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Friday Wrap-Up for September 16, 2022 – News from Stillwell Brewing, Boxing Rock, 2 Crows, Copper Bottom, NS Craft Beer Fest, Tire Shack, TAPestry, and plenty more!

Posted by acbbdevon on 2022-09-16
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Boxing Rock Brewing, Copper Bottom Brewing, Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia, Delta Force Brewing, Euston Park Social Beer Garden, Grimross Brewing, Matron Fine Beer, Stillwell Brewing, Tapestry Beer Bar, Tire Shack Brewing, TrailWay Brewing, Unfiltered Brewing. Leave a Comment

Prost! With the weather turning a bit chillier this week, and the unfortunate massive rainfall felt in a few places around the region, we’re hit with the reminder that it can’t be summer forever! Thankfully there are plenty of new and returning beers and events on the go now that will help distract us from the inevitable. Read on to learn more!

Good news to those of us thirsting for more pale ales and lagers, Stillwell Brewing has opened their retail location at 3670 Kempt Road this week! Current hours are 10 AM – 5 PM, Monday to Friday, and may adjust slightly going forward with demand. Right now they have fresh cans of Stilly Pils German Lager and Best Bitter English Pale Ale, with their Kompakt Kolsch coming before the end of the month. Their website has been updated with latest offerings and delivery is an option for those unable to get down to their new spot. Congratulations to the StillyBrew team!

Shelburne’s finest has a new release available now. Fusion is a Cold IPA and is the first of the style for Boxing Rock. The beer is crisp, clean and uses new world hops to bring big tropical and stone fruit flavours and aroma. The finish is very clean and dry and is very crushable for a 6.5% IPA. This beer is available in cans now at Shelburne and their new Halifax (corner of Almon & Windsor) locations, and will be hitting the Halifax private stores in the coming weeks. 

Just in time for the turn of the weather, 2 Crows Brewing is back with a change to Classic, their dry stout. The new recipe now joins AC Lager and Terra, as now using 100% Atlantic Canadian grown ingredients. The hops are Golding variety from New Brunswick, malt sourced from PEI (with some extra roasting of the malts in-house to achieve the right level!). This is still a 4.1% easy drinking, classic dry stout with a dark, roasty character. There is a new label design as well, but still look for that tall, dark, and handsome can. This will be more widely available than its previous release; now available from the brewery, but it will be in the NSLC starting in early October, along with the private stores in HRM.

More from 2 Crows (never ones to skimp on news and details!) this week, as they’ve got an event today (September 16th) starting at 7 PM as they host a 2nd annual fundraiser for Team Daigle. Tickets for the event (2 Crows and 4 Curlers) are $25 at the door and include your first pint and an entry to win some prizes.The event also has a special small-batch release for the fundraiser. Hammer Time Lager is a 4% lager that should taste a bit familiar, like AC Light Lager, but this has been dry hopped with Azacca and Galaxy. Sign us up for that delicious beer and support your local curlers before they hammer down on the curling season kicking off next week!

Montague’s Copper Bottom Brewing is celebrating the return of the 70 Mile Yard Sale this weekend with their 70 Mile Yard Ale! An American-style Wheat Ale, it is fresh and light, with orange peel added to enhance the citrus character even more. Available on tap and in cans, at 5.0% and just 15 IBU, this one will be perfect for taking a break between stops to check out the offerings at the more than 120 vendors from Point Prim to Strathcona!

This weekend is absolutely chock full of even more events in our region, check them out below. And as always, if we’re missing a new release, event, or something else you think our readers would like to know, reach out via social media or email!

