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Friday Wrap-Up for October 7, 2022 – News from Delta Force, Tanner & Co., Garrison, Propeller, 2 Crows, Boomstick, Trailway, and More!!

Posted by acbbchris on 2022-10-07
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, 902 BrewCast, As Is Beer Bar, Bar Brewdock, Boomstick Brewing, Bootleg Brew Company, Carmody Cove Vineyard, Delta Force Brewing, East Hollow Cider, Evil Twin, Finback Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Grimm Artisan Ales, Hudson Valley Brewing, Lightfoot & Wolfville, Lunn's Mill Beer Company, Mauzy Cidery, Nocturne Halifax, Propeller Brewing, Serpent Brewing, Stillwell Beer Bar, Stillwell Brewing, Tanner & Co Brewing, Threes Brewing, TrailWay Brewing, Uncorked Tours, Unfiltered Brewing. Leave a Comment

Anyone else feel like they blinked and suddenly September was gone? Fine weather followed by a straight humdinger of a hurricane will do that, we guess. Apologies for our absence last week, but everyone needs a break sometimes, and frankly we trust that y’all know how to log into Fb/Ig/Tw on your own and troll for beer news. Won’t have nearly as many crappy puns, but we guess that’s what you pay us for! We’d also be remiss not to mention the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and the fact that beer/cider pairs perfectly with preparing, eating and cleaning up after a turkey dinner. So grab your favorite local Pilsner, pale ale, saison or dry cider, start brining your bird, and scroll through for this week’s news.

The very special gang at Delta Force Brewing has something new to talk about this week, and if you guessed it was another Ukraine beer you’d actually be wrong (this time, anyway). What it is, though, is the result of leveraging the age-old technique of parti-gyle brewing whereby two (or more) batches of beer are produced from one batch of grain. The first is a “big beer,” usually high in gravity and robust in flavor, whilst the second is a “small(er) beer,” often a daily drinker type. If you’re a fan of the brewery, you’re probably familiar with Operation Wessex, ∂F’s 8.0% fireside sipper; well the new Operation Lil’ Wessex was produced by rinsing further sugars from an OW mash and fermenting the result to produce a second beer. But wait, there’s more! After undergoing a secondary fermentation with brettanomyces, it was further aged on apple pomace (the stuff leftover after apples have been pressed for cider) to produce a very light but very seasonal tipple at 4.0% ABV. And if small beer meets funk meets cider isn’t your jam, you should know that Operation Triufino, their Mexican-style Vienna Lager is also back in stock. You can buy both of these beers along with many others, including their 3-pack of Baurenhofschuppen Märzen variants (plain, Bretted, and aged on apple pomace), at their online store for delivery in Halifax.

Across the Province from the Annapolis Valley is Chester Basin’s Tanner & Co. Brewing, who are celebrating their 5th anniversary this weekend. Although there are still details remaining to be released, we know that they’re planning a little shindig at the brewery with some special beers, sausages and pretzels from Old Black Forest, and a little bit of afternoon music. You’ll find their Barrel-Fermented Saison on tap and in bottles to go, as well as their Ginger IPA and ESB, both exclusive to the taps. Do check Tanner’s socials (Fb/Ig/Tw) for more details on Saturday’s happenings. Congrats to Dan and the team at Tanner on a fruitful five years, and we look forward to seeing what they develop in the next five. 

From a brewery celebrating five years to one celebrating twenty-five, we find Garrison Brewing with a brand new beer available. Twerp is a “tiny sour IPA” which seems pretty self-explanatory to us. Featuring plenty of hops, with an emphasis on southern hemisphere varieties, including Bravo, (Australian) Cascade, El Dorado, Galaxy, and Topaz, this hazy and golden beer sports a bold bitterness at 46 IBU to balance the hop flavors and the tartness from kettle souring, all in a 3.8% ABV package. You’ll find this zesty and sour brew in cans at all Garrison retail spaces as well as on tap at the Seaport and the Oxford Taproom.

