Friday Wrap-Up for August 11, 2023 – News from Port Rexton, Schoolhouse, Shipwright, Annapolis Cider, Change is Brewing Collective, Boxing Rock, Hopyard Halifax, Banished, Big Spruce, Unfiltered, Sober Island, and Great Roads Brewing

Posted by acbbaaron on 2023-08-11
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Annapolis Cider Company, Banished Brewing, Big Spruce Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Change Is Brewing Collective, Garrison Brewing, Great Roads Brewing, Halifax Seaport Beerfest, HopYard Halifax, North Brewing, Ol' Biddy's Brew House, Port Rexton Brewing Co., Port Rexton Pride, Propeller Brewing, Schoolhouse Brewery, Shipwright Brewing, Sober Island Brewing, Unfiltered Brewing. 2 comments

Happy Friday everyone! We hope you’ve had a great week and are ready to celebrate another weekend with a variety of beer, cider, and mead from your local producers. We’ve got plenty of news on big changes from two breweries in Nova Scotia, new beer and Pride in Port Rexton, some great events later in the month for those in HRM, and of course a few things to sip and savour at home or in your favourite watering hole before then. And a reminder that this weekend’s Seaport Beerfest is happening rain or shine, so be sure to coordinate the colour of your umbrella with that of your drinking boots! With 300+ products from across the region and beyond, there will be more than enough to satisfy your cravings. Cheers!

This weekend is Port Rexton Pride, with a full gamut of events happening in town, with crafting fun and the kick-off BBQ this afternoon at the arena, and of course Port Rexton Brewery will be hosting plenty of events all weekend. To celebrate the event, they have once again teamed up with Queer Beer NL, a group of queer homebrewers in St. John’s, to bring you Experimental Phase. This is truly a hybrid of two styles, with the hop aroma and flavour of a New England IPA with the malty profile of a Red Ale. Citrus and stone fruit on the nose, followed by a touch of caramel or even gingerbread, in a low bitterness, 5.5% ABV, package. It’s pouring at the brewery now, and will be available everywhere you grab Port Rexton in the coming weeks, so be sure to check it out and support PR Pride!

Windsor’s Schoolhouse Brewery has released their Summer Break Wheat, just in time to finish out the hottest part of the summer, and give teachers one last moment of respite before the bells start ringing for another year. This 5.3% ABV beer uses a Kolsch-style yeast for a clean fermentation with a touch of subtle banana fruitiness to the bright orange peel finish. Perle hops lend a touch of mint, pine, and spice to the overall effect, and is available on tap and in cans at the brewery and at Bishop’s Cellar.

Down in Lunenburg, Shipwright is releasing Sea Legs, a Belgian influenced take on a Brut IPA. This one starts with a grain bill of Pale, Munich, CaraBelge and Abbey malts, before seeing additions of Citra and Lemondrop hops. The team then pitched Escarpment’s Ardenne Belgian yeast, which fermented the beer to be quite dry with an ABV of 9.5%. Despite the high ABV, the dryness and low bitterness (16 IBUs), this one is sneakily easy drinking. The combo of the hops and Belgian yeast give floral aromas and fruity esters. Grab it today in Downtown Lunenburg.

Across the way in Wolfville, Annapolis Cider is releasing the latest in their Something Different series with Bouquet Rosé. This one saw 4(!) separate ferments come together, including a lilac co-ferment, a cyser (mead/cider hybrid) that uses magnolias and dandelions, and a blueberry wine. The result is a spring bloom in a glass, with notes of lilac, flowers, blueberries and nectarines. Refillable bottles are available at the cidery now, with $0.50 of every sale supporting The Mudley Fund, which helps to remove financial barriers for children and youth in the Town of Wolfville who are seeking to engage with their community. 

Two big events to tell you about coming at the end of the month.

Our friends at Change is Brewing Collective are partnering with Elevate & Explore Black Nova Scotia to bring you a Summer Beer Bus Tour on Sunday August 27. Teaming up with Taste Halifax Food & Beer Tours, this tour begins at the Africville Park with a walking tour of the area, before continuing on to North Brewing (CIB’s collaborators on Deep Rooted), Propeller Brewing (Wabanaki Soda), and on to Garrison Brewing (future plans, perhaps?). There will be charcuterie boxes from a local Black-owned business, plus prizes too! Tickets are on sale now, with early bird pricing available. Don’t miss out on this great learning and drinking opportunity. Learn more here.

