Bishop’s Cellar

All posts tagged Bishop’s Cellar

We hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the Eclipse Monday, whether you were in a part of the region to experience totality, or at least carefully observed the partial eclipse. If you’re anything like us, we’re already looking forward to the next ones occurring across the world, and figuring out how the heck you’re getting to Iceland or Australia

You’ll notice a lot of Newfoundland and Labrador content this week, but we want to let our Nova Scotian readers know that you don’t need to be envious, as our pals at Bishop’s Cellar have received a shipment of eight different beers from four different breweries. Two each from Banished Brewing (Space Puffin NE IPA and Imperial Stout), Bannerman Brewing (All Hands Helles and Eclipse NE IPA), Iron Rock Brewing (Happy Valley Hefeweizen and Lawn Sweeper Cream Ale), and Landwash Brewing (Tidepool German Pilsner and Spyhop Sour IPA). You can head down to Bishop’s Landing now (plan to be there between 2 – 4 PM for a free tasting by Beer Category Manager Lucas Mader), or order a few of each to get yourself some free delivery across the province! 

For those in Newfoundland, however, we do have plenty of new beers to shout about this week. Landwash Brewery in Mount Pearl has had their pals from Johnny and Mae’s slinging burger and fries from their taproom for quite a while, and are celebrating with a collaboration beer. Smash Daddy is a SMaSH beer (Single Malt and Single Hop), brewed with Pilsner malt as the entire grain bill, and Citra used for hopping throughout. This 5.0% ABV Pale Ale is light, bright, and full of citrus goodness in a crisp package, perfect for pairing with any and all from the food truck offerings. The beer is available now in Mount Pearl and in the wild, too!

Also in the wild from Landwash is a brand new release, and Tim’s first recipe at Landwash, a Dark Rice Lager named Kuro. Chocolate and roasted barley malts complement the rice, and are enhanced by the Sorachi Ace and Saaz hops, for multiple layers of flavour and aromatics. This 4.5% ABV beauty is streaming from the LUKR side pour at the brewery taproom, and beautifully designed cans are available in Mount Pearl and at Landwash’s retail partners as well.

We’ve also got a pair of releases for you out of Corner Brook, Newfoundland, as both Boomstick and Bootleg are pushing pale ales this week. Up first is Boomstick, with their Pack Out pale, designed as both the perfect accompaniment to some time in the woods and on the trails, and also as a reminder that you’d best be packing out what you packed in. Bright, with citrus and fruity hop flavors taking center stage, it still has plenty of body and a hazy appearance. Find this 5.3% beauty on tap for draught pours in the taproom and also in cans at Boomstick retail and across the island this weekend.

Bootleg’s version of a pale, staidly-named Pale Ale, is actually the second iteration of the beer. Originally intending to dial back the caramel malt a titch, they ended up swapping it entirely for honey malt, which also provides sweetness, but a “lighter” sort without deeper sugar flavors. The end result is a less malty, more crisp beer that’s easy to drink at 5% ABV. Where this batch was also brewed up the road at Western Newfoundland Brewing, it afforded Bootleg the opportunity to package a big batch of this in 355ml cans for easy transport. Grab some from the brewery next time you’re in town!

Let’s finish off with a one-two Non-Alcoholic punch this week. Libra, by Upstreet Brewing, has a new offering, launching across Atlantic Canada. Lemon Ginger Saison could be the first NA Saison in the country, and they were thrilled to do so with malt from Shoreline Malting, and yeast from Escarpment Labs. Quite dry, with notes of lemongrass and ginger, this saison is also quite low in calories and sugar (20 kCal and 1 gram), for those who are looking to minimize both while still drinking something flavourful. In addition to Upstreet’s retail locations, LGS will be available at Sobeys locations across Atlantic Canada, NB Liquor, and online at Well.ca and their own site. 

