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Friday Wrap-Up for April 12, 2024 – News from Bishop’s Cellar, Banished, Bannerman, Iron Rock, Landwash, Boomstick, Bootleg, Libra, Nomad, 2 Crows, and NL Craft Beer Festival

Posted by acbbchris on 2024-04-12
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, 2 Crows Oxford, Banished Brewing, Bannerman Brewing, Bishop's Cellar, Boomstick Brewing, Bootleg Brew Company, Enjoy Nomad, Iron Rock Brewing Co., Landwash Brewery, Libra Non-Alcoholic Beer, Newfoundland Craft Beer Festival. Leave a Comment

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.

Friday Wrap-Up for January 5, 2024 – News from Hardisty, Truro, Libra, NOMAD, Garrison, Gahan, Big Spruce, Lake City, 2 Crows, Stillwell and more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2024-01-05
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge, CBANS, Enjoy Nomad, Gahan Atlantic Home Brew Challenge, Garrison Brewing, Hardisty Brewing, Lake City Cider, Libra Non-Alcoholic Beer, Stillwell Brewing, TrailWay Brewing, Truro Brewing Company. Leave a Comment

Happy 2024! We hope you were able to find a bit of relaxation and community these past few weeks, whether it be with (or away from) family, friends, pets, nature, or alone with a great book, podcast, or however you felt most at ease. We were fortunate to do a combination of all of those, and are thankful for each other and for you, our faithful readers. We missed a few new releases while we were away, and we’ll of course miss others in the future, so don’t be shy about letting us know some great cider and beer news that’s happening in your neck of the woods. The best way is via email, but you can also DM or tag us on Instagram to get our attention. This week’s post is short and sweet, as we, and the breweries, ease their way into the New Year. As always, please support local when and if you’re able, especially during these traditionally slower months for producers and restaurants and bars. Support in moderation, of course!

Just before year-end, Hardisty Brewing opened their taproom in Cole Harbour, Dartmouth. Graduating from production at their home nearby, Char and Laura have brought in Amber to complete the brewing team on their expanded equipment in the new space. 230 litre batches are now possible, thanks to the equipment they picked up from Truro Brewing Company’s own recent expansion. The Hardisty taproom is fully equipped with a half-dozen taps, and an extensive selection of meat and cheese to build your own CHARcuterie board (sorry, couldn’t resist!), and a full retail shop for your take-away needs. Keep an eye on Hardisty’s website and social media for updates, and pop by their location at 958 Cole Harbour Rd, Tuesday to Saturday, from noon til 8 PM. Congratulations again!

A little bit of a change this week, as we highlight some non-alcoholic products from the region, as we know many of you (and us) are taking a little breather from booze in January. You’re already aware of the Libra line produced by Upstreet Craft Brewing, and we were introduced to NOMAD Pilsner, and more recently Witbier, “brewed” by the fine folks at Tatamagouche Brewing. This week saw the launch of another in the region, Instead, produced for Garrison Brewing. For sale now from their shops, and soon at private stores in HRM, the Blonde and IPA are both flavourful, crisp, and clean, you’ll never even notice there’s no alcohol!

For those looking for a bevvie with another flavour profile, don’t forget about Lake City Cider’s line of non-alcoholic ciders, which happen to be on sale this week!

And if you’re looking for a bit more in both alcohol or character, Trailway Brewing’s Hu Jon Hops Ultra will fit the bill! At just 1.5% ABV, it’s chock-full of hops, and raring to go!

If you are someone who is already an experienced homebrewer, or one of the lucky group of folks gifted a kit or equipment over the Holidays, let us tell you about a couple brewing competitions that you can enter, to receive some honest feedback and guidance on improving your craft. Or win fabulous prizes; that could happen too!