This weekend, Halifax is even more beer-ful than usual, as the re-imagined Nova Scotia Craft Beer Festival is back! Taking place outside this evening, and tomorrow afternoon and evening, they are taking over the Salter Block at 1521 Lower Water Street, the lot across the street from the Brewery Market. Presented by the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia, which represents breweries from all across the province, 40 breweries will be pouring their latest and greatest creations, while live music or DJs keep your toes tapping. Your ticket allows access to the Salt Yard vendors next door. In case you didn’t win in our giveaway last weekend, and haven’t yet grabbed your ticket, fear not, there are still a few available online! And, in a first for the Fest, attending breweries were given the option to sell beer to go! Nice to see that beer is now given the same consideration as the wine and whiskey shows. 🙂

Moncton’s Tire Shack is getting into the Oktoberfest celebrations for the next three weekends, as they host their own ode to that biggest of ‘Fests. First up is the return of Helles Yeah!, their Helles Lager, fresh off a win at the 2022 Canadian Brewing Awards. You can get in the spirit of grabbing one of their limited edition 1 litre Oktoberfest Mass, just $20 including your first pour of HY!. And pals from Euston Park Social will be in the tap room with their fresh and fun food offerings, each Friday from 4 PM, and Saturday from 1 PM, until Oktober 1st.

This is shaping up to be a busy weekend, as Lr Sackville’s TAPestry Beer Bar is kicking off their Oktoberfest, which is running a full 2 weeks to coincide with Wiesn, aka Munich’s celebrations, . They’re tapping a dozen small batch German beers from across Nova Scotia tomorrow, with a noon start for their Beer Club Members, 2 PM for the general public. Complete with warm bretzels on Saturday, and live music from 6 – 10 PM, there will be plenty of good fun and cheer to complement the bier pouring freely from the taps. Tune into their Social Media for the taplist and updates on the goings ons for the event on until Oct 2, including a way to try the beers today, a day early!

Over on Barrington Street, Stillwell Beer Bar is hosting Matron Fine Beer for a takeover tomorrow, September 17th. From noon til late, they’ll have 9 different offerings on tap, from their Bobo farmhouse Wheat, Muff Darkbier, to a few IPAs including the Vanguard collaboration with Bellwoods. For those who may not make it down for the big day, there are cans of a few of the offerings (Janky IPA, Leisure Landbier, Vanguard IPA, and Deece IPA) that will be available beyond the weekend (if you’re lucky!).

A few more things before we sign off this week…

Could you read about Oktoberfest beers all day? That doesn’t sound so bad, especially if you can get out and about to drink some, too! Grimross has Märzen-bier available today. A malt-forward, classic, crisp German lager, this is an annual release from the brewery at 5.6% with a lovely Bavarian-inspired label. This is available in cans and on tap at the brewery, but will also be available at restaurants and ANBL locations around New Brunswick. 

Sticking with the Oktoberfest theme, Trailway has Festbier re-releasing this week. Like a lighter version of a Märzen, this is an Oktoberfest Lager made with a full German malt bill and German yeast. Cans are available now at the brewery and also on their Lukr side-pull tap for pints. The beer is 6%, deep gold in colour with a malty richness, this beer is perfect for the cooler fall weather and still easy drinking.

The crew out of Greenwich keeps staying in the weekly blog (that’s good!) and this week they’re back with a re-release, as Delta Force Brewing brings us Operation Jug!. This is a classic farmshed Saison and the beer was open fermented in a former milk jug. The result is a 5.2% floral, spicy and crisp ale, keeping in the Saison tradition of easy drinking for the post-work refreshment. This is available now in 500ml bottles from their online shop. 

A very small bit of news for you prompt Friday afternoon readers, Unfiltered Brewing currently isn’t doing growler fills for a few days due to some technical issues. They’ll let the people know when they’re back up and running. Doesn’t affect cans or enjoying pints at Charm School next door, however!

Friday Wrap-Up for August 19, 2022 – News from Tatamagouche, Trailway, Half Cocked, Banished, Propeller, Stillwell, Bannerman, Unfiltered, and Sea Level!

Posted by acbbdevon on 2022-08-19
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: Banished Brewing, Bannerman Brewing, Half Cocked Brewing, Propeller Brewing, Sea Level Brewing, Stillwell Beer Bar, Stillwell Beergarden, Stillwell Brewing, Tatamagouche Brewing, The Stillwell Freehouse, TrailWay Brewing, Unfiltered Brewing. 1 comment

Happy Friday, folks! Hoping everyone has had a great work week so far, and is gearing up for rest and relaxation this weekend. Let’s give you a few things to seek out to quench that thirst we’ve been building up, from around the region.

