“Friday” Wrap-Up for April 09, 2020 – News from Niche, North, Big Spruce, Tatamagouche, Newfoundland CIder Co, Maritime Express, Half Cocked, Spindrift and Lake City Cider, Quidi Vidi, and more!

Posted by acbbshawn on 2020-04-09
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Big Spruce Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Half Cocked Brewing, Hardisty Brewing, Lake City Cider, Maritime Express Cider, Newfoundland Cider Company, Niche Brewing, North Brewing, Port Rexton Brewing Co., Quidi Vidi Brewery, Spindrift Brewing, Tatamagouche Brewing, YellowBelly Brewery. 1 comment

Hey folks, welcome to your late (or is it early?) “Friday” Wrap-up for COVID-19 Quarantine Day Eleventy-seven. Time has lost all meaning for us, how about you? The good news is that our region’s breweries and cideries are continuing on in the only way they know how, marking time by brewday and fermentation schedules. You can, in turn, mark your time in beers consumed; in moderation, of course! In order to help you with that, read on for information about what is hitting curbside contactless pickup areas or even your front doorstep this week. Plus, we’ve done a total update across the entire region on our delivery/curbside pickup options for breweries and cideries. We think we’ve hit every producer out there who has changed their practices since last time! So spread a little love to them, if you’re able, and we’d appreciate a quick nudge via email or social media (Ig and Tw preferred) if anything is out of date.

As you might expect, Niche Brewing, in Hanwell, NB, isn’t able to send their kegged offerings anywhere right now, but they’re happy to announce that their latest bottled offering, Bridget is on its way through the ANBL system. A barrel-aged Saison avec Rhubarbe, it’s a tribute to the strong and amazing women in all of our lives. With a recipe developed by Rob Coombs before Niche was even a gleam in his or Shawn Meek’s eye, it was first made with rhubarb from his grandmother Bridget’s garden in Labrador City. Fermented with Niche’s house blend of Saccharomyces and Brettanomyces, it was then conditioned on rhubarb purée (including some of Bridget’s!) before being aged in Chardonnay barrels and then packaged. Coming in at 7% ABV, it’s funky and tart, with some clear rhubarb character coming through. Update: The gang at Niche have let us know it is live the newly-minted DrinkNB.ca website, delivering to the Fredericton and Saint John regions weekly. Also now out at ANBL locations in Fredericton (York Street), and any second now in Dieppe.

Our friends at North Brewing have been keeping busy, and not just on the beer end. They’re releasing a cider this week, Core Values. Featuring an equal blend of both McIntosh and Idared apple juice (pressed by Greenwich’s Stirling Farm) which was brought up to the initial fermentation temperature for 36 hours on “an expressive Chardonnay yeast strain”, the cider was then cooled for a slow, weeks-long fermentation. Once it was close to terminal gravity, they raised the temperature again, to take care of any leftover sugars, before it was cold-crashed and conditioned. Weighing in at 5.8% ABV, the final product is “clean, bright, slightly tart and fully dry”, with aromas of fresh apples and sliced melon, and light tannins on the palate. With sparkling carbonation, this sulfite-free cider has been canned and can be ordered on North’s website. 

North is also celebrating the return of a favourite beer brewed to celebrate their move to 899 Portland Street last year. Originally named We Do Helium, in honour of the former tenant Cost-U-Less and their always-available balloon supply, the summer sipper is now B.Y.O.B. The 3.5% ABV beer’s recipe has not changed, still a super-light beer made with flaked corn and lemon & lime zest, perfect for bringing to all of those BBBQs* and backyard parties that WE SHOULD NOT BE HAVING RIGHT NOW (#staytheblazeshome). But for those days that you want a couple of beer, but not feel them the next morning, we suggest a B.Y.O.B. In addition to their own shop, it will be on the shelves of the NSLC in the coming weeks. And after a brief hiatus, fresh Malternate Reality New England IPA is back on their virtual shelves, joining the latest batch of Dartmouth Dark, their Coffee-Infused Dark Lager. Everything mentioned is available for contactless pickup and delivery, check out their online store to score some of your own.

