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Friday Wrap-Up for April 29, 2022 – News from Nova Scotia Open Brewery Day, Big Spruce, Sober Island, 2 Crows, Rough Waters, Lone Oak, Landwash, and plenty more!

Posted by acbbaaron on 2022-04-29
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Annapolis Brewing Company, AWOL Brewery, Big Spruce Brewing, Brave Noise Beer, Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia, Delta Force Brewing, Landwash Brewery, Lone Oak Brewing, Make Peace Not War Beer Project, Mountain Meadworks, Nova Scotia Craft Beer Month, Pravda Brewery, Propeller Brewing, Rough Waters Brewing, Sober Island Brewing, Tapped Truro Beer Fest. Leave a Comment

Happy Friday y’all! Another great week for beer in Atlantic Canada, with the official Launch Party of Moncton’s AWOL Brewery happening tomorrow (more info on the brewery and event in yesterday’s post), updates and first looks from Lone Oak’s Brewpub coming soon to Charlottetown’s Milky Way, and new beers for us to tell you about from all four provinces. We are bursting at the seams with content, so let’s dive right in!

Let’s start this week’s news with a reminder that this is the last week and weekend of April, CBANS’ Nova Scotia Craft Beer Month. Tomorrow is Open Brewery Day, with breweries across the province holding special events , brewing demonstrations, new beer launches, and live music in their spaces, there is sure to be something for everyone everywhere to enjoy. As you make your way to a new or favourite brewery, there will be plenty of new beers pouring and available to take away, including…

Nyanza’s Big Spruce Brewing, who have released their Brave Noise Pale Ale. A reminder that Brave Noise is the worldwide movement and collaboration to create inclusive and safe spaces for women, LGTBQ+, and BIPOC, namely anyone otherwise underrepresented or made to feel less than welcome in the beer industry. Big Spruce brewed the suggested 4.5% ABV American Pale Ale recipe on International Women’s Day, and are ready to release it to the world now. Available on tap for pints and fills at the brewery now, it is also packaged in 473ml cans in their retail fridge, for home delivery, and at the freshly stocked fridge at Warehouse Market at 2867 Isleville Street in Halifax. Proceeds from the sale are being donated to a Cape Breton-based Women and Children’s shelter.

Big Spruce has also released That’s So Bougie this week, a Foedre-Fermented Wild Saison. Leveraging hints of oak from the wooden vessel it fermented and conditioned in, this 7.0% pale-coloured saison is bursting with ester and spice and floral notes, on a lively effervescent base, all thanks to the multifaceted wild saison yeast(s) used to ferment. Cans only for this release, look for it in the usual spaces you’ll find Big Spruce beer.

Fresh off celebrating their Sixth Anniversary last weekend (Congrats to Becky and her team!) Sober Island Brewing has a new light beer on the taps and in cans, to celebrate the coming warmer months. Expect to see a different beers in this category from SIBC in the coming months, with the first of those being a 4.3% light ale, dry-hopped with Azacca for a citrus and tropical vibe without being too heavy or filling. Look for future iterations to inch lower in ABV while incorporating more local malt. No official name yet, as that will be revealed with the label design inthe summer. Just ask for the Light Beer and they’ll steer you right! May we suggest dropping by tonight around 7PM, as Shannon Dalberg from Mountain Meadworks will be onsite doing a guided tasting of five of her meads, to showcase the flavours available in this honey-derived beverage. And big things are happening on the Eastern Shore, as Sober Island prepares to open their Musquodoboit Harbour Beer Garden May 19th, and in June, Andre Pettipas and the Giants will mark the opening of their home base outdoor beer garden space. More on those events closer to the dates.

Greenwich’s Delta Force Brewing has brewed and released a second and third beer in the Make Peace Not War beer project. Joining the Dry-Hopped Farmshed Sour are the Valley Lager and Farmshed Tripel. Both available in 500 ml bottles, and 40% of all proceeds are being donated to Red Cross efforts in Ukraine. Easy drinking, fizzy and pale, the Valley Lager is no nonsense and straight to the point at 5.1% ABV and 33 IBU. On the other end of the spectrum is the Farmshed Tripel, at 9.8% ABV, quite dry, with plenty of citrus esters from the style-accurate yeast.Learn more about the beer and project, and order yours today from their website!

Straight out of Annapolis Royal, Annapolis Brewing has a trio of new beers available on draught and in cans this week to tell you about. The inaugural brew on their new brewhouse, Maiden Voyage Kolsch is a 5.5% crisp and easy-drinking hybrid beer, highlighting the straw and bready character from the malt, and just a touch of fruit ester character imparted by the yeast. A light balancing of hops helps to round out the entire package. Maiden Voyage joins their Northern Lights White IPA, which has been tweaked ever so slightly to continuously improve the recipe. 5.0% ABV Wheat Ale, featuring a full mouthfeel and great head retention, with additions of Citra, Amarillo, and Simcoe dry-hopping further enhance the coriander and curacao orange peel used in the boil (along with enough bittering hops to get up to 50 IBU). And finally, Annapolis have released their collaborative Brew for Ukraine Putin Huylo Golden Ale, with all proceeds from can and tap sales going to relief and recovery efforts in Ukraine. Tweaking the original Pravda Brewery recipe slightly, their 5.0% Golden Ale is dry-hopped with Cascade to impart some great citrus aroma and flavour.