Nova Scotia North Shore’s darling Tatamagouche Brewing has a new beer on tap and in cans this week, a zippy citrus Berliner Weiße made with Buddha’s Hand. Not common in these parts, Buddha’s Hand originated in South East Asia, and is striking in appearance, with many outstretched “fingers” of the fruit, giving plenty of surface area ripe for zesting. Using an extremely aromatic puree of the fruit, Team Tata used a low 3.8% ABV base beer, to allow the bright citrus to shine through. Cans of Buddha’s Hand Berliner Weisse are available now at the brewery and online, with draught making its way across the region as well.

And doubling down on the low-ABV but high-flavour beers is the return of their Intertidal: Sabro Session IPA. At 3.5% ABV, you could be excused and think there won’t be much going on, but you’d be sorely missing out! Big flavour and medium body, with massive tropical notes of coconut, stone fruit, and even some mint, thanks to the eponymous hop and using a new-to-Tata yeast, Hydra from Escarpment Labs. Available in cans and on draught now as well! And if you drop by before 5 PM today, you’ll be able to pair your pints with some donuts from Aroma Maya. And look below in the Events Section for even more news from Tata…

Is it IPA Day everyday at Trailway Brewing? We say, “Yes!” This week they’ve got a returning release with big, big energy: Imagination is an IPA packing a mix of IPA flavours in a 5.5% vessel. It’s got a fun mix of hops, including Southern Tropic, Sultana, and Citra Lupomax, enhanced by American Ale yeast which brings a bit of peachy character. Even better, it’s double dry hopped for your pleasure. Available now from the brewery in cans, and in the taproom and around the region on draught, too.

The near-Antigonish folks at North Grant’s Half Cocked have a very tasty release out this week with Sailor’s Delight. This is a Gose with lime leaves and hibiscus, using local salt water from Malignant Cove along with roasted coriander. It’s tart and deep red with a jammy notes and comes in at a highly drinkable 3.8%. This is only available on tap at the brewery for now!

We’re going to hop on the hibiscus train all the way up to Newfoundland with 2 tickets to Paradise! Or more tickets if you want. Banished Brewing is releasing Paddles Up, a beer in support of the community and collaboration with the Avalon Dragons. This group of amazing women have battled breast cancer and have found dragon boating as a way of healthy living, fitness, and community. This 5% beer, a hibiscus and raspberry sour, sees 50 cents from every can sold donated toward the Avalon Dragons. It’s available at the Banished retail shop now and will be available island-wide next week. 

We’ve got a returning brew from Propeller this week and it’s a style that’s been popping up more around the region the last year or so. Flat White is a White Stout that brings coffee and cocoa flavours to a more classically pale-coloured ale. Always a bit of a trick on the mind, this is a golden ale with big coffee flavours thanks to Java Blend cold brew and has lots of flaked oats in the malt bill to get a well-balanced body at 5% ABV. Also contributing to the body and providing some sweetness is lactose, which is balanced by 30 IBU. Flat White is available online and at the Prop shops and HRM private stores now, and is headed to select NSLC locations soon. 

Hot on the heels of the inaugural release of Best Bitter, Stillwell Brewing has another one of its flagships ready, with cans of Stilly Pils now available at HQ to drink on premises or to grab and go. We expect more than a few folks will be stocking up on this crusher for their weekend enjoyment. Hopefully we’ll see it available for online ordering soon, and we’re definitely looking forward to checking out their retail and event space in the fall!

Also available once again, for the first time this year, we think, is Daytimer Berliner weiße from Unfiltered Brewing. Tart and refreshing, you can enjoy this 4% ABV heat beater on its own or with an addition of traditional woodruff syrup (or any other syrup you might have around, really). For those who need to know, this batch is also gluten-reduced!

Rounding out this week’s news is a brand new release, in a brand new style, for Sea Level Brewing and their Millstone Harvest Brewhouse. Fundy Fog is a 4.5% ABV Hazy IPA, using a whole buncha Belma and Azacca hops to deliver a blast of tropical and citrus directly to your face. Making it to the taps literally this minute at their Millstone location on Highway 221 between Sheffield Mills and Canning, it will be canned and available to take away next week. Get on out for a visit and taste this weekend!