Speaking of North Brewing, they met up with the cool cats at Tatamagouche Brewing, then went Northeast to Big Spruce in Nyanza last month, to brew up this year’s Cerberus American IPA. This three-headed ode to Organic hops is once again released during NS Craft Beer Month (RIP), usually a time meant for celebrating the province’s breweries spirit of togetherness. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the fruit of their labour, will all three breweries offering this beer for sale and delivery in their online stores. At 7.5% ABV, this is a big bold blast of hops, thanks to additions of Simcoe, Amarillo, and El Dorado throughout the process. Think pithy and resinous, with plenty on the nose and tongue. Big Spruce delivery options, North’s way to beer nirvana, and Tata’s Takeaway and To Your Door options (where you can also grab bottles of their just-back-this-week Bourbon Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout).

Back to cider, but this time hopping to Georges Brook-Milton in Newfoundland, where Newfoundland Cider Company calls home. Available for pickup through online pre-ordering, are four new ciders this week. First up is their Pet Nat Sour. Starting from locally harvested “feral” apples, the blend was fermented with naturally yeasts, and aged in former Glenora barrels for three months. It was then transferred to bottles where it continued to ferment and condition, and has carbonated naturally (Pet Nat = Pétillant Nature = Naturally Bubbly = yum). The end result is a bright apple character, turning tart and sour, with a bubbly refreshing palate cleanser. 750 ml bottles will ready to pick up at the shop tomorrow, along with ten other ciders, including their “Flights to Go”, three new options in smaller bottles allowing you to get a taste of a wider selection of their ciders. These are Barrel Aged Sour Cherry, Rose Perry, and Spring Mead. And for those not in the Clarenville area, find NLCC at the NLC, which you can order online and request to your local outlet.

Kentville’s Maritime Express has been working on a special cider for a very long time, and it’s finally available for sale. Maple Bourbon Cider features an addition of pure maple syrup (from Hutchinson Acres), and was fermented (and aged for close to 14 months) in a Kentucky Bourbon barrel that was previously used to age maple syrup (you can buy some of that through Wabanaki Maple). Described by the cidery as “remarkably smooth and complex, with notes of maple, caramel and oak”, you can also expect some Bourbon and spiced apple on the palate. Only 300 bottles are available, so check out their online store to grab a couple (we suspect it is an excellent candidate for aging). 

Those of you in Antigonish are likely taking full advantage of the twice-weekly (Fridays and Saturdays) delivery options offered by your local brewery, Half Cocked Brewing. And this week, they’ve got a new, hazy IPA that you should probably consider tacking onto your order. Named Bleu Nuit (if they think those of us over the age of 35-40 aren’t getting that reference, they’re sadly mistaken), we won’t have a lot of details on the… well, details of the beer, but we can report that it was fermented with a Kveik strain, and the brewery describes it as having “lots of fruit and citrus, and a touch of bitterness”. They’ve got their flagship brews available, as well; contact them at halfcockedbrewing@gmail.com to place your order.

We keep coming back to cider-related products… did we miss a memo? Anyway, Spindrift has teamed up with Lake City Cider to brew a snakebite, which is typically an equal mix of Lager and cider. In this case, Blackcurrant Snakebite Rosé is a blend of Lager from Spindrift, and cider and fruit wine from Lake City. With some balanced acidity, sweetness, and fruit character, you can order cans right now through Spindrift’s online store; it’ll be available through Lake City in the near future as well. 

Back to Newfoundland with Quidi Vidi, who have brought back a collaboration originally released in 2018, that was created with local chefs. Bog & Barrens Imperial Bakeapple Gose (2019 vintage) is the same recipe as the 2018 vintage; however, due to the variance each year in the bakeapple harvest, you’ll likely notice some differences in this batch, if you were lucky enough to try it the first time. It comes in at ~7% ABV, and once again will only be available in a very limited supply. Look for bottles at the QV retail shop this weekend; it should be at select NLC stores next week.

You’ve probably all heard “Stay the blazes home” in one form or another over the last couple of weeks, so it’s probably safe to say you’re expecting one or six beers to be named after the latest social physical-distancing phrase. The first one out of the gate (we think) is from Garrison Brewing: Stay the Blazes Home is a 4.5% ABV unfiltered Blonde Ale that has a “crisp and dry finish”. Sorry, that’s all we’ve got! We can pass along that $2 from every 473 mL can sold will be donated to Feed Nova Scotia. It’s available, starting today, for home delivery only via phone and online sales. 

