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All posts for the month May, 2020

Lots of good news stories of taprooms and restaurants opening back up again in New Brunswick, and that possibility coming in the next week in PEI with Phase #3 coming into effect June 1st, and June 5th in Nova Scotia, barring any major outbreaks in the next while. Physical distancing and safe practices make this a little more complicated than throwing the doors wide open, so we are encouraged by the innovations some businesses have already put together and are prepared to be impressed even more in the coming weeks. But news from Northern NB reminds us just how fragile the situation remains, so please be mindful of that! Enough Debbie Downer for now, let’s get onto the new beers!

Let’s start this week in the Hub of Nova Scotia, where Truro Brewing Company calls home. After a brief hiatus, they are back today with a full complement of canned products this week, including fresh batches of their Willow Street Wheat, Daytripper Session Ale, and Cobequid Bay IPA. And joining these offerings is Fortis, a Belgian Golden Strong. Weighing in at 8.6% ABV, this is a strong beer, much like the spirit of Nova Scotians who have been through so much lately. Featuring a grain bill of Pilsner malt, hopped with Ahtanum, and fermented with an Abbey-style yeast, to encourage some of those iconic fruity ester notes. Proceeds from sales of Fortis are being donated to support a bursary for women entering the trades, in honour of Emily Tuck, who was passionate about carpentry, welding, and playing violin. To get your own can of Fortis, or TBC’s other offerings, you can pop-by the brewery today and Saturday, 2 – 6 PM, using Click & Collecton their webstore, or delivery within the province for just $10.

It’s looking like some Halifax breweries are super keen this week, releasing several new beers all in one whack. One of these breweries is, of course, 2 Crows, who have four new beers coming out today… three of them in bottles, one in cans, all brewed as the same base beer, and all of them low-ABV! And hey, they’re even as much fun to say as they are – we assume – to drink! Let’s dive right in to this series of Berliner Weisses…

Zip (2.8%) – Brewed with Pilsner and Wheat malt, as well as some raw wheat, this brew was hopped with a small amount of aged East Kent Goldings… but was not boiled. Initially fermented with German Ale yeast from Escarpment Labs, the brewery also added two strains of Lactobacillus bacteria (brevis and plantarum for you beer geeks out there). After primary fermentation was complete, the beer was dry-hopped with a bit of Huell Melon, and a pitch of Escarpment’s Berliner Brett I was also added; the beer was then allowed to condition for several months. It was finally packaged in cans and conditioned with Champagne yeast. It’s tasting “super bright and dry, and drinks like a combo of Pet-Nat and lemon Sanpellegrino”. 

Zap (3.2%) – For this beer, a gin barrel-aged Berliner w/ raspberry, the wort underwent primary fermentation in a gin barrel with Lithuanian Farmhouse yeast. After conditioning in the barrel for 4 months, the beer was transferred onto 90 kg of raspberries for 8 weeks, then bottle-conditioned for 9 weeks. 

Zop (3.2%) – See the pattern here? This one was fermented the same as Zap, but in a freshly-emptied Mezcal barrel, and conditioned on 90 kg of black currants. Exhibiting lots of rich fruit character, it was bottled as well.

Zoup (3.2%) – Same again, but in a Sauvignon Blanc barrel and dry-hopped with 2 kg of dried woodruff for a week before bottling. 

Sounds great, no? The three latter beers are all bottled in clear bottles as well, exhibiting their beautiful colours even more easily! All four beers are available at the brewery today, and are a limited supply. Apologies to anyone who is suddenly thinking of aliens and elementary school French class.

