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All posts for the month October, 2021

Welcome to the Spookiest weekend of the year! There will be plenty of little ghouls and goblins on the roads in colourful (and not) costumes Sunday, so please slow down and keep your eyes peeled for them. If you’re able, we figure the right play is to stay home and hand out treats from a distance to them, while enjoying the latest releases from around the region. The breweries in all four Atlantic provinces have stepped up this week in that department, and we’re tickled to share the latest offerings with you today!

Let’s kick off this week’s post with news of a pair of new beers hitting the taps in Spryfield Nova Scotia, thanks to their very own Serpent Brewing. Fresh off a win at this week’s Craft Draught Showdown at The Carleton, where this first beer made its debut, helping secure the win. Sprytown at Night is the latest version of their community brew, Sprytown Saison. Going dark in colour for the 6.0% “at Night”, it leverages the rich date and raisin character in addition to the colour of the dark malts, complementing the tart and spicy original Saison. Both are available on tap and in bottles and cans now. And debuting this weekend is Pumpkin Konig Tripel, a seasonal version of their ever-popular Tripel. Translating to “Pumpkin King”, this release saw the addition of plenty of hand-roasted Pie Pumpkins added for a little extra fermentable sugar (7.5% ABV here!), as well a soupçon of pumpkin to enhance the original clean yet complex Tripel.

And the perfect time to enjoy these two new releases is probably going to be Saturday, as they transform the brewery during “Devil’s Night Bash”, as they welcome Roadside Scarecrow and Caity & The Crowns for live music in their space, from 8 PM until midnight. And if that sounds a bit too spooky, pop by earlier in the day to enjoy wood-fired pizza from Dominic’s Cucina, who will be set up in the parking lot slinging pies that afternoon, from 2 – 9 PM. 

Fans of Dartmouth’s New Scotland Brewing know that they like to lean into the spooky season and this year is no different. Heads Will Roll is their returning “blood red” IPA featuring irresponsible amounts of hops, largely as late additions. As all good red IPAs (bloody or not) should be, this one has a solid malt balance and a firm, but not overpowering, 35 IBUs of bitterness. You can expect this one to be fruit forward and aromatic thanks to the Amarillo and Citra hops, and at 6.7% ABV, it’s right in the wheelhouse for the style. You can find it on tap in house or in cans to go from the brewery, and we expect it’ll pop up on their online shop for curbside pickup or local delivery any time now!

If you combine the recent renaissance of craft lagers with the seasonal shift towards darker beers, what do you get? Why schwarzbier, of course! Combining a rich malt base, roasty coffee and chocolate notes, a hint of spicy noble hops, and a crisp, dry finish, we’ve got a couple of fine examples in the region to which we’re no doubt adding another this week, this one from Lunn’s Mill. Dark Moon Lager is a small batch, session strength beer at 4.5% ABV that was brewed with the new moon and lagered for an entire lunar cycle. Premiering at the taproom in Lawrencetown in concert with tonight’s Lunn’s Mill Witches’ Ball, it will remain on tap at the taproom for pints and fills as long as it lasts, while city slickers should be able to find it on tap at Stillwell in the coming days, and for the patient, there’s a chance you’ll see some canned as well.

Sticking with the moon theme, Port Rexton Brewing up in *checks notes* Port Rexton, NL, has brought back their seasonal twist on an NEIPA theme: Chasing Moon. Although the “turn a light beer dark” trick isn’t uncommon at this time of year, PR went for extra degree-of-difficulty points by making a dark NEIPA! Maintaining the pillow-y smooth mouthfeel and prominent hop character, but taking a bit of a left turn with some dark fruit notes and, of course, a color you’d never expect, it’s got a medium bitterness and a hearty 6.7% ABV. You’ll find it on tap and in cans to go in the taproom as well as at the PR St. John’s Retail Shop; maybe grab yourself one of these and their flagship (not dark) NEIPA Chasing Sun for a little compare and contrast session. Also, a reminder that PR’s taproom hours have been updated for the rest of the year and you should check them out before heading down.

