Foghorn Brewing

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Here we are, we’ve leapt into March, and with March Break, Easter, and March Madness, it’s a month that flies right on by. But, today is International Women’s Day and while we want to say “why do we need this day? Isn’t everything equitable and fair across all humanity?” Nope! But we would love to see more Brave Noise, Pink Boots and women-supported and-led initiatives all year round, not just for the day. In other news, there’s a time change this weekend, just in time for March Break, so does that mean we get one hour less of drinking time? No way! We’ll keep this short and sweet, but we do want to start the news with the results from a recent homebrew competition from last week.

As they have been doing since 2013, Big Spruce has once again held their Home Brew Challenge, giving the chance for Maritime homebrewers to put their skills to the test for a chance to win bragging rights, and see a commercial batch of their homebrew recipe brewed for public consumption. This year’s competition was a chance to get an early crack at two yeasts developed by Guelph’s Escarpment Labs, Elysium and Pomona. We’ll leave the nerdy details to Escarpment, and just tell you that the competition was fierce, with 34 entries in the two categories, and the brewers taking home top honours a mix of both experienced and new to the craft. “Any Given Sunday”, as they say! Top marks go to Joël Imbeau for his 124 Conch Street fermented with Pomona and Daniel Matheson & David Morgan for their West Coast Paradise produced using Elysium. Look for these to hit the local market in the coming months, once the winners have made their way up to Nyanza for a heck of a good time!

As mentioned above, Friday, March 8th, marks International Women’s Day (IWD) and we have a few releases to highlight.

In Halifax, Propeller Brewing has two new releases from the women of Propeller. First up is the Pink Boots Dry Hopped Sour. At 4.8% this is a limited edition sour with big citrus and tropical, and a sour candy apple finish. It uses this year’s Yakima Chief Pink Boots Hop Blend to prop up the nose, which boasts beautiful aromatics from the dry hopping.

Second from Propeller is Pink Books Hazy Pale Ale. At 5% this release intends to showcase the same Pink Boots Hop Blend in an approachable style and ABV. This one uses a lot of flaked wheat and pilsner malt, along with a double dry-hop of Pink Boots.  Both of these releases are on tap only at the taprooms and Propeller Arcade. 

Also with two releases this week, Tatamagouche Brewing has their own IWD beer to kick off their duo. Yolande is an India Session Ale at 4.6% brewed by the women of the brewery. Yolande means “violet flower” and is also the namesake of a ship built in Tatamagouche in the late 19th century. This beer also uses the same Yakima Chief x Pink Boots Society 7th annual Hop Blend, which brings sweet melon, orange and mango flavours. Team Tata, like Propeller’s crew, elected to use them in an approachable style to try and highlight the hops in a light and drinkable package. A portion of all sales will be donated to the Third Place Transition House in Truro, Nova Scotia. and the Pink Boots Society Canadian Chapter.

Second up from TataBrew is the returning Collusion Double IPA. It is packed with the combination of Citra and Mosaic hops to bring flavours of tangerine, pineapple and watermelon. It is juicy, very drinkable and has light bitterness in a 7.9% package. Both of these releases are canned and available from the brewery and Bishop’s Cellar (in store or delivery for both!). 

Over to Fredericton, where Trailway has their own pair of new beers. Both are timely releases, with one being re-released for IWD and the other one for St. Patrick’s Day. Starting with the returning Physica, this is a “raspberry cream IPA” brewed with proceeds of sales being donated to Sexual Violence New Brunswick and Hestia House, local organizations supporting women subject to domestic or sexual violence.  The beer itself uses raspberry puree and El Dorado and Mosaic hops for a soft and sweet impression in a 5.6% package.

Also from Trailway is Dry Irish Stout.  At 4.8% this is a traditional creamy, balanced, and roasty stout just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Canned and available from the brewery, there will be some special kegs of this released for Paddy’s Day weekend. This is the first of the style for Trailway, so make sure to grab it in cans or on tap if you can! 

