Newfermenters Homebrew Club

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Friday Wrap-Up for October 20, 2023 – News from Quidi Vidi and Maui Brewing, Newfermenters, Tanner & Co, Trailway, Burnside, Propeller, North, Sack Vegas, and Tire Shack!

Posted by acbbchris on 2023-10-20
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Burnside Brewing Company, Maui Brewing Company, Newfermenters Homebrew Club, North Brewing, Propeller Brewing, Quidi Vidi Brewery, Sack Vegas Brewing, Tanner & Co Brewing, Tire Shack Brewing, TrailWay Brewing. Leave a Comment

Welcome to your mid-October wrap-up and preview of all of the goings on in the Atlantic Canadian Beer Scene! As always, we are thrilled to bring you the latest and greatest information from across the region, as we leave no hop leaf unturned in searching out all the news that’s fit to print. If you ever have any questions, scoops, or feedback, we would love to hear from you! Reply to this post on our website, message or tag us on Insta (@ACBeerBlog), or fire us an email. Really, we’d love to hear from you!

We start this week with news of a worldwide collaboration born out of the horrific tragedy that struck the Hawaiian island of Maui in early August. An out of control fire in an extremely dry region, fueled by winds from nearby Hurricane Dora, devastated the West Maui town of Lahaina, claiming 100 lives and causing billions in damage, changing the lives of all residents forever. Maui Brewing Company, the largest independent brewery in Hawaii, has called the island home since opening in 2015, and have worked with the Global Empowerment Mission to establish the MBC Fire Fund. The fund will assist those on the ground to support the recovery after this disaster, with brewery partners able to take part in an international collaborative brew, with more than 600 breweries having signed up thus far. And the only Canadian brewery East of Ontario to sign up for this worthy cause thus far is St. John’s’ Quidi Vidi Brewery. QV is showing their own Island Hospitality by donating $1 from every growler fill and pint of Kōkua – “Maui Strong” Session IPA sold, when it is released October 23rd at both the Taproom in the Gut, as well as the Hops Shop on Harbour View. Be sure to get out and support the Maui rebuilding effort next week!

You don’t have to wait until Monday for new QV beer, though, as the latest in their ongoing collaboration with the Newfermenters Homebrew Club has hit their shelves this week. 2 Scoops is a Blackcurrant Milkshake Sour, brewed by member Ben Hussey. Tons of blackcurrant fruit and tart character on a sour, with a touch dessert sweetness. Pick it up at QV’s spots now, and convenience stores and the NLC real soon!

Chester’s Tanner & Co Brewing has a trio of new beers on tap (and some in package) this week, so let’s get you up to date with the South Shore Suds! First up is a tiny taproom-only release, made using locally-grown flowers! Marigold began life when co-owner Peggy purchased several Orange Gem Marigold plants at the Hubbards Farmers Market, and was intrigued to see if they could be incorporated into a beer. Brewer Mark took up the mantle (and bouquet), and crafted a light saison (base malts of local pilsner, wheat, and Vienna), adding the flowers during the mash, first wort, and again at flame-out. The resulting 5.3% beer is very reminiscent of a German Gewurztraminer wine, with floral, orange blossom, and lychee. Given the special nature of the ingredients and steps involved, there is not much of this beer, so pop by their Duke Street taproom in Chester to grab a pint before it’s gone!

For those looking for a pair of beers to enjoy onsite, and then take home, Tanner has something for you too! Wild Rye is a 5.3% Amber beer brewed with a full half of the malt bill being Rye! Using a locally-isolated yeast strain, there are some prominent banana notes reminiscent of German Weiss yeast, which works well to complement the spicy malt character. And Barrel Aged IPA is another detour completely, with a high test IPA spending time in former red wine barrels from Grand Pré Wines. While the winery cleaned and stripped the barrels of most of the wine character before passing them along to Tanner, the oak and vanilla do certainly come through in the 8.1% ABV final product. Available on tap and in cans at both the brewery and taproom locations!