And just a couple of days later, on August 29, Change is Brewing is hosting a screening of One Pint at a Time, an award-winning documentary highlighting the stories of Black-owned breweries and brewers as they make their mark in the US beer market. Co-hosted by Boxing Rock (of Back to Birchtown Stock Ale), the screening will be held at Hopyard Halifax on Gottingen Street, featuring food pairing and the launch of a Triple Collaborative Beer between the three groups. Tickets are pay what you can to support Change is Brewing’s initiatives around the local industry. More information here.

A few more things before we let you go…

Coming back just in time for the Dragon Boat festivities at Octagon Pond in Paradise next weekend is Banished Brewing’s Paddles Up! Sour. Inspired by and brewed with the Avalon Dragons, a group of Breast Cancer Survivors who race in the Paradise SunSplash Paddle every year, this Raspberry and Hibiscus Fruited Sour is brimming with flavour and sports a lovely pink hue. Fifty cents from each can goes towards the team, so drink up!

In returning beer news, Big Spruce has a couple of releases this week, with the Blursday 6.6% Hazy IPA hitting the draught lines and shelves this week. Think tropical fruit, with mango, papaya, and lychee. Joining it is Kolsch Encounters, their 5.6% Lagered Ale hybrid beer, with a delicate malt character and a crisp and dry finish. Look for it on tap and in cans as well.

The King of Citra is back from Unfiltered… Double Orange Ale, aka DOA, is their 7.5% ABV Double IPA, brimming to the edge with Citra hops throughout, for serious citrus vibes and solid bitterness. Pints and cans to go from Charm School and the brewery next door on North Street!

Let’s finish off this week with news from two Nova Scotia breweries where there have been some big changes recently!

On Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore, fans of Sober Island Brewing will be seeing some new faces working the taps these days, as owner and founder Rebecca Atkinson has passed the reins over to new owners Nancy and Steve Giles. Since opening the brewery in 2016, Atkinson has helped to make Sheet Harbour a destination for beer lovers from across the country, and is now turning her focus to other endeavours. The Giles’ will continue the great work, keeping the brewery taproom and Musquodoboit Harbour Beer Garden bustling and busy with events, and Brewer Tim MacLeod will continue brewing the same beers that he has for years, including the recently released Eastern Shore Barley Wine, an 11.7% ABV beast of a beer. Congratulations to Rebecca and the Gileses on the transition!

Residents of Lower Sackville will soon see big changes at their local brewery at 111 Cobequid Road, Ol’ Biddy’s is undergoing a name change. Since the sale of the brewery in April, there have been major renovations in the taproom and improved patio front and centre to the building. There is another big transition happening now, as they are changing their name to a locally inspired one, Great Roads Brewing. The website and social media pages are still in flux, but the Great Roads name is inspired by the nearby Fultz House Museum, with the Fultz House sitting at the intersection of the important roads leading from Halifax and Dartmouth to Windsor and Truro. Visitors to the brewery can get a sneak peak of the new branding by grabbing their newly canned Blueberry Wheat Ale. Many of the same folks who have been at the brewery for years continue on, including Brewer Rob, who has been making the beer for 3 years, learning under founder and former owner Keith Forbes. We’re excited to hear of the new and upcoming changes, and will continue to share the latest news from Lower Sackville’s brewery!

Friday Wrap-Up for August 4, 2023 – News from O’Creek, Propeller, North, Flying Boats, Acadie-Broue, Big Spruce, Boomstick, Breton, Tire Shack, Happy, Sack Vegas, and more!

Posted by acbbdevon on 2023-08-04
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Acadie-Broue, Banished Brewing, Bannerman Brewing, Big Spruce Brewing, Boomstick Brewing, Breton Brewing, Flying Boats Brewing, Happy Craft Brewing, Mauzy Cidery, North Brewing, O'Creek Brewing, Propeller Brewing, Sack Vegas Brewing, Stillwell Beergarden, Tire Shack Brewing. Leave a Comment

Happy Long Weekend to most of you, though some of you already enjoyed Regatta Day Wednesday, and it looks like most PEI folks are outta luck (sorry!). However you’re spending this weekend, we’ve got plenty of new beers to quench your thirst, including some releases for this week’s IPA Day!

Halifax’s Propeller celebrated IPA Day in a big way, with the release of Southbound, a collaboration with Yakima Chief Hops. This beer features a trio of New Zealand-grown hops, namely Cryo Motueka, Nelson Sauvin, and Riwaka. We know the homebrewers in the audience as salivating right now! For those who need a reminder, that “Cryo” moniker means the hops are processed at extremely low temperature to concentrate the aromatic and bittering qualities of the hops, allowing brewers to maximize the flavour and effects of the hops in lower hop mass and volume (therefore less beer loss). Putting all of that science and art together in the glass (and can), think gooseberries, white wine, lime, and passion fruit. 7.0% and 70 IBU, drop by any of Propeller’s four locations (Gottingen, Windmill, Quinpool, and Bedford) for a taste!

