Microbrasserie Ateepic

All posts tagged Microbrasserie Ateepic

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.

Happy Friday, and what we hope is the start of a long weekend for you all! For whatever reason you may be celebrating, or not, we’ve got plenty of new beers, and locations to enjoy them, for you this week. Remember to enjoy responsibly and look out for each other!

We’re happy to share news of another new brewery opening its doors in rural Newfoundland, this time in Baie Verte. Little North Brewhouse has been in development for many years, and unfortunately was delayed in part due to ACOA funding for breweries drying up in 2019, when there was thought to be too many breweries in Newfoundland. Ha! There have been five breweries open since then, and Little North makes brewery #22! Thankfully, the folks behind Little North have persevered, and while their taproom plans in Baie Verte are on hold for the time being, their first beer has hit the shelves of Central NLCs today. Short Straw is a 6.7% ABV New England IPA, bursting with notes of citrus and mango, in a hazy body. Look for it at the NLCs in Corner Brook, Grand-Falls Windsor, and Gander, and will be on the shelves at 410 Grocery in Baie Verte any minute now! We’ll have plenty more with the crew behind Little North in the coming weeks.

From one opening to another, the long-anticipated Bedford location of Propeller Brewing is opening tomorrow, July 1st! Located at 1225 Bedford Highway (at the base of Fourth Street), this purpose-built building is their first to sport a drive-thru window! While the taproom (with both indoor and outdoor seating, as well as a kitchen) is set to open in another few weeks, the Prop Shop is open for retail and drive-thru 12 PM – 12 AM Saturday, 12 – 10 PM Sunday, and retail 12 – 10 PM & drive-thru 4 – 10 PM Monday. (BTW, all of the PropShops are open from noon until 8 or later all weekend long, so you don’t have to worry about running out of great local beer to fuel your long weekend celebrations) And if Bedford is your home base, or you don’t mind commuting, they are hiring for the retail and kitchen now, email noah@drinkpropeller.ca today to apply/learn more! Of course, we’ll keep you in the loop when the taproom and kitchen are set to open.

There’s lots happening on the North Shore this week with a few new beers from Tatamagouche Brewing. A few weeks ago we told you about their Twin Shores Collaboration Pale Ale with Propeller, but what we didn’t tell you is that they’ve also been letting some Brettanomyces work away on another pale ale, which is out now. Kudos Brett Pale Ale features the New Zealand hop Nectaron, with the fermentation and hop additions ledding to notes of grapefruit and stone fruit. Cans of the 4.6% ABV pale ale are available now through both breweries. In other Tata news, keep an eye out for a barrel aged version of their Irish Stout, Hierlihy. This version was aged for 10 months in third-use cognac barrels that saw the introduction of a Brett Lambicus strain during their prior use. The aging process has allowed the beer’s malt character to come through the forefront, which combined with the subtle brett character, is giving some fruity and vinous notes. This one won’t be packaged, so keep an eye out for kegs and casks at the brewery and better beer bars in the province. 

Across the Northumberland, Upstreet is releasing the 8th version of their annual De Novo series, which coincides with their anniversary. De Novo 8 is a big one, a 10% Triple IPA coming in at 40 IBUs. Starting with a grain bill of 2-row, flaked and crystal wheat, flaked oats, and Golden Naked Oats, it then saw big additions of Trident, Sabro, Samba and NHZ-107 hops. Expect a creamy and luscious drinking experience, with notes of stone fruit, pineapple, citrus and lightly toasted marshmallow. Canning is happening today (Friday) and as of publication time, they’re on track to release cans at the taproom and the downtown Craft Beer Corner later today. Happy 8 years to Upstreet from your friends at ACBB!

Is there anything that screams Atlantic Canada summer more than a lobster boil and beer? Well, maybe high gas prices, but we digress. In their tribute to New Brunswick summers, Moncton’s Tire Shack Brewery has released Lobster Boil Gose. 50 kg of lobsters were added to the boil on brewday, to go along with malt and hops that were all grown within the province. The resulting salty and sour wheat beer is available now in cans and on tap at the brewery. 

For something different, let’s head to Wolfville where Annapolis Cider is releasing Imperial Gimlet, the latest in their Something Different series. The inspiration for this one comes from one of the cidery’s favourite cocktails, the French Gimlet, a stiff cocktail featuring gin, elderflower liquor and lime juice. The cider featuring two fermentations, additions of lime juice, hops and elderflower, leading to a floral aroma, notes of berry and a bit of acidity. It also packs a punch at 9.1%, but decidedly less punch than an actual gimlet. And because the folks at Annapolis Cider are mighty swell people, $0.50 from each purchase will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross fund supporting Nova Scotia’s recovery from the recent wildfires. 

