Boxing Rock Brewing

All posts tagged Boxing Rock Brewing

We don’t know about you folks, but we blinked and somehow we’re already a third of the way through February; maybe last weekend’s snow did something to accelerate that. Speaking of which, many breweries in the region lost some business days to getting dug out, so bear that in mind when you’re picking up beer for the big foosball game this weekend (see more on that below). Also coming up soon is Valentine’s Day, which really has nothing to do with beer unless you want it to. Anyways, enjoy this week’s round up of beer news in Atlantic Canada.

Chester Basin’s darling, Tanner & Co has a brand new beer available this week, dipping into the dark and delicious end of the spectrum. At 5.7% ABV, Oatmeal Stout is robust, with roast, coffee, and chocolate notes coming though thanks to the dark malts used in the mash. The addition of oats helps smooth out the mouthfeel, lending a wonderful creamy texture. The ensemble will have you looking forward to that next sip (and next pint!). Available now in both their Chester Basin brewery location, as well as their Chester taproom, and for delivery online through their shop, too!

Speaking of dark and roasty beer, Moncton’s Tire Shack has brought back their Belgian Coffee Quad this week. Melding the biggest of the Belgian styles, known for its dark fruit, caramel, and a bit of sweetness, with some great coffee roasted by nearby Down East Coffee. That combination, as well as the 9.0% ABV, will have you praising the heavens for this lovely brew. Pop by 190 John Street to see their recently expanded taproom, and grab a pint and cans before this seasonal disappears.

On to Corner Brook, where Boomstick Brewing calls 55 West Street home. They’ve decided to kick up the hops in a big way with the release of Double Knit ImperialIPA. A light base of Pilsner malt and flaked wheat supports the absolute jumbo weight of hops used in the beer. Idaho 7, Simcoe, and Mosaic have been knitted together for multiple layers of tropical, citrus, resin, and much more. On tap right now, available in cans as well, with those being distributed on the Good Beer Highway across the province soon!

It being February, the annual Nova Scotia Lobster Crawl is up and running on the South Shore of the province, and, as is traditional, the craft brewers in the area are getting involved. This week we can tell you that Boxing Rock Brewing has put together a new brew for the occasion this year, with a name that’s a riff on one of their most popular beers. Shuck Off is a blonde ale coming in at 5% ABV. Although they’re describing it as “LOBSTERIFIC” it contains no actual lobster. That said, with a light and crisp body, it’s the perfect refreshing pairing for rich, and often garlic-butter-soaked lobster! Check out all the events at the official website linked above and grab yourself some Shuck Off at all Boxing Rock locations.

It’s time for the Superb Owl Section of this post. Many breweries have some deals on now until Sunday February 11th. You like deals? We like deals. You like the Superb Owl? We do, too! Check out your favourite local craft breweries offering some special deals for the big game. These deals are directly from the breweries, so go to the source for your stuff if you can. 

Breton Brewing

  • Lager –  Mixed 4 Pack (473ml) for $12
  • Lager – Mixed Flat (24 x 473ml) for $50
  • Black Angus IPA – Two 355ml 6 Packs for $30

2 Crows Brewing

  • AC Light Lager – Flat (24 x 473ml) for $50

Garrison Brewing

  • Tall Ship Light – Case (12 x 355ml) for $25

Propeller Brewing

  • Prime Lager – Flat (24 x 355ml) for $40
  • Azacca – Flat (24 x 355ml) for $50

Burnside Brewing

  • Toller Lager, Gold & Lite – Case (12 x 355ml) for $22

Trailway Brewing

  • Fetch Lager – $4 off a Case (12 x 355ml)

North Brewing

  • 15% Off – Newsletter code

REMINDER: Not every brewery is big enough to produce beers like this that can be brewed in quantity and sold at minimal margin or even a loss to drive cash flow. So by all means, spend some of your craft beer dollars on these deals, but maybe save a couple of simoleons to pick up something from a smaller producer for whom every can counts?

We’ll take a minute to highlight one big party going on Sunday evening, up in Paradise, NL, where Banished Brewing is doing up The Banished Bowl, with tailgate starting at 6pm leading into a private watch party. Tickets for the event are $45 each, which includes entry, 2 beer tickets, 1 meal ticket, a take-home mug, and exclusive access to additional beers from Toronto’s Bellwoods and Halifax’s 2 Crows. One of the Banished joints you’ll be able to enjoy this weekend is the return of Makes Sense, their hazy IPA, which is, “ultra fresh and tasting insane.” So Making Sense is nonsensically good, apparently!!