The Modern Brewer keeps churning out the good stuff at Cornwall’s Village Green where this week sees the return of two favorites. First up is a new version of Weird Clouds, their ever-changing IPA series. Version 7 comes in at 6.1% ABV and features Columbus hops for bittering and a dry-hop of Strata and Idaho 7. Expect notes of clementines and blood orange in this one. Also making a return is Modern Bitter. Brewed with Maris Otter, English Chocolate and Crystal Malts, this sessionable sipper is hopped with East Kent Goldings. Cans of both are available at the brewery now. And a reminder that VG Employee #001 Mark Misener’s last day slinging pints is today, so stop by their Cornwall location to send him off in style, before he takes on the Big Smoke next month!

Way back in September, as part of their Tap Takeover event at Bar Brewdock in East Duck, the crew from 2 Crows made the trip over to take part in the fun. Part of that fun was brewing up a special collaboration with the fine folks at Bannerman Brewing in between the laughs across the street. The fruit of that labour is out today, a beer they’ve called Before Time. Using Pilsner and spelt malts from PEI’s Shoreline Malting, as well as 2021 crop whole leaf Saaz and Mount Hood hops from Lakeview Hops of Harvey Station in New Brunswick, this is truly an all Atlantic Canadian collaboration brew. A 4.5% “Landbier” (German for “beer of the area”), this light and crisp lager was designed to be perfect for enjoyment anywhere and at any time, no matter the occasion (or none at all). Available on tap and in cans at Bannerman on Duckworth, and at select NLC and Marie’s locations around St. John’s.

Lake City Cider is celebrating the release of their latest blend, the simply-named Peaches. Featuring ripe Nova Scotia-grown peaches that were crushed and then co-fermented with local apples, both base fruits shine through in the finished product, which also features just a hint of almonds on the nose. Refreshing and juicy, this 5.5% cider is available on tap and in bottles at their downtown Dartmouth location, as well as their online shop for delivery.

If you’re a craft beer drinker in Atlantic Canada, you hopefully have experienced the glory that is the English Dark Mild style thanks to beers like Tatamagouche’s Darling, Lunn’s Mill’s Myld Stallyns, Baccalieu Trail’s Undertow (the Strong variant of the style), British Mild Ale from Grimross, and the recent Dark Mild from Village Green and Some Mild from Serpent. You may not know how lucky we are, but trust us when we tell you there are lots of places where you can’t find a single example of this style! Our luck continues this week with a new local option for Dark Mild, this one from North Brewing who have released Whirligig English Mild. A lovely low-alcohol option with plenty of comforting malt flavor for the season, it’s described as biscuity and roasty with hints of spice, making sure to bring plenty of flavor in spite of a paltry 3.2% ABV. You’ll find in cans and on tap at the brewery, at their “other” retail location at Battery Park, and available via their online shop for curbside pickup, local home delivery, or shipping.

On the north shore of Nova Scotia Candid Brewing has a brand new beer out this week, in collaboration with supplier Brew Culture. Dubbed Monster Mash, this one is big in a couple of ways, starting with a whopping ABV of 8%, continuing with a hefty 80 IBUs of bitterness, and finishing with a massive hop presence in both aroma and flavor from the exclusive use of Yakima Chief’s exclusive Cryo Pop hop blend. Super punchy and aromatic, there’s a ton of tropical character in this one, and they’re not expecting it to last long. Get it now at the Candid taproom.

Staying in the environs of Antigonish, but going in the totally opposite direction in terms of style, Half Cocked Brewing has a new beer coming out this weekend as well. Leveraging the KRISPY blend of kveik yeast strains from Escarpment Labs, Pip is a pseudo-American Lager (pseudo- in that kveik yeasts are ale yeasts) with a simple grain bill, a touch of American hops, and a 4.5% ABV. With a bit of spice and citrus complementing the crisp and dry finish, this should be an easy-drinking “tastes like another” experience. Find it starting tomorrow at the brewery, where you’ll also find Halloween at Half Cocked going down, with $1 off pints for costumed customers, food from The Crafty Cooks food truck, and door prizes as well!

Tide & Boar Brewing continues to elevate the craft with the release of their aptly-named The Pilsner, a 5.5% ABV crisp Czech-Style Pils. Although it’s been on tap for a few days, it’s now available in cans as well for your home drinking enjoyment. Sticking with tradition, they made the extra effort to lager it for a full three months before release to let the yeast perform its final slow march of cold-temperature clean-up tasks before falling out and leaving a clear and crisp product. Find this one to stay or go at T&B now!