Let’s take a look at what’s on the go this weekend and next in Halifax…

After a busy weekend of rare ciders and a double Bar Volo takeover, Team Stillwell is bringing us two more events to close out the summer. This Saturday (August 20) will see St. John’s Bannerman Brewing taking over the taps at the Beergarden. Saturday is gearing up to be a busy day downtown with great weather in the forecast, the Stanley Cup parade (which goes right by the Beergarden’s Spring Garden Road entrance), and 9 taps of delicious Bannerman beer available. Check out the Beergarden’s social channels for the full tap list which features styles that are sure to please everyone’s taste buds, including lagers, sours, belgian-style ales, and a few hoppy numbers.

Next weekend will see Tatamagouche Brewing taking over the taps at the Freehouse on Agricola, on Saturday, August 27. Team Tata is bringing out the big guns, with a slew of favourites on all 12 tap lines and 6 casks on the hand pumps. Highlights include Observe, their red wine barrel aged Brett lager and Solitude, the 12.6% ABV BA imperial chocolate stout on tap, along with a cask version of their Darling mild that was aged in a second use cognac barrel with brettanomyces. If that’s not enough, they are also pulling a few kegs from the cellar to rotate through the taps during the event, including kegs of RIS, Baltic Porter, Barleywine and Bourbon BA Stouts, that have been getting even better for the past few years. 

Friday Wrap-Up for August 12, 2022 – News from 2 Crows, Spindrift, Stillwell Brewing, Port Rexton, Banished, Half Cocked, Delta Force, Serpent, and much more!

Posted by acbbdamian on 2022-08-12
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Banished Brewing, Big Spruce Brewing, Breton Brewing, Candid Brewing, Delta Force Brewing, Good Robot Brewing, Half Cocked Brewing, Lone Oak Brewing, Port Rexton Brewing Co., Port Rexton Pride, Revel Cider, Serpent Brewing, Spindrift Brewing, Stillwell Beer Bar, Stillwell Brewing, The Stillwell Freehouse, Tire Shack Brewing, TrailWay Brewing, Volo. Leave a Comment

Second week of August already??!! Time flies when you’re drinking on the patio, and soaking up every ray of sunshine you can! Thankfully our local cider and beer makers have been working overtime to keep your glasses and mugs full, so let’s get you up to speed on what’s new and coming soon to our Atlantic region, starting with a few releases from last weekend, but still available for purchase at their respective breweries/taprooms around town.

2 Crows Brewing have teamed up once again with the fine folks at Lightfoot & Wolfville, to the bring together the 2021 Harvest Scheurebe Piquette. This 6.2% drink uses freshly pressed Scheurebe grape skins, soaking them in cold water to extract out the residual sugar and tannic acids that remain after the first pressing that Lightfoot used for their wine. After this soaking, the skins were separated from the sugary liquid and allowed to ferment out extremely dry (no complex sugars that are common in beer brewing), and received a light dry-hopping of Eclipse before canning and forming a bright natural carbonation in that package. Tropical, fresh, and dry, cans are available to enjoy onsite at Lightfoot and 2 Crows now! Joining it is the latest in 2 Crows’ Hop Water series, canned yesterday. Cans of Tangerine Hop Water are ready to grab and go with you wherever your travels take you, when you need a break from the booze but are looking for a locally made fizzy drink! Citra hops enhance the bold citrus character, living up to its name.

Coming out of Spindrift Brewing is a vertically integrated special! Kristi White from their team is their quality manager and a production brewer and she’s done everything from recipe creation, brewing and label design for Lavandula. This is a Honey Lavender Saison with additions of blueberry blossom honey, dried lavender buds, paired with a delicate blend of hops to keep it light, bright, sweet and floral. This is 6.2% and available in cans from the Dartmouth and Antigonish locations. 