Hot off the press (cold off the canning line?) today is the latest “locals [ingredients] only” beer from Halifax’s 2 Crows Brewing. Terra is a classic American Pale Ale, using only Maritime-grown and -processed ingredients. Starting from a base of Shoreline Pale and Pilsner malts, along with Toasted Wheat and Amber Malt from fellow PEI-based maltsters Island Malt House. Tapping into the fine growers at Lakeview Hops in New Brunswick, whose Chinook hops ended up in the mash and during first wort transfer, aided by more Chinook and now Cascade in the whirlpool post-boil. Fermented with a clean ale yeast strain to let the malt and hops take centre stage, the actively fermenting beer received even more of both hops for some lovely bio-transformation of the aromatic terpenes. Using the yeast burps of carbon dioxide to their advantage through the technique of spunding (keeping the CO2 in the vessel to naturally carbonate the beer), and adding just a touch more sugar to complete the carbonation in the can. Think West-Coast-y Pale, with flavours of grapefruit and pine with a solid bitterness to boot. This 5.8% ABV Pale Ale is on shelves at 2 Crows now, and at the NSLC in your neck of the woods real soon.

And if you can’t find a designated driver to take you around to all of the breweries in the province, may we suggest taking in the Tapped Truro Beer Fest, where about 20 breweries will be pouring their wares, plus food vendors, games, and you can even upgrade your ticket to include a shuttle back to your house, hotel, or AirBnB to arrive safely. Grab tickets here!

There is lots of action happening in Deer Lake, as Rough Waters Brewing has a bunch of new releases! Starting with Priestess, a fruited milkshake NEIPA that is fruity, full bodied, and a bit sweet. At 5.9% with additions of cherries and blueberries and a big dry-hopping of Lotus, it sports a delicious aroma with a slightly berry-forward flavour. Another new release is Knock Out. This is a 6% Brut IPA, following the dry champagne style packed with dry hops to bring topical citrus notes and a dry finish. Third on the list is one of their new Sour Series, Spiced Grapefruit! What is the spice? Ginger root! What is the grapefruit? Grapefruit puree! The base of the sour series is a Berliner Weisse and is a tweak of their Canadian Brewing Awards Silver Medal winning Sou’wester beer. All three of the releases above are available in 473ml cans at NLC stores across Newfoundland and different stores around St. John’s, too. 

Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen the release of several IPAs that are pushing as much fruit character out of the hops as possible using specialised yeast strains or Phantasm (extracted from Sauvignon Blanc grapes). The name of the game here is freeing thiols, aromatic compounds that punch above their weight when it comes to tropical fruit character. PEI’s Lone Oak Brewing is the latest to hop on the thiol train with the release of Phancy. The 7% ABV hazy IPA is low on bitterness, but high in fruit flavour and aroma, including notes of passion fruit, tangerine and grape juice. Phancy is available now at the taproom in Borden or for delivery via their online store.

Over in Mount Pearl, the team at Landwash is teaming up with St. John’s tech company, CoLab Software, for the first release in their Make/Shift series. Collab CoLab, Citra Citra Citra is a hazy DDH IPA, that Landwash is calling one of the most juicy, assertive IPA they’ve brewed to date. It features several iterations of the citrusy Citra hop, including the OG Citra T-90 pellets, an addition of T-45 Citra and Citra Spectrum during fermentation for the biotransformation effect, and a final dry hop with more hop pellets. Citra Spectrum is a newer product that uses the essential oils from the hops. Since it comes in liquid form, it can add a lot of hop character without impacting yields at all. Collab CoLab, Citra Citra Citra is available now at the taproom and should also be hitting the shelves at Landwash’s retail partners across the province this weekend. 

A couple of short newsbites before we let you go for the week…

As mentioned in last week’s post, Lunn’s Mill was just packaging up ЧЕРВОНІ ОЧІ (Red Eyes) American Amber Ale in support of the Brew for Ukraine initiative, and now we’re able to tell you the beer is available now to order through their online store, or directly at their taproom in Lawrencetown and The Station in Bridgetown.

In the category of “coming soon”, Lunn’s Mill has a new release in collaboration and support of Annapolis Royal Pride, the brewery is looking for submissions to design a label for Saisons of Love. All submissions must be in a high resolution format and submitted by May 1st to annapolisroyalpride@gmail.com for a chance to win some prizes from the brewery.

Trailway continues its streak of non-hazy releases with the return of Emerald. Their 5% ABV take on a New Zealand style pilsner features Nelson Sauvin hops and additions of lime juice and zest. Cans of Emerald are available now.

Staying in Fredericton, Maybee Brewing Company is releasing Paddle On Pale Ale.  This one is lower on ABV at 4.5%, but plenty bitter at 45 IBUs. Expect a light body and notes of grapefruit and peach. Find it on tap at the brewery today. 

As part of their 25th Anniversary celebration, Propeller Brewing has released the latest new beer in their portfolio, Guavarama Summer Ale. Featuring loads of juicy guava, as well as plenty of blackberries, this 4.8% ABV beer is a lovely glimpse of summer to come with tropical vibes and just a little tang, hazy pink in the glass. Find it on tap and in cans at all three Propeller Shops in Dartmouth and Halifax, online for local delivery or shipping, and at the private stores in HRM and at the airport.

A short drive from Antigonish, Half Cocked Brewing has a new release joining their tap lineup. Lemon Lime Farmhouse is a refreshing release leading into the warmer weather. Using additions of kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass to a slightly tart 5% ABV base, these add lighter flavours instead of the actual peel or fruit. This beer is available starting today on tap or growlers to go. 

Church Brewing has a new release out now, with Blonde available from the brewery and online now in 473ml cans. This is a 5.0% classic blonde ale with some light fruitiness, a gentle hap flavour and medium body. This will be available soon in the NSLC and if you liked their previous blonde release, In Your Honour, from a few years ago, we imagine this will be right up your alley! 

Looking to get into the beer business? Read on!

