It’s Pride Week around the region with Halifax and Fredericton kicking off their celebrations and Cape Breton just wrapping up theirs. While we featured some Pride themed releases in last week’s post, keep an eye out for other ways you can celebrate! Meanwhile, the beer news doesn’t stop and we’ve got updates from all around the region. Also, it’s Friday the 13th, so kick back this weekend, beat the heat and make sure to check our Instagram stories to see if anyone of us is watching Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan. Meanwhile, read below for ACBeerBlog takes beer news!
Let’s start today’s new beer news on the West Coast of our Easternmost province. Rough Waters Brewing, in Deer Lake, has a new beer on tap and in cans this week, a low alcohol beer punching well above its weight in hops. Total Eclipse is a 3.4% India Session Ale/Session IPA showcasing the Australian Eclipse hop. TE uses a grain bill with plenty of Wheat and Oats to enhance the mouthfeel despite its lower ABV, and using a lower attenuating yeast (Fermentis SafAle S-33) helps in that department as well, keeping it from drying out too much. But the star of the show are the Aussie hops: while a small addition of Chinook was added for light bittering, the rest is Eclipse, both during the whirlpool (post-boil before complete cooling), as well as dry-hopping in the fermenter. The resulting beer is light and juicy, and full of tangerine and grapefruit flavour. It’s available on tap and in cans at their taproom at 83 Wights Rd in Deer Lake, with cans at Ultramars in town and West Street Corner Brook, as well as Urban Market 1919 and a whole buncha Marie’s Mini Marts in St. John’s!
Bannerman has a new beer out this week that is sure to entice Tobias Fünke and other fans of blue beer from around the Avalon. Surf’s Up is a 6.5% ABV fruited sour that gets its deep blue color the all-natural way, from a blue-green algae called spirulina. Hopped with Vic Secret, and also featuring an addition of lactose, expect bright tropical flavours of passion fruit, lychee, and coconut. This one hit the shelves and taps at the taproom yesterday, but was so popular that cans and growler fills quickly sold out. Swing by Duckworth St. this weekend to try a pint before it’s gone.
Let’s head down the Gut from Bannerman, where Quidi Vidi Brewery has two new releases. First up is Oceanside Session IPA. Brewed in partnership with the Avalon Mountain Bike Association (AMBA), this 4.5% take on the style features notes of citrus and stone fruit, with a hint of vanilla and pine. A portion of the sales of each can will help AMBA improve local trail infrastructure on the Avalon. Oceanside is available now at the hop shop in Quidi Vidi and will be available at NLC locations beginning on Monday. And if you’re making your way to the taproom, you’ll also find a new fruited sour, released exclusively for draft pours: Strawberry Rhubarb Sour combines a jammy strawberry profile with tart rhubarb notes for a drinking experience that the brewery describes as ‘nan’s homemade pie’ in your glass.
Back in Cape Breton, Big Spruce is featuring a new release this week and the return of an interesting seasonal. First up is The Wanderers, a brand new 4.1% ABV golden ale. This sessionable sipper was brewed to provide a crisp and dry drinking experience, with notes of lemon, pear and cracker. A Citra dry-hop also adds some tropical aromatics. The name Wanderers is an homage to the eponymous HRM hiking group (as opposed to the local football club or the classic 1979 film).
If you’re in the mood for something a bit more complex to consider, check out Hour of Sour, a 6.2% Raspberry Wild Ale. For fans of the ever popular Silver Tart, think of this one as its slightly wilder and funkier cousin. The mixed fermentation provides this one with some subtle funky notes, leading to a beer that drinks like a sparkling rose, with big notes of raspberry. Cans are available now at the Sprucetique and for delivery through their online store.
In Truro, we have some exciting news on two releases after a small hiatus from Truro Brewing Company. After high demand and being out of beer for a few days, they are open now and have a Sabro SMASH IPA on tap. This single malt and single hop IPA features the lovely Sabro hop loaded with stone fruit and melon aroma. It is 5.8% and available only on tap
Second up is a bottle release coming from their Hubtown Homebrew Competition Winner Derek “Woody” Wood, Waynze Grodziskie. A Grodziskie is a traditional Polish wheat beer that is low ABV and crispy but with a definite smoky presence. Imagine a beer that pairs beautifully with a cheese board on a patio on a hot summer day. It may sound odd, but we can assure you it’s delightful, and using 100% oak smoked malt and a low-alpha hop variety the Truro offering is true to style, coming in at 3.8%. Both of these new releases are available today only from the brewery, with the Grodziskie in bottles and the IPA only on tap for pints and fills. Pick them up while supplies last!