Actually, we’re not 100% sure who “wins” here, but YellowBelly has also released Stay Where You’re At “Islander Pale Ale”, which we believe is very similar to their Come From Away. Beyond that, we know nothing! But hey, it’s available in bottles at the brewpub now, and NLC next week, so we got that going for us, too.

In a “sold out before we had a chance to tell you about it, sorry!” mention, Port Rexton Brewing announced a new beer Tuesday, that was already pre-sold within 24 hours. But since we love to tease you, we’ll still share the details with y’all. 😐 Teaming up with their pals at St. John’s Toslow breakfast/lunch/evening chill hangout, they’ve put together Sea Buckthorn Sour. Starting from a lightly sour base beer, the addition of the Sea Buckthorn berry puree bumps up the tart character, thanks to its high malic acid content, while adding great notes of peach, pear, and pineapple to the brew. Sporting a killer label thanks to local artist Pepa Chan, the plan was originally for a big launch party at Toslow, but they’ll be holding something equally fun in the future. While the beer may already be all spoken for, you can still get some goodies from Toslow in the form of their usual morning pastries, wide variety of sandwiches and other handhelds, and merch, either via online pre-ordering, or by phone and email when checking their IG stories for availability. And peep the Port Rexton online shop to request your curbside pickup from their St. John’s Retail Shop, Thurs – Sat, 12 – 7 PM.

Let’s end the week’s news on a high note, this time in Cole Harbour, or more specifically, Colby Village. Hardisty Brew opened their doors just a couple of weeks ago with their Block Party SMaSH (still some available) and Smoked Porter (sold out for the time being), and are set to release their newest one this weekend. The New England IPA weighs in at 5.7% ABV, and at 20 IBU, is fairly low bitterness, but with plenty of hops in the mix. Skipping those early buttering additions, but with loads of Mosaic added late in the mix for flavour and aroma, and further enhanced with a healthy dry-hopping. Citrus and tropical and hazy, as is the style. The newest beer is out Saturday, but deliveries of Block Party will be happening Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in the Colby Village area, with the best way to order via email (info@hardistybrew.ca) with your request. And great news for those angling for more, the addition of another unitank will allow production to increase and have more of the good stuff available.

 

*The extra B is for BYOBB.**
**That extra B is a typo. 😉

Friday Wrap-Up for April 3, 2020 – News from Boxing Rock, Upstreet, Petit-Sault, 2 Crows, Copper Bottom, Secret Cove, Quidi Vidi, Split Rock, North, New Scotland, Tidehouse, and Stillwell Beer Bar

Posted by acbbchris on 2020-04-03
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Brasseurs du Petit Sault, CCNB, Copper Bottom Brewing, Escarpment Laboratories, Local Source, New Scotland Brewing, North Brewing, Off Track Brewing, Propeller Brewing, Quidi Vidi Brewery, Secret Cove Brewing, Shoreline Malting, Spindrift Brewing, Split Rock Brewing, Stillwell Beer Bar, The Auction House, Tidehouse Brewing, Upstreet Craft Brewing. 1 comment

Hey folks, it’s another Friday and we’re not letting things like region-wide a State of Emergency keep us from our appointed rounds as chroniclers of the beer scene in Atlantic Canada. Breweries are continuing to work hard and keep themselves vital despite the craziness that’s going on and we’d like to encourage everyone who is able to, within their means, keep supporting their favorite producers.
We’d also like to send out a sincere “Thank You!” to everyone who tuned in to take part in our trivia evening on Wednesday. And thanks as well to The Auction House, Off Track, Propeller, and Spindrift for the donations of close to $500 in beer, swag, and giftcards to you deserving winners! Those breweries are celebrating the release of their Scotia Lager collab beer, still available at all three online shops for contactless pickup and delivery. With more than 80+ of you on 30+ teams connecting, it was definitely the highlight of our week, well, right up until the end (sorry again about that, but we know how to avoid that in the future). Speaking of which, if there’s enough interest, we may be able to run another one of these next month. Let us know what you think on social media or via email, our DMs are always open (but our Zoom won’t be, next time!). ♡
Just a note that in addition to the breweries and ciderhouses mentioned below, there are plenty more in our region continuing to pump out the good stuff. We’ve tried to summarize how they are pivoting in light of the current situation here, with curbside pick-up and deliveries spreading further across the region.
And if there is anything missing or out of date on that list, we’d appreciate a quick nudge via email or social media (Ig and Tw preferred, Fb often gets missed).