We’ll close with a job posting on Nova Scotia’s beautiful South Shore. The team at Hell Bay Brewing is looking to grow with the addition of full-time Assistant Brewer. Prior brewing experience is an asset, but a passion for beer and willingness to learn may get you in the door if you’re lacking experience. Apply via hellbaybrewing@eastlin.ca or by dropping by the brewery in Liverpool.

Friday Wrap-Up for October 1, 2021 – News from Candid, Big Spruce, 2 Crows and Bellwoods, Landwash, Rough Waters, Sourwood, Annapolis Cider, Libra, Houblon-Pecheur, and much more!

Posted by acbbaaron on 2021-10-01
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Annapolis Cider Company, Bannerman Brewing, Bellwoods Brewery, Big Spruce Brewing, Candid Brewing, Crooked Feeder Brewing, Flying Boats Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Grimross Brewing, Horton Ridge Malt & Grain, Landwash Brewery, Libra Non-Alcoholic Beer, Master Brewers Association of the Americas, Microbrasserie Houblon-Pechêur, Rough Waters Brewing, Schoolhouse Brewery, Sober Island Brewing, Sourwood Cidery, Stillwell Beergarden, Topside Brewing, TrailWay Brewing. Leave a Comment

While yesterday Canada took a day of learning and reflection to honour the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, today (October 1st) is Treaty Day in Nova Scotia, when the 1752 Treaty of Friendship and Peace was meant to mark a day of renewing friendship and peace between the Mi’kmaq and the Crown. Today, the purpose of Treaty Day is to promote public awareness about the Mi’kmaw culture and heritage for all Nova Scotians. It also kicks off  Mi’kmaq History Month in NS, but keep an eye out around our entire Atlantic region for how your local beverage providers may be supporting their local own Indigenous people. On top of that, we can also keep celebrating Oktoberfest, as these events are still happening all around the globe. As always, keep an eye out for local regulations, proof of vaccination (October 4th for NS folk!) and stay safe out there, fellow fine drinking (and non-drinking) friends!

Antigonish’s Candid Brewing is celebrating their Grand Opening this weekend with their own Oktoberfest; complete with a brand new beer as well as events today and tomorrow… First the beer, shall we? Oktoberfest Märzen was brewed to honour that most excellent Munich tradition of Oktoberfest, and in the same style as the originals, with the 5.9% ABV beer pouring a deep amber colour and is malt on the nose and the palate, with a smooth, quaffable, finish. A taproom feature, draught pours of the Marzen start at 4PM, as the festivities of the weekend kick into high gear…

Today from 4 PM, door prizes and drink and food specials (The Boneyard food truck is onsite), table-side magic from 5 PM, and a free show from Jud Gunning at 6 PM, ahead of two ticketed shows this evening (The Collective at 8 PM, and Andre Pettipas & The Giants at 9 PM, tickets for your table are available here, and include a stein and first fill for each person).

Saturday’s fun start shortly after opening at 1 PM, with more door prizes and drink and food specials, along with Brewery Tours at 1, 2, and 3 PM, with Kinsmen Radio Bingo at 5:30 PM. The doors close for the ticketed events of the evening, before the Dixie Rovers and then Dead Phish take over for the evening. 

The Antigonish Townhouse is also celebrating Candid’s opening, as they’ll have Marzen on tap to pair with a lovely Currywurst feature, and for those unable to make it to town for the weekend fun, kegs will be available in HRM at TAPestry Beer Bar and Battery Park very soon.

In Nyanza, up on Cape Breton Island, Big Spruce is bringing both a returning favorite and an all-new jam to the taps this week, a double-dose of terroir from our CB friends. Up first is Major Hop Lips, also known as, “the beer what they put all their farm-grown hops in.” Yup, you may be aware that Big Spruce has a hopyard on their property, and, barring major investment in extensive cold storage and/or processing and pelletizing equipment, the absolute best way to showcase those hops is to pick ‘em and immediately throw them into a batch of beer. A pale ale weighing in at 5.7% ABV and boasting a stiff-ish 59 IBU, it cone-tains (hyuk hyuk) Cascade, Mount Hood, Goldings, Chinook, and Centennial varieties for an overall impression of apricot, pine, and wildflowers. Golden in color, with a crispy white head, the can design (and name) will no doubt trigger nostalgia for drinkers of a certain age.

Secondly, in a move that screams, “Summer’s not over yet, dammit!” comes Respect Your Elders, a Berlinerweiße featuring elderberries sourced, you guessed it, on the Big Spruce farm. Spritzy, dry, and just a little bit tart, this 4.5% ABV beer takes a soft pink color and light fruit character from the elderberries, long considered to be medicinal. We’re not sure you’ll see any health benefits from drinking this one, but we’re guessing your taste buds will be pretty happy. Both of these beers are now available in cans (although the Respect Your Elders is a small batch) at the Big Spruce online shop for delivery, for pints, fills, and cans to go at the brewery, and, we suspect, on tap over the coming days and weeks at your favorite BS tap accounts.

It won’t surprise regular readers of this blog (both of you!) that we’ve got news from 2 Crows Brewing this week, although it may surprise you that we’ve only got one thing to mention. And we’re not going to lie, this one might seem like a bit of a tease… You see, 2 Crows has done a home-and-home collaboration with one of Canada’s shining light breweries, Toronto’s Bellwoods Brewing, and the first of those two beers, loosely based on a New Zealand theme, is now available. Crowbar features, of course, a raft of New Zealand hops, including Rakau, Pacifica, and Motueka to provide notes of honeydew melon, strawberry, and sweet tart candies. It’s 7.0% ABV, and it’s been canned for your convenience, but here’s the kicker: this is the Bellwoods half of the collab, so it’s only available from them. That said, if you’ve got any friends in Toronto, or the rest of Ontario, Bellwoods ships province-wide, so now may be the time to call in that favor your childhood friend/college roommate/cousin/aunt/uncle/great-grandmother owes you!! Meanwhile, we’ll have the deets on the 2 Crows side of the collab when it’s released in coming weeks.