For months now, fans of Stillwell Brewing have been eagerly anticipating the first releases to start rolling out of the tanks of their new production brewery on Kempt Road. Well, the wait is over with their Best Bitter Special hitting the hand pumps at the Freehouse, Stillwell HQ and The Narrows. As a few of your favourite bloggers can attest, expect a very cozy drinking experience with a pleasant carbonation, low ABV, plenty of malt complexity and some earthy hop notes from the Fuggles dry hop. If you can’t make it to any of these Halifax pubs, fear not. Cans and kegs will start rolling out of the brewery by September 1st. The initial line up will include Stilly Pils, their German-style Pilsner, with an updated receipt featuring a single decoction, their Kolsch-style ale Kompakt, and the aforementioned Best Bitter. On top of that, plans are in place to open up the retail space later in the fall, along with an event space that will feature Stillwell Brewing events but will also be open for community bookings. We’ll be sure to share more info in the weeks ahead, along with a feature profile on the brewery.

Off to Newfoundland for the first time this week, as the small town (with a big heart) of Port Rexton is celebrating Port Rexton Pride this weekend! And of course, Port Rexton Brewing is getting in on the fun! They are hosting a whole bunch of crafting, food, and pop-up shopping at the brewery tomorrow, followed by Music and Brews in the evening (more info on Instagram). But what’s Pride without a celebratory beer?? Teaming up yet again with the Queer Beer NL crew, they have released Cascading Pride, a White IPA. The whole crew was onsite to zest kilos and kilos of lemon and lime for a bright zippy and citrusy nose, enhancing the sweet orange peel and touch of coriander spicing. Cascading Pride is available on the Give Back Tap at the brewery now ($1 per pint going to support Port Rexton Pride for the month of August), and cans will be available at the St. John’s Retail Shop and other shops next week! Get on out to PRBC this weekend and show your Pride!

If you’ve got a ticket to Paradise, be sure to check out Banished Brewing anytime, but they’ve got some news this week with a new beer, retail and updates on the taproom and beer garden. First up, the new beer! They’ve got Groundskeeper’s Best Bitter coming out this week and this is a 4.7% classic style with a nod to cask ales. This is available now in their retail shop and will be headed out across stores across the province of Newfoundland.

Their retail shop is open with new devlieres of merch and some glassware on the way, and in the next few months they’ll have their beer garden up and running, as they make their way through the necessary red tape. Keep an eye out for this awesome brewery as they’ll have some new releases in the next few months and more updates about the brewery!

We’ve got a new beer from North Grant’s Half Cocked Brewing to tell you about this week! Looking for big bold tropical flavours of a New England IPA, but in a tiny beer, we’ve got the right beer for you! Lil’ Hug is a light and sessionable 3.2% ABV, but the heavy late hop additions concentrating on papaya and citrus notes that we love in a NEIPA. Grab it on tap and in cans at the brewery on Highway 245 just 5 minutes outside of Antigonish.

Nova Scotia’s most mysterious and elusive brewery continues to pile up the good deeds with its fifth release under the Make Peace Not War beer project. Delta Force Brewing is releasing a Belgian Pale Ale, available now through their online store. 40% of proceeds will be donated to the Ukraine Red Cross. And while you’re buying some of this new release, be sure to check out the rest of their brands to take advantage of their August sale of $1 off per bottle. 

Over in Spryfield, Serpent Brewing is releasing Sunspot, a Sour Tropical IPA that comes in at 5.1% ABV. Named after the good boy/pup Sunspot, who liked to laze around in the sunny spots all day, it uses Philly Sour yeast to create a refreshing tart finish, along with some stonefruit esters. The combination of Simcoe and Citra hops also provides a mix of tropical and citrusy fruit notes. Flaked Wheat was added to the base Pilsner malt to provide a rounder mouthfeel that stands up to the hops and tartness. This one is only available on tap, so you’ll need to make a pilgrimage to Spryfield to try it on tap or to fill up your growler. 

The fine folks out of Sydney, Nova Scotia are bringing a nice summertime release to the masses this week, with Breton Brewing’s Wee’ Smidgen, a Tiny IPA. A lower ABV release, this is a 3.6% IPA packed with tasty hops. Citra and Mosaic lead the way with big citrus flavours and a base of Ebbegarden yeast brings notes of mango and pineapple. Cans and pints are in the taproom and also available for home delivery in Cape Breton and HRM. This is a seasonal release, so get this while you can.