Prince Edward Island’s Gahan House is once again sponsoring the Atlantic Home Brew Challenge, which is open to amateur brewers in any of the four Atlantic Provinces. Celebrating their presence that started in New Brunswick, and has spread to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and most recently Newfoundland and Labrador, Gahan is looking for folks to submit their best Best Bitter, or Spice, Herb, and Vegetable Beer. While you have until March 2nd to drop off the beer to your local Gahan House, we highly recommend signing up today to ensure you do not miss out on the opportunity! The top beers in each category will win cash prizes, with the Best in Show also winning the opportunity and honour of brewing their beer on a big scale! Former winners have gone on to fame and fortune in their own right, and you could be the next to wear the crown! More details are available at the Challenge website above.

Meanwhile, across the Northumberland Strait (or near enough), Nyanza, Cape Breton’s Big Spruce Brewing is hosting the latest in what we believe to be the longest-running homebrew competition in the Maritimes. Now up to the 11th edition, this year’s official title is 11th Annual Homebrew Challenge: Pomona vs Elysium. A face off featuring two brand new (really really brand new, very few commercial breweries have used these) yeast strains from Escarpment Labs, homebrewers are being challenged to make their best IPA. Twenty-five pouches of each strain were available and to date 36 total pouches have been claimed. That means there’s room for fourteen more entrants. A winner for each strain will be crowned and a batch of each winning beer will be brewed on Big Spruce’s pilot system for province-wide distribution. Check the linked official Facebook page for the event for all the details you need!

While our friends at 2 Crows Brewing are enjoying the recent opening of 2 Crows Oxford, their birthday is right around the corner. January 27th will mark their 7th Anniversary with an all day event at the Brunswick Street brewery. There will be 7 new anniversary beers, including collaborations with OK Sea Salt, Yeah Yeah’s Pizza and some returning favourites and a new mystery beer. Food will be served at noon by Luke’s Small Goods and when 8 PM rolls around, it’s time for the beats to drop, as Skunk Motel, Pavel Stroke and June Body will be playing their tunes. As usual, there are no tickets, reservations or cover. Stay tuned to the brewery’s social media for any updates (Sour Sunday anyone?) or changes and we’ll be sure to include a reminder the week of. 

As they have every year for the last half-decade or so, many of the member breweries of CBANS have once again converged to produce a collaborative beer for the year. This year we feel like they’re doing it a little earlier than usual, but we also suspect that’s got to do with the beer and where it’s being brewed. This week saw 30+ folks from 15+ breweries converge on Kempt Road and Stillwell Brewing for this year’s Together We Brew, where they put together a ((possibly double-)decocted, natch) batch of something that’s destined to be called Export Lager. Though it won’t be available until spring, for long-term cold-conditioning reasons, when it is you’ll be able to find it around the province at various breweries, NSLC stores, and private stores as well. Look for our announcement of its availability and tasting notes then! And special thanks to Stillwell Brewing for hosting, Brew Culture, Escarpment Labs, and Shoreline Malting for ingredients support, and (eventually) Hart Printing for the cans!

Friday Wrap-Up for December 15, 2023 – News from 2 Crows, Rough Waters, Lone Oak, Burnside, Schoolhouse, Tanner, Nomad, Tire Shack, Trailway, Big Spruce, Bannerman, Propeller, North and Stillwell!

Posted by acbbdamian on 2023-12-15
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, 2 Crows Oxford, Bannerman Brewing, Big Spruce Brewing, Burnside Brewing Company, Canadian Beer News, Enjoy Nomad, Lone Oak Brewing, North Brewing, Propeller Brewing, Rough Waters Brewing, Schoolhouse Brewery, Stillwell Beer Bar, Tanner & Co Brewing, Tire Shack Brewing, TrailWay Brewing. 5 comments

‘Tis the season (or saison) as they say, and as it’s only 10 more sleeps ‘til the big day, we’re all busy, busy, busy, hence the later than usual post! As a programming note here, we very likely won’t be doing wrap-up posts the next two weeks, but we are planning to have a special post going up in the meantime. So let’s get onto some quick hits about the beer news in the region for this weekend so you can tackle your to-do lists!