We haven’t had the opportunity to chat about Saint Anthony Newfoundland’s RagnaRöck Northern Brewing Company in a little while, so we figured it was time for an update from this Great Northern Peninsula original. After opening their doors in November, 2019, they have been carrying on as best they can given the pandemic and all of the complications that brought everyone’s way. While they have temporarily closed their taproom for renovations and to launch their online portal, they are still brewing away, and are now stocking the shelves at Urban Market 1919 and several Marie’s Mini Marts in the St. John’s region. With ten canned offerings available at the various retailers, from Odin’s Beer Cream Ale, Boggy Bottom Brown Ale, to their Hela’s Fury IPA, there’s plenty of options for all! Congratulations to the RagnaRöck Crew, and we’ll be sure to let you know when their taproom is open again for regular service.

Our favourite podcast came back this week, with 902 BrewCast releasing the October Tasting Episode on #902sday. They invited Stephen Barrett of Seasoned Plate on to chat about all things Belgian Beer (or Belgian-inspired), food and beer pairing, and what they’ve got in the works. Stephened Plate shares his favourite local restaurants, shops, products and more daily on his IG page. One of those upcoming things is a virtual cooking event tomorrow, October 30th, where you will cook along with Stephen and a bunch of other keen folks, making Spaghetti Carbonara. Sign up now to receive the recipe and event link, and grab a great Italian Pilsner (preferably locally-brewed) to pair for the evening. “One for the sauce, one for me”. And grab the latest episode of 902BC here… perfect for listening to while you do your shopping or preparing your ingredients.

And speaking of favorites, and since we’re posting on the day of, a very Happy Birthday from us to (home?) brewer extraordinaire and overall grumpy bastard Brian Harvey. Although you may not have heard his name, if you’ve been drinking craft beer in NS for the last few years, chances are you’ve had some of his beer, owing to his many homebrew competition wins and collaborations with various breweries. He won’t read this because we’re posting after 12 PM (he’s got standards, y’know), but maybe it’s better that way!

In addition to the various events mentioned alongside beer releases above, there’s another one happening in Moncton this weekend:

Tire Shack Brewing is transforming their space into a Haunted Shack this weekend, as they get into the spirit of things. Both Friday and Saturday, costumes are welcome in the brewery (along with that proof of double-vaccination, of course!), and both evenings will see DJ Jaredactyl spinning some spooky tunes. To celebrate, they have brewed up a special beer: a Chocolate-Raspberry Jam Stout, on tap only, that pours like a goblet of blood! 

One job opportunity in the region’s brewing industry; if you’re in (or willing to relocate to) Fredericton and looking, maybe check it out!

Fredericton’s Grimross Brewing is hiring a full-time permanent person as a Brewtique and Taproom Supervisor. Managing the business aspects of the retail and taproom operations, they’ll be in change of staffing, training, inventory control, creating SOPs, and more. Grimross offers Health and Dental insurance, and this position is a tipped one as well, so could be the right fit for you! Check out the full job posting and apply here.

We’re officially a month into fall, although you might not know it with the weather in most of the region over the last couple of weeks, and our breweries seem to have firmly turned the corner from traditional end-of-summer burnout to finding a second (third? seventh?) wind and stomping into the leaf pile with fun new liquids for all of us to enjoy, especially so-called “cooler weather styles.” With all four Atlantic Provinces now requiring patrons of indoor public spaces to be vaccinated, we remind you to make sure your documentation is in order before heading out for a pint and to above all, please have patience with (often understaffed) restaurants and bars as they continue to navigate a bunch of new processes and procedures that they never asked for, but have no choice but to participate in. In HRM especially, as we come to the end of burger week, remember that it’s been extra crazy here and maybe some additional patience (and generous tips!) are in order. And with that, here’s what you need to know about this week’s new beers and upcoming beery events.