In last week’s news and following up from Big Spruce above, they are one of a pair of Atlantic Canadian breweries taking part in the grassroots International Tripel Day, which was celebrated Sunday, March 3rd. Highlighting this traditional Belgian style of beer known for being malt forward, and extremely drinkable, despite often topping 9% ABV, the Spruce’s entry is one they have brewed previously, named simply Tripel – Belgian Pale Ale. At 9.3% ABV, it has some ester-y goodness from the yeast, coming through as banana bread, light spiciness, and some sunny citrus. On the palate, it is an incredibly smooth beer with a hint of sweetness.

And just a hop, skip, and a jump (aka, ferry or plane) away is Dildo, Newfoundland, where the namesake brewery released Barrel Aged Belgian Style Tripel, a beer more than a year in the making! Brewed with a simple malt bill, the traditional monastic yeast has created some great fruity esters along with touches of pepper and clove on the nose. Twelve months of aging in oak white wine barrels allowed those characteristics come through in spades, while also providing the beer extra time to ferment completely and finish drier than others in the style. Available now exclusively at their Dildo taproom and Water Street (St. John’s) Bottle Shop, in limited quantities!

We’ve got a big collaboration brew out now for Fredericton’s three-week Burger Battle bonanza! With a brand new beer called Want Fries With That? This is a Hazy IPA that is packed with Galaxy and HBC 1019, it brings big flavours of coconut, peaches and citrus. This beer was brewed at Foghorn but in collaboration with Big Spruce, Lone Oak and Hops Connect, who together designed and produced a 6.5% and 30 IBU hazy brew. You can only get this one in New Brunswick so keep an eye out at your burger places all around Fredericton. 

Continuing in the collaboration department, we’ve got a Newfoundland East meets West release. Port Rexton hosted Deer Lake’s Rough Waters to brew up a big hoppy West Coast Double IPA. Let’s Make It Weird is 8.5% and is classically West Coast with its clear, light copper colour, citrus aroma, and some pine and woodsy notes as well. This is available at the Port Rexton taproom and in cans at their St. John’s Retail shop. 

Space Jam friends unite (no not the new one, Lebron fans) and check out the latest brew from Maybee Brewing. If you look at the label you’ll understand, but Slam Dunkel is a brand new dark lager in the classic Dunkel style with a base of Munich malt from the Fredericton brewery. With its highly drinkable notes of coffee and chocolate, it’s smooth and balanced at 4.5% and 25 IBU. This is canned and kegged, so look for this from the brewery and anywhere else you find Maybee products! 

And a few last mentions to see you on your way for the weekend:

Does Tanner put out a new beer every week? It seems like it! Pilsner is back from the brewery, using an exclusive Pilsner malt from Horton Ridge, who are continuing to expand their oeuvre to serve the local market. The malt is currently just for Tanner and is featured in this traditional German-style pilsner. It’s crisp and dry with a slightly spicy floral finish. It’s 4.8% and 35 IBU, canned and available from the brewery. 

Wolfville’s Annapolis Cider has a new Something Different on tap that is available now. Robuste is a more traditional cider, fermented in French Oak and split up and aged for another year in rum barrels and two other grades of French Oak. The apples for this were entirely heirloom varieties (like Golden Russet, no that’s not a potato!) and English cider varieties (like Dabinette) and the result is funky and strong, with a clean finish at 11%. Only available for pints and fills at the cidery, fifty cents of each refill of Something Different supports the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Halifax. Swing by to try this complex wonder!

Fusion is back from Burnside Brewing, as this big dry-hopped beer uses a mix of hops in the hazy IPA style. Fermented and dry-hopped with Callista, Ariana,and Hallertau Blanc. It’s 6.9% and unchanged from the previous recipe. It’s back for a limited time and is canned and available at all the Burnside locations.

Good day, sweet world! The winter drudge continues as we get further into January and whether you’re just looking to keep warm, or stocking up for sports, there is always beer news to be had. We’ve got some new beers, returning beers and a fan favourite event all detailed below for your reading (and future drinking) pleasure.

Kicking off in the Hub of Nova Scotia, Truro Brewing Company has a brand new addition to their fridge and taplist. Lo/Hi is a Session New England IPA that is “lo” in alcohol and “hi” in hop aroma and flavour. If the name looks familiar to you, there may have been some inspiration from The Black Keys song of the same name. The grist for this is Pilsner malt and oats, featuring hops of Galaxy and the Pink Boots Blend (the 7th Pink Boots Blend, which is a mix of Ahtanum, El Dorado, HBC 638 and Idaho 7). The beer comes in at 4% ABV and is available now in cans and on tap.