The other NS brewery celebrating 25 years this year is Propeller Brewing and while they’ve not got a new one for us, they do have the return of a special seasonal. Continuing their annual tradition, Propeller is supporting Nocturne Halifax by sharing the proceeds from their annual release of Nocturne Black IPA. Hopped with Amarillo and Falconer’s Flight hops, you can expect an amalgam of tropical fruit and dank piney aromas married to a malty backbone with roasty touches of dark chocolate and coffee. Strong and balanced, but maintaining a dry finish, it tips the scales at 6.7% and is the perfect accompaniment to Art at Night. Check out the festival website to peruse the projects and plan to grab some Nocturne at Propeller’s Gottingen, Quinpool, or Windmill Road locations (or online!) and help support the art and energy of the fest.

Everyone knows that Halifax’s 2 Crows Brewing sometimes takes things to extremes with their brewing, and this week is no exception, with two beers hitting the shelves, both over three years in the making. Up first is Soirée, a barrel-aged sour red beer/wine hybrid. On the beer side, it started with a base batch of Flanders-style red that was brewed in June 2019, and fermented and conditioned in oak with a melange of microorganisms. Then, in fall of 2021, the wine side began when the 2C team visited Carmody Cove Vineyard in PEI where they collected a whole bunch (well, bunches and bunches) of Petite Pearl, Marquette, and Muscat whole cluster grapes. After carbonic maceration, the grapes were pressed on-site and the juice was fermented into wine. This wine was blended with the beer and the two were allowed to get friendly for a while before bottling and bottle conditioning for several months. The result keeps the character of the Flanders Red, but adds subtle wine notes. 

Next up is Grapes! which also began life as a batch of Flanders Red brewed in June of 2019. This one (or perhaps this portion) was aged extensively in port barrels until fall of 2021, when it met a large amount of Marquette pomace from Lightfoot & Wolfville. Melding with the residual sugars, tannins, and acids,  and refermenting over several months, the beer was drawn off the pomace and packaged into cans, which were in turn conditioned for another seven months or so. The result is described as “zippy, jammy, [and] complex,” but also, no doubt, “Grapey.” Both of these delights are available at the brewery now, but we’ll pass on the caution from the brewery: chill them both well before opening as they are both very lively!

Boomstick Brewing in Corner Brook, NL, has a new beer in the taproom, and fans of smooth and creamy stout will no doubt rejoice to find out it’s pouring on nitro! Townsite celebrates Boomstick’s home neighborhood in Corner Brook, where you’ll also find Bootleg Brew Co., making it a very densely crafty place. An Irish Stout at a very sessionable 4.4% ABV, it’s a great after work pint, with the roasty character of the darker specialty grains playing off the velvety mouthfeel imparted by the nitro tap. Try it on tap for best results, but consider grabbing some to go from their West Street retail; it’s not quite the same, but pour it hard and drink it fairly quickly and you’ll still get some of that lovely creaminess.

It’s no surprise that one of our region’s most IPA-focused breweries has a new beer out featuring Phantasm, a Sauvignon Blanc grape-derived powder that brings piles of tropical potential to beer, but it is a little surprising that they took so long to do it! Now available from Fredericton’s Trailway Brewing is Phantasmagoria, a 5.6% ABV IPA packed with plenty of passionfruit, berry, and guava character. Dry-hopped with Nelson Sauvin and Cryo Citra, you can expect a pungent and dank aroma to go with all that fruit, and a soft mouthfeel, but also a dry finish. Grab it at the brewery in cans.

You may have heard that Stillwell Brewing is up and running and making and selling beer out of their new digs on Kempt Road in Halifax (special weekend hours this Saturday from 11 – 4 PM!). You may have even sampled some of those tasty, tasty beers for yourself. But do you have the whole story on how it’s all gone down since the halcyon days of sharing a brewhouse at Propeller’s Gottingen Street location? Probably not. But you could probably learn a lot of that stuff if you tune your podcast-ma-phone to the 902Brewcast and check out their new episode with Chris, Nikki, and Grant from the Stilly B set.