Back in New Brunswick, Trailway is releasing the latest in its Land Series, with Marsh Land Tripel. Per the style, this is a bigger beer, coming in at 9% ABV. Expect some biscuity malt notes, with aromatics of apricot and banana from the Belgian yeast, and a grassy bitterness from the hops. Cans are out now at the Fredericton and Saint John taprooms. 

2 Crows Brewing has 2 Beers Releasing today, in decidedly distinct styles. Brewed during this month’s CBAC, the Crows invited folks from Calgary’s The Establishment to play around in the brewery. Fashionable People is a fuzzy and hazy IPA, brewed with flaked oats and wheat on top of the base of pilsner malt, along with some chit malt too. The hopping began in the mash with Cascade, and continued in the boil with Columbus, before post-boil hopping with the quartet of classic and new hops Idaho 7, Centennial, Solero, and HBC 1019. Fermenting with Verdant yeast also assisted in keeping the beer hazy and juicy. Mango, citrus, passion fruit will dance on your tongue, and you could even grab a couple to enjoy at Ashtray Rock! Watch out, this was a small batch, so act quickly to avoid disappointment.

Also from 2 Crows is the latest in their Jamboree sour series: Watermelon + Kiwi. Sticking to a base of pilsner and wheat malts, along with help from flaked wheat and flaked oats, JW+K was soured with Lactobacillus plantarum before fermentation with Escarpment Labs’ Ebbegarden Kveik yeast. After that was complete, tons (well, kilos) of kiwi and watermelon purees were added to the beer during conditioning, and it was allowed to finish carbonating naturally. You can find Jamboree: Watermelon + Kiwi on tap and in cans at the brewery now, with cans hitting the shelves of the provincial liquor corporation later in July.

Sydney’s Breton Brewing is celebrating eight years of beer with a new seasonal release, Mango IPA. A hazy beer packed with plenty of Citra and Amarillo hops for a big citrus punch, it also features (duh) mango to kick the juiciness up a big notch. Coming in at 6.5% ABV, you’ll find it pouring in the taproom for pints and fills as well as in cans to go (and do remember, they ship province-wide). If you’re in the area, definitely consider stopping by tomorrow for a combination Canada Day and Breton Birthday celebration with live music, deals on Island Time Lager, and Scots Dogs on site with food.

In Bay Roberts, NL, Baccalieu Trail Brewing also has a fruited beer out this week, one they put together with Rough Waters Brewing way across the island in Deer Lake. PLURNT is listed as a “late-hopped imperial pineapple sour” which certainly has some connotations. Though not an IPA, this one saw some late additions of El Dorado, which are known for providing a tropical punch, plus some other hop varieties they’re electing to keep under wraps for now, but which provide flavors and aromas that marry well with the pineapple purée that the beer was conditioned on for four days before packaging. On the bigger side for a sour, hence the “imperial” category, it landed at 6.8% ABV. Look for this one already on tap in the Baccalieu Trail taproom for pints and fills, and the cans will hit the shelves tomorrow at BT’s regular retailers just in time for your Canada Day celebrations. As for the name, don’t ask us, we have no idea either!

Continuing their Make/shift series of collaborations with local businesses, this week Landwash Brewery has released Verafin Session IPA. Taking cues and inspiration from the group from Verafin who came into the brewery earlier this month, this 4.5% ABV hoppy little thing features Cascade in the mash and early fermentation, with two New Zealand hops, Motueka and Rakau, after that. Cans and draught are available at the brewery in Mount Pearl now, with cans at their regular retailers shortly too!

Microbrasserie Ateepic, located at the Edmundston Golf Course, has a new beer on tap today, promising to be a refreshing drink for after (or before/instead of) your round of golf. Coup Sûr is a 4.5% Gose, that salty and sour style from Germany that has migrated to North America in the last decade. Ateepic’s take on it features both cucumber and lime, to enhance the refreshment and satisfying character. Find it on tap at the brewery this weekend!

We’ve got one brewery doing some hiring this week:

Up in Fredericton, NB, Half Cut Brewing is hiring for a couple of available slots, one in the brewery, the other in the taproom. On the production side, they’re looking for a Production Assistant to help with all aspects of the brewing process, from brewing, to packaging, to general labour, to cleaning (especially the cleaning, we expect). And in the taproom, they’re looking for a FT or PT bartender. Both positions are for ages 19+. To apply, you can lob a resume at info@halfcut.ca or drop by the brewery during business hours for a chat.