Also, the fine folks at the brewery are looking for a part time sales representative for the Truro and New Glasgow area, so if you’re interested, apply through Indeed or email your resume to trurobrewco@gmail.com

Sticking in the Nova Scotia Session section of these scribbles, Shipwright Brewing is releasing Back Home. This Session IPA is packed with a grain bill of Golden Promise, Vienna, Munich and crystal malts with some oats in there to boot. Hopped with Pahto for bittering, Cascade and Sabro join the party with their dry-hopping additions. The fermentation comes from Escarpment Labs House Ale yeast which brings it all together with lots of citrus, tropical fruit, coconut, and pineapple in a 4.7% and 37 IBU package. This is available at the taproom for pints, growlers and crowlers!

The staff out of Charlottetown’s Upstreet Brewing have a new release for the people. Every once in a while there are special staff brews and this latest one is Balanced Breakfast, an Oatmeal Coffee Stout. Brewed up by Ryan Cheverie, who is a friendly face seen behind the bar at Upstreet’s Craft Beer Corner (CBC). At 5% this beer uses a Supremo Columbian roast from Caledonia House Coffee to help with the roasted and bittersweet flavours. This beer is on tap and in cans at their Taproom and CBC in limited quantities. It’s also available on Nitro at CBC.  Grab this one today, Islanders!

Mead alert! Our favourite Chester Basin brewery, Tanner & Co Brewing, has a new mead (use that honey, baby!) out with some lovely additions. Blood Orange & Motueka Sparkling Mead uses local honey, blood orange, and Motueka hops, to balance with each other on top of the base recipe of honey fermented mead. The sweetness of honey, zip and bitterness of the hops, and citrus notes from the blood oranges all come together in a punch of sparkling flavour at 5.9%. This one is canned and available from the brewery directly to pick-up at their locations or online for delivery. 

Red alert! Fredericton’s IPA rulers, Trailway Brewing, have a brand new release out now in the form of Answers in Red, a Red IPA. Dark, bready, and slightly fruity, the hops used bring some resin and pine notes for a well balanced 6% IPA. There isn’t a lot of this style around but you can think of it as a slightly stronger and hoppier Amber Ale, like the cousin of an American IPA, but sweeter and darker. It’s canned and available at their Fredericton and Saint John locations.

And fresh off the canning line is a new beer in support of the UNB Student Union Food Bank. Food security is important for all of us, especially young folks during a critical learning phase of life. A portion of the sales of Limeaid is being donated to the Food Bank, but you can also donate yourself at the link above! This 4.8% beer saves you the trouble of putting your lime and salt in your crushable lager, it comes pre-dosed! Zesty, with a hint of salinity, but very refreshing and enjoyable, do some good this weekend and pick up some Limeaid! Like Answers in Red, cans and draught are available at both Trailway locations.

Paradise’s beer options have expanded this week, thanks to the fine folks at Banished Brewing on Maverick Place. Continuing their ode to their homebase, Paradise Town – Italian Plum has hit the shelves, and draught lines, this week. Sweet, tart, and a lovely rosy pink colour, plenty of plum character shines through in this 5.5% ABV beer. You can find it in Paradise Town itself, and hitting the shelves elsewhere on the Avalon any day now!

Sydney, NS, darling Breton Brewing is continuing their own series of beers, as they extend their experimentation in the world of cold fermentation. Breton Lager #3 is the latest in that vein, keeping the Mexican Lager style from version 2, but switching up the yeast strain. The beer remains crisp and light, and above all, drinkable! This beer, as well as Breton Lager #2, are available at the brewery and Home Delivery in both the CBRM and HRM!

O’Creek Brewing out of Moncton has a new Double IPA coming to the people! Living in a Haze is a Hazy Double IPA that is big on the tropical notes and full of juiciness. The beer is 8% but only 25 IBU and features a lovely variety of hops. All added in the whirlpool and back later for dry-hopping is a mix of Mosaic, Sabro, Vic Secret and El Dorado. This is available on tap at the taproom today and will be canned early next week!