For all we know it’s sold out already, but if you’re looking for a can of something that can take your your brain away (and by away, we might mean, “permanently”), Unfiltered brewed up a batch of the aptly named 10% ABV Warning Label and released it to a post-Fiona world last Friday. Still have some storm-related angst coursing through your veins? This liquid hop candy might be just the thing to quell that. Or at least make it bearable. Available in cans, of course, but also for fills (hahaha, fuck!) to go.

It may be a holiday long weekend, but that’s not stopping breweries, cideries and better drinking establishments across the region from hosting events for their thirsty patrons; hell, it might even be encouraging them! 

First up is a release party for a new cidery out of Paradise, Newfoundland focusing on spontaneous fermentation. The first release from Mauzy is Take Me Away Piquette, featuring apple pomace from feral Burin Bay apple. Naturally fermented to 4.7% ABV, this one was also bottle conditioned with Baccalieu Trail Honey. Bottle pours from the 20 cases they produced will be available throughout the evening at Brewdock on Duckworth Street. We’ll be sure to provide more info on Mauzy’s launch plans as details emerge.

Starting today, two of the lovely, but maybe somewhat lesser known breweries in Nova Scotia are trading their taps for the rest of the weekend! Serpent Brewing out of Spryfield and Lunn’s Mill in Lawrencetown (Annapolis Valley version) are making their beers available at the other’s taproom! At Lunn’s Mill, you’ll find Serpent’s Crystal Crescent Strawberry Kolsch and White Mountain Belgian Whit. At Serpent Brewing, you’ll find two tasty Lunn’s Mill brews, First Cut IPA and Pub Ale ESB.  This is an excellent exchange for two breweries that really support their local communities and we hope this keeps happening throughout our region!

If you’re in Saint John, love beer, and love Oktoberfest, you’ve probably felt a small hole in your heart in past years. Well, Uncorked Tours  is bringing an outdoor, open-air beer event in true Oktoberfest fashion. North Market Street in Saint John will be transformed into a beergarden (biergarten, even!) and to celebrate this inaugural event, they are giving away tickets, drink tokens, and tasting glasses for the event. Check out how to enter here.

Atlantic Canada’s northernmost brewery, Lab City’s Iron Rock, is turning 3 and to celebrate they’re hosting a party at the brewery next Saturday, October 15. The day’s events will include lots of special beers, an appearance from Hurley’s Texas BBQ, a pumpkin carving contest, and a giant jenga tournament (register by October 12 for that one), with donations going towards the Hurricane Fiona Relief Fund. The day will be capped off with an 80s dance party starting at 9:00 PM for which tickets are available at the taproom.

Halifax’s Stillwell(‘s?) continues to spoil Halifax and area beer fans with events and next week is no exception. The crew from Manhattan’s As Is Beer Bar will be in town and they’re somehow planning to sneak 12 kegs and over 25 beers/ciders into their checked luggage. The event will take place Thursday, October 13, with tickets available now. The taplist will feature ciders from New York’s East Hollow and beer styles including IPAs, Kölsch, and sours from some New York state legends, including Grimm Artisanal Ales, Threes Brewing, Evil Twin, Finback, and Hudson Valley. This is the first time that most of these breweries have graced a taplist in Atlantic Canada. Only 20L is available of each of the 12 draught offerings, and for that reason, Stillwell is including an early-bird ticketed event from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Tickets are available now on their website with the option of a seated ($20) or standing ($10) session. At 7:00 PM, the doors will open for the rest of the public to try whatever’s left (which may not be much if your favourite bloggers have anything to say about it).

Friday Wrap-Up for September 9, 2022 – News from Delta Force, Big Spruce, Beer.Diversity, Trailway, Bootleg, Barnone, Ol’ Biddy’s, Serpent, Propeller, Seasoned Plate, NS Craft Brewers, Unfiltered, and Upstreet!