In further NA news, the other local sensation in the non-alcoholic beer scene is Tatamagouche’s Nomad who this week are also pushing the boundaries of NA beer by releasing an IPA. We don’t know about you, but we find hoppier low-to-no alcohol offerings pretty hit or miss, so we’ve got high hopes for the Nomad gang on this one. Using old school Crystal for bittering (and from locals Island Hop Company, no less), the flavor and aroma hops are the classic citrus bomb Citra, pineapple-y El Dorado, and melon-y modern Continental variety Huell Melon. Paired with Horton Ridge pale malt for even more local cred, you’ll hopefully find this bright beer bursting with juicy and citrusy flavors. Clean and classic, they kept the bitterness low to encourage drinkability. Grab it wherever you normally find Nomad or Tatamagouche products. Keep an eye out for the re-release of their Sunrise Trail ISA in a great new can, too!

After two thefts from them this week (a Midnight Oil Birds of Nova Scotia print was lifted from their Oxford location & cash till, camera, and beer from their brewery location on Brunswick), it’s time to show 2 Crows Brewing your love! Over and above visiting and enjoying some great beer and pizza (Yeah Yeahs Pizza shares their space on Oxford), you should think about signing up for their Ceramic Smoking Accessories Workshop, being held on April 20th. Teaching you how to make pipes and ashtrays, you’ll also be the first to try their latest release, CUSHY. A super tiny batch, available on draught only that day, it is a Pale Ale with Lemons and terpenes added. As you probably know, terpenes are the very aromatic compounds that are shared by both cannabis and hop plants, and influence the experience of both plants products significantly. An appropriate beer for an appropriate workshop, on an appropriate day! Grab your tickets from Eventbrite today!

Get ready Newfoundlanders, the NL Craft Beer Festival is coming back August 24th! Held once again at Banished Brewing, this one-session-only beerfest is a Saturday night in Paradise, with plenty of new Newfoundland and Labrador breweries and beers in attendance, with tons more coming from the mainland across Canada. There will be food from Banished’s kitchen, and live music to keep the party going. You can buy Regular and VIP tickets now, to secure your spot! There will probably be info on transport to/from Paradise coming soon, too.

Happy Thursday y’all! Thursday?? Yup! We figured we’d give ourselves a break from all of the beer writing tonight/tomorrow morning, so that we can enjoy a little break. While many breweries and your favourite taprooms and bars will be closed for Good Friday and/or Easter Sunday, it’s best to check their social media for the details on their opening days/hours if you are in need of an emergency four-pack or respite from the family. Plenty of new releases to tempt you today, so let’s jump right in!

Fredericton’s hop heads Trailway Brewing are back with another play on their flagship Hu Jon Hops, this time catering to those who like it hot… Hu Jon Heat! Keeping the hop schedule of the HJH that is beloved across the region, habanero and mango were added to give a solid infusion of capsaicin, pepper flavour, as well as a fruit sweetness to round out the beer. At 6.6% ABV, we figure this will go well with your asian-inspired dishes as well as on its own. On draught and in cans at Trailway now, with distribution coming soon!

In Halifax, Garrison Brewing is reminding all of us to Hold Fast in these wild and crazy times. This 5.5% pale ale features a straight-ahead malt bill of pale malt augmented by a portion of wheat, and was hopped in the kettle, and again post-fermentation, with Bravo, Chinook, and Lemondrop. Hazy-gold in appearance, you’ll find citrus on both the nose and palate in this medium-bodied and lightly bitter beer. It is available on tap and in cans at both their Seaport and Oxford Taproom locations, with 473ml cans also coming to the NSLC, Bishop’s Cellar, and the other private stores in HRM.

In Edmondston, NB, Microbrasserie Ateepic is celebrating sugar season with a new release this week. Camp Malin is a Maple Scotch Ale, featuring plenty of locally-sourced ingredients. The traditional grain bill was enhanced by some malt that was smoked in-house, and the beer was aged on maple chips charred on their grill. Both maple syrup from Sucrerie du Petit Camp as well as SylvAcer whiskey-infused maple syrup were added to the beer for a one-two punch of the sweet stuff. It is available at their golf course taproom on draught to enjoy onsite and in growlers, with a limited run of cans coming soon as well!