Moncton’s O’Creek Brewing got in on the #IPADay fun by releasing cans of their newest IPA, Mindless. This 6.8% hazy New England IPA is chock full of tropical hops, and uses a yeast to further enhance those flavours. Also new on draught and in cans is Sour Peaches with a Change of Mangoes. As you can imagine, this is a Fruited Sour with plenty of peach and mango in the tin, and at just 4.0%, definitely perfect for enjoying on the beach or patio! And finally is the latest in their line of lagers, The Bend. This German Pilsner is crisp and clean, and flirts with the low end of the style alcohol-wise, at just 4.5% ABV. Cans and draught of all three, plus their Citra in a Galaxy NEIPA and LimeMower Lime Lage, are available at their Barker location now!

North Brewing is settling in nicely into their new Timberlea location and they’re taking that to heart with a new release. Trails to Ales is a community donation beer as a fundraiser for the BLT (Beechville, Lakeside, Timberlea) Rails to Trails repair after the flooding and extreme rainfall a few weeks ago. 50 cents from each can sale will go towards the trail association. The beer itself was brewing with help of Kevin Dunbard, who is a local homebrewer. The 5% Pale Ale is brewed with English Golden Promise malt and a big punch of American hops to bring fruit and citrus flavours. Bringing it all together is a blend of Norwegian and American yeasts that rounds the beer into a balanced, aromatic 5% brew.  Also this weekend, the Timberlea kitchen at North Brewing will be featuring a BLT sandwich special. Grab this one in cans from all North locations and online.

As a follow-up to last week’s launch of Screaming at the Trølls by Flying Boats and Acadie-Broue, they have since released the second beer from that same brewday. As a reminder, the brew crew filled a hollowed out spruce log with alder, spruce, and pine boughs to create a traditional mash tun, known as a kuurna. After creating the mash of barley and water, they rinsed the grains with hot water to extract even more sugar, and the second runnings of this are what have been released earlier this week. Liten Fyr Stokk Øl “Little Man Log beer”, is just 3.0% ABV. Categorized as a Spissøl, this lower gravity beer pushes the malt to the background, and allows the floral, grass, hay, and touch of pine to shine through, along with a refreshing lemony character. Both beers are on tap now at Flying Boats’ Dieppe taproom.

Nyanza’s Organic Brewery, Big Spruce, has brought back a winner this week, with the return of Heffalump Hefeweizen. Created and brewed with Ian Wheatly, the 2018 winner of their Home Brew Challenge, this 5.2% German Wheat style is light and fruity, with big notes of banana thanks to the iconic yeast used in the brew. Fluffy and full of flavour, you can find the beer on draught and in cans at the brewery, and hitting beer gardens around the province any minute now!

Boomstick Brewing on Newfoundland’s West Coast has a new beer in their shop this week, continuing their Lager School Series. Mexican Lager is a 4.0% crisp and bright beer, featuring flaked corn in the mash to help keep the mouthfeel light. Goes down smooth, and adding a lime is optional! On draught now, cans will be heading across the island in the coming days.

Breton Brewing is embracing the heat with their latest offering, Black Raspberry Wheat. At 5.5% ABV, it’s refreshing and thirst-quenching, with a great addition of the eponymous fruit showcased on the light base beer. In cans and on tap at the brewery on Keltic Drive now, you can also order it for delivery in the CBRM as well as HRM. Enjoy!

Sticking with the fruited beers, Moncton’s Tire Shack has a new one on offer this week. Lychee Lager is an easy-drinking 4.5% ABV, but is jam-packed with lychee fruit, imparting notes of strawberry, pear, citrus, and even some hints of floral roses. The sweetness balances the crisp nature of the lager, but still in a refined manner. Cans, draught, they’ve got it all on John Street! Plus you can scope out the big changes that are happening in the adjoining space, allowing them to extend the brewery and taproom/event space in a big way!

Happy belated to Happy Brewing on Main Street Moncton, who celebrated with a legit petting zoo last week! Following that up, they’ve released Karma, a fruited wheat beer bursting with peach and mango character. 4.3% ABV, check it out on tap today!