Up on the Rock, in Mount Pearl, Landwash Brewery has a brand new beer available, although for frequenters of their establishment it’s not exactly new. Originally brewed as a taproom exclusive, English Harbour is a 4.8% ABV sour that was conditioned on locally-sourced field cucumbers and rosewater. Bright and thirst-quenching, it was such a hit on tap they decided to do up a big ol’ batch. Available as of yesterday for pints, fills, and in cans to go, look for this one (and their recent Kveik-fermented quick lager Sand Dollar) to be available via wider distro real soon now!

Sticking with Newfoundland for a spell, we go west to Rough Waters Brewing in Deer Lake, where they’re rolling out a very traditional Belgian style. Mechan-enkel is the RW take on an Enkel, the low-percentage daily drinker brewed by and for monks that you may also know by the name Patersbier. At 4.3% ABV it’s not going to knock you over if you have a couple of them, but it’s got plenty of bready flavor from a grist of Pilsner and wheat malts, some complex overtones from the Belgian yeast strain, and additional notes of citrus, honey, and white pepper. Brewed in partnership with Rough Waters Gravel Grind, a 40/75km bike ride through the Humber Valley trail systems, we think this will go down very smooth after a trek like that, or just the trek from your house to the taproom. This one is available on tap and in cans from the brewery, where you can also grab their two CBA Silver medal-winning offerings, Selkie Wheat beer, Sou-wester sour, or the rest of their lineup.

Let’s chat cider for a bit, as Halifax’s Sourwood Cider has a special release on shelves near and far these days. Cox Orange Pet-Nat is a single varietal cider made from the eponymous apple, that was spontaneously fermented using only the yeast and microbes on the fruit, and underwent a 3-week maceration period with the apple flesh and skins hanging around the fermenting cider. Considered a Zero / Zero cider, there was no sulfur added to kill natural yeast or bacteria, and so no other intervention with chemicals or filtration. With just 24 cases produced, this is certainly a small batch, but is now available at Sourwood’s location on Cornwallis Street, their online shop, and for those in Ontario, through Grape Witches’ shop.

As mentioned in the intro, it is Mi’kmaq Heritage Month and many establishments will show their support in one way or another. One of those is Wolfville’s Annapolis Cider, who is back with one of their Something Different series, featuring limited releases and new flavours blended with their dry cider. Something Different: Peach and Ginger is a full-bodied sparkling cider that blends their cool fermented dry cider with fresh-pressed Annapolis Valley peaches and a bit of ginger. Using a cryo-exraction process for the peach juice, this brings out some acidity and fuller, roundness of flavour, along with notes of tropical fruit and warm peach pie. Splashed with ginger juice, this is notable with a warming zip on the finish of this 5.7% cider. This is available now in growlers only at the cidery and $0.50 from each refill of Peach & Ginger will support the Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association (NSNWA). NSNWA offers programs, services and advocacy supports to Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people across the province.

Upstreet’s non-alcoholic offshoot, Libra, continues to expand its offerings with the release of two new beers just in time for anyone partaking in Sober October, or just generally looking for a zero alcohol option that still scratches that beer itch. First up is Libra Pumpkin Spice Ale. Expect those classic fall notes of cinnamon and nutmeg. Also joining the party is Libra Pilsner. Brewed with lager yeast and Czech-imported Saaz hops, you can expect a crisp drinking experience with some light malt sweetness. Both beers are 0.4% ABV and are available in 12 and 24 packs at the Libra online store (Pilsner is coming back in a few weeks), with the Pumpkin Spice also available at Upstreet’s retail shop and Craft Beer Corner downtown.

Over to New Brunswick, where you might know that in Village-des-Poirier on the Acadian Peninsula you’ll find Microbrasserie Houblon-Pecheur. What you may also find in the waters nearby, as he doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave, is a Great White Shark called, of course, “Brunswick,” but not why you think. Originally tagged off the coast of the Southern US, he was named after the folks of Brunswick, Georgia! Guess he heard about the “other” Brunswick and decided to go on a road trip! A young adult, he’s “only” 8’9” and 430-ish lbs of ocean-going killing machine, but we have every faith his time in the region will bulk him up. What better way to celebrate such a visitor than with a beer? And BHP came up with just the thing, an IPA they’re calling, not surprisingly, Brunswick. At 7.7% ABV and packaged in 500 mL bottles, it’s a double IPA that no doubt packs a shark-sized punch. Look for it at ANBL stores in Caraquet, Tracadie, and Shippagan, with other usually Houblon-Pecheur points of distro expected to pick it up soon.

The Oktoberfest events continue, in addition to Candid’s event mentioned earlier, we’ve got news of a few more coming over the next couple of weeks…

If you’re headed to the Valley this weekend, the Oktoberfest tradition will find you there, too! Starting today, Horton Ridge will have a wonderful tap lineup of 3 new Oktoberfest beers, along with their other core beer and other taps from Tatamagouche, Big Spruce and East Coast Cider. The new beers are an Oktoberfest Honig, a 5.2% Marzen with local honey, Labour of Love, a 5% Schwarzbier and Bucked Up, a 5.5% Kolsch. These will be available all weekend at the malt house. 