Couple new beers coming out of Tidehouse this week as well; great timing, considering that they’re having their curbside pick-up for two days in a row, today and tomorrow. Their newest beer is Ocean Perle (5% ABV, but you can pretend it’s 5.440% if you like), brewed with Pilsner malt, hopped “assertively” with Perle, and fermented with Escarpement’s KRISPY, a blend of two different Kveik strains. It’s tasting dry, and yes, crispy, and is meant to be crushed in quantity. They’ve also got Rad Vlad, an 11.4% ABV Imperial Stout that is the same base beer as their Bad Vlad, but with some small changes to the fruit additions. Expect “far less raspberry, and a touch of blackberry/blueberry”, all on a roasty, chocolatey, boozy base. In addition to cans of both of these new beers, they’ve also got more cans of Noon Gun (a 3.4% hazy Session IPA w/ Vic Secret and Ella) and For Greg About It (7% American IPA with Citra, Galaxy and Mosaic). So, how can you get your hands on them? Today between 1-6PM, and tomorrow between 12 – 5 PM, call (902-407-2550) to place your order, pay by CC, debit, or EMT; wait 15 minutes or so for them to prep your order, then drop by Salter Street for a contactless grab and go! Easy peasy!

Shelburne’s Boxing Rock Brewing has a new beer out this week, the West-Coast-inspired Double IPA. No need for fancy names when everything you need to know is right there, I guess! Well, almost everything, let’s fill you in a bit more: Building on their very popular The Vicar’s Cross, DIPA is 8.0% ABV, and thanks to plenty of hops added throughout the process, it features loads of pine, citrus, and tropical notes, and a soupçon of resin, finishing slightly dry, with a nice citrusy bitterness. Along with a half-dozen other recent releases, this fella is available in 473 ml cans at the brewery taproom in Shelburne, and via contactless delivery through their webstore on the South Shore and HRM.

Despite their taproom being closed (but not for much longer!), Propeller is still working on some fun pilot brews, and packaging them into bottles so that there isn’t a wait to enjoy them on tap. Their latest is Kveik Pale Ale, a 5.1% ABV hoppy beer fermented with a blend of Opshaug Kveik and London Fog yeast strains. Hopped heavily with Citra, Falconer’s Flight, and Ekuanot, the resulting beer is extremely aromatic, with plenty of complex fruit and citrus character throughout. With “aromas of peach and tropical fruit, balanced with subtle pine and earthiness” to satisfy all of your hop cravings, it has a “restrained bitterness” to balance, all in an easy-drinking package. There’s limited quantities available (750 mL bottles) in all three Prop Shops, and they’re still doing home delivery runs as well. And good news for Prop fans who were missing the possibility of a late-night beer run: their Gottingen Store has extended their hours to previous, with the shop open until midnight Friday and Saturday, and 10 PM Sundays. All other days are noon until 8 PM, with that 8 PM closing time also in effect at their new Quinpool location, as well as Windmill.

Moving over to Dartmouth, North Brewing has their own easy-drinking brew being released, a Blonde Ale named Gold Sounds. Brewed with a bit of Wheat malt on top of the base, and hopped with Vic Secret and Amarillo (not traditional varieties for your typical Blonde, but who’s complaining!), it’s meant to be refreshing and approachable, while still supplying your taste buds with enough complexity to keep them happy. It weighs in at 5% ABV and is available now for in-store pickup or home delivery.

Unfiltered Brewing has another in their line of 7.5% ABV banger beers, which has brought us DOA, Danko, and more recently, Satisfaction. This beer, Here it Comes… features the classic citrusy Chinook hop, Here it Comes…, plenty bitter as is expected in a big bold Double IPA, Here it Comes…, and is available now by the can and growler fill/exchange, Here it Comes…, either at the brewery for curbside pickup or local delivery. What’s the beer’s name? We’ll never tell!

We mentioned last week that Chester Basin’s Tanner & Co. are getting into the mead game, starting with their Original Mead and this week bringing Orange Ginger Mead. A portion of this one was boiled with, no surprise, fresh orange rind and ginger before being returned to the rest of the batch, which was fermented until dry and then carbonated. The result is a sparkling and crisp 8.9% ABV beverage that no doubt boasts some fruity citrus and spicy ginger character to go with the usual white wine-esque and floral traits that mead lovers know well. And now that we’ve gotten you excited by describing it to you, we’ve got some bad news: although it was only released on Wednesday, it’s already sold out, as is the Original Mead! So well done to Tanner for once again putting together a product that’s in high demand; we know we’ll see more meads from them in the coming weeks and months, and hopefully they’ll be remaking this one so more people can try it!