Happy news for those in the Hampton, New Brunswick, neck of the woods (or looking for an excuse to head there), Gridiron Brewing has opened their taproom! Located at 1051 Main Street, they’re open from noon daily, and closing at 6ish Sun/Mon/Tues, with later times Wed through Sat (8 or 9). You can check out their current taplist to see what’s available to enjoy onsite or to take away. No better place to enjoy their Beach Road Rhubarb, a hefeweizen infused with loads of locally-grown rhubarb for a fruity and lightly tart summer wheat beer. Congratulations on the opening, and we’ll have details of their Grand Opening in the coming weeks!
Always pushing the envelope of what’s allowable (remember those condoms seized at the border a few years back?), Good Robot Brewing is at it again! Forget paying big influencers to spend a day in the taproom and drinking their beer, and then blowing up their social media, they want to pay YOU to do it! In a world where nearly all of us have a social media presence of some sort, apparently GRBC thinks we can all be microinfluencers… And instead of being paid in 1 Exposure (equivalent to 17 Schrute Bucks or 34 Stanley Nickels), they’ll give you cold, hard, Canadian cash (or EMT equivalent). There is plenty of Fine Print, and Even Finer Print, but the gist is all you have to do is buy one of the beer/seltzers they are looking to promote, post about it, and wait for the cash to roll* in!
* In the name of keeping expectations in line with reality, we note that Loonies are round and thus roll quite well.
As we’ve alluded to a couple of times in the last few weeks, there’s starting to be some actual in-person events going on in the beer scene in our region thanks to the relaxation of restrictions that good behavior and vaccination numbers have been able to afford us. It seems fitting that one upcoming event is one borne out of a collaboration that was significantly affected by the pandemic.
In early 2020, Lone Oak in Borden-Carleton, PE, and 2 Crows in Halifax, NS, decided they wanted to brew a “fun beer” together. Unfortunately, lockdowns hit and their dream of an in-person brewday were scuttled. But ever the creative bunch, they decided to come up with a way to do a remote collaboration that would still give people the chance to taste both of their efforts. Settling on a Wild Ale brewed with rice, each brewery brewed a batch using the same recipe and then fermented in oak with their respective house yeast cultures. When travel restrictions were initially relieved in Summer 2020, 2 Crows sent a tote of their batch to the Island where it was blended with the Lone Oak batch and packaged in 500 mL bottles. Now, a year later, they’re ready to celebrate the release of that blend, Together, along with their own unblended version, Apart.
Today at 4 PM at the Lone Oak taproom you can try both of these beers along with your LO faves and five guest taps from 2C: Fantacity, Matinee, Terry, Dos Cuervos, and Jamboree. There will be live music from 7 – 10 PM, an oyster bar, and some special dishes out of the kitchen from Chef Acorn. There’s no cover, but reservations are recommended due to reduced capacity (call the taproom at 902.729.2228). So if you’re in the area, come on down and have a fun Friday evening trying the new collab beers and some treats from the mainland, or just grab some bottles to go. And for those in Halifax, we’re sure we’ll also see Together at 2 Crows’ Halifax taproom soon along with their own version of Apart soon enough.
And speaking of 2 Crows and Island Tap Takeovers, those in St. John’s should clear their schedule for September 17th, as the birds are flying over to East Duck for the day, with 2 Crows teaming up with the crew at Bannerman Brewing for an in-person collaboration brewday, and then taking over the taps with plenty of faves and even some special brews put together specifically for an evening on the taps at Brewdock across the street. We’ll give you more details as they come into focus, but until then, pencil pen it in the calendar!
A couple more new/returning beer to share before we sign off this week!
Just in time for this ridiculously humid weather, North Brewing is re-releasing Raspberry Plush, part of its Plush series of fruited sours. This one comes in at 4.5% ABV and features big raspberry flavours and a lively tartness. Grab some cans today at North’s two retail locations or through their online store. Raspberry Plush is released once a year, so if you miss out on this batch, you’re out of luck until 2022.
Modern Brewer’s Village Green in Cornwall, PEI, has a new beer on tap and in cans today, Three Oat Stout. At 5.8% ABV, it features Maris Otter as a base, with three different oat variants (malted, flaked, and Golden Naked), plus the necessary dark and roasted malts. Dark chocolate and coffee notes abound with a great mouthfeel. Pop by this weekend to grab a pint and/or can!
Looking to get into the beer biz? This might just be the job for you…
You’ve got big shoes to fill, but if marketing for breweries is your thing, Propeller Brewing in Halifax/Dartmouth is hiring a Marketing Manager to help spread the word of their beer and mixed drinks near and far. Answering to the big cheeses of the company, you’ll have your hands in everything from online, print, radio marketing, handling the Socials, take part in Prop tables and booths at beer fests and other events, and plenty more. If that sounds like your cup of tea, check that link for all of the details, and apply today! Just beware we’ll probably bug you for all the nerdy beer info when it’s time. 😉