Chester Basin’s Tanner & Co Brewing has a new beer on tap and in cans this weekend, just in time for their Saturday HRM deliveries (hint, hint!). Brux IPA uses a yeast, known as Sacch Troi, that was previously thought to be Brettanomyces, due to its ability to form a pellicle and it’s significant fruity ester production (sorry, our nerd is showing). Kicking up the fruit factor another notch are Mosaic, Motueka, and Chinook. At 6.5%, this is a refreshing and easy-drinking IPA, and alo features locally grown and malted grains!

Despite the release date, we must assure you the following is not a joke!
One keg, one day only: Gahan House Nova Centre Head Brewer Ryan has thrown the Reinheitsgebot rules into the Halifax harbour, and is releasing Hot Dog Lager. Brewed well before any convenience store announced some sparkling water bullshit, this Pale Lager was brewed using hot dog water, and mashed with hot dog buns. Obviously not vegan-friendly, this 5.5% beer will only be on tap Monday, April 1st, and we imagine will go well with a burger or the chorizo penne. Sorry, no cans of this extremely limited brew, but you may be able to convince the staff to fill a growler of this glizzy beer!
Seriously, we promise that was not a joke!

Speaking of Gahan, their Atlantic Home Brew Challenge wrapped up last weekend, with judges from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia having the hard (ya right!) job of picking the best beers submitted in the (BHCP style 11B) Best Bitter and (BJCP Style 30A) Spice, Herb, and Vegetable categories. After the dust settled, Dave Gamble took top spot with his “Bitter Afterthought”, and Greg Rogers won the SHV title with his “Triple Beats”, a Belgian Tripel with Beets. Rogers’ beer was also the overall winner, which means he will be brewing up this beer at the Hub City Gahan location later this year, for a limited release. Congratulations to all of the entrants and winners, and big thanks to Gahan Beer for continuing to hold the competition and inspiring the brewers of tomorrow! More details are available here.

As we enter spring, we are seeing the return of some perennial favourites, including Big Spruce’s Cerberus IPA. Originally crafted as a three-heading conspiracy between NS Organic breweries, this year’s release is all Big Spruce, all the time! As in previous years, however, this is a one-shot deal, so you’ll be best served to grab this 7.5% ode to Galaxy, Mosaic, and Simcoe as soon as possible. Pouring at the brewery and a couple of better beer bars around the HRM today, cans will be coming next weekend to your favourite retailers.

Arcade Brewing in Burnside has been brewing up a storm recently, and have just introduced cans to their lineup. While enjoying a hand pulled pint of their real ale at their 80 Thornhill Drive location is always great, especially enjoyed while banging the flippers in their pinball room, you can now take cans of their Arcade Ale (4.1% British-style Pub Ale) and Peculier Ale (5.2% North Yorkshire-style Dark Ale) home to drink later.

Finishing off today is a heads up that Bishop’s Cellar has a quartet of new beers from Caledon, Ontario’s, Sonnen Hill. With generations of brewing experience, they take things slow and steady. On Bishop’s shelves tomorrow are the Heart Lake Pils, Frank Lager Franconian Lager, and two spontaneously-fermented offerings: No Worry and Riesling Beer.

Here we are, nearly ten hours late for our usual posting time (sorry!) starting the second week of December. As we inch closer to the 12 Days of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever you celebrate, we can all appreciate the community around beer and breweries and getting together with friends and family. While you may be tucking into your favourite style of Advent Calendars, there are plenty of new releases below and exciting beery things happening in our region. 