In Fredericton, Trailway Brewing reminds us once again this week that they’re not just harbingers of hazy hoppery with this week’s release. A German hefeweizen, heavy presence of wheat (“weizen”) in this beer ensures that it will, actually, be hazy, but instead of hops in contrast, you’ll find all kinds of yeast (“hefe”) character. Whirligig is a bright and balanced beer, with a soft mouthfeel and notes of clove, banana, and some traces of vanilla and bubblegum. Like all good hefes, this one also comes in at a very quaffable ABV, in this case 5.2%. Look for it at Trailway’s spots both on tap and in cans to go.

It’s dark beer season, and we have a trio to end the new beer news with this week. Burnside Brewing (fka Spindrift) has brought back their Goldilocks Oatmeal Stout, this time, with a twist! Namely, this 4.8% beer has been packaged with low carbonation and a healthy dose of nitrogen for a smooth as silk mouthfeel. Chocolate malt, as well as three different additions of oats, give the stout plenty of mouthfeel and flavour that will have you coming back for more. The use of nitrogen, in place of the normal carbon dioxide, keeps any harshness or bite at bay, allowing a thick and luscious mouthfeel. Because of the special treatment and packaging required, this beer is only available in cans, and will be on sale at both their original location in Burnside, as well as their Oak Manor location Antigonish. And you heard it here first, their location in Truro, The Common by Burnside located at the Hub Shopping Centre, will also be carrying Goldilocks when they open, which we expect to be before the end of the month! Keep your eyes peeled here for more information on that big announcement!

Another returning seasonal favourite is Propeller’s London-Style Porter. 5.0% ABV, full of rich notes of chocolate and roast, with a creamy mouthfeel. The pleasant full body and tasty dark malt character finishes quickly and relatively dry, allowing you to go back in for another taste. Cans are available at all of their spots, and keep your eyes open for them at private stores as well.

Rounding out our dark and roasty trilogy, from Cole Harbour’s North Brewing comes Cozy, a 5.0% Oatmeal Stout. Dark malts imparting notes of chocolate, coffee, and a bit of nuttiness are wrapped up in a cozy blanket and smooth mouthfeel thanks to the oats used in the mash. On tap and in cans at their two taprooms and three retail locations now!

News continues to trickle in from the brewery in development in Lower Sackville, Sack Vegas Brew Co. They have announced that they will be sharing space with Tapestry Beer Bar at 833 Sackville Drive, brewing and serving exclusively at the bar for the first few months. No details yet on exact brewhouse equipment or capacity, or opening dates, but follow along here, and on their socials, for the latest information.

We’ll finish this week with some big news out of Moncton, where Tire Shack Brewing have finally completed their long and winding road towards expansion. Soon to enter their fifth year of operation, anyone who’s been to their spot on a busy night knows that quarters have been close for a while now, and those who’ve been trying to get their hands on the beers know that supply has been limited. Well both of those things have been addressed with the renovations, with their brewing capacity doubled and additional room yet available for fermenters. Meanwhile, they’ve got a new 170-capacity events space downstairs, and a brand new all-season rooftop patio upstairs. “All season in Moncton,” you scoff? Yes indeed; they’re promising that from blizzard to heat wave you’ll be able to head up and enjoy beer from six rotating taps. They’ve even carved out some room to start the barrel-aging program they’ve been dreaming of for a while now. So whether you live in the Moncton area or just visit, you’ve got yet another reason to head down to Tireshack. More space, more beer, less dust and noise! Congratulations to the team on getting this done!!

Friday Wrap-Up for February 24, 2023 – News from Banished, Iron Rock, Propeller, Tusket Falls, Tire Shack, Port Rexton, Landwash, Gahan, Eventide, Unfiltered, Boomstick, and more!

