking finish. This one is just a pilot batch (for now), so it probably won’t last too long.

On the West side of Newfoundland you’ll find the Port au Port Peninsula, and on the East side of that, you’ll find Port au Port East, home to Secret Cove Brewing, who have released a new beer they’re calling Lingo. Although the name has been used for a previous beer from the brewery, a lemon/orange Radler, this time around they decided to brew it as a fruited kettle sour and make it part of their regular rotation. They also made a small change to the fruit component, settling on pineapple during fermentation, with a bit of orange aroma and flavor as well through an addition of zest. Unlike many small sours, which are very often extremely dry, this one was designed to have a bit of body, although you can still expect the tartness to be refreshing. Fermentation-wise, lower temperatures were used to control ester production and allow the fruit to take center stage. The result is a refreshing beer coming in at 4% ABV that should be a lovely accompaniment to the waning warm days of summer. Secret Cove is now canning their beers, which has allowed them to extend their reach throughout Western Newfoundland; they’ve got orders out now to Gander and other parts of the central part of the Province. You can expect Lingo in particular to be found at the brewery, but also in Corner Brook Deer Lake, Gander, and Stephenville. 

If you’re out and about at certain beer-friendly places this weekend, you might just be among the first to try beer from Nova Scotia’s latest brewery. Topside Brewing is a home-based brewery (for now) in Bedford, from husband and wife Blair & Erin Tobin. Taking cues from Blair’s career as a Navy Clearance Diver, Topside has a dive roster of four beers that will be making a splash in the coming weeks: 5 Bells Session IPA, Joyce’s Boy Hefeweizen, On the Bottom East Coast IPA, and Lord’s Porter. We’ll have much more from Topside in a full Profile (hopefully) Monday, and keep an eye on their IG and Facebook page for a heads up when the beer is tapped! Congratulations!

There’s no beery events on our radar this week, but here’s a few quick-ish mentions as we send you into the weekend:

Rothesay’s Long Bay Brewing has changed ownership after 3+ years of selling beer to the public, with Jon Choinard and Tim Webber taking the reins from original owner/brewer Sean Doyle. Both Jon and Tim will be sharing the brewing responsibilities, and with this change also comes the news that the brewery is now licensed to operate as a taproom. Yes, that means you’ll be able to drink your favourite Long Bay beers (and other alcohol) on site. For now, they’re mainly open to pre-arranged groups of 12 or fewer people from the same bubble, but this will hopefully change in the near future once they have proper seating and such. If you’d like to head in for a pint, give them a call at 506-847-HOPS to book a time.

And in more great news for those who like to drink beer where it’s made, Lower Sackville’s Ol’ Biddy’s Brewhouse is now set up to sell pints of their 15 (fifteen!) different offerings. Open 12 – 8 PM Thurs to Sat, and 12 – 6 PM Sun, grab a pint of 7 Day IPA, Funk Town Pale Ale, Patrick O’Neil Red, or one of the other dozen beers for enjoyment onsite before grabbing cans to go.

If you’re a fan of the beer coming out of 3Flip Brewing in Douglas, NB, you have reason to celebrate a little, especially if cans are your packaging mode of choice. The brewery is happy to announce that they’ve secured the ability to switch to canning, and that you can expect to find those cans at all ANBL and private retailer locations where you’re already buying their beer. Confirmed are their three core brands: Sassy Cow, Anonymous Amber, and Americana Track 4, all in 355 mL format. So don’t be alarmed if you don’t find the familiar bottles at your local, just have a good look and you’ll hopefully find that you just need to be searching for cans!

It was bound to happen, and after PEI Brewing broke the seal back in August, the deluge of Pumpkin beers has now reached a fever pitch! For those who like to get their gourd on, in addition to PEIBC’s Pumpkin Ale, Brasseurs du Petit-Sault has released their Bonhomme Sept-Heure, Propeller Brewing has their Pumpkin Spiced Ale out now in cans and bottles (brewed using Howard Dill’s world famous Atlantic Giant Pumpkins). And look for Digby and Kingston’s Roof Hound Brewing to release their Keltic Devil Pumpkin Spiced Coffee Porter and Miramichi’s Timber Ship has their ‘Gourd’on’s Wharf Autumn Ale just waiting in the wings. Now go forth and spice up your life!