We start out in Fredericton, New Brunswick, this week with Trailway Brewing who have a few updates for the masses. First up is Founder of the Feast, a brand new barrel aged barleywine. Aged in 28 year-old single malt barrels from Glenora Distillery, it brings a lot of complex flavours of malt, toffee and raisins. While it is 11.9%, it’s also very drinkable and smooth with the strong undertone of malt and barrel-derived oak flavours. Balanced with some Cascade and Magnum hops, this comes in at 74 IBU but presents as much less bitter. It is available in bottles in Fredericton and Saint John locations. We recommend trying this one at close to room temperature to get the most of the complex flavours. Next up is a new version of The Blend, their 5.3% Smoothie Sour, but this batch is a mixed berry flavour featuring blueberry, blackberry, strawberry and raspberry. Each can has about 200 grams of the berry blend, which still contains plenty of sugar, so make sure to keep them cold! Look for this in cans now at all Trailway locations. Last up from Trailway is a holiday event running until December 13th. The 12 Days of Giftmas is a special at both locations where every purchase you make enters you in a draw for dinner, an AirBNB night, gas cards and more. 

Hopping up to Newfoundland, Quidi Vidi Brewery has an exciting collaboration with Food Culture Place founders and authors. Bog & Barrens is a sweet gale and cranberry porter. As a Newfoundland-inspired beer, the collaboration with Lori McCarthy and Marsha Tulk is meant to follow their whole ethos: reviving, rejoicing and reinventing Newfoundland food. Sweet Gale is a floral herb frequently used in soups and cooking, while the cranberries are also local. The beer is a 5.3%, drinkable, dark and sweet release that will be available at NLC locations and convenience stores around the island. 

We head back to Nova Scotia where Garrison Brewing has some seasonal offerings making a return. First up is  the welcomed return of Spruce Beer. This strong ale uses local spruce and fir tips from Meander River Farm along with blackstrap molasses from Crosby’s. This historic style is a malty, complex, full-bodied, and warm offering that is perfect for the season. Balanced out with Centennial hops, the clean bitterness and warming flavours come together in a 7.3% robust ale. This is the first time we’re getting this release in cans and will be available only at the two Garrison locations at the Seaport and The Oxford Taproom. Also available at both taprooms is the return of their holiday glassware. There are a few different variations with various quotes from Holiday movies. They’re $8 and also available online for shipping and delivery. 

Staying in Halifax, and with OG breweries from the great craft beer expansion of 1997, Propeller is bringing us a brand new Cold IPA, Summit. This is a single hop IPA, with a cooler fermentation (hence the “cold IPA” designation) that is made to showcase the experimental HBC 586 hop. The hop variety itself is from Hop Breeding Company (a collaboration John I Haas and Yakima Chief Ranches). HBC 586 is recommended to be used as a whirlpool addition to bring big fruit flavours of mango, guava, lychee and citrus. This one ends up as a crisp, clean 6.1% and 65 IBU and it  is available today in all Prop Shops, online for delivery, and at private HRM stores. It will hit select NSLC locations in the coming weeks. 

From cold and crisp, to chocolatey and rich, HRM’s North Brewing has a sweet new treat for us this week. Black Forest Cake is a dessert stout in the brewery’s best effort to make a liquid cake. Starting out with a full-bodied stout using toasted oats for creaminess and dark malts for a rich flavour. It was then conditioned on 30kg of French brandy-steeped cherries from Noggins Farm and six pounds of cacao nibs from Rousseau Chocolatier. All together you get a 6% full stout that is very smooth, slightly fruity and great aromas of chocolate, berries and molasses. This is canned and available at all three North locations and online for delivery and shipping. 

Sticking in Nova Scotia, Tanner Brewing continues to bring frequent releases of unique older styles, styles so unique and/or old that we, beer geeks that we are, haven’t even heard of them! Foch is a 7% harvest saison fermented on Marechal Foch grape skins from Grand Pré Winery. The grape skins bring flavours of dark berry and, along with their saison yeast, a bit of spice to match the 25 IBU bitterness. This one comes out in 500ml bottles directly from the brewery; make sure you check out their delivery schedule from Bridgewater up to Halifax.

Burnside Brewing has a very exclusive release out of their Antigonish location, Oak Manor. They’ve got a Dry-Hopped Cream Ale at 5% that brings some tropical flavours and aromas to the light, crushable, slightly malty cream ale style. Teaming up for the dry-hop party are Citra, Moteuka and Rakau, not hops you’d normally associate with a cream ale, but an excellent explanation for the citrus and tropical party going on. There is only one keg of this at Oak Manor, so try it while you can! And great news, pints are a-flowing at their Common location at The Hub shopping centre in Truro!

