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Friday Wrap-Up for December 2, 2022 – News from Good Robot, Trailway, Uncle Leo’s, Breton, Copper Bottom, 2 Crows, Half Cut, Tanner & Co, Propeller, Half Cocked, and much more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2022-12-02
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Battery Park, Big Spruce Brewing, Breton Brewing, Candid Brewing, Copper Bottom Brewing, Delta Force Brewing, Good Robot Brewing, Half Cocked Brewing, Half Cut Brewing, Lazy Bear Brewing, Propeller Brewing, Serpent Brewing, Shipwright Brewing, Stillwell Beer Bar, Tanner & Co Brewing, Tapestry Beer Bar, The Stillwell Freehouse, TrailWay Brewing, Uncle Leo's Brewery. Leave a Comment

Happy December, y’all! Bit of disappointment as our Men’s team has exited the World Cup this week, but at least we will not have to wait another 36 years to cheer on Les Rouges, as the Women’s World Cup is in Australia and New Zealand in 2023, and then the men’s team co-hosts with Mexico and USA in 2026. Grab a beer and read along to see all of the new releases the breweries from across all four Atlantic provinces have for us this week.

Good Robot Brewing continues to flex the versatility of their new Elmsdale brewing location, complete with mash filter and expanded fermenting capacity, with plenty more new beers rolling off the line. B.F.Hef. (aka Best Friends Foreverweizen) is the latest, their foray into the German Hefeweizen Wheat Beer style. Featuring loads of wheat in the malt bill, the 4.8% beer also uses a specific Ale yeast to give off a pleasant blend of citrus and clove aromatics, with a hint of banana on the nose. Mandarina Bavaria hops enhance that citrus aroma even further. Cans are available at their original Robie Street location, as well as their newly-opened retail shop at the Elmsdale facility. Open Wed – Sun from noon (10 AM on the weekend), visitors to 14 Industrial Way will be able to purchase from the entire GRBC portfolio in can and growler fill, as well as their branded merch.

And good news for those looking to continue or start their career in beer, as Good Robot is hiring! They are looking for help both in their Elmsdale brewery and beyond, as they beef up their Brew Crew as well as those who help sell the resulting beer. They are looking to fill the following positions: a Shift Brewer, expected to have at least a couple of years professional brewing experience, a Junior Brewer (no pro experience necessary, but that’s definitely an asset), as well as a Sales Rep in the HRM/Nova Scotia region. Check out their job postings here.

Trailway has been busy this fall as well, and have a quartet of new releases available at their Main Street Fredericton location, and for local and AtlCan- & Ont-wide delivery from their website. Returning to the taps and shelves is their Beans Coffee Oatmeal Stout, a 6.8% stout brewed with a batch of freshly roasted Winter Solstice beans from their pals at Mill Town Roasters. For our coffee nerd brethren, WS is a blend dark roast blend of beans from Sumatra, Peru, and Columbia, with notes of bitter chocolate, molasses, and a warming spiciness, pairing perfectly with the beer’s malt-derived roast and full mouthfeel from the oats. Available on tap and in cans now, they have also leveraged the capabilities of Craft Coast Canning to package a Nitro version of the beer! Lower carbonation, but that means a little shake and a hard pour from height into a glass will show off a lovely cascading action as the beer settles. Due to the special nature of this version, Nitro Beans is a can-only release, but still orderable online.

Trailway has another pair of beer ready to purchase now… Merry Very is returning again for the cooler months. This is a 5.0% White Chocolate-Orange Stout… Think big chocolate, roast, coffee, a hint of citrus, but in a pale colour, something your buddy Terry would really enjoy! Locally kilned cacao nibs from McGuire Chocolate enhance the malt’s chocolate flavour, with the citrus brightening and contrasting the dark character, with a touch of vanilla. On tap and in cans now.

And finally, a debut beer from Trailway, Event Horizon. A massive 11.0% ABV imperial stout, with strong caramel, coffee, and chocolate notes, it also spent time in a 15-year Glen Breton Single Malt Whisky barrel, picking up strong vanilla and whisky notes to complement. Obviously a bit warming at 11.0% ABV, and as it’s available in 500ml bottles, we suggest grabbing a couple for sharing with friends and families a few times over the coming winter.

Uncle Leo’s Brewery in Lyons Brook has a new beer on tap, on their shelves, and for delivery, this week. Misty Morning is an aggressively-late-hopped New England IPA, absolutely brimming with tropical notes of passion fruit, citrus, and peach. All that Galaxy and Citra used late in the brewday, as well as in the tanks after the fact, mean this 6.0% beer is not bitter, but rather has a smooth mouthfeel. Their online shop has free delivery within Nova Scotia and beyond, just need to hit a very reasonable minimum value.

A pair of beers from Sydney’s Breton Brewing this week. First released is the return of an old favourite, their take on the German Kölsch. A beer where drinkability and enjoyment are top of mind, these are fermented with an ale yeast, but usually at cooler-than-normal temps, to keep the fruity esters at bay, before a long nap at even cooler temps for a conditioning/cleanup rest. At 4.0% ABV, this is low enough to pair well with appetizers, main course, or even dessert.