Friday Wrap-Up for September 13, 2019 – News from Port Rexton, Split Rock and Landwash, Ninepenny, Tatamagouche, Big Spruce, Tusket Falls, Good Robot and more!

Posted by acbbaaron on 2019-09-13
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Annapolis Cider Company, Battery Park, Big Spruce Brewing, Copper Bottom Brewing, Good Robot Brewing, Landwash Brewery, Maritime Express Cider, Ninepenny Brewing, North Brewing, Port Rexton Brewing Co., Propeller Arcade, Propeller Brewing, Queer Beer NL, Shipwright Brewing, Split Rock Brewing, Stillwell Beer Bar, Tanner & Co Brewing, Tatamagouche Brewing, The Carleton, TrailWay Brewing, Tusket Falls Brewing. Leave a Comment

Oh hey, it’s us, and we’re really late today. We recommend you demand a full refund!! There’s going to be weather this weekend. What kind? We don’t know. But we have beer news, so read on.

The town of Port Rexton will once again be full of mirth and cheer this weekend as they celebrate Port Rexton Pride Festival, building awareness, support, and education around LGBTQ+ issues in Port Rexton and the local region. With a Pride-themed Trivia kicking off the fun last night, the rest of the weekend is chock full of events at various locations around town (click that link for all of the details). Tonight’s signature event is Queer Anthem Karaoke at Port Rexton Brewing, starting at 8:30PM; rock painting, a local Amazing Race event, and live music in the brewery are on the go Saturday. With such an important event in town, there surely must be a special beer to accompany, right? Well, faithful reader, there surely is! Queer Feeling is a 4.7% ABV Farmhouse Ale fermented with Ebbergarden Kveik from Escarpment Labs. The beer was brewed with the crew from Queer Beer NL, a home brew and beer appreciation group based in St. John’s, who made the trek out to PR last month to help out with the brewday. The beer is on tap at the brewery today, and will be all weekend until it runs out, so it’s best to arrive early, and often, to avoid disappointment! QF joins the 2019 release of Brett Chops, a 100% Brettanomyces-fermented version of their Horse Chops IPA, which has hung out in Bourbon barrels since February 2018. This is a brewery-only release, btw, even more reason to head out to the Bonavista Peninsula this weekend!

Let’s stick to the Rock for the next new beer this week, which is another collaborative effort between a couple of beer powerhouses. The crew from Split Rock in Twillingate invited Landwash of Mount Pearl to come over and play in their brewery last month. More specifically, the Assistant Brewers from both spots took the reins on this project, which was a homecoming of sorts for Lw Assistant Brewer Alex Troke, who began his life in the beer world at Split Rock. He and current Split Rock brewer Ryan went all in for a Brut, known for being dry and effervescent. Rye Not? Brut Ale features Sabro and Simcoe hops, for tropical and tangerine aromatics, with rye malt in the grist bill for light complexity. This 7.0% ABV beer is pouring freely at both the host and visiting brewery this weekend, for pints and samples, and for growlers to go from Split Rock. You’re heading to grab one right now, right? If not, Rye Not??

And one last new release from Newfoundland comes from Conception Bay South, and the taps at 75 Conception Bay Highway, home to Ninepenny Brewing. Keeping those summer vibes alive, they’ve released 10 Bricks Milkshake NEIPA. A grain bill featuring Oats and 2-Row malt, and aided by lactose for a bit of residual sweetness, is the base for tropical and fruit flavours thanks to hops, yeast, and fruits working together for a full-on experience. Ekuanot, Azacca, Galaxy, and Cascade offer some light bitterness and plenty of aroma and taste, which was accentuated by 75 kg of peach puree on the nose, palate, and appearance. Escarpment’s Foggy London keeps it hazy and juicy too. Catch 10 Bricks on tap at the brewery this weekend, and if you’re lucky, it may pop up elsewhere on the peninsula as well.

On the mainland, Tatamagouche Brewing celebrated their Fourth Annual Tap Takeover at Battery Park in Dartmouth yesterday. With 20 beers available, it saw the return of a few seasonals as well as the debut of several more beers. Fingers crossed that some last drips remain for a few hours today (BP opens at 11:30 AM folks!), so let’s get you up to speed… Returning after a several-month hiatus is a fresh batch of Kitty Clyde DIPA, a 7.8% ABV celebration of late hops with big blasts of citrus, peach, and passion fruit (but staying low in bitterness) thanks to Vic Secret and Galaxy, named after a wooden brigantine built in Tatamagouche in 1857. KC is on tap at the brewery now, and cans should be available real, real soon. 