In what was an “is it? or is it not?” April Fool’s joke, which some didn’t believe it until the goods were in their hands, Shelburne’s Boxing Rock Brewing released their first products ever in the canned format. In addition to the new format for their Puck Off! Kolsch, they also released two new offerings Wednesday. First up is the simply-named IPA, a 6.6% ABV American IPA, most definitely rooted in the West Coast style: think bright/no haze, quite bitter, and with a flavour of citrus and pine. Achieving that bitterness and hop character is a mix of Old- and New-School hops, like Summit, Cascade, Simcoe; Nelson Sauvin, Waimea.
The second new canned beer from Boxing Rock is Coffee Porter, a hefty beer at 7.3% ABV, building upon the dark and roasted malts in the base beer with an extra kick from fair trade coffee care of Annapolis Valley roasters Just Us!. In addition to the expected roast and coffee notes, the full-bodied beer shows some light sweet character along with caramel and raisins, rounding out the experience. Either a breakfast beer, or when you want something to keep you up and dancing in your PJs in the living room, this seems like a good choice!
Cans (it still feels funny writing that) of Coffee Porter and IPA are available through their online shop for local and HRM delivery or pickup at their Shelburne Taproom, their spot in Halifax’s Local Source Market (pre-order is best!), as well as at WestSide/Harvest Wines family of shops for pickup or delivery. 

Our friends at Upstreet are still keeping the brewhouse chugging along, and have a brand new Neon Friday release this week. The latest entry in their hoppy beer series is named Neon Friday 3.01 NEIPA, and was brewed with a grist made up of 2-row, Vienna, Wheat and Oats. Four wonderful, delicious hop varieties were added in the brew process: Galaxy, Citra, Mosaic and Ekuanot. The 6.5% ABV, 30 IBUs beer is soft and hazy, with low bitterness, and features aromas of “punchy pineapple, passion fruit, mango, guava, tangerine and banana”, with lots of tropical fruit on the palate. Look for cans of this bad boy at both Upstreet locations (taproom and Craft Beer Corner) and the PEILCC stores that have re-opened; the CBC will also be filling crowlers for takeaway.

Edmundston’s Brasseurs du Petit-Sault have debuted a new beer this week, a tribute to the high quality water found in the area. Source Kölsch is a collaboration brewed with friend and Chemist Mike Doucette of the nearby CCNB BTSC lab, who has assisted many in the province, and further afield, bring their ideas for recipes, breweries and distilleries, and even some non-alcohol endeavours (what are those?) to life. Now, back to the beer! Starting from naturally-filtered water from Iroquois-Blanchette watershed, the beer features light-coloured and -flavoured German Pilsner and Vienna malts, lightly hopped with traditional favourites Hallertau and Saaz, and saw a long conditioning time. Grab bottles and growler fills of Source at the Source on rue d’Eglise, or order for local delivery through their online shop.

We haven’t been approaching the last couple of Fridays thinking that there’d be a ton of beer news to report on, but in true fashion for them, 2 Crows still has a boatload! Let’s start with the actual beers, first (yeah, you’ll see). First up is a brand new bottled beer, Olio. Starting its life as a small-batch, tart Grisette, the beer was blended with some fruit. But not just any fruit… second-use fruit! This is a technique that has been slowly gaining popularity over the last few years. In the case of Olio, a blend of strawberry, red gooseberries, and guava – that had been used in another sour/wild beer – was allowed to macerate (soften, basically) over 10 months. The fruit was then separated from its liquid, and added to the Grisette and bottled in late 2019. Now that this 4.2% ABV beer has had a few months to mellow out, it’s tasting “bright, funky, tannic, and grippy”, with “a distinct tartness, subtle fruit character, and a real zingy finish”. Only 240 bottles of this beauty exist, and it’s available only on the brewery’s webstore. And if delicious, wild/sour beers are your thing (of course they are!), 2 Crows has also brought back bottles of Hayward, their peach barrel brandy-aged sour beer with kiwi. It’s not a new batch, but a few more bottles they’ve allowed to escape from their cellar; who are you to refuse them?
And for those of you self-isolating who are finding it a touch more difficult to avoid reaching for a beer earlier in the day (hey, these are stressful times! And don’t even get me started on if you have kids in the house…), 2 Crows has your back, with Hop Water. We realize this is 100% NOT a beer, or a cider, or… anything alcoholic. There’s 0% alcohol in this, but it sounds pretty cool! The “recipe” is basically water, Citra hops, and a touch of yeast to give a little bit of umami character… plus some citric acid to lower the pH. Offering “some nice citrus/tangerine/pomelo” notes, and some citrus in the aroma, it’s light, refreshing, and most importantly, hydrating! Cans are limited, and also available for purchase online. 