And in “coming soon” news, those in Lower Sackville will soon have a second brewery to call their own, as Sack Vegas Brewing has teased they are looking to open in the Fall. Lips are sealed tightly for now, but follow along at their Insta page, and here, as we learn more and get you up to speed!

Onto some events around the region:

Newfoundland is taking over the taps in two provinces this weekend! First off, Banished Brewing has a few kegs on tap at Charlottetown’s Hopyard Beer Bar, with four beers a-pouring now. And those in Halifax should visit the Stillwell Beergarden Saturday and/or Sunday, as there will be a full takeover from Banished as well as Bannerman Brewing, with ten of the finest the Avalon has to offer on draught, with another dozen cans and bottles from Banished and their pals at Mauzy Cider. Plus bologna sandwiches! Full details here.

Friday Wrap-Up for July 28, 2023 – News from Flying Boats, Acadie-Broue, Stillwell, Annapolis, Lunns Mill, Horton Ridge, Little North, Tanner, Trailway, Gahan, Banished and Shipwright

Posted by acbbdamian on 2023-07-28
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Acadie-Broue, Annapolis Brewing Company, Banished Brewing, Flying Boats Brewing, Gahan House, Halifax Seaport Beerfest, Horton Ridge Malt & Grain, Little North Brewhouse, Lunn's Mill Beer Company, Shipwright Brewing, Stillwell Brewing, Tanner & Co Brewing, TrailWay Brewing. Leave a Comment

Happy Friday! Let’s kick off the week’s post with the great news, one of you has won a pair of tickets to the Thursday August 10th session of Halifax Seaport Beerfest… Congratulations to tyler.muffins for the pic and story of them enjoying a pint on the weekend! We’ll send along your tickets momentarily! And for those who entered, thank you very much! We were thrilled to see you make us part of your beer and cider adventures! To continue those adventures, be sure to grab your tickets for the Fest taking part on the Halifax Waterfront in less than two weeks! Thursday August 10 til Saturday August 12, grab your tickets here! There are also Volunteering opportunities before, during, and after the Fest, which will get you some swag and a chance to check out the festival with a backstage pass! More on what you can expect in last week’s post.

Let’s start off this week in Dieppe, New Brunswick, where Flying Boats invited Patrice Godin of Acadie-Broue into their brewhouse for a truly special brewday. Relying heavily on the well-researched books of Lars Marius Garshol and Mika Laitinen, they brewed a rustic ale in the Norwegian and Scandinavian traditions. Beginning with a hollowed out spruce log as their mash and lautering tun, known as a kuurna, a filter bed was created with alder, fir, and spruce branches, which only stood to increase bright wood and resinous properties. A very short pasteurization step, rather than full boil, was used to kill any beasties, before the Ebbegarden Kveik yeast from Escarpment Labs was added. As is tradition, there was a healthy roar let out when pitching, which also gave rise to the name, Screaming at the TrØlls. The resultant beer is full-bodied, with a light wild character, and a bright woodsy aroma and flavour. Given the dimensions of the kuurna, this beer is in short supply, and will not be packaged, so your only chance to enjoy it is at Flying Boats’ taproom at 700 Malenfant Blvd. But we can tell you that there is at least one more beer from the same brewday that will be released in the coming months, so stay tuned! Be sure to check out the great pictures of the day from Mathieu Leger, on Flying Boats’ IG post.

Your Friends in Foam™ at Stillwell Brewing have, right under our noses, managed to stealthily brew a candidate for “beer of the Summer 2023.” Anyone who follows his Insta account knows that brewer CPR spent some time in Czechia earlier this year (or was it late last year?) and anyone who knows the man would have been daft to think he didn’t come home planning a Czech Lager. But then there was the taproom opening and the introduction of Stilly Cream Ale and then summer happened and here we were, blissfully unaware. WHAM. That’s how they get you. On draught at Stillwell properties today, and maybe some other places around town is 10º Czech Pale Lager. The 10º doesn’t mean anything about temperature, it indicates the degrees Plato of the initial wort before fermentation, which is how much sugar is available for the yeast to consume; this is the standard way of describing beer strength in Czechia and the Stillwell gang is staying true to it here, even if it means the name doesn’t really roll off the tongue. Featuring all-Czech ingredients, including floor-malted Moravian Pilsner malt, Czech Saaz hops, and a Czech yeast strain by way of Escarpment Labs, the only thing not Czech about it is the water (although we’re sure Chris thought about it). That said, Halifax’s somewhat soft water is very apt for the style, so no harm, and certainly no foul. Double-decocted (if you know what that means you just cringed at the effort) and naturally carbed via spunding for maximum tradition, it took three months to go from grain to glass. The result is a 4% ABV beer with an impeccable head of foam and a carbonation that fairly dances on the tongue. Described by CPR himself as “kinda savoury, [and] zesty!” it’s the magic of the old country in a glass. Given the ingredients, the techniques, and the conditioning time, this one will likely be a once-a-year treat from the brewery. Fortunately it’ll be packaged in cans next week so you can enjoy it in the comfort of your own home as well as out in the world. And the one of us who has already experienced it can tell you it absolutely tastes like another, and probably another after that. We do, however, recommend making sure to have a slow-poured pint off the Lukr taps at the Stillwell Freehouse, as we can vouch for the way that they can amplify an already stellar beer!