And debuting later in the week was Champagne IPA, wherein Breton brewed a light-bodied beer (with some rice in the grist), and used an American Ale yeast, coupled with an enzyme to extract every last bit of sugar from the wort, to finish with a bone-dry beer. Mix in the Ariana and Mosaic hops in great volume, and you’ve got a solid bitterness as well as aroma. Look for both of these limited releases in cans, on draught, and for delivery now!

Fresh off their win of the Hopyard Battle of the Breweries, Montague’s Copper Bottom Brewing is bringing back a blast from the past today, complete with a party to help celebrate! Charlie is an English-style Brown Ale, and despite being only 4.5% ABV, is brimming with malt-derived toast, biscuit, caramel, and nuttiness. To celebrate its release on draught and in festive 355ml cans, they are hosting Loaf & Ladle Food Truck serving up comfort food from 2 until 8 PM this afternoon, Craig Fair on the piano from 6 – 8 PM, and keeping the patio nice and toasty warm. Pull that Ugly Sweater from the closet and make a night of it!

In Halifax on Brunswick Street, 2 Crows has brought out the latest entry in their now long-running series of irresponsibly-hopped hazy IPAs (fun(?) party game: try to name all the previous ones!). Permanent Vacation is described as having been “absolutely saturated” with Talus, and Vic Secret hops, but with a touch of Galaxy as well. So a little bit of “the Pacific Northwest battles Australia in a tropical fruit stand, but Australia brought backup.” Expect a smooth and creamy presentation with plenty of sweetness, leading with notes of pineapple (canned), overripe mango, and a bit of coconut. Given that there’s Talus in there we’d expect a bit of the dankness as well, but you’ll have to try this 6.1% juice bomb for yourself to confirm. The 2C gang did point out that this is a smaller batch than previous entries, so if you’re a fan of the series and/or hoppy hazies in general, you’ll want to get your orders in!

On Main Street in Fredericton, NB, Half Cut Brewing has a new IPA of their own out, a double IPA, really. Continuing their trend of “juicy beers with weird f’n names” is Deep Pockets IPA. Described as being “like that uncle who never grew up,” this one’s a heavy hitter, arriving at 8% ABV and 40 IBU. You’ll find it in cans at the brewery and (soon, if not already) on the shelves of an ANBL store near you.

As is their wont, Tanner & Co Brewing in Chester Basin, NS, continues to bring beers in styles that aren’t terribly common in these parts. This week they’ve got a twist on the German style, Rauchbier. Pronounced “rowsh-beer” rather than “rock-beer”, it is traditionally made with a very large portion (up to 100%, even) of smoked malt in the grist. This can often lead to folks who are not big fans of smoke to find the beer “too smoky” so Tanner took their foot off the gas on this one and aimed for a more mellow presentation. To ensure there would still be plenty of complexity, they then took advantage of their oenological bent to age this one in oak wine barrels for a few months. The result is a 6% ABV beer that no doubt has plenty of smoke, but also some tannins and acidity for balance. Look for it packaged in bottles at both of Tanner’s locations and online for delivery.

Fans of both dessert and beer have reason to celebrate in Halifax this week as Propeller Brewing has released a beer that ticks both boxes this week. Nanaimo Imperial Dessert Stout is a pretty self-explanatory name, we think, but if you’re somehow not in the know about the classic Canadian dessert, we’d better provide some detail anyway. Built on a base of cocoa and coconut, with a layer of vanilla custard and a topping of milk chocolate, Nanaimo bars are one of the great bake sale traditions from coast to coast. Propeller’s beer version aims to hit all of those notes and meld them together with a roasty, but still sweet imperial stout. With all of that going on and it coming in at 10%, this rich and creamy number has “danger” written all over it. Grab it now directly from the source at your favourite Prop Shop, or look for it at Bishop’s Cellar or the other private stores in Metro.

Half Cocked in North Grant has a pair of returning favourites now pouring at their taproom, and in cans for the first time. Braeside Bitter showcases their English side, with lightly-coloured malt bringing out notes of biscuit and caramel, with a blend of hops showcasing lemon, tea, and honey, to complete the experience. 5.5% ABV. The Darkest One is of another category entirely, a big brash American Stout, blasting the nose with dark chocolate, and filling the palate with roast, finishing with some bitterness on the back end. 355 ml cans for this one as well, only at the brewery. Why not drop by tomorrow, December 3rd, for Holiday Market on the 245, which they are co-hosting with Teasdale Apothecary from 3 – 6 PM. And after the vendors have packed up, there will be live music from Leeboy!

