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Friday Wrap-Up for February 2, 2024 – News from Tatamagouche, Propeller, Trailway, Timber Ship, Tanner, Burnside and More!

Posted by acbbchris on 2024-02-02
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, 2 Crows Oxford, Banished Brewing, Burnside Brewing Company, Canadian Beer News, Canadian Brewing Awards Conference, Propeller Brewing, Stillwell Brewing, Tanner & Co Brewing, Tatamagouche Brewing, Timber Ship Brewing, TrailWay Brewing. 2 comments

Here we are, starting February with a hum, as we couldn’t get a post out last week due to real life. This week, we’re at least trying to get something out there in honour of Shubenacadie Sam, so this will be mostly a quick hitting summary post, with little to no commentary. Let’s hammer down and get right into it!

Starting with a trio of tidbits from Tatamagouche Brewing, they have one brand new beer and two returning favourites. New to the fold is Fröhlick, a German Pilsner. Made with local hops from Island Hop Company on PEI, this is 5.0% and available in small puppy 355ml cans. Returning after a few years away is Dreadnot, an India Black Ale. It uses debittered black malt, while the hop bill of El Dorado, Chinook, and Centennial bring fruit, citrus, and a bit of pine to the flavour party. It’s 7% and available in cans from the brewery. Also returning is Flanerie, a Belgian Blonde. This one is locally-focused using Horton Ridge malt and whole-leaf hops grown in Oxford, Nova Scotia. It’s 5% and available in cans from the brewery. 

A new one from Propeller enters the crushable category of Session IPAs as Anytime IPA is out now. It’s just 4.5% and 26 IBU but packed with juicy tropical citrus flavour and aroma. It’s canned and available now directly from Prop Shops or private stores.

There are a pair of new lagers out of Trailway to tell you about. Fire On The Mountain is an Imperial Pilsner named after the Grateful Dead song. It’s a 6.8% Pilsner with a great balance of sweetness, crispiness and bitterness. Last week saw the release of Eclipse, a Dark Lager that is in collaboration with Banished Brewing of Paradise, NL. Malt forward and toasted, it’s 5.2%, canned and available at both locations (plus in Paradise!), just like Fire On The Mountain. 

Staying on the lager train, Timber Ship Brewing has a brand new one with Miramichi Classic Pilsner. Named after a locally designed salmon fly using the city’s colours, the beer is a celebration of craftsmanship, drinkability and flavour. It’s 5.1% and 15 IBU. This will be canned soon but available on tap at a few places around Miramichi. 

A couple of new cans out of Tanner & Co Brewing comprise a Best Bitter and a returning Belgian Blonde. First up, the bitter uses a new malt they’re working on with Horton Ridge, trying to locally replicate the English Maris Otter malt. This one is perfectly balanced and 4.5%. The Belgian Blonde is also classically made to the true Belgian style and returns after a few months away. This one is 7% and available in cans. 

Rounding out our double release news is Burnside Brewing, who had a pair of new canned goodies come out last week. First up is Werewolfe, an American Porter (in Burnside). It’s 5.5% and roasty toasty, with just the right balancing sweetness. Second is a release from their Brew Lab series, a Hazy Pale Ale #1.2, which changes up the yeast and ups the dry-hopping from the previous version. The Brew Lab releases focus on small batch brews (that are still canned) that they want your feedback on. This one is 4.5% and both of these beers are available at all Burnside locations. 

Creamy friends in foam, Stillwell Brewing sees their Cream Ale return to cans and taps at the brewery. They think it is probably their best batch yet. If you need a reminder, it’s true to the classic North American style and very crisp and tasty at 4.8%

In other beer news, we wrote about Canadian Beer News closing their taps at the end of 2023, but it appears those taps were taken over by Canadian Brewing Awards & Conference. Stay tuned to their Instagram page and website to see what will be going on with the blog. 

As a note to brewers who may not have seen it, the CBAC is within their window for shipping entries now for the 2024 Awards and Conference that will take place in Hamilton. Check out the details here. It’s too late to enter, but if you are entering best be getting on with that packaging and shipping!

The big miss we had last week was not being able to mention 2 Crows Brewing and their seven new releases for their 7th anniversary. While you may have seen on our Instagram that we were there, we thought we should at least run down all the new beers that are available, just for the record. The seven new cans are as follows and you can check the taprooms and website to pick them up. 

Alright Alright Alright, 4.1% –  Farmhouse-style beer with Raspberry, Lime, and Sea Salt. This beer was sneakily launched on draught in November, while the canned product conditioned away. For fans of their 2023 collaboration with OK Sea Salt, OK OK OK, this one’s for you! 