One of our favourite ongoing series and hidden gems has always been Annapolis Cider and their Something Different cider series.They have a new one on tap in Wolfville, with Something Different Pink Pamplemousse. Not only is it one of our favourite French words to say, but this cider with its pink colour and puckering flavour really highlights the grapefruit. This is a complex cider, using a blend of three liquids, a grapefruit forward hop ferment (that steeped on lavender flower for over a week), an arrested strawberry wine ferment (that was less than half fermented) and a bit of raspberry juice. All together this comes out as at 6.9% with notes of berry and lavender, that is slightly sour and tart. Try this on tap while you can! Further, as always, $0.50 from each Something Different growler fill goes directly to a charity and this one will support Chrysalis House, a safe and non-judgmental environment providing shelter and outreach services for women and children.

Staying in the ciderverse, we have the latest from Mauzy in Newfoundland. All For A Laugh is a “Maple Sap Piquette.” This release from the 2022 season uses a pomace mix of their Mt Scio and Southern Shore apples that was rehydrated with maple sap from the Burin Peninsula. The mixture was macerated for seven days and conditioned and aged for eight months with dolgo crabapple juice. This finished at a 4.3% ABV and 36 cases of 341ml bottles were produced. Check out their website for shipping and delivery.  

You may be aware of the Christmas Tree that the province of Nova Scotia sends to the city of Boston every year as a symbol of thanks for the aid and kindness provided by Bostonians in the aftermath of the Halifax Explosion in 1917, but you may not be aware of the beery collaboration going on between Harpoon Brewery and Big Spruce Brewing in a similar spirit. For a couple of years now, Big Spruce has released From Nova Scotia With Love around this time each year. This year they also welcomed BS alumnus Matt Wanamaker and his current brewery, The People’s Pint, from Greenfield MA, to take part. In contrast with some other year over year collaborations, rather than making the same beer every time, they have some fun and switch it up! This year the operative style is imperial stout, but with the riders “barrel aged” and “chocolate molé.” The barrel aging was courtesy of Glenora Distillery whiskey barrels, and the molé flavours were driven by Just Us! organic hot chocolate powder with chili spice in the kettle, and then some cayenne added during fermentation. Brewed using techniques to drive a big silky mouthfeel, the additional residual complex sugars will ideally make for a beer that ages well in the can. So maybe grab a few, some to enjoy now on a cold night in front of a warm fire, and a couple to sample over the coming months or even years.

If you’re not in the Annapolis Valley, Lazy Bear Brewing in Smith’s Cove, NS, might not be on your radar. They’re one of those breweries that have steadily focused on serving their local area and if some of their beer manages to escape to the big city, well, hopefully that’s a good thing for everyone. But if you’re in the HRM and are interested in trying some beers you might not have been able to get your hands on before, Lazy Bear is shipping to the city on December 13th. You can place your order online by noon on December 12th for pickup the next day between 4 and 5:15pm at the Windsor Street Sobeys. One of the beers you might be able to order is their latest, Colossal, a Belgian tripel; bottle conditioned and 9.4% ABV, best to make sure you’re not scheduled to operate any heavy machinery after drinking one!

Coming ‘round the horn of the southwestern portion of NS from the Valley to the South Shore, this week sees the re-release of a beer from the past out of Shelburne, NS, but also out of Truro, NS. In 2019 the last Boxing Rock Black Box Challenge on record (hint hint to Henry & Emily!) awarded the big prize to Hello Darkness, a Schwarzbier brewed by Truro brewer Jana Dellapinna, who has since gone on to great success, opening the recently expanded Truro Brewing Co. It’s that time of year when dark beers come out of the woodwork, so what better time for Boxing Rock to put out another batch of Hello Darkness? Dark malts, chocolate and spice on the nose, and a soft bitterness give way to a smooth mouthfeel followed by the characteristically dry finish you expect from a lager. Find this one at the source, no doubt Local Source at Windsor and Almon in Halifax, and, hopefully, wherever else you go for your BR fix. If you grab one, whilst you enjoy it you might speculate on whether we’ll see Brian Harvey’s Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire or Grafted or acbbaaron’s Oh Snap! make a return as well [Ed. note: please allow us a little bit of shameless self-promotion there along with another hint hint to Henry & Emily 😉 ]