In “totally new, so new there aren’t any bottles just yet” beer news from Tata, the crowd at Battery Park were able to enjoy four new brews on tap that will be released in bottles or cans over the next few months. As of writing, we’re not sure which, if any, of these are still available for on tap in Dartmouth, but since the cat is already out of the bag, let’s get you excited for these upcoming bottles and cans.

  • Toro (11.2% ABV) – Quadrupel (aka, Belgian Dark Strong) fermented in stainless steel before transfer to Bourbon barrels for secondary fermentation with Brettanomyces. Will be available on draught and in 500 mL bottles before the end of September.
  • Rooted (6.6% ABV) – Barrel-aged Saison featuring rye malt in the grist. Will be available on draught and in 750 mL bottles in early October.
  • Muse (6.5% ABV) – Sour Red Ale (think Flanders Red such as Duchesse de Bourgogne), mixed fermentation, aged with cherries. Draught and 500 mL bottles, no timeline for release yet.
  • Foeder One (5.5% ABV) – Pale Saison with a grist of Pilsner and Spelt, aged in a red wine foeder. Will see release on draught and in cans later this year.

Undeterred by Dorian, Big Spruce Brewing in Nyanza has a pair of new beers out this week, available at the brewery, and a few bars around Nova Scotia. The first is Indigo Borealis, a 6.4% ABV Haskap Saison. Taking its name from a pair of Haskap species added to the beer, this Saison pours a light ruby in colour, and features loads of raspberry and blackberry, with highlights of citrus reminiscent of marmalade. A zesty base beer completes the entire package. The second beer now pouring in the taproom these days will help unlock the secret that many of us are chasing in our beer glasses… The Key to Happiness is a 6.6% ABV Key Lime Pie Milkshake IPA, extending the iconic base style of lactose, vanilla, and hazy tropical feels with the addition of key limes for a light citrus bite. The malt bill even boasts some graham cracker notes, harkening back to the dessert that inspired the beer. Grab both Indigo Borealis and The Key to Happiness on draught for pints and fills at the taproom on Yankee Line Rd outside of Baddeck, and at better beer bars in the province this weekend.

At the opposite end of Nova Scotia you’ll find Tusket, which is home to Tusket Falls Brewing. They have recently released a duo of beers at their taproom, one of which will see wider distribution later in the month. This Moment Is is a 5.5% ABV Porter, light on the hops, allowing the complexity of the malt to shine through, with raisin bread and toffee on the nose, followed by chocolate on the palate, in a medium body and roasty finish. This is currently available at the brewery only, but may see wider draught distro soon. And on the other side of the spectrum, we have A Diversion In Life, a 6.2% ABV hoppy, hazy IPA, featuring Simcoe hops. Tropical and earthy dance together with a touch of dank, in this balanced IPA. Also available on tap at the brewery now, look for cans of ADiL to hit the shelves of your local NSLC in the next couple of weeks, perfect for a grab and go as you look to finish your day (or get it off to a fun start!).

Halifax’s Good Robot has found themselves with a bit of a surplus of beer in the brewery this week, so what is there to do but get it out to thirsty post-hurricane Halifax with a quickness? First up on Monday is a fresh new batch of their Goseface Killah, their long-standing German wheat beer with salt and coriander. Slightly tart and quite refreshing (it’s a nice change-up after a bunch of hoppy IPAs, for instance), it comes in at 5% ABV and 11 IBU. Later in the week, probably Thursday, and assuming a tap opens up for it (that’s a challenge to weekday evening drinkers if ever we heard one), is a new beer but not a new beer. The New Original is, to some degree, based on their much-loved Leave Me Blue in the sense that both beers are in the Kentucky Common style. That said, The New Original hews more closely to the style, with a touch more malty sweetness and a hint of vanilla (* no vanilla actually added, we don’t think), but still a dry and crisp finish. Coming in at 4.3% ABV we suspect it will be popular with fans of Leave Me Blue as well as winning some more folks over to a historic pre-Prohibition style.