You may be aware that Halifax’s Good Robot is celebrating (has celebrated? sorry, we’re terrible with dates) their fifth birthday this month. And while COVID-19 restrictions obviously mean that there’s no possibility of having a big party with all their friends, they decided to treat themselves to a pretty big birthday present. Like 6 figures big. As announced last week in their characteristically offbeat way, the gang at GR will be installing a full-on canning line this summer, removing some of their reliance on both growler fills and on-site sales as well as helping bring some of their staff back to work. Although GR ran one of the most popular taprooms in the city and we know lots of folks who are eager to see them re-open, everybody is fully aware that 50% capacity and social distancing are absolutely going to take a bite out of revenue for months to come. So as is their wont, the gang is doubling down in a big way. Without having to engage an external packaging provider, they’ll have a little more freedom with their brew schedules and definitely a lot more opportunity to get product into retail locations other than their own, hopefully creating and maintaining alternative revenue streams until the taproom can go great guns again. And that means hiring back more staff, which is a good thing for all involved. While we understand that they’re likely super busy figuring out what reopening looks like for them as well as getting that new canning line up, running, and shipping out beer, watch this space for more news from GR about their summer releases, including more flavors of The Fizz, their hard seltzer (would you believe they’re going to do Moon Mist? Stay tuned!)

Lake City Cider has cans of Vanilla Ice back on their shelves; this cider features a steeping addition of Tanzanian Fair Trade vanilla beans, to provide some complexity. With tropical notes from the wild fermentation, combining with a whiff of French Vanilla ice cream, and a dry finish, it’s 6.8% ABV and ready for you to grab for this weekend.

Welp, we’ve done it folks! Made it though another week. And a short one at that, though for us, the weekdays and weekends all kind of melt together now. Plenty of new and returning beer details below, and we’ve been updating the openings and changes in our Delivery/curbside pickup options page. As always, and you’d be correct if you guess we just copy/paste this part over week-to-week, if we’ve missed something important there, or just want to chat, get in touch via email or social media (Ig and Tw preferred). Take care of yourselves and each other! ❤️

Looks like Dieppe’s O’Creek Brewing has a new entry in their DUOH series (that’s “Duo Hops” for those of you not in the know), where they brew a NEIPA focusing on two different hop varieties. Their latest – DUOH Citra/Sabro – features two wonderful and maybe-not-so-easy-to-always-attain hops (Citra and Sabro, of course!), both of which provide one heck of a punch of tropical, fruity goodness, with “citrus, mango, and guava” coming through in spades. You can currently find this 6% ABV hop bomb on tap at CAVOK Brewing, and don’t forget that they fill crowlers of guest taps to go there! Woohoo! 

Speaking of CAVOK Brewing, they’ve got a new beer of their own currently pouring. Expérience Croisée 2 continues the series of the same name, where they blend existing beer styles to come up with something that is even better than the sum of its parts. In the case of this second beer of the series, it’s a blend of a Hefeweizen and a NEIPA, so you can probably use your imagination to come up with at least a general idea of what this beer will taste like. Wheat and banana from the Weizen end, with juicy, fruity flavours from the NEIPA side, it weighs in at 6.5% ABV. If you can’t make it into the taproom, they’re still doing deliveries in the area, and shipping Canada-wide, so make sure you check out the details for that option.