Down at the Seaport in Halifax, Garrison Brewing has brought back a beer for a very special in-house event going on Tomorrow, Saturday, October 2nd. It’s a Wienerful Wheat is a hazy, crisp, and refreshing beer, 4.6% ABV and 12 IBU, nominally in the German Weißbier style, with a bready wheat character and overtones of spice and citrus. It was brewed in collaboration with Jack 92.9 FM, specifically morning hosts Griff and Caroline. Fifty cents from every can sold will go towards the Nova Scotia SPCA. Tomorrow’s event will celebrate all of that, with a pet-friendly launch party. Drink and merchandise (pet accessories, natch) deals will be going on all day, with locally handcrafted pet goods from Bog Dog and Hide & Paw also on display and the chance to win a prize pack with stuffs from other vendors @bichobandanas, @craftybeastsbrewingco, @thewhiskerstore, @chowtimepetfoods, and more! So get your furry friend(s) prepped and primped and head down to have some beer and maybe spoil them a little (more).

We’ve been telling you all about various Oktoberfest celebrations throughout the region over the past several weeks, including a couple today, but in classic, “last, but certainly not least,” news comes word that Stillwell Beergarden is doing their thing once again this year on Saturday, October 9. The true blue beer geek’s version of the event in our region, they’ve got confirmed taps from a couple of well regarded out of town breweries, namely Sonnen Hill of Caledon, ON, and Tooth & Nail, of Ottawa, ON, along with a raft of Maritime stalwarts: PEI’s Lone Oak and Bogside, New Brunswick’s Grimross, and Nova Scotia faves Tatamagouche, Big Spruce, Boxing Rock, Uncle Leo’s, and, of course, Stillwell Brewing. Beers are not all confirmed yet, but you can expect plenty of Märzens/Festbiers along with maybe some Pils, German Lager, Kellerpils, Altbier, and possibly even a Munich Dunkel. No tickets, it’ll be first come, first served, but there will be an entry fee (keep an eye on BG social media for details on that). Beer will be served in ½ L and 1 L steins, and there will be some thematically consistent snacks from HQ chef Joe Martin. So maybe forgo the dirndl and lederhosen and move straight for the drinking pants because this is shaping up to be eine gongshow. 

Just a coupla buncha quick hits this week before we let you go:

Newfoundland isn’t immune to the Fall beer craze either. Bannerman’s Marzen-style lager, Safe Bet, is also available in cans and on tap on Duckworth Street. Their take on the style comes in at 5.5% ABV. Using a blend of Vienna, Pilsner and Caramel malts to produce a beautiful copper colour and provide ample malt sweetness.

In more Newfoundland news, Crooked Feeder has two new releases in its Sour Series. Passion Fruit Sour and Grapefruit Sour are both available at the Cormack taproom and at Marie’s Minimart locations in St. John’s.

If you like your marine vessels to be airborne, Flying Boats has a returning favourite at the brewery and select ANBL stores in a limited release. Red Cap is a 4.8% Peanut Butter Stout using a base of an English-style Double Oatmeal Stout with all-natural peanut butter flavour added in the final stages of fermentation. A mix of peanut butter aroma, flavor with chocolate notes, this is in 473ml cans and on tap and growler fills while quantities last. 

Heading down the river, Rothesay’s Foghorn Brewing Co. is releasing a new Double IPA, Trident to Da Troat. Coming in at 8.5% ABV, expect a deep orange colour, with big hop aroma and flavour from the dry-hopping. Grab it today in cans or by the pint in the taproom.

The Fall beers continue to roll out of brite tanks and canning lines across the region. In Fredericton, Fall means the return of Grimross’ Vienna Lager, King’s Horn. This super clean lager with the style’s signature malt sweetness is available now at the brewtique now on Bishop Drive. 

Windsor’s Schoolhouse Brewery is the fall mood this week as well, as they release Pumpkin Paddler is a 6% Bock with some added pumpkin spice flavour. Try it today at the brewery on Water Street.

We’ll leave you with two final re-releases. Wizzum is back in stock at Trailway. This west coast style IPA has slightly more bitterness than you’ve come to expect from Trailway. Look for a touch of sweet malt flavours and hops that profile the classic pine and resin west coast notes. Finally, on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore, Cup O Joe is back at Sober Island. This 5.8% coffee porter features an addition of Trider coffee and is available now in cans. 

One more thing this week…

For those who like exploring a bit of science as they craft, create, or enjoy beer, the Master Brewers Association of the Americas is a great place to start. While membership is reserved for those in the brewing industry, or students who may join later, there are resources available to the general public such as their free weekly podcast, tapping into their industry members to contribute research and knowledge to everyone in the industry (or just interested in learning more!). For the first time, we in Atlantic Canada have a seat at the table, as Blair Tobin, owner and Head Brewer of Topside Brewing, has been elected as the Atlantic Canada Representative of District Atlantic Eastern Canada. With a local brewer/owner on the board, expect to see more MBAA exposure at events in the region, and more resources available to local brewers, from both pure research side of things, as well as from partnering companies in the malt, yeast, and hops world. Congratulations to Tobin on the election! And hey, while we’re toasting Tobin, we’re thinking Topside’s returning Winter seasonal Chaos Stout is as good a choice as any. The 6.6% Oatmeal Stout with dark chocolate notes complementing the bold roasted malt flavours. Find it on tap at Finbar’s Portland Hills today, and you can always reach out to Topside directly for growler fills via Social Media (Fb/Ig).

 

Friday Wrap-Up for June 4, 2021 – News from O’Creek, Tatamagouche, Tanner & Co, PEI Brewing, Big Spruce, Gridiron, Propeller, Sober Island and much more!