SAL, 5.1% . This Italian Pilsner is the beer for 2 Crows Oxford and a collaboration with Yeah Yeahs Pizza. This is only available online and at 2 Crows Oxford, where they share a space with YY. 

Feral Fox, 9.1%. A Tart Wild Ale with Apricot, it is delicious and dangerous. 

Squeezie II, 5.1%. This smoothie sour goes more to the berry side for its second release. Make it a slushie and enjoy this one, especially on tap at Brunswick street.

Red Piquette: Pino Noir + Kekfrankos, 4.4%. This is not beer! It’s a piquette. 

Space Words, 10.1%. This Triple IPA is back, baby! 

7, 9.2%. Yes, the beer is named 7 and no, they won’t tell you what style it is. So, you have to buy it to try it!


Editor’s Note: If you think there’s a chance we skipped posting last week solely to avoid doing full write-ups on seven new 2 Crows beers, we suggest you zip your yap and keep walking, slappy.

Friday Wrap-Up for January 19, 2024 – News from Truro, Shipwright, Upstreet, Tanner & Co, Trailway, Banished, Breton, O’Creek, Sea Level, Ragnarock, Ninepenny, Stillwell, Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia, and much more!

Posted by acbbaaron on 2024-01-19
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Banished Brewing, Breton Brewing, Brewers Journal Canada, Canadian Brewers Choice Awards, Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia, Foghorn Brewing, Good Robot Brewing, Libra Non-Alcoholic Beer, Millstone Harvest Brewhouse, Ninepenny Brewing, O'Creek Brewing, OG Ales, RagnaRock Northern Brewing Company, Sea Level Brewing, Shipwright Brewing, Stillwell Brewing, Tanner & Co Brewing, Tire Shack Brewing, Together We Brew, TrailWay Brewing, Truro Brewing Company, Upstreet Craft Brewing. Leave a Comment

Good day, sweet world! The winter drudge continues as we get further into January and whether you’re just looking to keep warm, or stocking up for sports, there is always beer news to be had. We’ve got some new beers, returning beers and a fan favourite event all detailed below for your reading (and future drinking) pleasure.

Kicking off in the Hub of Nova Scotia, Truro Brewing Company has a brand new addition to their fridge and taplist. Lo/Hi is a Session New England IPA that is “lo” in alcohol and “hi” in hop aroma and flavour. If the name looks familiar to you, there may have been some inspiration from The Black Keys song of the same name. The grist for this is Pilsner malt and oats, featuring hops of Galaxy and the Pink Boots Blend (the 7th Pink Boots Blend, which is a mix of Ahtanum, El Dorado, HBC 638 and Idaho 7). The beer comes in at 4% ABV and is available now in cans and on tap.

Also, the fine folks at the brewery are looking for a part time sales representative for the Truro and New Glasgow area, so if you’re interested, apply through Indeed or email your resume to trurobrewco@gmail.com. 

Sticking in the Nova Scotia Session section of these scribbles, Shipwright Brewing is releasing Back Home. This Session IPA is packed with a grain bill of Golden Promise, Vienna, Munich and crystal malts with some oats in there to boot. Hopped with Pahto for bittering, Cascade and Sabro join the party with their dry-hopping additions. The fermentation comes from Escarpment Labs House Ale yeast which brings it all together with lots of citrus, tropical fruit, coconut, and pineapple in a 4.7% and 37 IBU package. This is available at the taproom for pints, growlers and crowlers!

The staff out of Charlottetown’s Upstreet Brewing have a new release for the people. Every once in a while there are special staff brews and this latest one is Balanced Breakfast, an Oatmeal Coffee Stout. Brewed up by Ryan Cheverie, who is a friendly face seen behind the bar at Upstreet’s Craft Beer Corner (CBC). At 5% this beer uses a Supremo Columbian roast from Caledonia House Coffee to help with the roasted and bittersweet flavours. This beer is on tap and in cans at their Taproom and CBC in limited quantities. It’s also available on Nitro at CBC.  Grab this one today, Islanders!

Mead alert! Our favourite Chester Basin brewery, Tanner & Co Brewing, has a new mead (use that honey, baby!) out with some lovely additions. Blood Orange & Motueka Sparkling Mead uses local honey, blood orange, and Motueka hops, to balance with each other on top of the base recipe of honey fermented mead. The sweetness of honey, zip and bitterness of the hops, and citrus notes from the blood oranges all come together in a punch of sparkling flavour at 5.9%. This one is canned and available from the brewery directly to pick-up at their locations or online for delivery. 