Posted by acbbdevon on 2023-02-24
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Banished Brewing, Boomstick Brewing, Canadian Brewing Awards, Eventide Mead, Gahan House (Halifax), Iron Rock Brewing Co., Landwash Brewery, Newfermenters Homebrew Club, Port Rexton Brewing Co., Propeller Brewing, Quidi Vidi Brewery, Saint-Pancrace, Shipwright Brewing, Stillwell Beer Bar, The Stillwell Freehouse, Tire Shack Brewing, Tusket Falls Brewing, Unfiltered Brewing. Leave a Comment

Here we are at the tag end of February and for much of the region we’re just now seeing a real tangible bit of winter. With messy weather today throughout much of NB/NS/PE and cold temperatures forecast throughout the weekend, it seems like a perfect weekend to stock up on some bigger brews and hunker down for some fireside sipping. And we’re in luck on that front, with the region’s breweries stepping up with a bunch of new beers on the go this week. So read on, plan your purchases, and be sure to check socials and brewery websites for changes to brewery hours or closures due to weather!! Our next post will be firmly in the warm(er) embrace of March with Spring just around the corner. Right? Right?!!?!

Kicking off the blog this week with two exciting news pieces from Paradise, Newfoundland’s Banished Brewing. Banished Imperial Stout is a brand new 9.0% ABV release, and chock-full of chocolate and coffee notes thanks to the dark and roast malts used in the mash. Full mouthfeel and plenty on the go to fuel your evenings hunkered down in front of the fire. Available at their retail shop on Maverick Place in Paradise, and heading out to retailers this coming week. Otherwise, grab it from Canada-wide shipping on their website.

And making their Mainland debut, Banished has sent over a pallet of kegs and cans to the fine folks at Bar Stillwell and the Stillwell Freehouse. Between the two locations, you’ll find An Elaborate Series of Mirrors American Lager, Groundskeeper’s Best Bitter, Crosstown Cooldown Coffee Porter, Space Puffin NEIPA, and Out the Gate Belgian Single on draught, and cans of Liquorsauce Lager, Paradise Town Tangerine Sour, No No No Yes No Pale Ale, Space Puffin and Intergalactic Puffin NEIPA and Triple NEIPA, Tall Trees WC IPA, and Jim Time DIPA. These debuted yesterday, so get your butt down there soon to avoid disappointment!

Lab City’s Iron Rock Brewing has teamed up with Microbrasserie St-Pancrace, as part of the Quebec Brewery’s 10th Anniversary celebration. While not exactly “close”, Baie-Comeau is only an 8 hour drive from Iron Rock, so that’s about as close as things get in that neck of the woods! Their collaboration is a 6.4% Maibock, a malt-forward lager, with notes of brown sugar and dried fruit with a lovely bready aroma. Available to enjoy at the Iron Rock taproom now! And joining it is the first of IRBC’s Pilot Brews, Peanut Butter Porter. It is what it says it is. 🙂 Enjoy on draught in the taproom or by growler to take away. Check their IG for this weekend’s goings ons!

Halifax’s Propeller has made quite a habit of new and interesting releases over the past couple of years and this week sees another. Lykos is a dry-hopped lager coming in at 5.2% ABV. Crisp and dry, as an easy-drinking lager should be, but with the added interest of a dry hop regimen that provides aromas of orange and apricot and a finish reminiscent of black tea. You won’t have to blow any houses down to find this one, it’s available from the Prop shops, for online ordering and home delivery, and will be at all the private stores in the city in short order.

Speaking of lagers, and sticking in Nova Scotia, Tusket Falls is releasing one of their own. Slow by Nature references the 60-day lagering period that helped bring this German-style Helles Lager to its crispy best. Featuring a balanced palate of honey and malt sweetness paired with dried floral notes, it has the characteristic German Noble hop finish provided by Hallertauer Mittelfrüh. And at only 4.8% ABV it’s very likely to taste like another. Look for it at the brewery down in Tusket or in the city on Gottingen Street; and don’t forget that Tusket does online ordering and country-wide shipping so you can try it wherever you might be.