Lastly, a few quick hits before you get on with your Canada Day weekend!

Annapolis Brewing has brought back their Duck Slayer Czech Amber Lager this week. Giving you a bit of a maltier option for the summer while still being crisp and refreshing, it features classic Saaz hops for a bit of balancing spiciness. Super crushable at 4.7% and 27 IBU, it’s available now at the brewery.

Bedford’s Off Track Brewing set out to make perfect summer brew and landed on Basinview Lager, a 4.2% ABV American Lager. Pale yellow, crisp, and ultra crushable, it’ll pair well with post-softball aches and pains.

Halifax’s Unfiltered has their classic summer sour, Sour Motherfucker back today for those folks who aren’t into hops. Not a little beer by any means, it’s 6.5% with plenty of fruity and refreshing tart cherry character and, as a bonus for those whose dietary needs warrant it, this year’s version is also gluten reduced!

A sneaky surprise release from Serpent Brewing on the weekend is still around, but definitely won’t last til Monday. Summer Fling is a 6.6% ABV Saison, to which they have added citron, ginger, and honey, for a citrus and lightly spicy saison fit for some summer days and nights. As there is only a single keg available, we suggest heading your way there today, and while you’re at it, sample their new food menu too!

Banished Brewing in Paradise has brought back their Makes Sense Hazy IPA this week, absolutely chock-full of hops, giving a OJ vibes thanks to the Citra, Nelson, and Solero added throughout the process. Look for it on tap and in cans at the brewery, hitting local retail shelves in the next few days.

Happy end of January! For some of the region, this was the first time we’ve seen significant snowfall, for others, it just piled on. Wind and rain throughout the area was de rigueur, and we’re pretty sure we can expect the same weird mix in February as well. Thankfully, the region’s cideries and breweries have been keeping busy inside, giving us plenty to warm us up this time of year. Let’s start off with two big anniversaries being celebrated this weekend…

When North Brewing (known as Bridge Brewing at the time) opened their doors January 25, 2013, Rozina, Josh, and Peter were so busy with keeping up with demand that the idea of a Grand Opening fell to the wayside. 10 years later, they have moved from their original Agricola Street location to Cole Harbour, and opened a second location in Timberlea (in addition to the retail shop at Battery Park in downtown Dartmouth). And they are taking a beat to finally have that Grand Opening they deserve, in beer form! Grand Opening Saison began life back in September 2022, when they brewed a pale-coloured wort, and initiated fermentation with a mixed culture of yeast, Lactobacillus bacteria, and Brettanomyces yeast. Balancing the acidity and aromatics in a blended beer is a fine line that North has trod before, allowing both sides to shine through without either overpowering the other. After an extended 3 month fermentation period, the beer was bottled (and kegged) just before Christmas, and allowed to naturally carbonate and condition since. This 4.9% Saison is available for purchase at all of their retail locations and on-line shop now, look for orange and apricot, ginger and pepper in the glass and on the nose, with a full mouthfeel yet dry-finish on the palate.

Celebrate with the North crew at both their Portland Street and Timberlea locations until Saturday. Happy Hour runs 3 – 6 PM, there are door prize drawings today and tomorrow at 5, 6, and 7 PM, and they have special items on the menu for the fun, including a Pani Puri Party Platter (perfect pretty puff pastries), braised lamb poutine, and even a birthday cake cookie to top it off! Leveraging their foray into spirits, they are also serving up cocktails made with their Kaleidoscope Vodka, as well as their North X Compass Distillers Neighbours Whisky. Congratulations to the North family on 10 great years, and here’s to at least 10 more!

A newer kid on the block is also celebrating their anniversary this weekend, with Brunswick Street’s 2 Crows Brewing celebrating the sixth anniversary of their opening, January 28, 2017. And to celebrate this milestone, they are releasing six beers tomorrow! Talk about overachievers (and/or beer blogger haters)! The first four of the group are all related, so let’s start there… In Fall 2022, the 2C Brew Crew decided to throw caution to the wind, and go all out for a massive stout. Achieving a nearly 10% beer is no small feat, and they chose to use a reiterative mash to do that. In short, instead of sending the wort (sweet and sugary water) from the mash tun directly to the kettle, as most normal breweries would do (boring!), they instead sent it on to a second mash, to bump up the fermentable sugar level even more! The mash consisted of Maris Otter, Vienna, flaked oats, honey malt, and 6 various caramel and roast malts for colour, depth, and complexity. We can only imagine the stickiness experienced that day, and the lucky buggers who had to clean it up after. And the craziness continues, as to increase the sugar level, as well as encourage some deeper flavours, they boiled the wort for 20 hours! Whoa! During that time, they used Columbus and Bramling Cross to keep it from being too cloying, before fermenting with a robust yeast from Imperial. Post-fermentation, they just packaged the beer, and here we are… Not! Wanting the spread the madness even further, they split the batch into four, in order to explore four unique flavour profiles:

  • Mambo No. 1 is the original 9.7% base Double/Chocolate/Imperial Stout: smooth, full mouthfeel, and full of chocolate, and hints of roast and liquorice.
  • Mambo No. 2 was conditioned in the tank with a (metric?) shit ton of cocoa, as well as marshmallows and Graham crackers. Think S’mores in a glass, with all the fun things that come along with that.
  • Mambo No. 3 was also conditioned on cocoa, but in the spirit of “EVEN MOAR” saw even more toasted coconut in the tank. Chocolate and coconut, we’re thinking Bounty bars or classic choco-coconut balls.
  • Mambo No. 4 may be the most out-there of them all, as in addition to getting the cocoa treatment, this beauty saw the addition of coffee directly to the tank, as well as maple syrup. Chocolate chip pancakes with a cup of joe, natch.

Cans of the Mambos will be available tomorrow (Saturday) at noon in the taproom, or for delivery from their online shop, and are sold in a responsibly-sized 4x355ml variety four-pack. (FYI, subscribers to their newsletter were able to order and receive these a day early!)

Just when you think the 2 Crows would be taking their foot off the gas, they accelerate, and are releasing another wild and economically irresponsible beer, Squeezie. If you’ve heard the term Smoothie Sour, this is it. If you haven’t, strap in! Starting with a pale wort (grist of Pilsner, Golden Promise, and wheat), it was fermented with an acid-producing yeast to give a slightly acidic character. After fermentation was complete, the high alcohol beer was blended with an equal part of fruit puree, something that you would see at your local juicery or smoothie-ery… mango and banana in near-equal parts, with hints of passion fruit and coconut cream making up the rest. After thoroughly combining the beer and puree, the new concoction was carbonated and canned, and immediately sent through a pasteurization step to stop any (dangerous!) further fermentation in the can. Thick, juicy, a touch acidic from both the fruit and beer, and just begging for a shot of wheatgrass (resist that urge). Tall cans of  the 5% Squeezie will be available online and at the retail shop tomorrow during the celebrations.

Rounding out the half-dozen weekend releases is the return of 2C’s massive Triple IPA, Space Words. Triple the hops, triple the booze, six* times the fun! Right around 10% ABV, this beer was dry-hopped during and post-fermentation four times with Galaxy, Eclipse, and a hint of Comet (all space words, get it?), leading to a super aromatic, bold, and juicy big IPA. Also available on tap and in tall cans this weekend, it’s also joined by the latest of their Hop Water series, this one being Mojito. At 0.0% ABV, no need to worry about over-imbibing this beauty, which features lime zest and mint leaves, and a refreshing zip to clear the palate. This one is available to everyone today!

Lastly, let’s talk about 2 Crows’ party tomorrow. Open and available from noon, the folks from Coda Ramen (FKA Water and Bone) will be doing a slurpy pop-up in their space, with a couple of different ramen choices available along with some accompanying dishes. There’s only so much broth that can be transported, so this means you’ll want to get there early to avoid disappointment. And for those on the later shift (or arrive early then come back), there’s the return of Rock at the Brewery. From 7 PM til close, hear some wicked tunes from Touched, Norc, and Customer Service, to accompany your stout, smoothie sour, and TIPA imbibing. And speaking of stouts, Sunday from noon will be a Stout take-over, with seven in-house brewed stouts complemented by a trio from brewery friends: North Brewing will join Borden’s Lone Oak Brewing and Moncton’s Tide & Boar Brewing on the draught list. For those not stout-savvy, plenty of other options by the bottle and can pour will be available. Phew, what a weekend!

* or is it nine? Can we get a math ruling here?

Staying with (in?) the dark, Trailway also has a brand new release that’s available now. Sundae Best is a Chocolate Vanilla Soft-Serve Stout. This is a deep and dark but sweet stout with milk sugar (lactose) added, along with vanilla. It boasts a dominant chocolate flavour, but the beer remains soft and balanced, with just the right ABV richness ABV at 6.5%. It is available in cans now directly from the brewery in Fredericton. 