Now that the weather is FINALLY getting warmer, some of you are no doubt craving something both sour, and hoppy. Well, North Brewing has you covered with their latest, Plush. After the beer’s wort was boiled without hops, and partially cooled on its way to the fermenter, it was soured with Lactobacillus Blend 2.0 from Escarpment Labs. This blend is active at warm, but not hot temps (30 – 40ºC), so doing that step in the fermenter is possible (many of the rapid sours out there are done in the kettle so that the temperature can be elevated to 50ºC or higher). After an acidic base has been achieved, the wort was chilled to normal fermentation temperature (under 20ºC) and the yeast was added. This same technique is used in their Breakwater series of fruited sours, for those curious. Once fermented, the beer saw its first hops, being heavily dry-hopped with Vic Secret, Amarillo, and cryo Cascade. We think we’ll just let them describe the final product: “the first sip is like tumbling into a pillowy cloud of peachy, citrusy, tart luxury”. See, we’re not near that eloquent! It’s refreshing and easy-drinking at 4.5%, and is available in cans this weekend; better grab some while the drinkin’ is good!

Ooo, speaking of low-ABV, bright drinking beers, Tatamagouche Brewing just released their newest hoppy American Pale Ale, Bengy (pronounced ben-GEE, like that dog!). Very-heavily dry-hopped with Mosaic and Citra (two hop varieties you know will bring you to flavour town), this 4.9% ABV brew is tasting super-juicy and tropical, with no doubt some dank aromas and flavours in there as well. Bengy is available in cans on their website for delivery orders, both locally and across Canada, and for locals, at the Brew Shop, open 10 – 5 PM daily (12 – 5 PM Sundays), just tag your order with code BREWERYPICKUP to let them know you’ll be coming by for a no contact click and grab.

The new beers just keep pumping out of Nova Scotia, with Roof Hound Brewing throwing their hat in the ring with Blunderbuss, an American Pale Ale. Blunderbuss is defined as “a short-barreled large-bored gun with a flared muzzle, used at short range” (a la the movie Looper!), and also “an action or way of doing something regarded as lacking in subtlety and precision”. We’re pretty sure their beer is named after the LATTER definition! Regarding the actual beer, they added some Honey malt to the grist to give it a touch of sweetness, and then hammered the wort with large whirlpool additions of Azacca. After fermentation was complete, a large dry-hop of Citra finished it off, giving big notes of citrus throughout. There’s some bitterness in this 6% ABV brew as well, for those of you who do prefer some to go with your hop experience! 

Let’s head back to New Brunswick for a draught-only release from Hanwell’s Niche Brewing. Delving into lager territory for just the second or third time (who can keep track?), Lanai is a German Pilsner, leveraging Bohemian Pilsner malt, along with Hallertau Mittelfruh hops added both early and late in the boil, and fermented with the Isar Lager yeast from Escarpment Labs. This 5.0% beer was brewed back in January, and has been lagered for more than 3 months. Well, the wait is over, as the beer has been released in kegs, with the first of those going to Downtown Fredericton’s Graystone Brewing, for safe in-person enjoyment, as well as to-go in growler and crowler fills, we believe. While you’re there, you may have a chance to try one of the last pours of Niche’s Empty Garden, their Kveik-fermented American Pale Ale, released recently. 

In Halifax, Propeller Brewing is still celebrating the opening of their Quinpool location at The Keep condo/retail mixed use building, but that hasn’t slowed down the new beer releases at all! This week sees the return of two much-loved and oft-demanded favourites, both perfect for the warmer weather that the region has been teased with this week. First up is their Dark Berry Sour, which we’ve been assured will be available all summer, though we imagine that thirsty fans will do their best to drain the cans and fermenters in record time! Much like last year, the kettle-soured 5.0% beer features loads of blackberries, black currants, and black raspberries, but the new fruit addition of red raspberries brings a bright refreshing character, and lightens the final beer ever-so-much. Taking advantage of its tropical feels, Mosaic is used as a dry-hopping addition. DBS is available now at Prop’s three locations for contact-free pickup, delivery in HRM through their webstore, and will be found on shelves/for delivery through the Harvest, RockHead, and WestSide private shops.
The other new brew on the fridge shelves (physically and virtually) at Propeller today is Azacca Session IPA. At 4.5% ABV, this light-bodied hazy beer may be on the lower end of the IPA style, but certainly packs plenty of tropical character. In addition to the eponymous Azacca, El Dorado and Citra hops are added for a full-on experience of mango pineapple, tangerine, melon, and stone fruit, all in a small package. And speaking of… in addition to tall cans of the beer available at the brewery (and private stores), this beer will be found at NSLC locations in the 6 x 355 ml canned format in the near future (these are also at the brewery, fret not!). And great news, just like Dark Berry Sour, Azacca wil be around all summer!