Although the news hasn’t been super regular coming out of North Brewing in Dartmouth over the past few months, that doesn’t mean things haven’t been going on! An Insta update this week shows lots of progress on their new Halifax-side-of-the-harbour location in Timberlea, fuelling hopes that folks can be buying beer there before the holidays and making it a destination for a sitdown pint in the new year. Meanwhile, at their primary facility, they’re settling into fall and continuing to put out interesting beers – two weeks ago we told you about the Coco Pony and Beernana releases (which we’ve heard blend quite nicely together) – like this week’s new one, Chai Wala Stout. Partnering with Aman Dosanj of Paisley Notebook and, more appropriate to our purposes, small batch spice blend purveyor Edible Adventures, this one does what it says on the tin, pairing warm and comforting chai spices with a deep and dark malty beverage. Starting on the malt side with healthy doses of oats for mouthfeel, chocolate malt for color and roastiness, and lactose for some residual sweetness, the first dose of chai was added in the kettle during the boil (not unlike making tea), with a second extraction taking place on the cold side. As you might imagine, the result is a “rich, spiced stout, reminiscent of a sweet cup of masala chai.” You can find it in cans to go (and pints to stay!) at North’s Portland Street location and Battery Park, or for online ordering. And if you go to the source, and you find yourself thinking, “I’d like to have some of this spice blend that’s not already in beer,” you can buy pouches of this limited release blend at the brewery.

Truro Brewing Company has released a new Hazy Pale Ale this week, and are taking part in the world-wide Brave Noise Beer collaboration. In May 2021, Brienne Allan of Notch Brewing in Salem, MA, shared her story of descrimination and misogyny while working in the beer industry, and asked other women in beer to share their own. This launched wave after wave of people sharing their experiences, and ignited a flame to call out bad actors in the industry, and make beer safer and more welcoming to all, including women, LGBTQIA, and non-binary individuals. The Women of the Bevolution, Allan (who has since left Notch to pursue other endeavours), and Notch are hosting the collaboration to continue the momentum, and make real changes by encouraging breweries around the world to brew the beer, promote the movement, and donate funds to groups supporting related organizations. TBC’s Brave Noise Beer is a 4.5% ABV Hazy Pale Ale, featuring a base of Pils malt, with Oats to bump up the mouthfeel, with Sabro and Mosaic hops added late in the boil and whirlpool to contribute more aroma and flavour than bitterness. Bottles of Brave Noise are available now on Inglis Street in Truro, where it can also be found on tap for pints. TBC is donating proceeds from this beer to The Lotus Centre, a non-profit resource for women in Truro, offering counselling, programming, clothing, hygiene products, and much more, all free to their clients. While they are the first brewery in the region to take part in collaboration, we hope they are not the last! Interested breweries can sign up at the link above, it’s not too late!

Up in Port Rexton, the eponymously named brewery has a new beer released last weekend to celebrate friends and long time PR tap account, Adelaide Oyster House in St. John’s, who are celebrating their 7th birthday. It’s a Vibe is a mango guava wheat beer, super fruit-forward and decidedly crushable. Containing both mango and guava, of course, it gets an additional citrusy tropical boost from a small dry hop of Galaxy and Azacca hops. Finishing dry and coming in at a very quaffable 4.5% ABV, it’s the kind of beer one might expect could pair very nicely with oysters. Look for it packaged in cans at both of Port Rexton’s locations (HQ and the St. John’s Retail shop), and on tap at PR and Adelaide, of course.

Fully loaded with a new release this week is Antigonish’s Half Cocked Brewing with Braeside Bitter. Named after the once famed Antigonish bowling alley, “Braeside Lanes”, the bowling alley not only lends its name to this Bitter style ale, but the wood from lane 2 was donated to the brewery to create their bar top. It sounds like it’s going to permanently join the lineup at Half Cocked as this classic style is always a crowd-pleaser, whether you’re in England or Antigonish. Using all English ingredients to stay true to style, they just had to tweak their local water a bit to get what they were looking for. Bringing traditional flavours of a biscuit and caramel malt body, you’ll get notes of honey, lemon and tea based on their hop blend. This is available now on tap and for growler fills at the brewery. 

Always keeping us on our toes (and wishing that we could get there and try their beer!) Secret Cove Brewing is releasing Scoff, a 3% table beer.  As always, they keep with Newfoundland and Labrador themes and pride with their releases, staying true to their terroir, values and traditions. Made for gathering and doing things themselves, this beer welcomes all in a true East Coast spirit. This table beer is brewed with a variety of English hops bringing herbal and earthy notes, pairing with Vienna, rye and flaked barley in the grain bill. There is a lot in here for “just a 3% beer” to pair nicely with all your fall Newfoundland traditions of Jiggs dinner, deer, moose and game season. This is available in 473 mL cans from the brewery today and will likely make its way at various locations across the island in the coming weeks.