Here’s our last few quick hits to send you on your way for the weekend. Go Ninefs!! Yay Chiefers!! Happy Tay Tay!!

If you know anything from the last couple of years of craft beer trends, it’s that Lager is Life. Tusket Falls Brewing have two locations in Tusket and Halifax, and both are featuring three new lagers. While they brew up a new one in the tank now, they currently have Czech Pils, German Pils and Helles all on tap. The Czech is featured on a Lukr side pull and all beers are available at both locations. Let your noses and tongues pick up the classic hops of Saaz and Hallterteauer Mittelfruh along with classic continental malts from Raven and Weyermann. They’re hoping to have these available all the time, so check them out if you’re around either location.

As mentioned above, there’s a deal on some Breton Brewing lagers for a football game. If you’ve been following along with their Light Lager series, you’ll be happy (or sad) that this is the fourth and final release. Breton Lager #4 is a Light Lager at 4%. That’s all we can tell you! It’s crisp and light and available now, and as part of one of their Superb Owl deals mentioned above. We’re looking forward to seeing which of the light lager variants will be the go-to for a bigger batch to feed summer thirsts across Cape Breton Island and beyond.

Halifax’s Unfiltered Brewing has a re-release a few years after its debut in 2021. This is a memorial brew to the late Paul McKinnon and Battleship PM-67 is back and available now as a tribute and memorial to the brewery’s late friend and patron. This double IPA is made with the Cryo Pop hop blend (from Yakima Chief) and is packed with tropical tastes and flavours, including pineapple, peach, and grapefruit. This is 7.5% and available at the brewery on tap and in cans. 

Break out the Silver and Black (no the Raiders aren’t in the big game!) because Bearstream is back: Trailway Brewing’s tasty West Coast IPA is back with some tweaks. Still using classic West Coast hops, this new batch beefs up the malt bill to add some toastiness and doughy body not traditionally in the style. Still piney, resinous, and citrusy, it still has the West Coast bitterness, but with a bit more malt balance in a 7% package. It’s available now from the brewery and online. 

Faithful patrons of Nyanza’s Big Spruce will be excited about the latest beer returning to taps and cans. Amärzen Grace is back and this Märzenbier is true to the traditional German lager style. German for “March Beer”, this beer is a malty, full-bodied lager that is very drinkable with notes of toffee and dried fruit. It is 6% and available on tap for growlers and pints and in cans from the brewery (in-person or online!).

The returning favourites keep on rolling as Village Green brings back one of their classic brews, Dark Mild. Forever drinkable at 3.5%, the beer has a good body with notes of chocolate and a nice sweet malty-drinkable everlasting flavour. Get this one on tap or cans to go from the Cornwall, PEI brewery.  

From the Saltbox Brewing crew, we’ve got news of a brand new location launching this summer. In addition to their other Nova Scotia taprooms in Wolfville, Mahone Bay, Bridgewater, and Lunenburg, this will be a Tantallon Taproom at the Shining Waters Marina. More details will be arriving soon, but this planned partnership will launch later this year.

Is your January still dry, or strangely wet due to the weather? Unless you’re in certain parts of Cape Breton, New Brunswick or Newfoundland, it has been a weird weather start to the year with more wind and rain on its way this weekend. Look at us, typical Maritimers, always talking about the weather. Let’s talk about our other favourite thing, beer (and beer adjacent drinks, events, jobs, media, news, etc.)!

We’re kicking off this week’s beer news with an oldie but a goodie. While we’ve been celebrating lots of anniversaries and birthdays of breweries over the last few months, Pump House Brewery is celebrating their 25th year! Officially opened in September of 1999, they’re kicking off year 25 with a new beer. If you used to show up to parties or barbecues with that classic 12 pack of bottles from the NSLC/ANBL/NLC/PEILC, there is no doubt some nostalgia you have for this brewery and their big anniversary. Who doesn’t remember their first Blueberry Ale?! While we can’t believe time flies so quickly, their new beer is a far cry from those early days. Evolution is a Brut IPA that finishes clean and crisp, but still packs a lot of flavour thanks to the hop bill of Warrior, Citra, Simcoe and El Dorado. Packaged in cans, it’s 6% for an approachable beer that should appeal to all of their customers over time. Look for this in all Pump House locations and potentially some other retail locations as it rolls out over the next few weeks. 