Posted by acbbdamian on 2022-09-09
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: BarNone Brewing, Beer. Diversity., Big Spruce Brewing, Bootleg Brew Company, Candid Brewing, Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia, Delta Force Brewing, Make Peace Not War Beer Project, Ol' Biddy's Brew House, Port Rexton Brewing Co., Propeller Brewing, Seasoned Plate, Serpent Brewing, TrailWay Brewing, Unfiltered Brewing, Upstreet Craft Brewing. Leave a Comment

If you’re like us, you’re enjoying this lovely time of year while the temperatures are warm, but there is a nice crispness in the air. Did that sentence make you think of a Märzen? Oktoberfest? Fall beer gardens? Yes, please, to all of that. As usual, the beer news in the region keeps flowing and you can read all of the latest below. 

From the valley of Nova Scotia, Delta Force Brewing is keeping their contributions to the Make Peace Not War beer project going, just as the war in Ukraine has been going on for over 6 months, there is always a chance to support relief efforts from afar. This sixth release of the project is a Brett Pale Ale. This one is 6% and available in 500ml bottles. As with all of these releases, Delta Force is donating 40% of sales to Red Cross Ukraine. Grab this from the Delta Force online shop today, for delivery in the HRM and Valley. 

Nyanza’s Big Spruce Brewing teamed up with the force of nature that is Ren Navarro for a collaboration that reminds us that there is still much to be done to improve beer (and the world) for all. Don’t Make Me Tap The Sign is a 6.3% Hazy IPA, fermented with Voss Kveik yeast, and absolutely loaded with Mosaic and Sabro hops. Navarro is the mind behind Beer. Diversity., educating breweries and the drinking public on equitable and inclusive spaces and working to make beer more open to all. One of those ways to be inclusive is to spell it out specifically through breweries posting their values and code of conduct (for employees and visitors alike). And if there was a time that a patron is not respecting themselves or others…. Well…. Don’t Make Me Tap The Sign… Joining this new release is the return of a tasty little number, Lilliputian Nano IPA. Big hop character, thanks to Idaho Gem and Citra, this little cutie is just 3.5% ABV. Both will be in cans this weekend, stop by the brewery or online shop to ensure you get a chance to take some home for yourself!

Fredericton’s Trailway Brewing has a new beer on draught and in cans this week, in the SMaSH category. For those who may not know, a SMaSH beer is brewed using a Single Malt and a Single Hop, a great way for brewers and imbibers to explore what those ingredients bring to the table. For this expression, they went with Vienna Malt and Vic Secret hops. Think a touch of melanoidin apparent sweetness with plenty of lovely tropical notes, all in a 5.7% ABV package. Ready to enjoy or take away from the brewery now, it’s joined by the Aussie fave Dunder, their 4.8% Pale Ale packed with tropical fruit, pine, with a dank and herbal undertones thanks to the Down Under hops. Cans and pints aplenty on Main Street on Fredericton’s North Side.

Down on College Street in Antigonish, it’s only fitting that Candid Brewing has a new release with back to school and hanging on to some of that summer heat. Electro Lite is a light Mango Sour using real mango purée and a bit of sea salt. This is sour, juicy and very drinkable. It’s refreshing and at only 4%, you’ll want to go back for more thanks to its kick of flavour and approachability. This is available today on tap at the brewery and in cans to go. 

Corner Brook’s Bootleg Brew Co has released a new beer in celebration of the upcoming CB Nuit Art After Dark Festival, happening next weekend, Sept 16-18. After Dark is a Dark Sour, with red currants, vanilla, and a touch of lactose to keep the mouthfeel smooth and silky. Big Cherry Cola vibes in this one, and it is available at the brewery, as well as the Humber Gardens NLC and West Street Ultramar.

And if you are looking for a part-time gig while attending college in town, Bootleg is looking for staff behind the bar. While experience is an asset, they’ll get you all trained up in the ways of the beer right quick! This is a part-time evening gig for someone looking to earn a few bucks while slinging beer. Fire them an email or drop by the brewery to learn more.

Barnone Brewery in Rose Valley, PEI, has released a new (chain) banger of a beer celebrating the Disc Golf Canadian Nationals, taking place at a few courses around the Island. Star Frame is a 5.0% ABV Festbier, and is an ode to the rare occurrence that all members of a playing group make a birdie (or better) on the same hole. We think there may be a few Star Frames this weekend, as the nation’s best are in the province to compete. Barnone has extended their hours to accommodate the visitors looking for it on draught or in cans (there’s a disc golf course in their backyard, btw), and those wanting to have a pint elsewhere, check out Charlottetown’s Hopyard, John Brown’s, and The Beer Garden, or 511 West in Summerside.