New Beer Alert in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley! Sea Level Brewing of Port Williams and Sheffield Mills has a new Asian cuisine-inspired beer on tap today. Thai-PA is 4.6% ABV, and light in colour, but not at all light on flavour! Lemongrass, lime leaves, thai chilies, and ginger. Sounds like the perfect pairing to something you may find available at nearby Noodle Guy, or whatever you want to whip up at home. For those looking for a fun night out at their Millstone Harvest Brewhouse should definitely pop by 7 – 9 PM tonight to enjoy some live music from Sky 45. A reminder that location is at 9146 Hwy 221 in Sheffield Mills, about 10 minutes outside Port Williams.

Look up. Waaaaay up. Ragnarock Brewing out of St. Anthony, Newfoundland has a new light lager. Loki’s Blaze is a canned 4% crispy light lager that is available at The Outdoor Shoppe and Western Petroleum for locals. More deliveries will be coming soon!

Moving south of St. Anthony (most things are south of St. Anthony, really), Ninepenny Brewing out of CBS (Conception Bay South, on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland), has a brand new beer that’s even a new style for them! Seal Cove Stout is an English Stout that is the first stout they’ve ever released! It’s highly drinkable at 5% and features a full body with dark chocolate and roasted coffee notes. This is available only at the taproom for now but will be available at retail stores over the coming weeks. 

Kempt Road’s finest foam friends at Stillwell Brewing have a new, freshly canned batch of their Pale Ale. At 5.3%, this West Coast Pale Ale is classic and delicious. You can check out the history of this beer and all the details back in our September post.

Speaking of Stillwell Brewing, you may have spotted that they hosted the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia Together We Brew brewday earlier this month. That beer will be coming in a few months, coinciding with the festival of the same name, being held April 6th at Pavillion 22 on the Halifax Waterfront. Together We Brew will see more than forty breweries from across the province bringing out their best and freshest beer to share with you! There are two sessions happening that day (afternoon 2 – 4:30 PM and evening 7 – 9:30 PM), with VIP tickets available for each that allow entrance an hour early. Early Bird pricing is on now, so be sure to snag them today!

Congratulations are in order to breweries and brewers across our region on making the shortlist of the 2023 Canadian Brewers Choice Awards. Hosted by Brewers Journal Canada, these awards require nomination, and then are judged based on their stories and the impact they have on the brewery, region, and industry. The Atlantic Provinces have been punching above their weight recently, with Tire Shack Brewery taking home Brewery of the Year and Branding of the Year in 2022, Esty of Foghorn taking home Brewer of the Year, and 2 Crows snagging top honours in New Beer of the Year for Class Maritime Dry Stout. This year’s shortlist includes: Libra Non Alcoholic for Brewery of the Year, Kellye Robertson of Good Robot for Brewer of the Year, Duncan Tennant of Banished Brewing for Young Brewer of the Year, who also is on the list for Community Initiative of the Year for their Paddles Up, Truro Brewing for Branding of the Year, and OG Ales for Sustainability Initiative of the Year. The winners will be announced Jan 31 as part of the MBAA District Ontario Technical Conference in Niagara-On-The-Lake.

This past weekend was a big one in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as breweries and brewing industry folks descended into town bringing welcome gifts in liquid form, not unlike the rain pouring down to quell the nearby wildfires. It was a weekend that people could get together within the industry to celebrate, learn, and grow against a backdrop of some good ol’ East Coast hospitality, for the second time in 5 years. 

While we celebrate all the winners across the 59 categories of the Canadian Brewing Awards, your pals here at the ACBB are here to bring you the AC summary of the CBAs. Last year, we had 19 Atlantic Canadian award-winners across all categories and this year we’ve added eight more on top of last year’s tally. In total, 18 different breweries from our region brought home accolades.

Here’s a breakdown by province of the 2023 award winners:

Starting at the top of the table, New Brunswick hit big with three gold winners in the following categories:

The other gold on the board came from a big weekend winner out of Newfoundland:

Secret Cove, specifically out of Port au Port, also brought home another 2 awards, to complete the trifecta.