Hub City’s Tire Shack Brewing has a pair of new releases for us this week. First up is a small experimental release, a Coffee Belgian Quadrupel. Starting with the iconic Strong Dark Belgian beer, which featured some Candi Syrup made by their very own Brewmaster Henry Soares. Complementing and enhancing the already flavourful dark and sweet dried fruit character, coffee from Down East Coffee was added after the fact. At 9.0%, this seems like a beer to either start, or end, your day with! You can pair that with the previously-debuted Mango IPA. Juicy as all get out, the mango further bumps up the tropical notes from a generous dry-hopping of Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe. On tap and in cans at the brewery today. And for those who are looking to spread love and generosity, the Tire Shack Crew are taking part in a 5k charity walk, raising money for Coldest Night of the Year through Youth Impact Moncton. Check out their team page here!

Getting a head start on this year’s International Women’s Day (coming March 8), Port Rexton Brewing has Violet Femmes on the shelves and on draught now. This returning favourite is a 4.6% dry-hopped sour, featuring butterfly pea flower, which is a lovely shade of purple in the glass. As always, the beer is not only a celebration of woman, but also a fundraiser for community groups, and this year is no different. For 2023, PRBC is teaming up with the SaltWater Community Association, with all proceeds of the beer going to their Women’s Shelter in Bonavista. VF is available now at their St. John’s Retail Shop and the Brewery in Port Rexton, with further distro happening shortly! Keep your eyes open for t-shirts with this year’s can design, coming soon. We hope this is the first in many releases to celebrate and contribute to important Women’s causes, as they are important causes for all.

Speaking of PRBC, and looping in Landwash in Mount Pearl, we’ve got another beer to tell you about from the Rock this week and it’s (obviously) a collaboration between the two. Continuing in the Landwash tradition of collab beers with portmanteau names (cf. Dream Time with Bannerman), Blazing Waves is what you might expect to get if Port Rexton’s Blazing Sun and Landwash’s One Wave had an itty bitty barley baby and then raised it on a steady diet of hops. It’s actually not so itty bitty though, stomping through the playroom at a beefy 10% and positively reeking of citrus, stone fruit, and a slight dankness. Very large quantities of Citra, Nelson Sauvin, and Simcoe are to thank for that. This one is only available at Landwash (cans and draught) for now and the quantities are limited while the wheels of distribution turn ever so slowly, but you should start to see it in your usual haunts in the coming week or two.

Back in downtown Halifax, Gahan Nova Centre is releasing a new beer, but an old beer. How does that work? Through the magic of long-term aging in barrels, of course! Originally brewed almost two years ago, Winter Warmer has been quietly maturing in one of Gahan NC’s oaken foedres since then, copping some mild tannic notes from the wood and developing deeper notes of cherry and sweet malt. Not a huge beer by any means at 5.5%, it’s been packaged in 375ml bottles, perfect for a nightcap by the fire on a cold winter weekend. It’s also been shared around the region, so whether you’re in Halifax, Charlottetown, Saint John, Fredericton, or Moncton, you can grab some at your local Gahan location.

Sticking with the winter warmer theme, but flipping the script a little from beer to mead, Eventide Mead has a new one available this week. Winter Warmer is a sparkling mead pumped up a touch with cinnamon for a decidedly spicy presentation that will warm you from inside out. Coming in at 5.7%, it’s been packaged in 500ml bottles which are available at the meadery as well as their stalls at Alderney Landing Market and Seaport Market on the Halifax side.

Always ones to keep things short and sweet (maybe not…), Unfiltered Brewing has announced that this year’s version of their big, bold, brash, and boozy Russian Imperial Stout is available now. Commissar 2023 spent some time aging in oak, is definitely not rum-fortified, and is a whopping 11.5%. 500ml bottles are available for purchase now at the North Street brewery, and available to enjoy in person at Charm School next door.

If you thought we were done with NFLD news today, you’re sorely mistaken; it seems like a boom week for beers up there this week. Across the island from where we last left you, all the way to Corner Brook, we’ve got Boomstick bringing a brand new pale ale they’re calling, Braaap! What the hell is, “braaap,” you ask? We’re just a bunch of mainland city slickers, but we’re pretty sure it’s a reference to dirt bikes, ATVs, and/or, more seasonally, snowmobiles! (Seriously, say it to yourself. Loudly. Again. We bet you just absentmindedly reached for a phantom throttle and said it again.) Anyways, Braaap! is a pale ale at 5.6% with a restrained bitterness but plenty of citrusy aroma and flavor from Citra and Mandarina Bavaria hops. A perfect après sled beer, the key word there is “après,” you dig? You can grab it at the brewery now.