Last week we highlighted some non-alc options for the people (Dry January or not!) and North Brewing decided to join the party in their own way. More in the category of “low ABV” than “no ABV,” Pocket IPA is an ultra light IPA coming in at 2.5% but still high on flavour and body. This small little buddy is brewed with pale malt, Vienna malt, and oats. For the hops, its single hop star is Mosaic.  With low bitterness, medium carbonation, and lots of hop aroma, this is an anytime crusher that can suit a lot of different purposes and activities, and you can put it in your pocket anywhere you go with its 355ml format. It’s available now at all of the North locations and their online store. 

The winter months are classically the time for darker beers and their associated roastier flavors and Dildo Brewing is leaning into that by releasing a brace of beers in collaboration with their neighbours around the other side of Trinity Bay, Trinity Coffee Company. First up is Cappuccino Stout, featuring oats in the grist for a smooth mouthfeel to pair with the rich cappuccino taste thanks to an infusion of Trinity coffee beans. At 5.4% you could probably go full Italian style and have one for breakfast! On the other end of the spectrum, at least the color spectrum, we’ve also got White Stout, a beer for those who like “darker” flavors but aren’t into the slight astringency that can come with classic roasty stout ingredients. Coming in at 5.8% ABV, it’s got plenty of classic stout flavor, and an additional coffee kick from Trinity coffee beans. Look for both of these new releases at the Dildo merchandise shop and their Water Street bottle shop as well.

The gang at Breton Brewing in Sydney, NS, is taking some time during these cold months to prepare for the warmer ones to come. In this case that means brewing up some small batches of lager to ensure that when the sunny weather starts to hit they’ve got the ultimate light lager to put in your hand (or your beach cooler or your softball kit bag). While version #1, which was released just before the holidays, is still pouring in the taproom, the new one is ready to go on tap and in a limited number of cans. This time it’s a Mexican lager, which usually implies perhaps a bit of corn adjunct as opposed to the rice often used in the American light lager style. Crisp, light, and clean, and weighing a paltry 4.0% ABV, as you sip you can cast your mind forward to summer and how nice it might be to neck one of these after mowing the back 40.

Continuing with the Mexican theme, but switching from lager to ale, Mount Uniacke’s Party Time Brewing has done up a new recipe called Party at Mexi’s, a 5%, 35 IBU amber ale. Haligonians of a certain age may fondly remember the days when “Party at Mexi’s” was an after work tradition on Spring Garden Road. These days Mexicala Rosa’s have relocated out to Bayers Lake Business Park, but they’re still serving some of the longest-running Californian-style Mexican cuisine in the region, and now they’ll be serving a local beer to go along with it. That’s right, Party Time’s latest has been brewed for Mexi’s themselves and they’re hoping to start serving it tomorrow (Saturday, January 13th)! You may also see it also appear at Mexi’s Moncton location in the future. 

Staying in the HRM, downtown on Brunswick Street to be precise, 2 Crows has a new small batch they’ve put together for a special event at the brewery. Sickeningly Sweet was built on a blueberry and lemon sour base with a whole bunch of peaches and Nova Scotia honey added. Sweet, sour, and super fruity, it was developed with local drag star Diana B. Tease as a companion to the Canada’s Drag Race Season 4 Finale viewing party that they hosted last night. If you’re lucky, though, there will still be some of this one pouring at the taproom!

Sea Level Brewing has a new brew that has a fun accompanying video to show the process behind its production. Farmhouse Ale is their latest small batch creation that uses ingredients from their farm (just down the road from their brewery). The beer features hopes indigenous to the area that were discovered by Randy Lawrence who worked with the Harvie family (who purchased Sea Level a few years ago) to continue the use of the hops in Sea Level beer after the sale. These hops were believed to have originated with the Acadian settlers in Sheffield Mills. Additional Centennial hops were used to dial in the right bitterness and flavour. Kveik yeast was used here to bring it all together and stick with the farmhouse style that is hazy with pineapple, tangerine and pine flavours. It’s 4.6% and only available on tap at the brewery. We should note it’s also a small batch as this was the first harvest of the hops after their relocation. Try this one out now and look for it in a larger production in coming years when the hops are producing a larger yield. 

A fun contest of sorts out of Boxing Rock is our event of note for the week:

Down Shelburne way, Boxing Rock has a fun contest going on to mark Dry January’s end. To give everyone something to look forward to, they’re hosting a beer recipe contest! The goal is to design a beer that we can look forward to drinking once Dry January runs its course. 