On the Eastern side of Prince Edward Island is Copper Bottom Brewing who have a new seasonal beer out this week, a Rye IPA (guess 902BrewCast’s Tony Important is making an unscheduled trip to the Island this weekend…). Inspired by the bear and its symbolism in North American culture, NorthPaw pays homage the the great animal and the wild that surrounds us all. Featuring plenty of Canadian rye malt, PEI-grown 2-row provided the base with Vienna, Acid Malt and Wheat rounding out the malt profile. Bittered to 40 IBU with Warrior, Simcoe and Amarillo were added in the kettle, and a large dry hop featuring more Amarillo along with Cascade. The overall hop impression is of citrus and stone fruit, with a bold orange juice character front and center and finishing with a spicy note from the rye. This one is available for pints at the brewery, but also to go in cans. You’ll also be able to grab cans at PEILCC locations later this fall. And if you’re in the area today, every pint sold will see $1 go to MacPhail Woods, a local forestry stewardship organization in PEI; also Sneaky Cheats will be on site from 6 – 10 PM tonight with some tasty wood-fired eats.

Kentville’s Maritime Express Cider has both a returning cider this week along with a brand new one to tantalize your apple-loving tastebuds. Roundhouse Rhubarb is the returning number, tar and crisp, with a crystalline clarity and light carbonation. Hints of rhubarb complete this 4.5% ABV dry cider. And new to the taproom is Sour Rosé, a 5.5% sour cider fermented with hibiscus and lemon peel and with Sour Patch Kids candy added to balance the sweetness. On the sweeter side, but also sour and funky, this one sounds like an interesting detour from more common everyday ciders. Both of these are available at the taproom now and, it being Friday, a reminder that they’ve got Happy Hour on Friday evenings from 4 – 6 PM; an excellent opportunity to try out one or both of these ciders along with some of their other offerings!

And since we’re speaking of cider in the Annapolis Valley, it’s probably an excellent time to mention that Annapolis Cider Co also has a new one out in their Something Different series. Cascade Charmat had a complex path from juice to bottle, but we suspect the result is well worth it! Starting with fresh-pressed juice (as always!) from McIntosh, Northern Spy and Jonagold varieties, they cool-fermented this one in their usual way. The Charmat method of performing secondary fermentation in a pressurized tank was used to create a fine and persistent carbonation. A dose of Golden Russet cider and Flemish Beauty perry was then layered in, providing additional flavors while preserving the carbonation. Finally, Cascade hops provided a delicate citrus character to this 9.1% ABV unfiltered sparkling cider. Look for it as always at the cidery on Main Street in Wolfville; as always with their Something Different series, $0.50 from every refill sold will benefit a charitable organization, this time it’s CAPRE (Community Association of People for REAL Enterprise).

Shipwright Brewing in Lunenburg is saying goodbye to summer with the final entry in their Summer Belgian series of beers. Brut-Ale Storm is a Brut IPA but also a Belgian IPA. Featuring the clove and pepper phenolic character of Belgian yeast, honey and biscuit malt notes, this beer was then hit with a complex mix of southern hemisphere hops, namely Citra, Galaxy, Topaz, and Enigma to generate flavors and aromas of orange, pine, and mango. Being in the Brut style, you would be correct to expect this one to be dry and crisp on the finish due to a very low finishing gravity. Check it out at the brewery and, very possibly, on tap at the Grand Banker as well!

With Fredericton’s Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival on this week and finishing this weekend, we’re maybe a little surprised that we didn’t hear from too many F-town breweries this week. But thinking about it, it’s probably because they went straight from manic summer production to madly trying to be ready for the fest! We recommend if you’re in Freddie or planning to be there for the fest this weekend that you check out your favourite brewery’s social media to see what they’ve got available this weekend and also check out your favorite independent beer-friendly spots for tap lists as well.

With that out of the way, Trailway is the exception to the above this week with a brand new beer to tell you about that’s all ready for the fest. Wizzum is their first real stab at a West Coast IPA, but still keeping true to Trailway’s own house hazy and full-mouthfeel style. Featuring more malt and more bitterness, they also chose more classic West Coast hops like Simcoe and Cascade. The result is spicy, slightly fruity, and definitely resinous, with a definitely kick, coming in at 7% ABV. Look for it in cans and on draft at the Tw taproom all weekend long.