From the Lake City (Dartmouth), Lake City Cider has a new release in their Vine Series with Strawberry Pinot Grigio Sparkling Cider. In this series, they use their normal base of Nova Scotia apples for cider, but infuse wine elements from different grapes and sometimes fruit additions. In this release, the apples are complemented with Niagara Pinot Grigio grapes and local Nova Scotia strawberries. The result is a light and refreshing sparkling cider pairing well with many different foods. It’s available now in 355 mL cans and is 9%. You can find this at the cidery or online, and they deliver 7 days a week!

Staying in Dartmouth, New Scotland Brewing is embracing the fall weather by releasing Old Buzzard, a dry Irish Stout. This is a traditional dry Irish Stout with a bit of a twist (we’d expect nothing less from these brewers!) in the addition of locally roasted organic coffee and organic cacao nibs to enhance the flavour. Light in the mouth, dark in the glass, with lovely coffee and chocolate sweetness, it’s a lovely ale for the time of year. A special shout-out to Scott, a co-founder of the brewery (Mike is another founder and Head Brewer), who brewed this beer alongside the production team. It’s been awhile since Scott has been in the brewhouse, so definitely give him a shout-out if and when you try this one on tap. This beer is a very sessionable 3.7% and is available starting today (Friday) only on tap at their Downtown D-town brewery. 

Halifax beer drinkers have been spoiled with another great taproom addition, the Gottingen Street location of Tusket Falls Brewing Co. This week sees the release of Predictable Chaos, available in cans and for pints now. This 7.1% beer is being called a Blackberry Cinnamon Sour Crunch (queue the BJCP style writers scratching their heads). The kettle sour features additions of blackberries, cinnamon, vanilla bean and their in-house baked granola, which in our books, also makes this a perfectly acceptable breakfast beer. And for those on the South Shore, their brewery location is also carrying the Chaos.

Over on the Island (Prince Edward Island, that is), Modern Brewer’s Village Green in Cornwall has a brand new IPA to tickle your tastebuds and satisfy your hop cravings. Coastal avoids the great IPA beef of the 2010s by being “not quite East Coast, not quite West Coast, but definitely wet.” Leveraging classic citrussy Cascade, pithy, piney and resinous Chinook, and stone fruity and slightly tropical Amarillo, it’s got a classic aroma and moderate bitterness in a 6.1% ABV package. It’s already on tap for pints and in cans to go at the tap room in Cornwall; and if you decide to head down and try it or grab some to go, maybe give a thought to trying/grabbing some of their super-sessionable, eminently quaffable 3% Dark Mild.

In other Village Green new, they’re looking for part time bartenders. VG’s beertender/assistant brewer/tastemaker Mark Misener is heading to the Big Smoke to work at Bar Volo, and so there are big shoes to be filled! “Celebrating inclusion and diversity in both people and beer”, all are welcome to start or continue their beer career, by reaching out via email. And Misener will be pouring his last beers in Cornwall next Friday, so be sure to pop by for a visit before then to see him off!

What’s on the go this weekend? In HRM, tomorrow is the last day of Halifax Burger Week, so be sure to get out and support your local restaurants, breweries, and Feed Nova Scotia all in one trip! 

Some Moncton news from a brewery that always has updates for our readers, Tire Shack Brewing has a new beer release and a food event on Sunday. First up, the beer! We’ve had a few white stout releases over the last few months and Tire Shack is joining the fray, releasing Lavender-Chocolate White Stout today! At 5%, this is a white stout featuring both a flavour pop and smoothness from a mix of lavender and chocolate additions. Don’t let the appearance fool you, as this isn’t a classically dark stout, but it tastes like it could be! A limited release as it was brewed on their pilot system, it is only available for pints and growlers at the brewery. Come try it out on Sunday when they’ll be hosting Birria Dave’s at 1pm for Mexican street tacos. Last time they hosted this pop-up event, all the tacos sold out in 90 minutes!  

A friendly reminder that Halifax’s Stillwell Freehouse is hosting a tap takeover by Microbrasserie Les Grands Bois tomorrow. More details on the tap list and fun are available in last week’s post, and their IG page. And keep your calendar free for next Saturday, October 30th, as Stillwell on Barrington hosts Willibald Farm Distillery & Brewery from Ayr, Ontario, bringing a full dozen taps of beer, ranging from lagers to sours, stouts to Triple IPAs, with the folks from Willibald in the house to chat all things beer. We hear there will be some special food coming out of the kitchen too, so come both thirsty *and* hungry!