Posted by acbbdevon on 2021-06-04
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Big Spruce Brewing, Bogside Brewing, Brightwood Brewery, Candid Brewing, CAVOK Brewing, Copper Bottom Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Gridiron Brewing, O'Creek Brewing, PEI Brewing Co., PEI Craft Beer Week, Propeller Brewing, Sober Island Brewing, Tanner & Co Brewing, Tatamagouche Brewing, Tidehouse Brewing, Village Green by Modern Brewer. Leave a Comment

Happy First Friday of June! The weather is warming, vaccination rates are rising, COVID cases are waning, all of which point to a rising from the ashes of 2020/H1 2021 for the breweries, cideries, and good beer spots in the region. Patios opened province-wide in Nova Scotia this week, the first time in 9 months, and in-brewery/-bar/-restaurant enjoyment is coming soon. Let’s celebrate with a whole buncha new beers available across the region!

Let’s start off by congratulating Dieppe’s O’Creek Brewing Company on their third anniversary. To celebrate, the team has brewed Maple Pecan Pie, a big pastry stout to the tune of 10.5%. Local syrup from Château Scoudouc adds a sweet maple note, with cocoa nibs adding some bitter chocolate character. The beer was conditioned on pecans, dates and vanilla beans to provide additional sweetness and flavour complexity. Bottles are in short supply due to batch size, so be sure to hit up CAVOK Brewing* tomorrow when they are officially released! If you’re more in the mood for hops, fresh kegs of their NEIPA Magnetic Ale are on tap now Euston Park’s Parlee Beach location. This 6.5% take on the style is packed with tropical fruit and citrus notes from late additions of Galaxy, Mosaic, El Dorado and Citra, followed by a dry hop of Simcoe and Mosaic. 

*New 6.8% Hibiscus IPA out now from CAVOK, btw, Red Knight. It’s available in their Dieppe taproom and for delivery and shipping online.

On Nova Scotia’s North Shore, the Tatamagouche Brewery tiny patio re-opened this week, with 3 new and returning beers released coincidentally. Returning is Guava Heist, a 3.6% Berliner Weisse (aka sour wheat beer), aged on Organic guava for an intense tropical and citrus experience on the tart base. Available now in cans and on draught at the brewery, like the next two beers, as well as for online ordering for NS and Canada-wide shipping. Brand new this week is another sour beer, but done using a modern approach. Leveraging the new Philly Sour yeast, isolated and studied by a research group in Philadelphia, it is able to create lactic acid directly, rather than needing a Lactobacillus bacteria to do the heavy lifting. This means a very controllable and consistent beer from batch to batch, without the need to hold the fermenting wort at high temperature (currently necessary with Kettle Sours), yet still delivering a moderately tart and refreshing kick we love in sours. Tata is starting their journey with this new yeast with Spark, a 5.0% Sour Pale Ale. Forgoing any fruit for the debut, Spark features a light addition of tropical hops in the kettle, with loads of Eclipse and New Zealand-grown Cascade in the dry-hop. Horton Ridge Pale and Wheat Malts, and Oats, make up the grist upon which the hops and yeast play. The light acidity in the beer brightens the hop character and keeps you coming back for more.

Taking a left turn from the sour beers is Tata’s Dawdle, a 5.8% Belgian Pale Ale. A base of Pilsner and Munich, with a touch of Honey malts, give a clean foundation to build on. A large dosing of Hallertau Mittlefruh and Ariana in the kettle is complemented by plenty more H M in the dry-hop, lending floral and herbal notes to the subtle pepper and spicy yeast character. Cans available in store and online now!

Chester’s finest has a re-release that is now available just in time for the warmer turn of weather. Session Rye IPA is back from Tanner Brewing boasting a backbone of Rye flavour throughout, generous hop additions, but stays at a nice sessionable 4.5% ABV. This Session IPA has a few changes from the original release as they used more Rye and paired it with English Maris Otter malt for the grain bill. They used some other hops this time around as well, now using Lotus, Mosaic and Idaho 7. The result brings some nice Rye spice and body through a dry, refreshing ale with notes of citrus and tropical fruits from the hopping. This is available in their standard 500ml bottles for shipping from their online store or for in-store pickup. 

In one of the the recent 902 Brewcast tasting episodes, the boys broke the news that Big Spruce has added another canner to its lineup that will allow them to can small batch beers made on the original system adjacent to the Sprucetique. Over the last week, two new offerings and a returning seasonal have found their way into cans from the new line. FIrst up is the return of She’s Maibock, a German-style lager. Hopped with Huell Melon, this 6.5% lager features notes of melon and apricot to compliment a toasted bread crust malt profile. The two new releases are both takes on Saison, with two very different interpretations to contrast. Old World Saison honors the fruit and spice yeast derived notes of the style, with an added wood character from conditioning in oak barrels. Coming in at 7.4%, it uses Hallertau Tradition hops that are known for their earthy and grassy character. Finally, New World Saison adds an element that many North American brewers of Saisons have experimented with, by incorporating Brettanomyces, in this case for a co-fermentation with a yeast strain. The funky character from the Brett plays nicely with the Citra dry-hop, which lends notes of grapefruit and tangerine. You can find all of the new canned releases now at the Sprucetique (their Food Truck opens for the season today) or for province-wide delivery and Canada-wide shipping in Big Spruce’s online store. 

You may know Hampton, New Brunswick as being between Sussex and Saint John and along the Saint John River, but now you may remember them for Gridiron Brewing. They have a new beer out now, as they keep brewing and rolling out the good stuff. Zambapalooza is a NEIPA with exclusively Zamba hops (the BSG hop blend formerly known as Samba). This new hop blend brings complex flavour and aroma with stone fruits, tangerine and pineapple. Pairing that with barley and wheat from Island Malt House, as well as some oats, a smooth mouthfeel supports and softens any bite, keeping it true to the OG NEIPA. At 4.9% it has a lighter body, but a lot of the punch of a NEIPA. They’re brewing and they’re open Thurs –  Sun 3 – 6 PM, with free local and QV deliveries happening multiple times per week, so check out their website for their full offerings.