Some events coming up that you might consider attending:

If you’ve been lurking around 899 Portland St. in Dartmouth for a while, eagerly waiting for North Brewing to open their new taproom, your wait is finally over. After teasing us with a previously announced opening date last week (or maybe the week before?) the day is FINALLY here and they’re flouting superstition by opening on Friday the 13th!! From here on in they’ll be open every day from Noon to 7 PM, staying open later on Friday nights until 9 PM. As time goes on you might see some adjustments to that based on the whims of their drinking public, but for now, lock it in. You’ll find all manner of tasty North brews on tap and now food as well, with their catchily-named kitchen, Side Hustle Snack Bar, providing the goods. Today you can also expect ciders from Lake City and Sourwood, and three of Matt Kenny’s favorite beers from Tatamagouche Brewing: Square One, Crack of Dawn, and Dekorum on tap as well. Many congratulations to the team at North for pulling this all together in just about a year. Their journey to the Dark Side is complete; we suggest you head down and celebrate with them!!

This Monday marks a show in town by doom metal gods Sleep, who will be blowing the roof off of The Marquee on Gottingen St. The opening act for the show is Pontiak from the Virginia, who are also happen to be the geniuses behind the brewery Pen Druid in Sperryville, PA. Specializing in spontaneous, barrel-aged, and just plain wild beers, these folks will be taking over the taps at Barrington Street’s Stillwell Beer Bar for a rare Monday event. Kicking off at noon (not the usual 4 PM opening time), 10 beers on draught, along with a few extra bottles, will be pouring at the Official Concert Pre-Drink event. And to further sweeten the pot, a pair of tickets will be given away to lucky visitors through the bar that day, so be sure to pop by for a bevvie before the show. The kitchen crew will be slinging some special food (as usual), and we’re sure there’ll be some killer tunes blasting all day to get everyone in the mood.

If you weren’t already in the know, Propeller’s Gottingen Street location has a pretty special secret hiding just below the retail shop and taproom: Propeller Arcade. With almost a dozen pinball machines, and the same number of modern and retro cabinet games, this underground (literally) spot is a favourite of many who are looking to relive their childhood (and those who may be a little too young to have encountered the joy of bowling alley arcades in the region). To push their spot to the next tier, they are holding a Level Up Weekend, starting next Friday. They are expanding the games available to include air hockey, basketball, and plenty more new offerings, as they take over the brewing that is shared between them, Stillwell, and Granite, so we can almost imagine the fun of shooting hoops amongst the fermenters… The hours of the event are Friday and Saturday from 4 PM – 12 AM, with Sunday (12 – 6 PM) being dubbed Family Day, as the space will be open to those under 19 to enjoy the games, as well as food provided by nearby Hopyard Halifax. Check out the FB link above, and we’ll no doubt see you there!

We don’t always put out work a whole month before an event, but we’re making an exception this week for the next Craft Draught Showdown at The Carleton in Halifax. These events have been going on for a year or so and have proven to be a hot ticket every time. Pitting two breweries head to head each pairing fine of their beers with five courses from Chef Michael Dolente, the eating and drinking public votes at the end on whose beers and pairings they preferred. Coming up on Wednesday, October 9th is Chester’s Tanner & Co Brewing vs Tatamagouche Brewing Co and, given both breweries’ penchants for food-friendly mixed-fermentation styles, this one should be extra special. Tickets, as always, are $60 plus HST per person (gratuity included) and can be purchased from the Carleton website. And if you want to get a little ahead of the game, the CDS after THIS one will be Garrison vs Schoolhouse on Thursday, December 5 with tickets for that one available here. And stay tuned, we’re expecting the 2020 slate of showdowns to be announced in November; when they are we’ll be sure to let you know about it!!

Friday Wrap-Up for September 6, 2019 – News from Niche, Good Robot, Port Rexton, Bootleg, Propeller, Big Spruce and More!