Montague, PEI’s Copper Bottom has just released a new sour beer to zip up your day a little, the next entry in their Field Trip fruited kettle sour series. Field Trip: Haskap was brewed with, yes, haskap berries, which have a taste that the brewery describes as a cross between raspberries, black currant, and Honeycrisp apples. The 5% ABV beer is “bursting with fruit flavour”, and while slightly-less sour than their previous release, Field Trip: Pomegranate, it’s still bright and tart. Available for curbside pickup at their brewery, as well as delivery in their online shop. In addition to delivery on the Island (free for orders over $50), they now offer Canada-wide beer shipping, with free shipping to fellow Maritime provinces for orders over $100 (roughly one flat), and for orders over $200 elsewhere.

In Port au Port on the West coast of Newfoundland, Secret Cove Brewing has a new IPA on the go. Named after the Tuckamore tree, an enduring symbol of strength and resilience, Tuckamore IPA is a 6% ABV beer in the East Coast IPA style. With a soft mouthfeel and a slight bitter kick at the end, with a hop profile of tropical and evergreen notes thanks to plenty of late whirlpool hop additions. As you drink it you can think of the Tuckamore tree, clinging to the rocky coast and no doubt shaped by the wind, but thriving nonetheless. Available for pre-order and pickup along with other Secret Cove offerings on Wednesdays and Fridays. Orders must be in by 1 PM, check their website for all the relevant details.

And staying with Newfoundland, but all the way across to the East coast of the Province, Quidi Vidi Brewing Co. also has a new IPA out, one on the tart side of the spectrum called Aloha Sour IPA. They were hoping to introduce it with a tropical beach party at the brewery, but recent events have made that an impossibility, so they recommend instead maybe curling up by the wood stove or cranking the heat to 30º before cracking one on your couch. And at 4.7% ABV you can feel free to have a couple without risking a day boil (although, really, where you going to go anyway?). Released two days ago on Wednesday, it’s available for retail pickup per the information in this Ig post (whether or not you’re in a position to grab some of this beer from them, we recommend you check out that link just to see the gorgeous can design).

And if sour is your thing and you’re in more Northerly areas of the Rock, Split Rock Brewing way up there in Twillingate has the latest in their Sour Patch B’ys series of beers available at the brewery now. Leveraging the same base as the rest of the beers in the series, with 50% Pilsner and 50% wheat, it’s super clean and “medium-sour” with plenty of peachy flavor thanks to the addition of peach purée. Only 4.1% ABV means a couple aren’t going to knock you sideways. Available for contactless curbside pickup along with other Split Rock favorites, you can find the details about putting your order in and picking it up in this Ig post.

It’s not only reassuring to see new, local beers making it into our fridges/cellars during the pandemic, but also to see that some breweries are still doing what they can to collaborate… maybe not directly, but at least intellectually? In one example, North Brewing is releasing a collaboration effort with Ottawa’s Dominion City Brewing. The beer in question, Goin’ Down the Road Helles Lager, was originally supposed to be brewed at Dominion City with the North peoples in February, but an unfortunately equipment malfunction scrapped the brew day. Luckily, the two breweries decided to brew the recipe later, on their own systems, which North is releasing today. Brewed with Pilsner malt from Shoreline Malting, hopped with Strisselspalt and Saphir, and fermented with the Isar Lager strain from Escarpment Labs, the 4.3% ABV beer was lagered for a time before packaging in cans. It’s available right now for “Click & Collect”, as well as home delivery; check out North’s website for ordering details. 