Those who have attended one of the many Craft Draught Showdown events at the Carleton in Halifax over the past few years know that they’re a great way to not only sample a bunch of tasty beers and enjoy some excellent food but to also have some fun in the process. So whether you’ve been and are looking to go again or haven’t and are excited to try it, you should be aware that these events are back, with one of the HRM’s newest breweries, Serpent Brewing out of Spryfield, taking on one of the oldest craft breweries in the city (and the province, and the region, really), Propeller Brewing on Wednesday, October 27th at 7 PM. As always, five food courses from chef Mathias Probst will be paired with a 4oz pour of a beer from each brewery. Patrons will vote for the most successful pairing with each course, with a winner declared at the end of the night. Tickets are $75, which includes tip but not HST ($86.25 all in) and, conveniently, can be ordered online. Seating is limited, as always, so we’d recommend getting your tickets soon if you want to attend this one!

We have a couple of quick hits from Dieppe before we dismiss you for the week. Be sure to visit your fave local good beer bar, restaurant, or brewery this weekend, to help them keep the great stuff pouring!

Up first is Flying Boats Brewing with Evil Lover, an 8% ABV Double IPA from their Test Pilot Series. This one features large hop additions for bittering (82 IBUs), and also during the whirlpool and dry hop to amp up the aromas of citrus, berries and apricots. Cans of Evil Lover are available now at the Dieppe taproom and through their online store. 

We’ll leave you with a new kettle sour from CAVOK Brewing. Long Weekend is a low bitterness and sessionable take on the style, with only 6 IBUs and 4.7% ABV. It’s available now in cans and on tap for pints or growler fills.

With the summer rush officially behind us, breweries across Atlantic Canada are turning their attention back to new releases and fun events to keep thirsty beer fans across the region happy.  Last weekend saw many breweries and beer drinkers partaking in the final Oktoberfest celebrations, soaking up the great weather and general good vibes. This week, we’ve got a bunch more new releases and some great events in Halifax and St. John’s to help you plan your weekend. This week is also the kickoff of the infamous Burger Week in HRM. A friendly reminder – be courteous and patient as your favourite beer bars and taproom restaurants deal with the onslaught of burger fans and do their part to keep us safe with the new vaccination mandates. Take a look below at what’s new this week and make some plans to grab some burgers, peep some leaves, and drink some tasty fermented beverages from your favourite breweries and cideries this weekend. 

Starting out on one of our favourite islands, Dildo Brewing had a few new releases over the last few weeks. We’re here to get you caught up to speed and help you quench your thirst for Atlantic Canadian beer! First up is Lassie, a Dildo take on a classic Northern English Brown ale. This dark ale has caramel hues of reddish-brown but well balanced with hop flavour and malt character. Very light and drinkable at 4.5% this beer uses a mix of English pale, biscuit, brown and caramel malts, all blending for a nice roasty flavour with some nutty and biscuit malt notes. Additions of fancy molasses helped develop a deeper colour and balance of sweetness, producing a lovely beer that pairs well with this season.

Second up from Dildo, Bitter Cold is another malt forward, easy-drinking ale. A 4.0% ordinary bitter, it has classic English flavour notes of orange pekoe tea and toasted biscuits. Both of these new brews are available in 473ml cans at the brewery, St. John’s store, and Marie’s, this should also be popping up at Orangestores around the province. 

Heading to another island (and another beer release last week), Big Spruce Brewing has a canned release of a beer that was at the Stillwell Beer Garden Oktoberfest. Festfriends is a German Festbier perfect for the time of year. This German-style lager is just what you’d want for your crisp beergarden bevvy taking you straight over to Germany. Featuring some toasted malt and biscuity notes from Pilsner malt, this 5.8% beer is available now in 473 mL cans directly from Big Spruce at the brewery or online. 