Red alert! Fredericton’s IPA rulers, Trailway Brewing, have a brand new release out now in the form of Answers in Red, a Red IPA. Dark, bready, and slightly fruity, the hops used bring some resin and pine notes for a well balanced 6% IPA. There isn’t a lot of this style around but you can think of it as a slightly stronger and hoppier Amber Ale, like the cousin of an American IPA, but sweeter and darker. It’s canned and available at their Fredericton and Saint John locations.

And fresh off the canning line is a new beer in support of the UNB Student Union Food Bank. Food security is important for all of us, especially young folks during a critical learning phase of life. A portion of the sales of Limeaid is being donated to the Food Bank, but you can also donate yourself at the link above! This 4.8% beer saves you the trouble of putting your lime and salt in your crushable lager, it comes pre-dosed! Zesty, with a hint of salinity, but very refreshing and enjoyable, do some good this weekend and pick up some Limeaid! Like Answers in Red, cans and draught are available at both Trailway locations.

Paradise’s beer options have expanded this week, thanks to the fine folks at Banished Brewing on Maverick Place. Continuing their ode to their homebase, Paradise Town – Italian Plum has hit the shelves, and draught lines, this week. Sweet, tart, and a lovely rosy pink colour, plenty of plum character shines through in this 5.5% ABV beer. You can find it in Paradise Town itself, and hitting the shelves elsewhere on the Avalon any day now!

Sydney, NS, darling Breton Brewing is continuing their own series of beers, as they extend their experimentation in the world of cold fermentation. Breton Lager #3 is the latest in that vein, keeping the Mexican Lager style from version 2, but switching up the yeast strain. The beer remains crisp and light, and above all, drinkable! This beer, as well as Breton Lager #2, are available at the brewery and Home Delivery in both the CBRM and HRM!

O’Creek Brewing out of Moncton has a new Double IPA coming to the people! Living in a Haze is a Hazy Double IPA that is big on the tropical notes and full of juiciness. The beer is 8% but only 25 IBU and features a lovely variety of hops. All added in the whirlpool and back later for dry-hopping is a mix of Mosaic, Sabro, Vic Secret and El Dorado. This is available on tap at the taproom today and will be canned early next week!

New Beer Alert in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley! Sea Level Brewing of Port Williams and Sheffield Mills has a new Asian cuisine-inspired beer on tap today. Thai-PA is 4.6% ABV, and light in colour, but not at all light on flavour! Lemongrass, lime leaves, thai chilies, and ginger. Sounds like the perfect pairing to something you may find available at nearby Noodle Guy, or whatever you want to whip up at home. For those looking for a fun night out at their Millstone Harvest Brewhouse should definitely pop by 7 – 9 PM tonight to enjoy some live music from Sky 45. A reminder that location is at 9146 Hwy 221 in Sheffield Mills, about 10 minutes outside Port Williams.

Look up. Waaaaay up. Ragnarock Brewing out of St. Anthony, Newfoundland has a new light lager. Loki’s Blaze is a canned 4% crispy light lager that is available at The Outdoor Shoppe and Western Petroleum for locals. More deliveries will be coming soon!

Moving south of St. Anthony (most things are south of St. Anthony, really), Ninepenny Brewing out of CBS (Conception Bay South, on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland), has a brand new beer that’s even a new style for them! Seal Cove Stout is an English Stout that is the first stout they’ve ever released! It’s highly drinkable at 5% and features a full body with dark chocolate and roasted coffee notes. This is available only at the taproom for now but will be available at retail stores over the coming weeks. 

Kempt Road’s finest foam friends at Stillwell Brewing have a new, freshly canned batch of their Pale Ale. At 5.3%, this West Coast Pale Ale is classic and delicious. You can check out the history of this beer and all the details back in our September post.

Speaking of Stillwell Brewing, you may have spotted that they hosted the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia Together We Brew brewday earlier this month. That beer will be coming in a few months, coinciding with the festival of the same name, being held April 6th at Pavillion 22 on the Halifax Waterfront. Together We Brew will see more than forty breweries from across the province bringing out their best and freshest beer to share with you! There are two sessions happening that day (afternoon 2 – 4:30 PM and evening 7 – 9:30 PM), with VIP tickets available for each that allow entrance an hour early. Early Bird pricing is on now, so be sure to snag them today!