On Dartmouth’s waterfront, New Scotland Brewing has been busy, and have released four products this week, reflecting their various emotions throughout these past couple of weeks.
First up was Barracks (as in, confined to…), a 6.4% ABV dry English cider, made from the juice of Nova Scotian apples. This cider is available in 650 ml bomber bottles, and is perfect for drinking at the kitchen table.
The second release of the week was The Darkness Behind Us, a Chocolate Milkshake Stout. At just 5.0% ABV, this rich and decadent beer featured additions of chocolate in the boil, as well as lactose, with the resultant beer featuring extra notes of coffee, cherry, and vanilla, for a full on taste of a Black Forest Cake. Maybe a couch beer is in order?
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel is their third release of the week, a 6.2% ABV crisp and dry Champagne IPA. Fermented with Kveik yeast, and hopped to the gills with Citra and Sabro, it features lots of lemon and lime character, so much so that Margarita vibes come to mind. We think this is perfect for the balcony or deck.
Finally, released just moments ago, is Fresh Start. Mosaic hops are the star of this 7.3% ABV American IPA, which was fermented with their blend of three different ale yeasts. The result is a beer that finishes dry, but still has lots of juicy character. Let’s go wild and say shower beer for this… So Fresh and So Clean…
All four of these new drinks have joined their full-time offerings in their online shop, which can be used to pre-order for pickup (retail open 11 – 7 PM), local delivery in HRM, as well as shipping Canada-wide.

Tidehouse Brewing is up and running again, albeit strictly in a curbside-pickup capacity, starting tomorrow. But hey, it’s still a way to grab some beer from them! This weekend they’ve got two options, both available in cans. The first is a new influx of cans of their latest hoppy Saison, Float On India Saison (7% ABV), hopped with Azacca, Ella, and El Dorado varieties. They’ve also got a brand new American IPA, Bonosux, which weighs in at 6.5% ABV and is hopped with Galaxy, Mosaic, and Simcoe. Make your choices now, and give them a call tomorrow (starting at noon) at 902-407-2550 with at least 15 minutes notice. Head to the taproom and they’ll take your cans to you outside for safe, contactless delivery. They’ll continue until 5 pm, or until cans run out, whichever comes first.

In Nova Scotia, there was a change in NSLC licensee regulations that came into effect this week allowing restos and bars to sell beer, wine (and maybe spirits?) along with food during our collective societal lockout. Wouldn’t you know that our friends at Stillwell Beer Bar would step up to that with a quickness, announcing the Stillwell Corner Store this week whereby you can get yourself some delectable treats from their bottle list along with tasty snax, some of which come from Stillwell pals Café Good Luck (currently sold out) and Ratinaud French Cuisine. You do absolutely have to order food with your sweet bottles and cans (stuff like Bellwoods, Burdock, Revel Cider, Crooked Stave, and even some Belgian delights!), but the offerings are small and geared towards having a quick bite while you enjoy the hell out of some tasty beer. Minimum order is $30 and it’s free next day delivery in the HRM. You can also sign-up for contactless curbside pickup between Noon and 2 PM on Saturdays and Sundays. Check the website for full details, and keep your eyes peeled for other restaurants that you know and love in your area to be getting on this train in the coming weeks!

Friday Wrap-Up for March 27, 2020 – News from The End of the World (tentative), Church, Copper Bottom, Heritage, Sea Level, Sussex AleWorks, Backstage and more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2020-03-27
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, 902 BrewCast, Backstage Brewing, Copper Bottom Brewing, Escarpment Laboratories, Heritage Brewing, Millstone Harvest Brewhouse, Off Track Brewing, PEILCC, Propeller Brewing, Sea Level Brewing, Shoreline Malting, Spindrift Brewing, Sussex Ale Works, The Church Brewing Company, TrailWay Brewing.

Well, this is definitely a different week than usual on the blog. First off, for those of you in health care and other essential businesses, keeping us and our family and friends safe, the lights on and trucks moving, a massive thank you from the ACBB family.

For many, beer is a happy diversion from work, while for others, it is their work! Kudos to those who are still able to support the brewers and cidermakers by ordering beer for delivery and pickup safely, but most important at this time is to keep everyone safe and healthy.