If you’re not from around these parts, you’d be forgiven for mistaking the name of the new beer from Shipwright Brewing as a reference to the MacKay and MacDonald bridges across Halifax Harbour. But locals know that Shipwright is in Lunenburg and there’s no way they’re naming a beer after bridges in the city (and non-locals ain’t reading this blog, we’d wager). What bridges do they mean? Well, we don’t know either. We do know that Two Bridges is a double IPA with a bracing 80 IBU and 8.5% ABV. So if you’re curious about the name, maybe head on in and ask as you sample a pint or grab a crowler to go.

Let’s close out this week’s new beers with one more from the Rock. Continuing their 5-year collaboration with the Newfermenters homebrew club, Quidi Vidi Brewery has released Midnight Poacher Dark American Lager. Brewed by Mark Fitzpatrick, this 5.0% ABV brew has big roast and chocolate flavours, along with some dark fruit and an earthy hop note, with light bitterness. Available now Quidi Vidi’s retail locations, and soon across the Island in NLC and convenience stores. Look for more in that series to be released throughout the year!

OK, one last thing for real this week… In case you didn’t know, Halifax will be hosting the 2023 Canadian Brewing Awards and Conference, happening June 1-3. With thousands of attendees expected from hundreds of breweries across the country, there will be tons going on for the 21st installment of the event, whether as part of the conference, or as hosted by local breweries and good beer establishments around the HRM. To help keep the conference running smoothly, the organizers are looking for some volunteers to assist before and during the event. There are plenty of perks in helping out too, as you can imagine from a beer-centric event! If that sounds like something you’ll be able to assist with, please reach out to Megan and sign up! Let her know the ACBB sent ya!

Friday Wrap-Up for January 14, 2022 – News from Truro Brewing, Port Rexton, Tanner & Co, Quidi Vidi, Grimross, Propeller, Tusket Falls, Trailway, 2 Crows and more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2022-01-14
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Battery Park, Beerlab, Grimross Brewing, GTFO Adventure Club, HopYard Halifax, Lightfoot & Wolfville, Newfermenters Homebrew Club, Port Rexton Brewing Co., Propeller Brewing, Quidi Vidi Brewery, Tanner & Co Brewing, TrailWay Brewing, Truro Brewing Company, Tusket Falls Brewing. Leave a Comment

We’re heading for a weekend of weather and COVID restrictions across the Atlantic region, so we strongly encourage you to read quickly and make your moves if you haven’t already stocked up on beer for the weekend. After you’ve checked your fave brewery’s social media to make sure they’re open, of course. Hopefully they are, because plenty of them have new beers on the go that you’re sure to want to try. So read on!

Kicking off this week is an inter-provincial collaboration between two breweries with deep, interconnected roots. Alicia MacDonald of Port Rexton Brewing grew up in Truro, and in fact had originally planned to open a brewery in the town, before co-founding PRBC in 2016. While returning to the area this Labour Day, MacDonald spent the day at Truro Brewing Company with Jana Dellapina, concocting something for the coming months. The result of that wondrous day is available now! Quiet Company is an English-style Barleywine, where the hops take the back seat to bold caramel and malt notes. After fermentation, it spent several weeks in a Bourbon barrel from Raging Crow Distillery in nearby North River, where it took on plenty of great vanilla and spirit notes. Originally conceived as an accompaniment to the Matt Anderson song of the same name, Quiet Company is available now in bottles at TBC’s Inglis Place location.