Getting to the dark stuff, Propeller has a returning beer that’s back now as a seasonal keg for now and hopefully in cans in the coming weeks. Porter  – London Style is a dark and full-flavoured release that is easy drinking with a smooth mouthfeel. This has rich flavours of chocolate and coffee, with lovely aroma and flavour from the roasted malts. This is 5% and 39 IBU and look for this around Halifax for the fall and winter seasons. 

Out in the bustling metropolis of Lower Sackville, NS, Ol’ Biddy’s Brewhouse has a couple of new beers to talk about, both in celebration. First up, local band and friends of the brewery, Callehan are playing a show at Biddy’s for the release of their new single “Canada’s Pirate Queen” and they came down to the brewery and put together a small batch to ultra-personalize their release party. An English-inspired ale with a base of Maris Otter, the grist also included Crystal 75 for some toffee and deep sweetness and chocolate malt for color and a bit of balancing roastiness. The hop side sees American Willamette meeting UK East Kent Goldings for primarily spicy and herbal notes with maybe a hint of citrus and floral overtones. At 5.1% and 23 IBU expect it to be easy drinking for a night of listening to folky Americana, which is what Callehan will be bringing tomorrow night at the brewery. Don’t expect to see too much of it left on Sunday, though. 

Next up is a beer celebrating a person, Biddy’s Brewer Keith Forbes’ Grandfather, known as “Pops,” a kind-hearted gent to whom Keith decided to pay tribute with a beer, and the brewery’s first production lager at that. Just in time for Oktoberfest, Pop’s Pilsner, a 4.7% ABV golden straw-colored lager, slightly sweet and bready, and a light floral hop character. Not too bitter at 29 IBU, a crisp finish should invite another sip. This one won’t be released for general consumption until September 16th, when you’ll find it pouring at the taproom and canned to go, but if you’re a newsletter subscriber you know how you can try it a little early (and if you’re not a newsletter subscriber yet, it’s pretty easy to become on if you just pop on over to their site). Regardless of whether you’re early or right on time to try this one, you should find an easy drinking beer, perfect for sharing with good times with family and friends.

Staying in HRM, Serpent Brewing has two new releases out this weekend. Up first is Townie Overpass Syndrome, a 6.3% ABV NEIPA. Originally brewed for a tap takeover in St. John’s that was unfortunately cancelled, expect a hazy and juicy take on the style, helped out by the London Fog Yeast strain. The hops include Simcoe and Zeus in the boil to the tune of 30 IBUs and a Simcoe and Sabro dry hop. Expect lots of coconut notes from the Sabro but also a touch of pine and other tropical fruit. Next up is Open Road, a 5% ABV lagered ale. Brewed as part of the annual Open Road fundraiser for the BLT multi-purpose trail, this one uses Perle hops and features some fruity esters from the fermentation. Check out the taproom in Spryfield for both beers this weekend. 

Chef Stephen Barrett had a busy spring and summer… he visited 30 Nova Scotia breweries, chatting with the brewers and owners about their journey into beer, and is publishing recipes to pair with the breweries offerings. Folks are encouraged to check out his Pints & Plates series on the Seasoned Plate website, where two new destinations are released every week (the latest with Hill Top Hops and Meander River are particularly spicy!). You can get a small glimpse into Chef Barrett’s process, as a mini-doc highlighting a few stops in the Valley and a day in the kitchen afterwards has been released this week. Keep your eyes peeled on the SP social media for plenty more beery content!

Rolling over to Halifax, we turn to a symbol of constantly delicious, dependably juicy and always a pleasure. Unfiltered Brewing has DOA coming back out tomorrow in cans. This Double Orange Ale, as always, is a single hop Double IPA featuring Citra. This is available Friday September 9th at Noon from the brewery and on-tap next door at Charm School. 