We’ve got something beery for you on Agricola Street in Halifax this week, and then nearby in the West End as well:

Mark your calendars, beer nerds! Next Thursday December 14th, The Stillwell Freehouse will be pouring six different draft Lambics from Oud Beersel. As a part of this delicious event, they are hosting an official screening of the new lambic-loving 2023 documentary, Bottle Conditioned. The doc is an exploration into blenders, brewers, and the rise in popularity of the lambic style. You can call the Freehouse or send them a DM on IG to book a table in the back room for the 6pm showing of the movie!

Here are the 6 draft lambics they’ll be offering:

  • Oude Lambiek
  • Oude Lambic – 3 Year
  • Kriekenlambiek
  • Rabarber Lambiek
  • Rozenlambiek
  • Earl Grey Lambic

Our friends at 2 Crows are getting very close to opening their second location. As we’ve noted before, it’s in the West End of Halifax on Oxford/Cork streets (next to On The Mat and the former location of 4Cats Art Studio); Yeah Yeah’s Pizza has moved from their Barrington Street location to join them. They will be open next week, as they aim to do a soft opening if all goes to plan, and we can share their opening tap list for next week as they were so kind to share. Featuring ten taps from 2 Crows, a Sourwood cider and a Goodmore Kombucha, 2 Crows Oxford (official name) has 12 taps to serve the people!

Here are the ten 2 Crows offerings:

  • AC Light Lager
  • Pollyanna – Northeast IPA
  • Classic – Maritime Dry Stout
  • Fantacity – Belgian Wheat 
  • Jamboree Strawberry & Guava – Sour
  • Jamboree Blueberry & Lemon – Sour
  • Perfect Revelation – New England IPA
  • Home & Home – collaboration with Lone Oak – Hazy IPA w/ wine grapes
  • Battery Power – Hazy IPA
  • Letna – Bohemian Pilsner

Keep your eyes peeled on their social media and watch out for a soft opening and grand opening within the next week!

And a couple last items before we send you on your way for the weekend:

The Holiday releases continue up in Newfoundland, as we’ve got a few returning seasonals from a pair of Newfoundland breweries. First up is Rough Waters Brewing out of Deer Lake with Captain Gingersnap. This is a Gingerbread Milk Stout with that full bodied stout feeling, lactose added, and some additions of ginger, vanilla, cinnamon and cloves. This is canned, 5.9% ABV, and available now!

Next up is a pair of Holiday IPAs from Baccalieu Trail Brewing out of Bay Roberts. While the beers themselves are not holiday themed recipes, they’ve had a makeover on the label designs for the season. First up is Mad Crowd, a hazy IPA packed with Citra, Mosaic and Cascade hops giving you a lot of juice in a highly drinkable 5.5% brew, and sporting a nice red label.

Next up is Loud Crowd, a double dry hopped double IPA (DDHDIPA for short?). Sporting a festive green label, this version features generous hopping and dry-hopping of BRU-1, Citra Spectrum and Galaxy hops. They said they’ve really pushed their equipment for maximum hop saturation and this clocks in at 7.5%. Both of these are available now directly from the brewery. 

And for those of you visiting Halifax over the next few weeks, make sure to pop into Bishop’s Cellar, as they’ve had lots of beer-y treats pop onto their shelves from Bellwoods, Fairweather and Willibald. Over the next few weeks they’ll be getting in their usual imports from Chimay and Lindemans as well as Delirium Tremens mini-kegs, so keep an eye out as you stock up for your holiday wine and beer!