Staying in Cape Breton, Big Spruce has a new release available now. Irrational Optimist is an Apricot Sour coming in at 5.4%. Packed with stone-fruit aroma and flavour, there is a nice balance of pucker and tartness. This is available now online for free shipping and at the brewery in Nyanza. 

A few updates from Tire Shack out of Moncton, with a new beer and a facility update. As always, we start with the beer. Dragonfruit-Watermelon Sour is a very fruity sour with pear, kiwi and watermelon Jolly Rancher flavours. A tasty patio sour (soured with lactobacillus) is 5.5% and is available on tap now and will be in cans any day now. 

This award winning brewery also has some expansion plans in the works with construction underway now. They’ll look to complete this in early 2023, but we are excited for Jerica, Alan, and their team, along with the entire Maritime region!

Everyone’s favorite beer bar conglomerate (haha!)  sure has you covered for things to do this weekend:.

Your faves (and ours!) at Stillwell are for sure makin’ a weekend of it. We told you last week about the Bar Volo takeover happening today at both Stilly HQ and the Freehouse (a reminder that all the deets can be found in this Ig post), but right after that was announced, another announcement came about what’s happening the rest of the weekend. And the something that’s happening is CIDERAMA

Not since 2018 has the Stillwell gang brought this much juice to the city. Starting tomorrow, Saturday, August 13th, at HQ, where longtime friends of Stillwell, Guelph’s Revel Cider will be taking over all 12 taps on the wall. Meanwhile, at the Freehouse will be “Cellar Unleashed” where twenty of the best American, Canadian, and English bottled ciders will be poured by the glass all day. Look for stuff from Absolem Cider, Cidrerie Chemin des Sept, Olivers Cider & Perry, Cidre Sauvageon, Son of Man, Sourwood Cider, Twin Island Cider, and maybe more! Following that, on Sunday, August 14th, look for the fun to continue at the BeerGarden, with “The Clam Jam” where Joe Martini and friends will be slinging molluscs off the charcoal grill to accompany cans and taps from Chain Yard Cider, Anxo Cider, Son of Man, Absolem Cider, and Revel. So if you’re anti-beer, gluten-free, or just love you some fermented fruit juice beverages, this is your chance to try some local faves as well as some true treats from all over the world. 

One job posting on the go this week, this one in PEI:

The fine folks at Lone Oak continue to grow their operations and team, with positions currently available at their original Borden-Carleton taproom and the new Milky Way Brewpub outside of Charlottetown. A variety of bartender, server and kitchen positions are available. Reach out to careers@loneoakbrew.com for more.

A couple final things to send you on your way to a weekend of beery bliss:

Antigonish’s Candid Brewing has teamed up with the upcoming Antigonight Art Festival to release Antigonight Czech Dark Lager this week. Light and crisp in body and flavour, with just a touch of roast malt on the palate. Cans were released yesterday in time for last night’s Art Battle, and will be on tap and in that format to go when you head there this weekend!

After spending the last few months focusing on opening their new Elmsdale production brewery and beergarden, Good Robot is back to rolling out the new releases, with the third release from their Tropical Storm single hop series. Tropical Storm Nectaron is a NEIPA featuring the eponymous hop from New Zealand. The rare hop is akin to the more popular Galaxy, and showcases notes of peach, pineapple and grapefruit. Coming in at 7.0% ABV, cans are available now through Good Robots online store and at their two retail locations.

Closing out the blog today with a returning favourite from TrailWay Brewing on Fredericton’s North Side. Imagination IPA is a 6.0% hazy and dank IPA, with this release amped up with a DDH (Double Dry Hop) treatment. Southern Tropic, Sultana, and Citra Lupomax were used in massive quantities late in the process in order to maximize hop aroma and flavour without the corresponding bitterness. Look for great guava, citrus, stone fruit, and pine in the can, which is available now at the brewery and for online ordering.