Back to the Rock, where just west of Stephenville, you’ll find lovely Port au Port and Secret Cove Brewing. Flake & Gunnels is a Double IPA named after classic Atlantic fishing terms (a “flake” is a platform to dry and preserve your catch and, if you were lucky, you were loaded to the Gunnels) this beer represents the families that harvest from the sea. Packed with those classic American “C” hops (Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, Chinook and Citra) and adding creaminess and body with flaked oats and flaked barley, this hop-forward, smooth beer brings flavours of juice, citrus, resin and pine. At 7.6% ABV with high juiciness and bitterness, cans should be available today from the brewery. We’ll end this blurb with a note straight from the brewery (and because this beer sounds so delicious) “Cod may be God, but We Love and Pray Hops.

Aaaand back to the mainland for a pair of new releases from Nova Scotia’s North Shore at Tatamagouche Brewing. Their Intertidal line of hop-centric beers continues with Intertidal Eclipse + Galaxy Pale Ale, leveraging both of these tropical and citrus hops in a Pale Ale. Available on draught at the brewery, and soon at better bars in HRM and beyond, cans should be hitting their shelves (virtually and on Main Street Tatamagouche) in the next week.

Available now in bottles is another in Tata’s exploration of barrel-aged beer, Petite Milo. Beginning life as a Golden Ale that was fermented and conditioned in some funky barrels for several months, it underwent a secondary fermentation with the addition of locally-grown Petite Milo grapes. More time means more character when it comes to these mixed fermentation beers, and PM is no exception. A touch of barrel pokes through the bright and tart beer, with vinous character from the grapes also making their presence known. Bottles are now available at the brewery and online, with just a few kegs available, so it should be popping up in the wild soon.

Never one to shy away from our weekly updates, Moncton’s Tire Shack Brewing has a very special release for a good cause today. A special freshly picked wet-hopped IPA is a brew for goodwill with all profits from sales being donated to the Moncton SPCA. It’s is 6% and the hops were hand-picked locally in Moncton by Tire Shack employees. While you can never be sure with backyard hops, the fine folks at the brewery believe it is mostly Cascade. There are only 100 litres of this beer and it will be available for pints only at the brewery, so stop by this weekend if you get the chance! 

On to another island, Montague, PE’s Copper Bottom is back with a fresh entry in their Flux series, a single hop feature constantly changing with new releases. This edition is Flux: Azacca a Session IPA clocking in at 4.2% and 20 IBU. This is hazy and sessionable, with the Azacca hops bringing out bright citrus notes along with stone fruits like mango and peach. Soft and smooth it has just enough bitterness to balance the grain bill of 2-row malt, wheat, and flaked oats and it’s available today in 473ml cans only at the brewery. 

Staying on PEI, another brewery with frequent releases is back with another one (DJ Khaled!). Village Green brings us Wheelie’s Hazy Pale Ale, a hop filled pale ale named after PEI’s famous haunted childrens toy (this is news to us, but it’s definitely creepy!), it features Citra, Mosaic, and Chinook hops (enchanted by the brewers to make it extra spooky). With that combo you can safely expect bold fruity, citrus-y, and piney flavours and a strong hop aroma. This beer release is paired with an event today at the brewery from 4:30 – 6:30 PM where you can see Wheelie there in the flesh (!) and $1 from every sale of the beer will go towards the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation

And one more time up to NL, where Ninepenny Brewing in CBS has also released an ode to a local celebrity (of sorts) this week, in collaboration with the Manuels River Interpretation Centre. MR1 is a 500 million year old trilobite fossil found along Manuels River by Dr. Riccardo Levi-Setti in the 1970s; it is one of the best preserved specimens of this species, and is proudly displayed at Manuels River. The beer is a kettle sour, conditioned on locally grown blackberries and blueberries from Walsh’s Farms in Colliers, as well as wild river mint foraged from near the site of the fossil discovery. At 4.9%, it’s tart, fruit, and refreshing, reminiscent of a fruited mojito. You can grab it on tap and in cans at the brewery, and can even grab cans at the Manuels River Interpretation Centre. And speaking of, the Centre is hosting their own Oktoberfest next Friday, Oktober 22, with a German-inspired menu, flights of Ninepenny, and live music. Check out their events page for more information and to book your spot!

As we transition from Oktoberfest to Spooky Season all across the region, Fredericton’s Trailway Brewing has decided that St. Patrick’s Day shouldn’t be the only holiday to have questionably colored beer and have accordingly released a Halloween-themed beer that looks like a witches’ brew! Spooky is a Raspberry sour that is very green (in colour, not flavour!), a 6% sour ale that is dosed with blue Spirulina powder to turn it into a hazy shade of green. Tasting both sweet and sour, reminding you of Halloween candy, it’s full of raspberry flavour and a bit of acidity and it’s available now in 473ml cans only from the brewery. 