Tanner & Co Brewing in Chester has a brand new hybrid release available exclusively in their Duke Street taproom/retail spot this week. Maybe even a hybrid of a hybrid, as one half of Ambrosia began life as their Kuhlmann featuring Rye and Vienna malts complementing the base Pilsner malt, which was fermented with the natural wild yeasts of the Lucie Kuhlmann grape pomace that was added to the wort. While some was drawn off for the original release, this portion was allowed to age for an additional year on the skins, grabbing more complexity and drying the beer out further. Blended to it was Original Mead, and the resulting assemblage allowed to develop for longer still. As there were only a few cases of Ambrosia produced, you’ll have to go straight to the source to grab them, but we can attest that the visit is worth your time! Also on the shelves and draught is the returning Dunkelweizen, their take on the classic dark wheat beer, featuring banana and chocolate notes.

Quidi Vidi Brewing is celebrating the latest release in their on-going series of homebrewer contest winners from the Newfermenters competition. Wisdom and Wit is the winning beer from Howard Haby, and is true to the original Belgian Witbier style as it features notes of Coriander and citrus, with a hint of chamomile. This 4.1% ABV can is available at their Hops Shop as well online for same-day delivery. 

Also available online now are memberships for Flight Club. Limited to fewer than 200 people, this membership will allow folks early (and sometimes exclusive) access to new and returning beers, their own 20oz mug (to be stored at the taproom), as well as five private events throughout the year. Check that link for more details!

Not many details on this one, but Grimross Brewing has released the latest in their Scratch series this week, Scratch 26: IPA. At 6.5% ABV, this looks to be a West Coast style IPA, with grapefruit, pine, and floral notes coming through. Also out now is a collaboration with the GTFO Adventure Club, Local Legend. $1 from every pint of this juicy pale ale poured will go to their “Give The F Back” Fund. While the taproom may be closing due to return to Level 3 restrictions, both of these are available for growler fills to take away. Stay safe, NB pals!

Propeller Brewing has three pilot-batch beers out now/coming soon, so let’s get you up to speed with them. Available in growlers today at all three of their retail locations, as well as on tap at the newly-reopened Gottingen Street taproom, is Vic Secret Dry-Hopped Sour. This 4.8% tart and refreshing sour ale features loads of fuzzy peach, tangerine, and grapefruit notes thanks to plenty of Vic Secret hops added post-fermentation, on top of a clean acidic base.

Coming soon to the taps are a couple more from their Quinpool Road 300 litre pilot system, in two totally different styles. Bru-1 IPA showcases the hop of the same name, with a fruit salad of flavours like pineapple, melon, and strawberries, and thanks to the Sacch Brux yeast, it finishes fruity, dry, with a hint of acidity. At 6.0% and 70 IBU, rest assured there’s a lot packed into this one! And at the other end of the spectrum is Pineapple & Banana Hefeweizen, a 4.5% switch on the traditional German wheat style, as it was fermented on pineapple puree to bring out that fruit and complement the banana notes from the yeast. Hopyard Halifax has picked up a keg of this to pour soon, and Dartmouth’s Battery Park has grabbed all three to be tapped sometime soon.

Tusket Falls has a new one out this week in their Experimental Beer series, for fans in both Yarmouth County and HRM. The mysteriously nameless Session IPA comes in at 4.6% and features lots of tropical fruit notes from the auditions of Amarillo, Citra, Simcoe and Columbus hops. You can also expect notes of melon, pear, lime zest and stone fruit to accompany a soft body and moderate finishing bitterness. This one is on tap-only at Tusket’s two taprooms. 

Fredericton’s Trailway Brewing is ringing in the new year by revisiting one of their core brands with a bit of a refresh. You might have noticed over the past few months that many of Trailway’s products have received the proverbial “lick of paint” in terms of their branding. Today we can tell you that one of their original core brands, Rype has had that treatment, but also a modification to what’s in the can. The name “Rype” was a play on rye malt, which was originally one of the ingredients. Well no more! Both the rye malt and the crystal malt previously present in the recipe are no longer there, and you can think of “Rype” as a nod to the ripe fruit notes provided by the showcased Mosaic hops. A little drier than it was, thanks to the lack of crystal and the addition of bready Munich malt and some wheat as well, and more refreshing, look for the same tropical fruit notes and dankness, but with a more pure hop expression. Look for it to start appearing wherever you get your Trailway fix, it’s already on the shelves at the brewery.