Posted by acbbchris on 2019-09-06
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Big Spruce, Bootleg Brew Company, Boxing Rock Brewing, Good Robot Brewing, Heritage Brewing, Java Blend Coffee Roasters, Local Source, Lone Pine Brewing, Niche Brewing, Port Rexton Brewing Co., Propeller Brewing, Queer Beer NL, Stillwell Beer Bar, TrailWay Brewing. Leave a Comment

Batten down the hatches! Grab your storm beers! We’re in for quite a weekend because of unwelcome visitor Dorian, who has already carved a path of destruction through the Caribbean Sea, hitting The Bahamas especially hard. If you are looking for a way to help out those affected the worst, instead of sending beer, partner with some legitimate charities with people on the ground assisting, such as the Red Cross. We don’t think the storm has anything to do with it, but this week is much-noticeably lighter on beer news for Atlantic Canada; we’re pretty sure brewers are taking a very slight break after the craziness of July and August. And we’re not complaining! There’s still some new beers to chat with you about, so take a break from prepping your home for Dorian and have a read…

(Editor’s Note: Despite their recent popularity, at least in Nova Scotia, this post contains zero spicy beer memes)

Hanwell’s Niche Brewing has a new release this week, focusing on family, community, and togetherness. Named Ohana, the Hawaiian word for family, this is a pale-coloured kettle sour featuring pineapple and toasted coconut, two fruits found throughout the Hawaiian islands. And in a unique twist, an addition of Hawaiian lava black salt lends a light salinity to the brew to help temper the tartness and increase its refreshing character. With the tropical fruit reminiscent of pina colada, this 5.4% ABV beer will help to extend those summer vibes. Grab a pint with your family, however you define them, across Fredericton, Saint John, Sussex, and Moncton, as well as Stillwell in Halifax.

Portland, Maine is home to many a fine brewery, and one of those is Lone Pine Brewing, in operation in the city since early 2016 (they also have a tasting room in Gorham, ME). They recently travelled up to Canada and teamed up with Halifax’s own Good Robot to brew S’Kettin’ Dark, a “summer stout” that weighs in at a very reasonable 5.2% ABV. While the beer has the expected roasted aromas and flavours, they also added a “restrained” amount of blueberry and cranberry, to take it in a slightly different direction from your normal stout. The result is a brew that tastes “like a dark chocolate bar, with a hint of dried fruit”. Grab it on tap at the GR taproom this weekend (or the beginning of next week, if you’re staying at home!). 

Over in Newfoundland, the BonRexton Grandondo – a 133 km cycling route around the Bonavista Peninsula – is still scheduled for tomorrow (as of this posting). This year’s race will be ending at Port Rexton Brewing, which has naturally brewed up a special beer just for this event! Headwind is a hop-forward APA that features Galaxy, Mosaic, and Columbus, all in a 4.9% ABV package. With “dank stone fruit, pineapple, and subtle floral notes” in the aroma, backed up by all that goodness – plus a little pine – in the flavour, it’s the perfect, easy-drinking beer to enjoy after a long (and hopefully mostly dry) bicycle race. Don’t worry, you don’t have to bike in order to enjoy this one, as it’s currently on tap exclusively at the PR taproom as of yesterday (growler fills are also available). And while you’re in Port Rexton, keep an eye open for notices of the great events on the go for next weekend’s Port Rexton Pride! With events kicking off next Thursday, we heard from a little birdie (ok, it was Instagram!) that Queer Beer NL teamed up with the PRBC crew to put together a special beer for the weekend, to pair well with the karaoke, their Amazing Race competition, or bands playing Saturday evening.

Elsewhere in the province, Bootleg Brew Co. has a new beer of their own, Pils ‘N’ Acid. Brewed with a simple grist made up of Pilsner and Acidulated malt (hence the beer’s name), the beer was dry-hopped with Huell Melon, Enigma, and Mandarina Bavaria. Billed by the brewery as a “Session Ale” (it’s 5% ABV, so begin your arguments now!), the dry-hop addition provides a “delicate hop profile, with subtle notes of honey dew melon and a slight grassiness on the nose”. Basically a beer brewed for those looking for something light and easy-drinking – without delving into Lager territory – you can find it at the brewery right now for pints, growlers and grunters. 