Port Rexton Brewing has a fresh new release celebrating this weekend’s BonRexton Granfondo. Headwind is a 4.8% Pale Ale, easy drinking (a must after a long ride around the Bonavista Peninsula) blast of dank, tropical, and citrus notes on the nose and palate, thanks to plenty of Galaxy, Mosaic, and Columbus hops. Available on tap for pints and growler fills and cans at the brewery, with cans hitting the St. John’s Retail Shop and other retailers next week.

On PEI (or willing to relocate) and interested in working in craft beer? Upstreet is looking for folks:

Charlottetown’s Upstreet Brewing has had a busy summer, and is looking to welcome a couple of people into the brewhouse to keep ahead of the fall and winter… For those already brewing elsewhere, or having graduated from Brewing School, you can hop right into the Brewer position. And for those looking to enter the career, and are willing to learn the ways of the beer jedi, they are also hiring a Brewery Assistant. Check those links and reach out to Hogie & Co today!

Friday Wrap-Up for September 2, 2022 – News from Half Cut, Tatamagouche, Propeller, Spindrift, Serpent, Breton, Island Folk, Libra, Upstreet, 902 BrewCast, Garrison, Boomstick, and more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2022-09-02
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 902 BrewCast, Boomstick Brewing, Breton Brewing, CBANS, Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia, Garrison Brewing, Half Cut Brewing, Horton Ridge Malt & Grain, Island Folk Cider House, Libra Non-Alcoholic Beer, Nova Scotia Craft Beer, Propeller Brewing, Serpent Brewing, Spindrift Brewing, Tapestry Beer Bar, Tatamagouche Brewing, Upstreet Craft Brewing. Leave a Comment

Happy Labour Day Weekend! As visions of Back to School dance through your heads, we hope you enjoy your mostly-clear-looking 3 days off, before going back to the grindstone Tuesday. Be sure to check the opening hours at your local brewery or ciderhouse, just in case they are taking a much-needed break Monday. Just in case, stock up/place your online orders now to avoid disappointment! Here are a few new and returning beer, ciders, and everything in between, to get you through the next week. And stay tuned all the way to the end for details on how you can win your way into a beer fest later this month. Cheers!

Half Cut Brewing has been slinging beer (and Detroit-style pies thanks to their taproom pals Coastline Pizza) from their Northside Fredericton taproom for just about a month now, and are ready to release their newest one-off beer. Joining the Charlie Horse Kolsch, Jackhammer APA, and Tickle Fight IPA is Moustache Ride. This 6.5% New England IPA is brimming with hops on both the tongue and nose with citrus and stone fruit taking centre stage. Straw in colour with the iconic hop-full haze, the pillowy head keeps all those volatile terpenes and fruity esters locked in until you’re ready to imbibe. This is a taproom draught exclusive, so you’ll have to head over to 67 Main Street at 4 PM for a Ride and a slab to kick off your long weekend.

Big week for the folks on the North Shore, as Tatamagouche kicks off the long weekend with a trio of releases. Returning is the Intertidal: Idaho Gem, their continued exploration of hop-feature IPA recipes. Planting itself firmly in the traditional American IPA category at 6.4% ABV, it stays true to that style with North American-grown Idaho Gem and Chinook hops (with assists with some other old school varieties). Layering berry and citrus on top of pine and resinous, thanks to the multiple cones added throughout the process, including both hot- and warm-temperature whirlpool additions (post-boil/pre-transfer), before two rounds of IG dry-hopping late and then after fermentation. Pale, wheat, chit, and oat malts from Horton Ridge Malt & Grain support the hops with a full mouthfeel without getting bogged down. 

Switching gears completely is a pair of bottled releases months (years?) is the making. Starting from a blend of multi-month- and multi-barrel-aged Golden Sours (with a never-to-be-replicated amalgam of yeast and bacteria), it was then blended with many kilos of raspberry, strawberry, and dark cherry purees. The sugar introduced by the fruit kicked off another round of fermentation, with the Brettanomyces waking up and chewing through that, while giving off some more lovely berry notes of its own, as well as some light hay. The acidity from the bacteria keeps it zippy and clears the palate for a clean finish. Bottles of Monarch have been corked and caged for a while now, allowing them to condition and carb in the bottle, so we suggest grabbing a couple: one to enjoy now, and another one (or more) to try in a few months.