Spryfield’s own Serpent Brewing has a new beer out for the festive season with a release that reflects their continued quest to bring the best of Belgian styles to Dentith Road and environs. Described as a Belgian Golden Strong Christmas Spiced Ale, it’s got a much more compact (and fun) name: Jurassic Jesus. Although it weighs in at a hefty 7.5%, it’s deceptively easy to drink, with subtle malt undertones beneath a blend of cinnamon and nutmeg spice. Cookie and caramel along with some fruity ester notes from the yeast complete the picture, as there’s little to no hop presence detected or expected in a style like this. On tap tomorrow at the brewery, you’ll also be able to grab it in 375ml bottles to go. And if you do visit, don’t forget that Spryfood, their in-house kitchen, is now up and running at full bore.

Smiths Cove is deep in the Annapolis Valley, not too far from the ferry to Saint John, so quite accessible for people in both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. And their very own Lazy Bear Brewing has a new beer on tap and in bottles this week, a big bold beer ready to be enjoyed around a cozy fire. Assassination of a Wise Man is a 10.0% Barleywine, with rich caramel notes shining through, balanced with just-enough hops to keep it from being too sweet. Finished with molasses, some dark notes of raisin, with a lighter vanilla hint also coming through on the nose. The bottles were sealed with wax, minimizing any oxygen from sneaking in during their (possible) long cellaring period. We suggest grabbing a couple, one to enjoy now, and one later, if you happen to miss it on tap. Not overly bitter, on draught and in bottles at Smiths Cove, keep your eyes peeled to their social media for availability beyond their location, but a visit out there is a great idea, during their Thursday night taproom evenings (and maybe by appointment if you reach out early enough)!

You can tell winter is coming, as Big Spruce is holding the release party for their annual Barrel-aged Imperial Stout this weekend. Battery Park will be the gracious hosts of the two variants of the 2022 edition, as well as sharing kegs dating all the way back to 2018. However, there is a major, and welcome, change in the beer name and design this year, that we’re excited to tell you about. Kobzar Imperial Stout, is named in honour of writer Taras Schevchenko, considered to be the father of modern Ukrainian literature, with profound effects on the language and culture of his home country. Banned and exiled from Ukraine due in part to his push for Ukrainian independence, still inspiring Ukrainians more than 150 years after his death. Kobzar is both a collection of poems written by Schevchenko, and the nickname given to him, meaning “bard” in Ukrainian. Kobzar the beer will be familiar to long-time Big Spruce fans, with massive coffee and dark chocolate notes with a touch of hop bitterness to balance. This year’s releases were aged in two distinctly different barrels, imparting plenty of the character of its previous residents. Jamaican Rum Kobzar and Glenora Whisky Kobzar both clock in at 11.0%, and in a change, will be available in cans this year! Making them a little easier to stack in the basement cellar, we suspect… You can enjoy the first tastes of Kobzar tomorrow at Battery Park from 11:30 AM, where they will be pouring both 2022 versions of the beer, as well as four previous releases of Ra Ra Rasputin, including 2021 Tawny Port, 2019 Cognac, 2019 Peach Brandy, and 2018 Glenora Whisky. Cans of Kobzar (as well as a few bottles of previous releases) are available at their shop in Nyanza, on their website for delivery and shipping, Bishop’s Cellar, with the 2022 Jamaican Rum Kobzar available in cans at Bar Stillwell and Stillwell Freehouse.

There’s not only breweries getting into the festive season, Tapestry Beer Bar in Lr Sackville is filling their dance card with a range of events this month. Tomorrow, Dec 3 at 5 – 9 PM, they are hosting a Christmas Market with their nextdoor neighbours Apartment 3 Espresso Bar. On Dec 8, they are hosting a Beer & Cheese Pairing with Smith & Hartlen Fine Cheese (grab your tickets ahead of time). There are plenty more events leading up to a Bar Olympics on Dec 31, check this page for more details!

Just a few more notes before we let you go this week….

Antigonish’s Candid Brewing has a new release today, which will be complemented by at least a couple more before the weekend is done. With 3 weeks out until the official celebration on December 23rd, they’re debuting Festivus IPA. A 6.5% ABV with plenty of late-addition Barbe Rouge and Belma hops, offset with a touch of lactose, drive a few of these into you before the Airing of Grievances or Feats of Strength.

Lunenburg’s Shipwright Brewing has a new beer on tap and for crowler fills late this week.Their first Cold IPA, they’ve named it the appropriately punny Thawless Victory. A hefty 6.5% ABV and respectable 35 IBUs, look for it on tap at their tiny taproom, and maybe downstairs at the Grand Banker too!

We’re ending this week with a bit of sad news, hopefully not a “Goodbye” but a “See You Later”, from Delta Force Brewing. The always elusive crew, brewing out of an undisclosed location in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, has announced that they are closing out Phase 1, Alpha Team if you will, of the brewery. As they say, opening a “farm shed brewery at the beginning of the brewery was a bold move”, and they have pushed through with 30 different releases over the past couple of years. To toast the possibility of Phase 2, they are holding a sale on their remaining stock, so we encourage you to grab a case and enjoy them this month. Cheers fellas!!

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 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.