Changing gears from hop- to malt-focus, a one-hour drive up the 101 will bring you to Horton Ridge Road, where Horton Ridge Malt & Grain find their home. They’ve released two beers this week, so let’s get you up to speed pronto! Simpler Summer Lager is a 5.0% ABV Amber Lager, featuring Light Munich malt as the base, with a touch of their special Honey Malt for light toast character with a touch of honey flavour (but light in the sweetness). Malt-forward, as you’d expect, but plenty drinkable and perfect for patios, beaches, and bonfires, when it’s safe to enjoy those.
What’s that saying, “When the cat’s away, the mice will play?” Well, that situation has definitely happened at Horton Ridge, as when Head Maltster Al wasn’t looking, Stephen and Connor decided to flip the script and brew up a Big Bad Double IPA. Al’s Away is a 7.7% Double IPA, leveraging both a load malts (you need a lot to get up to 7.7%!) as well as hops, to the tune of 60 IBU thanks to generous additions of  Citra and Mosaic. Tropical fruit flavours, grapefruit play on top of the malty backbone for an all-out assault on your senses. Both the Simpler Summer and Al’s Away are now available at the Malt House for pickup in 355 mL cans.

TrailWay Brewing is celebrating the re-opening of their tasting room this week, have welcomed Milda’s Pizza back onsite, and as if that wasn’t enough, have a brand new beer available! Sultana’s of Swing is a 7.5% ABV Double IPA, brewed solely with Sultana. You may recognize that hop by its previous name, Denali, but it recently received a moniker change. Bright, ripe pineapple, fresh tangerine, with a light pine finish. Sounds lovely! You can drop by the taproom to grab cans or growler fills (TW ones only), or stick around for a pint at a responsible distance from your neighbours. No bursting bubbles in there, folks!

On Nova Scotia’s South Shore, Tanner & Co Brewing have released a small batch of Sparkling Mead. Original is 7.2% ABV, using local honey and was fermented for over two months, conditioned for a couple of weeks, and then carbed up. This dry and fizzy mead is just available in limited amounts in bottles at their Duke Street, Chester location (and maybe for delivery if you’re quick!), and features label design by Hammerlock Design Co, a local graphic designer who is a big beer fan himself (hey Andy!).

Finally this week, Breton Brewing in Sydney has a new Session IPA hitting their shelves, and ready for delivery in CBRM and in early next week in HRM. Pink Boots Session IPA uses the hop blend by the same name put together by Yakima Chief, in celebration and support of Pink Boot Society, encouraging and supporting women brewery workers. Crisp and light at 4.5% ABV, it features floral and tangerine notes, and finished with a light bitterness. Refreshing, tasty, and for a great cause; we’ll cheers to that! Enjoy your weekend, everyone, and stay safe!