The second mixed fermentation sour from Tata this week is Iphias, a blend of older and new barrel-aged Golden Sours, which were combined and then conditioned with peach puree and ginger juice for a secondary fermentation period. Solid funk and barnyard from the oldest beer meld with the peach fruitiness and spice from the ginger, along with the young beer to soften the blend. This 6.3% ABV beauty has also been allowed to bottle condition for a few months, and with cork and cage, will keep for years. Cans and bottles of all three new releases are available in Tata’s retail store, as well as online for NS delivery and nationwide shipping.

Propeller’s 25th Anniversary year continues with another new release that sees the brewery exploring the area between truly low-alcohol (as defined by the gummint, anyway) and the 3 – 3.5% ABV range we used to call “sessionable.” Coming in at 2.5% is this new one “sub-sessionable”? That doesn’t sound right because it would be more sessionable, right? Maybe “super-sessionable”? Or you could just call it what Prop does, given that it’s a hop-forward beer with smooth mouthfeel and pleasant bitterness, and go with “Nano IPA.” Officially dubbed Big Tiny, it’s available now in 473ml cans from all Prop locations; look out for flavours of melon, grapefruit, and maybe even a soupçon of gooseberry. We’ll also remind you that Prop has cask nights at their Gottingen Street location every Friday starting at 6 PM where you’ll find a cask of one of their beers that’s usually undergone some sort of experimental addition. This week it’s their Prime Lager treated with watermelon and hibiscus. Head on down and enjoy one on their new patio!

The pride of Burnside and Antigonish, Spindrift Brewing, has two new releases to ring in September. First up is Soundtrack Peach and Apricot Sour. This kettle sour started with a base of Pilsner malt and malted wheat and saw additions of Magnum hops before fermenting on peach and apricot puree. Expect notes of tropical and stone fruit to compliment the tart character produced by the Lactobacillus. Soundtrack comes in at 5% ABV and 10 IBUs.  Also out is a new spin on their flagship Toller lager, Toller Red. Taking inspiration from the German Rotbier style originating in Nuremberg, it sees the addition of Munich and Caramel Munich to the usual Pilsner malt, giving it a darker colour, some fruit character and a hint of caramel. Also hopped with Magnum, Toller Red comes in at a sessionable 5.0% ABV and 19 IBUs. Both are out now in cans or for fills at Spindrift’s two locations, with Toller Red also seeing distribution through the NSLC in the coming weeks.

Spryfield’s Serpent Brewing has a few new and returning goodies this upcoming week. First up is their first Irish Red, being released tomorrow (Sept. 3). Their take on the style, it uses Red-X malt to deliver the di rigueur toasty and caramel notes. Can-conditioned this one will be available for taproom pours or to-go. Tuesday (Sept. 6) will see the release of Long Lake Lager, their take on a Czech-style lager using Pilsner malt with a touch of crystal malt, and a lager yeast propagated from their friends at Church Brewing. This one will be on tap and available to-go in cans. Finally, this week also saw the return of their Farmhouse Cider, The Bite. This batch is slightly different, with the saison yeast they used leading to a drier cider with some tart and funky notes and a 5% ABV. It’s available now at the brewery on tap and in cans.

Sticking with cidery news, Sydney’s Breton Brewing and Island Folk Cider House have teamed up once again to create Moxie Graf, a co-fermented apple juice beer. Graf is a style of beverage with 9,000 (!) year-old origins, that involves blending apple juice with beer wort and then fermenting with an ale yeast. The name is a homage to Moxham Castle, the creepy castle in downtown Sydney that was destroyed by fire in the 1960s. Expect a crisp drinking experience with notes of baked apple and caramel. Moxie Graf is available now at the Breton and Island Folk taprooms, and for delivery via Breton’s online store.