From the dark of winter to dreaming of summer days, Bannerman has teamed up with their friends and cohabitants NAMJIM for their second collaboration. Dubbed Beach Comber, it’s an IPA and features Thai tea dust, which is a mix of thai spices and Ceylon black tea. In what they’re already calling a staff favourite, this sweet, bold and juicy IPA uses Pilsner malt, toasted rice, and milk sugar in addition to a huge dry-hop of Sabro and Eclipse hops. It was then conditioned on the Thai tea dust and came out at 7% ABV. Medium-bodied, it brings some subtle flavours of citrus, coconut, cardamom and cinnamon; it’s available now directly from the brewery.

It’s been a bit of a delay to winter here, but if you’re up near Port Rexton, Newfoundland, generally, and Clarenville specifically, the White Hills Ski Resort is opening this weekend! Thankfully, the Port Rexton Brewing crew has a new brew for après ski. Golden Ale is a 4% crisp, clean, and balanced post-ski/board/work/anytime crusher. This will be available on tap or in cans at the Tips Up Lounge inside of White Hills, Port Rexton’s shops, on their website, and in distribution Newfoundland-wide next week wherever on the Rock you buy craft beer. 

In addition to the breweries celebrating anniversaries this weekend, you’ll want to head to Dartmouth tomorrow, here’s why:

Lake City Cider is in the heart of Dartmouth’s Downtown, and, in fact, their taproom is right in the centre of the action for Saturday’s Downtown Dartmouth Ice Festival Street Party! Portland Street is going car-free 12 – 5 PM, and there will be fun for all with ice carving, games, princesses, and more. Plus, nip into Lake City to grab a cup of hot cider (both alcoholic and non- so the kids can experience the delight of warm cider too), try their new cider cocktails like the Apple Spice, and maybe even grab a sweet dessert, as Antoinette’s Cheesecakes will be there with dipped cheesecakes from 12 PM until they sell out.

We’ll leave you with two final releases and a few events that fall under the “coming later” category

Up in the winter wonderland of Northern NB, Edmunston’s Microbrasserie Ateepic has a new wheat ale out. Wheatpecker comes in at 5% ABV and is infused with orange and raspberry. Grab it on tap now at the brewery. 

It’s still winter and Propeller is keeping things dark too; this week they’re releasing a new batch of their Mocha Oatmeal Stout, this one extra smooth and creamy owing to being packaged “on Nitro”. This oatmeal stout is 5.5% and brewed with chocolate and locally roasted coffee. Warm and sweet notes of brown sugar, milk chocolate and fresh espresso are all present in aroma and flavour of this 5.5% beer, which is nicely balanced at 28 IBU. It is available in cans at the three Prop Shops, for ordering on their website, and at private stores in Halifax. 

This next event is still a few weeks away, but given that it’s an annual favourite on the beer nerd calendar, we thought we’d remind you that February 18 is Péché Day. Every year, Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! rolls out kegs featuring variants of its legendary Péché Mortel imperial coffee stout, with distribution hitting a limited number of better beer bars around the world. As in previous years, Halifax’s Stillwell and Moncton’s Tide and Boar have been selected to participate in the event. We’ll have more details closer to the 18th, but we know this year’s variants will include Péché Latte, Péché Mortel Stout Mexicain, Péché Mortel Bourbon 2022 and a special coffee edition with beans from Mystique Café.

In beer venue news, we have a teaser from our friends in (on?) PEI: Lone Oak Brewing started as the beloved brewpub and brewery in Borden-Carleton’s Gateway Village. Since then, they’ve opened a second brewpub and retail location just outside of Charlottetown. In 2023, they’re taking their game to the centre of the PEI tourism universe and opening Lone Oak Beer Garden in Cavendish! More info to come, but it’s time to get excited if you’ll be hitting PEI’s north shore this summer (paging D.F.). 

One last thing before we let you go… One of the Banished Brewing family is having a tough time, and they are looking to support their own, and give you a chance to do the same. Thacker, pup of Head Brewer Duncan Tennant, is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, that just underwent surgery to correct Intervertebral Disc Disease. He is on the mend now, with a successful recovery expected. In order to help with the (significant) bills, Banished is holding a fundraiser to pay for the surgery, and enter you into a random draw. Check out their GFM here, and every donation you make can go towards an entry into the draw. More on Thacker here!