OBB Logo

Fans of good local beer in Lower Sackville, NS, have reason to be excited this weekend, as Ol’ Biddy’s Brew House is making its triumphant return to the suburban community. After originally opening as a nanobrewery out of co-founder Keith Forbes’ home in November 2017 and then closing when juggling the small-scale brewery and full-time job became untenable. Forbes is back, along with childhood friend Chris Balcom, bigger and better than ever. While we know that there are many who aren’t fans of the brewery’s name or their logo, we can absolutely vouch for the quality of the beer and we hope that’s what ends up standing out above all as the brand returned to the local market Saturday. We caught up with Forbes and Balcom as they were putting the finishing touches on everything late last week, just ahead of opening weekend (which continues today, May 18th, 12 – 6 PM), at their Cobequid Road location in Lower Sackville.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?
Keith Forbes is Head Brewer and founder of the original Ol’ Biddy’s Brew House, with 10 or so years of brewing experience under his belt. The 37 year old lives in Sackville with his amazing wife of 11 years Erin and they have two children. In 2018 he partnered up with his old high school friend Chris Balcom. Chris, also 37, is the general manager and lives in Sackville with his wife of six years, Megan, and their two little boys.

How did you get into the world of beer?
Keith started into the world of beer to save a few dollars after his family moved into a new house in the late ‘00s — they had 2 kids and a 3rd on the way. The first few months it was Festa Brew kits which then moved into a couple Best Case kits. After that he discovered the Brewnosers; he picked up a small system and started to formulate his own recipes. He went on to read and learn as much as he could about beer making and went on to apply what he learned and started making some pretty good beer, which evolved into entering competitions, giving him feedback to help with dialing in his product. Chris on the other hand had never brewed beer in his life until he reunited with Keith after 15+ years away working in the oil industry. As an avid beer drinker, Chris had always wanted to own and run a pub, together they have combined their talents to create something great.

Brewery Front

What made you decide to take the steps into opening a brewery?
Keith’s passion for great beer and wanting to share his product with everyone is the main reason. After the Forbes 500 Tap Takeover at Good Robot in November 2016, he, along with his wife Erin, moved forward to open their own nano brewery in their home and quickly discovered that there aren’t enough hours in the day to run a successful nano brewery, work full time, and still have time for a family. While in early talks with his future partner Chris to expand the business, he decided to take a few months away from brewing to figure out what his future held. After a relaxing summer Chris and Keith had what was supposed to be one last meeting, instead Keith decided he wasn’t ready to leave the world of brewing and partnered with Chris and the two haven’t looked back since. In November 2018 we became Ol’ Biddy’s Brew House Inc. and in 2019 after securing the capital to proceed with our expansion plans, we purchased a 10bbl brewing system and signed a long term lease in Lower Sackville. 

What is the culture or ethos of the brewery?
At Ol’ Biddy’s Brew House it’s all about the beer, our friends & family, the people behind the pint, and the community we live in. We strive for Ol’ Biddy’s Brew House to be a brand that is known in our community as a friendly face with a standard of producing high quality, great tasting beer, and to be a familiar brand that everyone recognizes and looks forward to drinking.

OBB Cans

 

Can you tell us about the beers you have available now?
We are launching with 4 of our 6 mainstay beers along with 4 limited releases.

Mainstays (core brands):

  • Seven Day IPA (6.0% ABV) – Our version of a No Coast IPA – it’s far from a West Coast IPA, but it’s not true to East Coast either! It has the bitterness you expect from a traditional IPA, but it also delivers a juicy tropical fruit and citrus flavour to your taste buds. Think melons, stone fruit, strawberry, pear and grapefruit.
  • Even Gooder Coffee Brown (4.4% ABV)- A balanced, light-bodied, easy-drinking brown ale fermented on whole coffee beans. The chocolate, caramel, and earthy notes of our Even Gooder Nut Brown are complemented by the coffee, taking this beer to the next level. Special thanks to our friends at Apartment 3 Espresso Bar for supplying us with the dark roast beans for this brew!
  • Disco Inferno Red IPA (6.5% ABV) – Our Disco Inferno Red IPA is where malts meet hops. This friends and family favourite is well-balanced with a moderate citrus and floral hop profile and finished with notes of caramel and chocolate.
  • Funktown Pale Ale (5.0% ABV) – A hop-forward pale ale. Fermented using a clean American yeast, it finishes dry with lemon and grapefruit flavors and aroma.