We’ll start out with our friends at 2 Crows opening their second location, 2 Crows Oxford. As we’ve noted before, it’s in the West End of Halifax on Oxford/Cork streets (next to On The Mat and in the former location of 4Cats Art Studio); Yeah Yeah’s Pizza has moved from their Barrington Street location to join them for slices and whole pies, alongside a full taplist. They soft-opened a week ago and have done some industry and newsletter subscriber nights, but this Saturday is their grand opening! The taproom will be open 11 AM until 11 PM with the kitchen open from 2 PM until 9:30 PM. Featuring ten taps from 2 Crows, a Sourwood cider and a Goodmore Kombucha, 2 Crows Oxford has 12 taps to serve the people! There are no reservations at this time, so show up for a slice to go, a slice to stay, a pint to stay, beer to go, whatever mix and match combo you desire!

Here are the ten 2 Crows offerings to start:

  • 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

In Deer Lake, Rough Waters Brewing is celebrating their birthday! Being open for four years is a great accomplishment and we’re happy they’re still around. As a celebration for the season and anniversary, they have a new barrel aged saison, High Tide. For this year it is a cherry saison that was brewed and then hung out for a year in a single malt whiskey barrel. This clocks in at 7% and is in a 750ml bottle. Looking for this in shops around Newfoundland from the east to west coasts of the province.

South we go to PEI’s evergrowing brewery. Lone Oak has a brand new release that is right on point with what the people are drinking. Nocturnal is a German-inspired dark lager. Brewed with German Pilsner malt, this dark lager is 5.2% and has some hints of caramel, while being smooth, dry and easily drinkable. This is available on tap at their three locations (Borden-Carleton, Milky Way and Fox Meadow) and available in cans to go from the Cold Beer Store at Milky Way and the main taproom in Borden. (And if you’re not from the area, like us, Milky Way is the little retail area by the main Cow’s Creamery along the Trans-Canada Highway just west of Charlottetown!)

Continuing south to Nova Scotia, Burnside Brewing (formerly Spindrift, in case you forgot!) has just launched a new small batch series called The Brew Lab. This series won’t be tied to a certain style, but gives the brewery folks a chance to try new flavours and styles and test them out on customers. The first in this series is Hazy Pale Ale and it’s available now. The baby sibling to Sea Glass (Burnside’s New England IPA), this Hazy Pale Ale is 4.5% with a lush tropical and citrusy hop character from Sabro, El Dorado, Citra, Eclipse and Comet. While keeping that strong flavour, the bitterness is medium at 35 IBU. The beer will be on tap at their 3 taproms (Dartmouth, Truro and Antigonish) and will also be available at the three private non-Bishop’s Cellar stores (Harvest in Dartmouth, West Side in Clayton Park and Rockhead on Windsor Street on the peninsula). 

Headed up Magazine Hill and off to Windsor the town, Schoolhouse Brewery has a new release that is also in the IPA Family. Blackboard is a Black IPA featuring Amarillo and Cascade hops. Using a malt bill with a combination of crystal malts, it weighs in on the heavier side at 7% but is still crisp and refreshing with a solid bitterness and bit of sweetness. It will be available on tap and cans from the brewery, on tap at various locations, and cans at the private stores mentioned above. 

The folks from Tatamagouche and their Nomad non-alcoholic brand are back! After a very popular initial run, they’re back with a new style and the launch of Nomad Witbier. All the usual flavours from the Belgian classic, namely coriander, orange peel, and elderflower highlight this refreshing and zesty beer, but in a non-alc 0.5% brew in a 355ml format! Check this one out online or directly from the brewery. 

Tanner Brewing is giving us two new releases before the Holidays. First up is a Hopfenweisse, a hybrid version of a German wheat beer and an IPA. Expect some yeast-driven banana character along with some hop derived tropical fruit and citrus notes with a 5.5% body.  This is canned and available from the brewery’s two locations and online. Second up, is a Baco Noir Sparkling Mead, using local honey fermented on Baco Noir grape skins from Grand Pré Winery. This is a 5.9% sparkling mead with lots of berry and cherry notes, which pair nicely with the sweetness of the honey. Find this in 500ml bottles online for delivery or at their two locations!