Big news out of Greenwich/Halifax’s most clandestine brewery, Delta Force. For the first time, their beers are available via retail. The fine folks at Bishops Cellar will be stocking Anderlecht Farmshed Ale and Atlantic Time Bitter. Anderlecht is their Brett-forward nod to Orval, in the Trappist single style. Atlantic Time is an English-style bitter featuring PEI-grown malt and Delta Force’s own hops from the Greenwich area. To celebrate their retail debut, DF is offering a limited quantity 6-pack of some of their greatest hits, spanning several styles for your drinking pleasure. Home deliveries are available within a 1 hour radius of HRM. Hit up their online store for more details on how to order. 

And lastly for our news section (but bleeding into our events section), did you think you were going to get through a Friday Wrap-up without news from 2 Crows? Psshhhht; silly beer lover. We told you a couple weeks ago about the home and home collaboration between 2C and Bellwoods Brewery, including teasing you about the BW side of the release, the Crowbar IPA that was only available in Ontario. We also talked last week about the recent trend in lagers at 2C and specifically the Harrington released last week that was named after the variety of barley malted by Shoreline Malting and used in that beer. Would you believe all that naturally leads us to this week’s new release, almost as if someone had cunningly planned it that way?

Birds and the Bells is a “New Zealand Pilsner” which is the recent industry term for a Pilsner that’s hopped a little more than average, often late, and always with New Zealand hop varieties. Leveraging the same hop combo that was used in the Crowbar, this beer also exclusively uses the Shoreline Harrington malt. Mashed with their recently adopted regimen that promotes big and long-lasting foam, they really leaned into the hop side of things, with Rakau and Motueka added in the mash, at first wort, and then late. Fermented low and slow with Escarpment Labs’ Isar Lager, it was krausened and assertively dry hopped with plenty more Motueka and Pacifica plus a little bit more Rakau before being lagered for 5 weeks. At 4.4% ABV and 35 IBU, the result is a maximally crushable ultra crisp beer with some lovely and zippy hop notes, including lime and apricot, and big beautiful foam. Find it at the brewery or for online orders via their web shop, or, you could head down to 2C tomorrow (Saturday, October 15) from noon to 5 PM for the release party! There will be hand pies from Humble Pie Kitchen, bottle pours of some Bellwoods bangers courtesy of Bishop’s Cellar, and, of course, plenty of fluffy-capped Birds and the Bells streaming from the side pour tap.

A couple of things to tell you about today before we send you off to the great unknown…

St John’s Brewdock Beer Bar has always had gluten-free options on tap and on the food menu, but they are pulling out all of the stops this weekend, dedicating three of their draught lines to GF options (which is infinitely easier these days, with Port Rexton having a dedicated line of truly gluten-free options, including the recent Gluten-Free IPA and the newest Gluten-Free Sour, featuring a boat-load of Haskap berries). And Chef Chris Mercer and team in the kitchen have created more than a dozen GF food items, including baking and refining their own potato bun that is the base of either a beef or spicy cod burger. And in chatting with the Brewdock team, they expect to have a few of these items (and beer) on all the time going forward, giving those who live with Celiac Disease, or who just want to reduce their gluten ingestion, more options in their glasses or on their plates.

Mark your calendars for next Saturday, October 23, as the Stillwell Freehouse will be welcoming Microbrasserie Les Grands Bois, located in Saint-Casimir, Quebec. Founded in 2016 in a movie theatre built in the 1940s, Les Grands Bois has a wide portfolio of beer in house, and are sending ten of them to Agricola Street. From Grisettes, Kolsch, Pils, to New England and American IPAs, there promises to be something for everyone that day. And with it being the last day of Burger Week, you can try Chef Graeme’s house-made-beef-bacon- and cheddar-sauce-topped creation one last time… And in “It’s That Time of Year Again”, remember that the Stillwell Beergarden on Spring Garden is winding down for the season Sunday, October 17, so grab those afternoon and evening pints and Beverly Taco Service eats before they close the metal gates for another year. The good news is that Beverly are expected to be back slinging tacos from Sourwood Cider’s location on Cornwallis later this month.