A trifecta of Annapolis Valley breweries came together earlier this month to celebrate and showcase locally-grown and malted grain. When Horton Ridge announced they had some 2-Row malted barley from a local farm, Annapolis Brewing jumped at the chance to use it, bringing along their pals down the road in Lawrencetown, Lunn’s Mill. Opting to brew a Belgian Pale Ale, thank you to the malts character and excellent extraction and fermentability, which enhanced the light spicy phenolic character of the yeast chosen. Simply named Belgian Pale Ale, this 4.9% ABV beer is available on draught only at the three participating breweries along the 101 Highway!

Little North Brewhouse, out of Baie Verte, Newfoundland has a brand new release. If you’re hot on the Cream Ale train and can’t stop dreaming of the cream, these fine folks are bringing you Good Friday, a cream ale coming in at a very drinkable 4.3%. This is available now at 410 Grocery in Baie Verte, Grand Falls Windsor and Gander NLCs and will be in Corner Brook NLC over the weekend. Grab these cans if you’re local (and want to send us some!).

Though they’ve had some troubles with the recent flooding, Tanner & Co Brewing still manages to come out with a new small batch brew for the weekend. Sahti is a new release in the style of the traditional Finnish beer. This is a 9.5% full bodied beer featuring juniper branches and local malt in the mash and hopped for balance to 10 IBU. Hefeweizen yeast brings it all together for a very unique style of beer. The yeast should bring the banana flavour while the juniper flavour should come through for a unique flavour for one of the oldest beer styles in the world. This is only available for a short time on tap for pints and growler fills  at the Duke Street taproom.

A regular to these weekly posts, Trailway Brewing has some news out of their Fredericton and Saint John locations. First up, Green Island is back! This is a taste and aromatic 6% IPA that packs the tropical fruit with its mix of Cashmere and Idaho 7 hops. Lots of citrus and tropical fruit complement this juicy New England style IPA. 

Other notes from Trailway include the return of Hu Jon Hops Ultra, a 1.5% ABV version of the Hu Jon series. This is in 4 x 355ml packs at ANBL stores and Trailway locations. Also, if you’re looking for the ultimate Trailway experience, they have 2 AirBNB units above the Union House Brewpub in Saint John. You can check them out here. 

If you were part of the two big weekends in Cavendish this month, you may have seen a new brew from the Island-native Gahan. Coming fresh off the festival circuit and into wider release is Balmy Island, a pineapple sour. This is a 5% sour with real pineapple additions that was a hit at the festivals. This sour, tart, refreshing and juicy sour is now canned and available now in wider release at PEI Liquor locations, PEI Brewing and Gahan shops.

Never one to shy away from the new stuff, we’ve got a few hits from Banished Brewing. First up is a brand new release, Makes Less Sense is a Hazy Session IPA clocking in at 4.0%. This is the little version of their Hazy IPA, Makes Sense. This is available in cans from the brewery and online right now.

In the event news, the Banished folks go from one island to another where they take over the taps at Hopyard Charlottetown! There will be 4 taps pouring on Thursday August 3rd. The four featured Paradise brews are: Paradise Town (fruited sour), Little Jim (session IPA), Private Line (Kolsch) and Makes Sense (the previously mentioned Hazy IPA). There will be a late night variety show kicking off at 10PM that night as well, but no tickets are necessary, so it’s a great chance for the Charlottetown folks to try some of the Rock’s finest.

If you’re down in Lunenburg, Shipwright Brewing has a new feature on tap. Cherry Hill is a Belgian Sour using cherries from Terra Beata Farms right in Lunenburg. This one is 4.5% and features a nice tart Cherry flavour, with that slight sour refreshing hit on your palate, good for a hot summer. This is available now at the bar and taproom for pints and also crowlers to go.