Never a stranger to bring the summer treats, Propeller has a new release available now. Peachberry is a Sour Ale featuring (you guessed it) Peach and Strawberry. Using natural strawberry and peach additions, this lightly sour ale is a balance of sweet and tart. With an IBU of 8, the hopping is minimal and the ripe strawberry and peach sweetness shine through at 5%. This is available now in 473ml can and 4-packs online and in person at Prop Shops, private stores and The Port by NSLC shortly, and will be popping up on tap at various establishments around the province any second now (perfect for those patios now open!). And great news that Propeller is filling growlers again! Of note, they only fill their own branded growlers, but the deposit on theirs is fully refundable so you’re not out anything!

Up the Eastern Shore from HRM lies Sheet Harbour, home of Sober Island Brewing, who have quite a few things on the go this week. First up, last week they put a new beer on the taps: Old School American IPA is pretty self-explanatory, we figure, but no less interesting for being so. Featuring hints of white pepper and pine you can think of it as a sibling to their Wavebreaker; better act soon if you want to try it, though, as we’ve been advised there’s not a whole lot left. Meanwhile, those looking for a Sober Island fix that’s a little closer to the city might be excited to hear that not only do they have a new location in Musquodoboit Harbour on the grounds of the Musquodoboit Harbour Railway Museum, but they’re now able to operate as a beer garden there. Grab some beer to go or to sit and sip in the sun, Thursday to Sunday, 12 – 8 PM; it’s dog and family friendly, and The Bandwagon food truck will also be there this weekend if you’re feeling the need for a nosh. Lastly, as you can imagine, with the beer garden comes the need for some more folks to help with the pouring and the serving and such. If you’re looking for such a spot for summer employment, you can forward your resumé along with an explanation of why you’d like to work for Sober Island to rebecca@soberbrewing.ca.

Two pieces of news from Dartmouth’s Brightwood Brewery. Let’s start with a new beer release. Keeping up with what is now a weekly trend of low-ABV releases, Light Bright is a 3.5% light beer with a spiffy can label that can’t help but make us nostalgic for perpetually losing the small plastic pegs from the namesake toy. The beer includes a touch of Vienna malt and whirlpool and dry-hop additions of Centennial and Simcoe hops that provide a citrusy aroma. Cans of Light Bright are available now at the taproom on Portland St.  And for those who’ve been patiently watching the space on the Dartmouth waterfront, you’ll be pleased to know that Brightwood is opening their Beergarden today (weather dependent). Seating capacity will start out at 100 (with groups now larger than 10 per the public health rules). In addition to being able to get food from Evan’s Seafood, this year’s menu will also include a hotdog and ice cream vendor. Check out Brightwood’s social channels for hours of operation and any weather related closures.  

Hop lovers in HRM (and beyond, these folks ship pretty much everywhere) can rejoice, as Halifax’s 2 Crows Brewing has a brand new entry in their ongoing series of ultra hop forward and hazy New England IPAs. Modern Interpretation is the 6th entry so far and features the same grist, Golden Promise malt with some wheat, dextrapils and oats for body, Columbus in the mash and at first wort, Simcoe and Huell Melon in the hopback on the way out of the kettle, and a fermentation with the Foggy London yeast strain from Escarpment Labs. For featured hops in the dry hop, which is where the various “-ations” diverge from one another, this one was positively blasted with “stupid” amounts of Enigma and Galaxy along with a “little bit” (only by comparison, we’re sure) of Citra. Expect aromas of overripe papaya, raspberry and peach along with additional notes of mango and pear. Smooth, tropical, and intense, with a definite dankness, it’s 6.1%, 44 IBU and available at the brewery now. And if massively hopped hazebombs aren’t your thing, fear not, the 2C gang might very well still have you covered. Their recently release crispy Bohemian Pils Letna is still in full effect and this week also sees the return of Jubilee, the sibling of Jamboree. A fruited summer sour with blackberry and apricot, it’s lively, lush, and full of flavor. Order online for curbside pickup or delivery, or just head down to the brewery and grab some in person to go or to sip on their patio.

Halifax’s little brewery that could is back with their can-do attitude and a bunch of cans this week. After a few weeks of shutdown Tidehouse is back with four beers available: two new ones and two return engagements. First up on the new stuff front is Chrysalis, a beer that lands somewhere between a lager and an ale, featuring Pilsner malt and Czech Saaz hops paired with the classic California Lager yeast strain. A bit bitter, bready, and crackery, with a mild noble hop note, it’s 5.5% ABV and full-bodied, but finishes nice and dry, the ideal summer crusher. In short, and in the words of the brewery themselves, it’s “[a] beery beer that beers.” Also new from the Tidehouse crew this week is Saddle Up, an IPA in the New England style. Hazy and juicy, as the style demands, this 7% ABV beer does pull a little zig and zag from what you might be used to, first with a solid bitter backbone that’s often somewhat lacking in NEIPAs, and then by replacing the slightly sweet finish that’s so common with a more dry sensation. Hopped with Eclipse, Enigma, and Citra, you can rightly expect notes of fresh pineapple, ripe mango, and grapefruit.

On the returning beer front we find a couple of very summery beers just in time for what we hope is a banger of a weekend weather-wise in the HRM. Peachy Fuzzies is up first, their 4.5% sour that features Peach Rooibos tea from another local business, World Tea House. Nominally a sour, but balanced well by plenty of peach character and a definite iced tea vibe, this is definitely a beer that would be at home on a sunny afternoon on a patio. Also returning is a fresh batch of the brewery’s stone cold classic Hibiscus City. Also a sour and 4.5%, this one features Hibiscus (of course!) and lime and a gorgeous purply-red hue. Cans of all four of these beers are available at the brewery from noon – 6 PM today for sure, but keep an eye on their socials (Fb, Ig) for more information about other days when you’ll be able to pop down and, hopefully sooner rather than later, when they’ll be able to open their taproom for pouring pints again.