A logistical note: to keep from having to update multiple pages several times per day as the situation and the way breweries are dealing with it changes, we’re going to stick to one: last week’s Wrap-Up will be our itemization of what breweries and cideries across the region are doing in light of the current situation. It will be our reference for what’s open and closed, how to safely pick up product from their location, and order beer delivery at home. It’s been updated a ton since we sent it out last week, so do take a look for the latest details. And if there is anything missing or out of date, we’d appreciate a quick nudge via email or social media (Ig and Tw preferred, Fb often gets missed).

Let’s start our day in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, where Church Brewing calls home. They are shining a light through the darkness this week with Illuminate Kveik Pale Ale. Light-coloured and -tasting malts offer a base for the bounty of hops used in this beer, starting from a light bittering addition of Magnum, before massive dry-hopping of Mosaic and Vic Secret. These offer big flavour and aroma of citrus, tropical notes of mango and papaya, which are only enhanced thanks to the kveik yeast employed. As a refresher, this family of yeasts originated in Norway, and after thousands of generations of use (yeast, not people), has become something totally distinct from other brewer’s yeast: very high temperature tolerant (traditional ale yeasts tend to give off some unpleasant flavours when fermented too warm, whereas as kveik thrives in it), with some lovely fruity characteristics presented, thanks to its production of esters. This particular yeast was sourced through Guelph’s Escarpment Labs, who have been researching the history and microbiology of this family for a while, and have the nerdy ahem important information on it. This beer used their Voss Kveik which gave them plenty of those juicy characteristics, and stays a bit hazy. At 5.0% ABV, and low bitterness, this is a beer you can use to light your way in these uncertain times… Available at their retail shop for 

Montague, PEI’s Copper Bottom brewery likes to celebrate spring with a saison they call Better Weather. Although they’re not able to celebrate the coming season in the same way as usual this year, they’re still bringing that farmhouse ale to market for folks to enjoy. This year, they went with a French Saison yeast for a very crisp and dry beer, highlighting their use of Shoreline Malting 2-row. With some fruity esters completing the picture, expect this 5% ABV and 25 IBU beer to be refreshing but still interesting on the palate. You can get it from them via their webstore for pickup as well as via walk-in (social distancing enforced) at their retail location. You can also get it via delivery island-wide from their delivery service (check their Fb page for details on that!). And when this whole mess blows over, you can safely expect it to be on the shelves at select PEILC stores too.

In Yarmouth, Heritage Brewing has a new beer available for delivery in the tri-county area. They took their Blueberry Grunt, a lightly sour blueberry ale they released last fall, and replaced a portion of blueberries with cranberries, to give us Cranberry/Blueberry Sour Wheat. A mix of lightly tart and lightly sweet (but tipping more towards tart, thanks to the cranberry addition), this 5% ABV brew is refreshing and light, just the thing to get you into the Spring mood as you sip it on your deck. Check out our details from last week on how you can get some of this brew delivered to your door; their taproom is also open for retail sales.

Sea Level’s Port Williams location may be closed, but they are still working hard to produce great beer at their Millstone Harvest location in nearby Sheffield Mills. The latest to be released is also one of the first that features the sole us of their own malt and hops, grown right onsite. Millstone Harvest Pale Ale uses their own farm grown barley, malted at nearby Horton Ridge malt, to create Pilsner, Pale, and Honey malts. And from their hopfield comes Cashmere, Cascade, and Glacier hops, coming together for a “light, refreshing, everyday beer”. While they will be sending cans to NSLC locations across the province soon, you can grab growler fills at Millstone Harvest at 9146 Hwy 221 in Sheffield Mills today. Just remember to call (902-582-2337), email (sealevelbrewing@gmail.com) or DM them on their social media accounts in advance, and take advantage of their “Card in the Yard” pickup option. Hit them up the same way for more details on their delivery options.

For those of you in Sussex, you may already be taking advantage of the beer-to-go option at Sussex Ale Works. If so, great! If not, we encourage you to do so, and want to take the opportunity to also point out that they are still brewing new beers, and have just released their latest, a Belgian Dubbel named 13 Fathoms. Details on this brew are extremely light; however, we can tell you that they’re describing it as “sweet and smooth”. We wish we had more, but maybe it’s enough to pique your interest? Who doesn’t love a good Dubbel, right? Anyhoo, it’s 7.8% ABV and can be ordered online and picked up at the brewpub; check out last week’s post for further details on making your order. 