Over to New Brunswick where Tire Shack has a new one out in Moncton. If you’re like some of us, December means buying boxes of tangerines and Tire Shack’s new beer is bringing the festivity. Cranberry Tangerine Sour is a new release that uses those two exact fruits in a festive, drinkable sour. This is canned and on tap directly from the brewery. 

A short drive up to Fredericton takes us to Trailway where they’re headed in the other direction with their latest seasonal release. Italian Stout is exactly that! An 11% bold, rich, chocolate and hazelnut flavoured imperial stout. Using additions of both (although for the hazelnuts, it’s just the extract so the typical allergens are removed), this should bring the flavours of those delicious gold foil-wrapped holiday treats that get devoured during this time of year. Rich and decadent, this is a limited release so grab it in cans from their Fredericton and Saint John locations.

A few pieces of beer news out of Big Spruce this week, as they have both a new one and a returning release. Starting with that new-new, Just Shilling is an 80 Shilling Scottish Ale. You may know this style as Scottish Export Ale and it is a very drinkable deep copper, malty sweet, and smooth brew. At 4.8% it’s a lovely sipper for this time of year. Next up is the return of Ykpaïha (we’ll let you figure out the pronunciation on that one!), their Ukrainian Pilsner. It features the Ukrainian Zlato Polissya hop and is a crisp, bitter beer that is floral, herbal and well balanced at 4.9%. Both of these beers are canned and available at the brewery or online. 

Bannerman Brewing has a returning favourite with Aces High. A rice lager, it is a collaboration with Namjim, the Thai dining lads who run the kitchen at Bannerman. This is a 4.5% beer with toasted rice and dry-hopped with Sorachi Ace. It is canned and available at the brewery and around the Avalon peninsula. 

A fan favourite is back from Propeller Brewing today. Revolution is their approachable Imperial Stout that is once again in cans. At 8%, this is a rich, dark, robust beer that has dark fruit, coffee and chocolate flavours and is well balanced with hop bitterness. it is available at all 3 Prop Shops, online for delivery, and Harvest, West Side, and Rockhead. It will also be hitting select NSLC locations. 

Capping off the returning beers is Alloy from North Brewing. A Champagne IPA, this is one of their more popular seasonal releases as the IPA  flavour and body come through with a very dry finish. Using a lovely combination of Vic Secret and Huell Melon hops, the flavours are predominantly pineapple and melon with some herbaceous notes. It’s 6% and available on tap at all three locations and in cans as well, in store and online.

Piggybacking off of Thursday’s Lambic and a Movie fun at the Freehouse…. Stilly HQ is back for its annual Belgianfest! On Saturday December 16th, from Noon until late, Bar Stillwell will be featuring Belgian bottle pours and draft selections from Boon, Del Dolle, De Struise, Fantome, Lambiek Fabriek, Oud Beersel and more. We also expect there to be some treats on the food menu side as well (duck fat popcorn is back!). There are no tickets and no cover for this one, they just ask you to wear some Holiday swag or ugly sweaters to get into the festive spirit.

As we finished drafting up this week’s post, we noticed the social media release from Canadian Beer News. Greg Clow will be shutting down his beloved site and it’s hard to capture in words just how much the industry and consumers have loved (and will miss!) his work. Since 2008, it’s been a completely individual effort from Greg to keep up with the ever-growing and changing industry on a national level. Seeing as a group of us sometimes struggle to keep up with just Atlantic Canada, we can speak directly to how herculean his effort has been. His dedication on a daily basis is something that so many of us have relied on and we often marvelled at how one person could do all that work themselves. Our glasses are raised to Greg and we’ll pour one out for his stalwart site. We also absolutely agree with his parting words: remember to support your favorite independent breweries through the holidays and into the new year; many of them need it now more than ever.