 Seasonals/One Off’s:

  • Maisil IPA (6.2% ABV) – Our version of a West Coast IPA. It has the bitterness you’ve come to expect from a traditional IPA with flavours of grapefruit, orange and pine.
  • Patrick O’Neil’s Irish Red (5.0% ABV) – Patrick is nothing fancy – a simple, balanced Irish Red.
  • Tall, Dark & Handsome Porter (5.0% ABV) – TD&H is a dark, flavorful and balanced porter. It is medium bodied with chocolate, caramel and roasted notes.
  • Jim Hopper (3.2% ABV) – Jimmy is a low ABV, refreshing wheat ale that finishes crisp and clean with orange notes on the finish. Great for a hot summer afternoon.

What are your plans for distribution? How can folks drink your beer?
With COVID-19 changing the industry overnight we also had to adapt quickly like most breweries in Atlantic Canada. We are currently working with Craft Coast Canning to package our beer into 473 mL cans and plan on taking online orders for curbside pickup at the brewery. Once restrictions are lifted we have a 15-tap taproom with seating for 30 – 50 where you’ll be able to enjoy a pint or flight of your favorites. We will also have growlers and cans to take home and enjoy.

Forbes in Brewhouse

Do you have some initial accounts in the area lined up to serve your beers?
We have some accounts lined up with more to come at a later date once COVID-19 passes.

Have you had any assistance from other breweries/people in Atlantic Canada (or elsewhere)?
This is a long list; most covered in the initial introduction of our nano brewery. But we must fire out a special thank you those below (if we missed anyone we are very sorry).
First and foremost, a huge shout out to our wives, Erin and Megan.
Secondly our parents: Chris & Tim, Mike & Sandy.
And then, in no particular order…

  • Alex McConnachie
  • Mike Orr
  • Paul MacKinnon
  • Ken Sidhu & Chris
  • Steve, Max & Team @ Commercial Electric
  • Dan @ Teklor Controls
  • Matt, Jon, and Al @ Off Track Brewing
  • Joe and Laura @ Triders
  • Matt and Ian @ Brightwood Brewery

Where do you hope to see your brewery in the next 2 – 3 years?
It took us 2 years (really 4) to get to this stage, we plan to grow our brand and expand our team all while sticking to our roots. Mainly just take it 1 pint at a time.

OBB Brewhouse

As always, for the brewing geeks who are reading this, we also asked for some slightly more detailed info about the brewery as well:

What type of system are you brewing on and what is your expected output?
We are operating a 10 barrel electric brewhouse with 8 unitanks. With COVID-19 in full swing we are not sure what our expected output will be.

Care to share some info on your brewing history?
Our head brewer, Keith has over 10 years brewing experience, 8 years home brewing, and a couple years commercial brewing split between the nano setup and assisting at other commercial breweries.

Do you have a favorite beer style, beer, or brewery you enjoy drinking?
Chris is a big fan of heavily hopped IPA’s and double IPA’s, but his favorite secret indulgence is Church Brewing‘s German porter.
Keith: My favorite style beer presently is a low-SRM (“light coloured” for non-brewing readers) hop forward pale ale. Something light bodied, crisp and refreshing. That said I’m a huge coffee fan and have been craving a Mean Joe Bean from Triders as it has always been one of my favorites.

How about your favourite style or ingredient to brew with?
Not so much a favorite style to brew however, in terms of ingredients we would have to go with brewing salts. 

Congratulations to Forbes, Balcom, and the entire OBB family on the brewery launch this weekend. You still have time to grab some of their 8 varieties in cans at the brewery today. Located at 111 Cobequid Road in Lower Sackville, the brewery is open 12 – 6 PM today, May 18th. Hours going forward will be Thurs 12 – 6 PM, Fri and Sat 12 – 8 PM, Sun 12 – 6 PM. You can pre-order your cans and learn more on their website (http://www.olbiddys.ca), as well as on their social media pages (Fb / Ig / Tw).