Back to Nova Scotia, where Backstage Brewing has launched Photograph, what was supposed to be a new beer for the Nova Scotia Craft Beer Festival. An American IPA hopped entirely with Mosaic, at least those of you in the Stellarton area may be able to give it a try! At 6.6% ABV and 60 IBUs, expect lots of delightful Mosaic character – tropical and stone fruit, citrus, mango, etc. – available for growler exchange at the brewery, 12-6 pm Monday to Saturday. They also hope to have bottles in the near future.

Nothing brand-spanking-new from TrailWay this week, but we will mention that their very popular DIPA, Sensible Nonsense, has been freshly-canned and is now available for delivery to anywhere in Fredericton, or pick-up at the brewery (and further distro across the province soon). Citrusy and dank, 7.6% ABV, and all sorts of hoppy.

In Halifax, 2 Crows Brewing has brought back one of their more subtle beers, the Refresh Lager. This delicate 4.8% ABV lager is a full two month process, starting from Shoreline Malting Pilsner (along with a lil bit of chit malt and flaked rice), dry-hopped with Hallertau Blanc, then krausened (using new beer to give the yeast some reinforcements), before lagering for 8 weeks. Like great BBQ, this one is done low and slow. And like great BBQ, it’s worth the wait! It’s available now at their retail shop with click-and-collect, as well as online delivery within HRM, as well as province-wide, and also elsewhere in Canada (yup!). And for those homebrewers looking to try and recreate this at home, there are no secrets when Jeremy Taylor is behind the wheel, here are all the details you need. Maybe drop him off a bottle/growler when it’s safe to do so, wouldja? Oh, and if you’re looking for a fun way to spend your afternoon, listen to Jeremy and Nick who appeared on the latest episode of Rival & Queen, getting hosts Ashley and Sarah up to speed on all things beer.

Speaking of podcasts, our favourite local beer podcast 902 BrewCast may be respecting the social distancing order, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still releasing episodes! Their March 2020 Tasting Episode is a great summary of how breweries are dealing with the shutdown of their licensee customers, closure of their own taprooms, and change in buying options for customers. Plus, they chatted about dipping into their beer cellars to enjoy something solo or with pals (you know, sometime in the future). You can stream it on their website, or check your favourite podcast app this morning, because you already subscribe to it, right? Right?!?

During all this craziness, expect to see a serious drop in collaboration brews, for obvious reasons! On the bright side, a collab brewed before the sh*t really hit the fan, will be available over the next week. Scotia Lager was brewed as a collaboration between Off Track, Propeller, and Spindrift at Propeller’s brewery. Featuring a simple malt bill of Superior Pilsner and a little bit of Crystal, it was hopped throughout the boil with Loral and Tettnang, to 38 IBUs. Fermented with a classic German lager strain, and then lagered for a period of time, it weighs in at 5% ABV. Expect some spicy, floral, and herbal notes thanks to the hop varieties used, all in an approachable and easy-drinking package. This beer was submitted as the annual Made Here By Us beer for the province; it didn’t get selected, but the breweries decided to brew it anyway, and now you get to try it! It will be available in cans at all three breweries over the next few days (whether for delivery or pickup, however they’re operating), and will be popping up at NSLCs as well, with the official launch coming Monday!

We at the ACBB had been planning to hold a big Trivia Night at the Auction House next Friday, in part to help kick off Nova Scotia Craft Beer Month, but with restaurants and bars closed, we obviously won’t be doing that! However, we still want to get together with all of you, share some beers, give away a ton of prizes, and have a fun time. Sooooo, we’re going to give online trivia a shot! Next Wednesday, April 1st, at 8 PM, we will be holding the trivia remotely/virtually! We’ll have plenty of head scratching questions, of course plenty of amazing prizes from our brewery pals. For those, we’ll mostly be connecting you with the brewery directly, to ensure no contact. OK, the way to win is to sign your team up in advance, and that way we can keep track of everyone. Click the link here! Plus there’s more info on the FB page for the event. We can’t wait to see you Wednesday!