Halifax’s Garrison Brewing is embracing the warmer weather with two patio-worthy beers returning this week. Their Sour to the People is sour and puckering as all get out, and while it does not feature any fruit in the beer, lemon, peach, green apple, and lemon come through thanks to the acidic kick and other ingredients. At 5.5%, cans are available at both their Seaport and Oxford retail stores, as well as on tap at both locations (patio drinking!), with limited draught to a few places around town. Also returning is Georgia Peach, a 5.0% Wheat beer featuring plenty of peach coming through on the nose and palate, on top of the light base of Maritime Pale and Wheat malts. In addition to Garrison’s spots, cans will also be available at the private stores and NSLC in the next few days/week.

Having an events section at all is suddenly a novelty; here’s hoping this is the first in a new trend:

Would you believe that things have settled down enough in PEI for there to be a PEI Craft Beer Week this year?! We didn’t either, but hey, we’re mostly (very jealous) mainlanders in these parts. Starting tomorrow, Saturday, June 5th, and extending a full week to Saturday, June 12th, this year’s event is featuring both PEI Craft Beer as well as PEI Beef, with PEI Cattle Producers, Atlantic Beef Products Inc., and PEILCC all sponsoring and pretty much all the breweries on the Island involved. Right in line with that combo of sponsors, then, is this year’s signature event, Beef & Brews, where you’ll find food featuring PEI beef paired with PEI craft beer at various tap rooms around the province. Check out the main PEICBW website for a list of who’s participating and what their combo is. Also at that link you’ll find the complete schedule of events throughout the week, including live music, trivia nights, guided tastings, tap takeovers, and more. And there’s also a contest you can enter for a prize package from PEILLC (we have a sneaking suspicion that the prizes might involve beer in some way). Islanders, know that the rest of us are pretty jelly right now.

Now that you know where to find all the appropriate details for this week of events, check out some of the new beers you’ll be enjoying at them:

First up, PEI Brewing Company has a new seasonal release from their Gahan lineup. Walker West Coast IPA is named after their second location established on Walker Drive, where they were located from 2008 until 2013. This tribute IPA has a great malt backbone with sweet caramel malt but balances nicely with big tropical and pine notes from a variety of hops bring the IBU to 70. At 7% expect a deliciously aromatic, bitter and malty classic West Coast IPA. It’s available now in cans at PEI Brew Co and Gahan locations on PEI and will be available at brewpubs and PEI Liquor stores soon. 

Not only is the whole Island celebrating PEI Beer Week this week, but Bogside Brewing in Montague is also celebrating their second birthday and tomorrow (that’s Saturday, June 5th), they’re  having a birthday party and new beer release event. Bogside Radler is exactly what a Radler should be, a light (5% ABV) beer mixed with real juice (grapefruit, tangerine, and a splash of lime); an easy drinking, refreshing combo with a crisp finish, great  for hot weather and wherever the day takes you. You’ll find it for $5 pints tomorrow and 15% off 6-packs of 355 mL cans to go. Meanwhile, you’ll also find on-site oyster shucking (11:30 – 2:30 PM and 4:30 – 8:30 PM) , thanks to a team-up with Cascumpec Bay Oyster Co., live music from Dave Woodside (4 – 7 PM) and Adam MacGregor (7 – 10 PM), and lawn games in the beer gardens. Get the full deets from the Fb Event Page. And if you can’t make the party, but would like to celebrate at home with some Bogside, online ordering is still in full effect!

Copper Bottom in Montague is kicking off Beer Week a bit early, with a sneak peek of a new barrel-aged sour coming next week. Pouring today is Bramble, a raspberry sour heavily influenced by the Belgian Framboise style. Starting out with a multi-grain grist of Pilsner, Spelt, Raw Wheat and 2-row, the beer spent its first six months in Pinot Grigio taking in a whole bunch of funk and acidity from the mixed culture yeast used to ferment. It was then transferred onto raspberry puree for another two months allowing the tart and jammy character of the fruit to meld with the beer. While the majority of the 5.1% beer was bottled a couple of months back to develop some natural carbonation and will be released this coming Thursday, a small amount was kegged and available at the brewery this weekend. Pop in, maybe grab something from The Pizza Box onsite, and kick off your PEI Craft Beer Week today! 

Fresh off their win at last night’s Hopyard Beer Bar Battle of the Breweries, Village Green has a brand new hazy IPA available on draught and in cans in Cornwall today. Weird Clouds will be a rotating NEIPA, exploring different varietals and blends of hops. Version #1 features Columbus, Citra, Amarillo, and El Dorado, coming together for a billowy blast of tropical flavour and aroma, on a 6.7% soft base of Pilsner, Vienna, Flaked Oats, and Wheat malts. Head out for a pint and can, and pop by Holy Fox Food Truck set up next door!

If you’re looking for summer work in the beer business up on the North side of the Province, have a look at this:

Antigonish’s Candid Brewing is holding another retail pop-up in their space this weekend, today 3 – 6 PM, tomorrow 1 – 4 PM. And if working with them sounds like a great time this summer, you’re in luck! Through the Canada Summer Jobs program, they are looking at hiring both a Brewery Labourer (no direct brewing experience necessary, you’re bound to learn lots while on the job) and Social Events Co-ordinator. More information on both jobs and how to apply are on their website, and closes June 10.