We’ll leave you today with a ton of news coming to you from Brunswick Street in Halifax, as 2 Crows Brewing celebrates their 5th Anniversary this month. Not ones to do anything in half measures, they are releasing 9 new beers in celebration of their Wood Anniversary (fitting, as several of these will have spent time in their barrels and foedres). The first to be released are a pair of grape-heavy beauts, Bunch and Tobeatic Wild. Bunch is a Berliner Weisse, that is a low abv (3.2%) wheat beer, low in hops, and co-fermented with Lactobacillus to give an acidic kick. Starting life back in February 2020 (ah, the Before Times), the beer lived in its Port barrel primary fermentation vessel until the end of the year, when it was transferred to stainless to rest, before the addition of pureed Concord grapes in the summer. After a couple of months on the fruit, the beer was bottled and allowed to carbonate naturally in the bottle. The resultant beer shows a lovely purple hue, is zippy and spritzy due to the acidic component, with the grape notes shining through. Available in 375ml bottles in store and online now.

Tobeatic Wild is also available now, but in the 355ml can format. Its history is a little more recent, starting from the same base beer as Molten Mirrors, a recently-released collaboration with London’s (ON) Beerlab!. MM was billed as a “Saison/Lager hybrid”, with base grains of Pilsner, rice, and spelt, hopped with Saphir and Huell Melon, and fermented with their house Saison culture. After completion, the temperature was lowered, and an actively-fermenting lager yeast was added (krausening technique) and the beer allowed to further condition and develop at cold temperature. After removing the bulk of the volume to package Molten Mirrors, the several hectolitres left were hit with 800kg of freshly-pressed L’Acadie grape skins (aka pomace) from the Valley’s Lightfoot & Wolfville winery. With plenty of sugar and tannic acid still left in those skins, it also picked up a touch of wild yeast which will no doubt show through the delicate 5.4% beer. Carbing was also done in-can, so expect a little bit of (safe to enjoy) yeast residue at the end. Spritzy Saison/Grisette citrus vibes galore with floral and honey aromatics as well. Like Bunch, TW is available for ordering and pick up today. For more on their love affair with grapes, and L&W, check out this post.

2 Crows have also shown their hand for the rest of the Anniversary releases, which can be consulted on their IG page. As a few of them are extremely limited, they opened up early pre-order access to their newsletter subscribers. So if you are keen on getting early/first access to other releases, we figure it’s the second-best beer list you should subscribe to. For those who want to grab one of each of the Anniversary releases (minus the pastry stouts) in a bundle, you can order yourself a bundle now. Note that the bundle is not available for pickup, delivery, or shipping until January 28th, when the final beer will be released. And if you become a subscriber, you can unlock the Newsletter-only version of that bundle, which features a special branded Arome glass in the box.

“Pastry Stouts?”, you say? Yup! Next week will see the release of two extremely limited Pastry Stouts based on Big Turk and Nanaimo bars, both topping the scale at “11.9%” ABV. While half of the bottles were offered and snapped up by newsletter subscribers, the other half (16 bottles of each) will be available at noon, January 20th, split evenly between online and in store options. Think grape, cherry, and chocolate with Big Turk, and vanilla, coconut, and chocolate for the Nanaimo offering. Also releasing on the 20th is Mountain Shadow, a 10.3% Baltic Porter, which was conditioned with Marquette grape pomace, and features cacao nibs for extra dark chocolate character. 355ml cans of this will be available both online and in store.

Let’s bring this in for a landing with their plans for the final weekend of the month. On Saturday, Jan 29th, they will have a food pop-up in the brewery, as RNB Kitchen serves up some warming and satisfying soul food, with both dine-in (assuming regs allow it) and take-out options available 2 – 7 PM that day. And the oft celebrated (and almost as oft maligned the next morning) Sour Sunday will be Jan 30, with a full board of recent and returning favourite sours on draught, plus shots of Pepto and Tums in case anyone needs them.