Does it feel like Fall to you? It was certainly cooler in Halifax this morning, but we wouldn’t go so far as to hasten the coming of the Autumn season when there’s officially three weeks left of Summer and hopefully even more weeks of patio beer viability yet to come. That said, though some will celebrate while others shake their fists in scorn, the first of the region’s harbingers of Fall is here, and it’s a two-fer: Upstreet now has both their Gravedigger Pumpkin Ale and their Libra Pumpkin Spice available as of yesterday. Gravedigger has been a stalwart since Upstreet’s first year, we believe, and features a deep copper color and aromas of pumpkin pie in a 6.5% package. It’s little sibling, as with all Libra brands, is a low-alcohol brew at 0.4% ABV and aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg. Look for these wherever you usually buy your Upstreet and/or your Libra.

Speaking of Libra, Kyle and Tony (or is it Tony and Kyle?) from the 902 BrewCast sat down with Mike Hogan (“Hogie”) of Upstreet and Libra to talk about the Libra brand, how it came to be, and how it’s doing in the market along with some discussion about no-/low-alcohol beers and Upstreet in general. You can check it out on your favorite podcast app or get it directly from the source. (Pumpkin beer haters worry not, we have reason to believe that this was recorded a little while ago and should be free of any gourdian content).

And speaking of Fall, that’s when the world’s largest celebration of beer takes place, in Germany and across the world: Oktoberfest! To celebrate their own Oktoberfest being held at the Beer Garden on the Waterfront (Sept 23 – Oct 2), Garrison has released their Hefe Weizen this week. Leveraging a bit of Aussie Cascade in this Wheat- and Yeast-driven brew, it features a touch of clove spice and banana on the nose and palate, perfect for enjoying a Maß or three. Cans and pints are available now at their Seaport and Oxford locations.

This week’s Newfoundland content comes to us from Boomstick Brewing in Corner Brook who partnered with music industry and community group Music NL to bring you Every Inch a Sailor, a blood orange and tangerine sour with a name that’s sure to resonate not only with Newfoundlanders, but with anyone who’s lived in Atlantic Canada for very long (or grew up listening to Sharon, Lois, & Bram and/or Fred Penner). Pretty much what it says on the tin, this is a kettle sour to which the team added blood orange and tangerine, producing a beer that is, “bright, light, and drinkable!” Surely one to enjoy while you’re doing some toe tappin’ to the strains of some Newfoundland music. Look for this one packaged in cans at the brewery, the Ultramar next store, and at Humber NLC. And don’t forget Music NL’s Music Celebration Week 2022 coming in late October to Corner Brook!

After a couple of years off (I wonder why??), the Nova Scotia Craft Beer Festival is back! Presented by the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia, which represents breweries from all across the province, 40 breweries from Yarmouth to Sydney, Amherst to Sheet Harbour, will be putting their best foot, and beer, forward, September 16 and 17 on the Halifax Waterfront. Taking place at the Salter Block at 1521 Lower Water Street, this outdoor event will have something for everyone into well-made local beer, plus live music and DJ sets, axe throwing, and with the new ticketing system, the ability to exit and grab food from the Salt Yard vendors next door. There are three sessions (Friday evening, and Saturday afternoon and evening), and we are looking to give away a pair of tickets to the session of your choosing! All you need to do is post a picture, video, reel, whatever you prefer, of the NS craft beer you’re enjoying this weekend on Instagram, and be sure to tag the brewery, us, and CBANS (@ACBeerBlog and @NSCraftBrewers). No limit to those entries, but be sure that we can see it and share! We will do a random draw Tuesday at 9 AM. But for those of you who may not win, please be sure to grab your tickets soon to avoid missing out!

Ending off the week with a job posting, for those looking to join, or supplement, their Career in Beer. Lower Sackville’s TAPestry Beer Bar is looking for a beer slinger to join their ranks in a weekend part-time position (with more shifts as biz increases). A love of beer (hey, if you’re reading this, you’re already part way there) and preferably with some industry experience already, are key to success. Drop by the bar at 833 Sackville Drive to drop your resume and chat with Ian and the gang.