  • Irish And Scotch Ales – Red Vinyl , Secret Cove Brewing – SILVER
  • American Style Imperial India Pale Ale – The Great Auk, Secret Cove Brewing – BRONZE

Two other Nova Scotia breweries also scored a treble, interestingly enough, these two just released the Twin Shores collaboration beer together. 

  • Belgian-Style Sour Ale – Barrel Aged Lambic Style Ale, Propeller Brewing – BRONZE
  • English Style India Pale Ale – India Pale Ale, Propeller Brewing  – BRONZE
  • American-style Brett Beer – Wilder Brett IPA, Propeller Brewing  – BRONZE
  • Baltic Porter – Two Rivers Baltic Porter, Tatamagouche Brewing – SILVER
  • Cream Ale – Apres, Tatamagouche Brewing – BRONZE
  • Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer – Tempest, Tatamagouche Brewing – HON. MENTION

We had a few breweries bring home a pair of awards as well and one of them has a Gold listed above, so we’ll list the rest of those doubles below:

  • Oatmeal Stout – Boat Traffic, Lone Oak Brewing – HON. MENTION
  • Low Alcohol Beer – Noble, Lone Oak Brewing – SILVER
  • Barley Wine-Style Ale – Ol’ Fog Burner, Garrison Brewing – BRONZE
  • Historic/Regional Beers – Spruce Beer, Garrison Brewing – BRONZE

Here is the full list of winners broken down by Province for the Atlantic Canadian winners:

New Brunswick

  • English Style Pale Ale – Golden Grover, Foghorn Brewing – SILVER
  • French and Belgian Style Saison – Cheval D’or, Grimross Brewing – GOLD
  • Porter – Black Door, Hampton Brewing – BRONZE
  • European Style Lager (Pilsner) – Operation Feed Pilsner, Long Bay Brewery – BRONZE
  • Cream Ale – 8 Secondes, Novum Boreas – GOLD
  • Belgian-Style Brett Beer – Into the Wild, O’Creek Brewing – BRONZE
  • Belgian-Style Sour Ale – Pretty Please, Trailway Brewing – SILVER
  • Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer – Event Horizon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, Trailway Brewing – GOLD

Newfoundland & Labrador

  • Session Ale – Liquid Sunshine, Boomstick Brewing – HON. MENTION
  • Gluten Free Beer – Gluten Free Lager, Port Rexton Brewing  – BRONZE
  • Irish And Scotch Ales – Red Vinyl, Secret Cove Brewing – SILVER
  • North American Style Blonde or Golden Ale – James Blonde 00709, Secret Cove Brewing – GOLD
  • American Style Imperial India Pale Ale – The Great Auk, Secret Cove Brewing – BRONZE

Nova Scotia

  • Wood and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer – Bière de Coupage, 2 Crows Brewing – SILVER
  • North American Style Amber/Dark Lager – Toller Red, Burnside Brewing – BRONZE
  • Barley Wine-Style Ale – Ol’ Fog Burner, Garrison Brewing – BRONZE
  • Historic/Regional Beers – Spruce Beer, Garrison Brewing – BRONZE
  • German-Style Sour Ale – Girl, Hold My Earrings, Lunn’s Mill Beer Company – BRONZE
  • North American Style Amber/Red Ale – Right Some Red, Nine Locks Brewing – BRONZE
  • Belgian-Style Sour Ale – Barrel Aged Lambic Style Ale, Propeller Brewing – BRONZE
  • English Style India Pale Ale – India Pale Ale, Propeller Brewing – BRONZE
  • American-style Brett Beer – Wilder Brett IPA, Propeller Brewing – BRONZE
  • Baltic Porter – Two Rivers Baltic Porter, Tatamagouche Brewing – SILVER
  • Cream Ale – Apres, Tatamagouche Brewing – BRONZE
  • Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer – Tempest, Tatamagouche Brewing – HON. MENTION

PEI

  • Oatmeal Stout – Boat Traffic, Lone Oak Brewing – HON. MENTION
  • Low Alcohol Beer – Noble, Lone Oak Brewing – SILVER

Congratulations to all of our winners and we hope all who visited Halifax for the awards and conference enjoyed our part of Canada; we hope that our readers can mark these breweries and beers for further exploration during their travels!

For the full gamut of winners from coast to coast, head on over to the Canadian Brewing Awards