Propeller’s experimental brews have taken them into the “White Stout” territory with their release of Flat White, hitting taps today. As you undoubtedly know by now (or may have even guessed, if you hadn’t already tried this style), a White Stout is a pale beer that manages to exhibit aromas and flavours that would normally go hand-in-hand with a darker beer… namely, roasted and chocolate characteristics. Flat White was brewed with lots of flaked oats to boost that body, and with the addition of fresh, cold-brewed Java Blend coffee (and cocoa nibs), the chocolate and mocha flavours abound. It comes in at 5% ABV and 30 IBUs; check it out at one of the Prop shop locations (and likely at a few licensees). And good news for those lovers of Prop’s Stone Fruit, it is back now, and returns as a full-time part of the lineup. Cans will continue to be available in the Prop Shops as well as private stores and NSLC. And today’s cask is their Galaxy IPA, with an addition of Black currant, lactose, and vanilla. That, and pies from Humble Pies, are available from 5 PM.

Although Jeremy has run to the other end of the country, no doubt to avoid Dorian, Big Spruce is still putting out new beer. Of course they are, they don’t seem to stop! This week’s release is a Hawaiian-themed number they’re calling Tiki Freak, no doubt after the idol that nearly killed off the Brady Bunch (we’re showing our collective age with that one, aren’t we?). A mixed-fermentation pineapple sour bearing a fairly hefty 6.3% ABV, it’s highly carbonated and refreshing, with a dry finish, a little bit of funk, plenty of tartness, and lots of pineapple flavor. If the gang won’t let you put pineapple on your pizza, this would be a fine workaround. Available for pints at the Spruce-tique, of course, and possibly on tap in the city; if single-serve packaging has taken place you’ll no doubt find it at the places where you usually find Big Spruce’s beers.

If you’re a fan of very bitter DIPAs, Heritage Brewing has the beer for you. Golden Horse is an Imperial IPA brewed with a blend of three hop varieties high in the alpha acid department (no specifics on which three, sorry!). All three were used in early boil additions to impart plenty of bitterness (130 calculated IBUs for this brew), as well as lots more at the end of the boil, and in the dry hop, to give dank, pine, and citrus flavours in the final product. Light, hazy, and 7.6% ABV, look for this one at the source in Yarmouth.

Between keeping up with a busy summer schedule, and launching their new taproom in downtown Shelburne, the fine folks at Boxing Rock have still found time to continue their small-batch brews at their Test Kitchen location in Halifax. Partnering with Local Source Market on Agricola, these batches are all about innovating and pushing the limits. To that end, the latest release on tap is White Hot Whitbier, a 4.8% ABV Belgian-style wheat beer featuring habanero peppers and using the cooling citrus of lime to help put out the fire. As with all of their Test Kitchen releases, this is only available for growler fills, so you’ll want to act quickly to grab it before it is done. And keep an eye out for their next small batch release, a lemon verbena tea-infused IPA, pairing tea and lemon notes with a hazy NEIPA style brew. Peep their social media for the latest news!

Summer is wrapping up, which is bad news for those of you in Dieppe who have been enjoying the beer and atmosphere at the town’s newest beergarden, Le BarBu. On the bright side, however, they are now set up just outside of Moncton at Belliveau Orchard (makers of Scow cider). They’ll have nine taps, four dedicated to Belliveau, and five rotating, and featuring craft breweries in the area. Keep an eye on their social media for their taplist, which will be updated before each weekend. They’ll be at this location until the end of October, when they’ll finally have to take a break until next summer. 

Just one upcoming event to mention this week:

The Rotary Club of Hampton, New Brunswick is hosting the Hampton Hops Festival next Saturday, September 14th. Featuring breweries and cider from across the province, the concentration will be on local, with Foghorn, Gridiron, Hammond River, Hampton Brewing, Long Bay, Loyalist City, Sussex Ale Works, Yip Cider, as well as the Moosehead Small Batch Brewery taking part. Your $45 ticket gets you in the door and sampling the products, along with some snacks. Beer Daddy BBQ will also be onsite, for those needing a little more sustenance to keep them going. Tickets can be purchased by contacting the Rotary Club on Facebook, and/or via email.

And lastly, a one bite brownie of a newsbites section:

TrailWay has two returning favourites this week, both of ‘em American IPAs. Ellipse (6.5%), one of their “oldest” recipes, is hopped with lots of Amarillo, giving lots of orange juice notes; available at the brewery on tap and in cans, and cans will also be showing up at ANBL stores across NB. Urban Sabrero (6%), one of their newer beers, features the pretty-new Sabro hop, already well-known for providing beers with interesting coconut flavours and aromas. In cans at the brewery only, and on tap there and at a few bars in the area.