Here’s the rub:

  1. Craft a beer recipe! (This is due 11:59 PM Atlantic Time on Monday January 15th)
  2. Create a pitch video!  (This is due 11:59 PM Atlantic Time on Thursday January 18th)
  3. Donate what you can to Feed NS. (There is a link on the application form)

If you’re the talented winner, you’ll be invited down for a brew day, given credit on the can, and provided with five cases of the end product to drink, hoard, or share with your beer-loving friends!

Check out all the details at the contest page here

Lots of places either need folks now or are looking forward to the busier months of the year; if you’re considering working in beer, peep the below for potential possibilities.

If you’re looking for work for your or someone you know, we’ve got some industry jobs in PEI, NS and Fredericton that we’re helping to get the word out!

  • Copper Bottom Brewing – Montague, PEI. They’re looking for a full-time Canning Line Operator. Check the link here to apply
  • Saltbox Brewing – Various Locations, NS. Summer Students come get your beer on. It’s only January, but they’re already looking for people to work their Mahone Bay, Bridgewater, Lunenburg and Wolfville locations for retail, packaging and events in the busy season. Check the link here to apply
  • Grimross Brewing – Fredericton, NB. They want a new bartender that can work some daytime hours. If interested, please email resumes to taproom@grimross.com.
  • Maybee Brewing – Fredericton, NB. These fine Freddy folks are in need of a part-time Taproom Server for 2-3 shifts a week, mostly evenings and weekends. You can apply in person at 559 Wilsey Rd, or email your resume to ashley@maybeebrew.com

This week we’re going to do something a little different (but something we’ll potentially do again), because there A lot of returning beers this week to breweries across the region. Coming off of the busy holiday season, it’s always nice to see what styles and old favourites are returning to the shelves and taps of our favourite breweries. Here we go with a second list! 

  • Tatamagouche Brewing
    • Apres Cream Ale, 4.5%. After taking home a Bronze at the Canadian Brewing Awards, this beer is back in 355ml cans, but now also in a 12 pack box! Grab this in-store or online.
    • Dusk Schwarzbier, 4.9%. It’s been a few years since we’ve seen this roasty, coffee and caramel-y dark lager and now it’s back in a smaller 355ml canned format! Available at the brewery and online.
  • Sourwood CiderWABAMO Hopped Session Cider, 4.0%. This crusher is back with a new and improved recipe that is a little lighter in alcohol and acidity. Highly drinkable with citrus and floral flavours and aroma, this is in 355ml cans at Bishop’s Cellar and online from the brewery. 
  • Bannerman BrewingShore Leave Dry-Hopped Fruited Sour, 5.2%. Previously available when Bannerman first opened four years ago, this drinkable sour is dry-hopped with Mosaic and conditioned on blood orange and pineapple puree. This is available at the St. John’s brewery on tap and in cans.
  • Tanner & Co. Brewing1320 Cold IPA, 6.5%. One of the popular styles of 2023, was something that Tanner has done previously. Using local malt, the hops featured in this one is where the name comes from experimental hop variety YQH 1320 which will no doubt get a trade name in the coming year. It’s known for bringing big flavours of guava, citrus, and pineapple. 
  • Banished BrewingMirrors American Lager, 5%. The crushable king returns to cans, as this crisp lager is hopped with Saaz and Hallertau Blanc. It’s available now from the brewery and cans will be going across the province of Newfoundland through the week.
  • Schoolhouse BreweryFuzzy Peach Double IPA, 7.9%. A style that’s out of ordinary for the brewery, this big banger is back for a warm, boozy winter with a peach flavour! Grab this one from the Windsor brewery on tap and in cans. 

This isn’t usually something we post about, but it’s always fun to highlight the production and behind the scenes action of our regional breweries. Since Good Robot has been settled into their new Elmsdale location for over a year, they’ve been doing more than just brewing Good Robot beer. Take a look at this YouTube video that provides insight into what they’ve got going on in terms of equipment, canning details and capabilities of the facility.

Saint John residents (Saint Johners? Sea Dogs?) rejoice! Loyalist City Brewing has a new taproom and cocktail bar right above their existing location at 60 Water Street. The Second Story brings an elevated experience for craft beer, craft cocktails, and a very modern and refined space with lovely views of the harbour and port. We can say first hand that it’s a spot to check out if you’re in town. The current hours are 5pm ‘til Midnight on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but extended hours and special events are soon to be announced on their Instagram page. Cheers to good news!

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!