Congratulations are in order to breweries and brewers across our region on making the shortlist of the 2023 Canadian Brewers Choice Awards. Hosted by Brewers Journal Canada, these awards require nomination, and then are judged based on their stories and the impact they have on the brewery, region, and industry. The Atlantic Provinces have been punching above their weight recently, with Tire Shack Brewery taking home Brewery of the Year and Branding of the Year in 2022, Esty of Foghorn taking home Brewer of the Year, and 2 Crows snagging top honours in New Beer of the Year for Class Maritime Dry Stout. This year’s shortlist includes: Libra Non Alcoholic for Brewery of the Year, Kellye Robertson of Good Robot for Brewer of the Year, Duncan Tennant of Banished Brewing for Young Brewer of the Year, who also is on the list for Community Initiative of the Year for their Paddles Up, Truro Brewing for Branding of the Year, and OG Ales for Sustainability Initiative of the Year. The winners will be announced Jan 31 as part of the MBAA District Ontario Technical Conference in Niagara-On-The-Lake.

Friday Wrap-Up for January 5, 2024 – News from Hardisty, Truro, Libra, NOMAD, Garrison, Gahan, Big Spruce, Lake City, 2 Crows, Stillwell and more!

Posted by acbbchris on 2024-01-05
Posted in: Friday Wrap-Up. Tagged: 2 Crows Brewing, Big Spruce Home Brew Challenge, CBANS, Enjoy Nomad, Gahan Atlantic Home Brew Challenge, Garrison Brewing, Hardisty Brewing, Lake City Cider, Libra Non-Alcoholic Beer, Stillwell Brewing, TrailWay Brewing, Truro Brewing Company. Leave a Comment

Happy 2024! We hope you were able to find a bit of relaxation and community these past few weeks, whether it be with (or away from) family, friends, pets, nature, or alone with a great book, podcast, or however you felt most at ease. We were fortunate to do a combination of all of those, and are thankful for each other and for you, our faithful readers. We missed a few new releases while we were away, and we’ll of course miss others in the future, so don’t be shy about letting us know some great cider and beer news that’s happening in your neck of the woods. The best way is via email, but you can also DM or tag us on Instagram to get our attention. This week’s post is short and sweet, as we, and the breweries, ease their way into the New Year. As always, please support local when and if you’re able, especially during these traditionally slower months for producers and restaurants and bars. Support in moderation, of course!

Just before year-end, Hardisty Brewing opened their taproom in Cole Harbour, Dartmouth. Graduating from production at their home nearby, Char and Laura have brought in Amber to complete the brewing team on their expanded equipment in the new space. 230 litre batches are now possible, thanks to the equipment they picked up from Truro Brewing Company’s own recent expansion. The Hardisty taproom is fully equipped with a half-dozen taps, and an extensive selection of meat and cheese to build your own CHARcuterie board (sorry, couldn’t resist!), and a full retail shop for your take-away needs. Keep an eye on Hardisty’s website and social media for updates, and pop by their location at 958 Cole Harbour Rd, Tuesday to Saturday, from noon til 8 PM. Congratulations again!

A little bit of a change this week, as we highlight some non-alcoholic products from the region, as we know many of you (and us) are taking a little breather from booze in January. You’re already aware of the Libra line produced by Upstreet Craft Brewing, and we were introduced to NOMAD Pilsner, and more recently Witbier, “brewed” by the fine folks at Tatamagouche Brewing. This week saw the launch of another in the region, Instead, produced for Garrison Brewing. For sale now from their shops, and soon at private stores in HRM, the Blonde and IPA are both flavourful, crisp, and clean, you’ll never even notice there’s no alcohol!

For those looking for a bevvie with another flavour profile, don’t forget about Lake City Cider’s line of non-alcoholic ciders, which happen to be on sale this week!

And if you’re looking for a bit more in both alcohol or character, Trailway Brewing’s Hu Jon Hops Ultra will fit the bill! At just 1.5% ABV, it’s chock-full of hops, and raring to go!

If you are someone who is already an experienced homebrewer, or one of the lucky group of folks gifted a kit or equipment over the Holidays, let us tell you about a couple brewing competitions that you can enter, to receive some honest feedback and guidance on improving your craft. Or win fabulous prizes; that could happen too!

Prince Edward Island’s Gahan House is once again sponsoring the Atlantic Home Brew Challenge, which is open to amateur brewers in any of the four Atlantic Provinces. Celebrating their presence that started in New Brunswick, and has spread to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and most recently Newfoundland and Labrador, Gahan is looking for folks to submit their best Best Bitter, or Spice, Herb, and Vegetable Beer. While you have until March 2nd to drop off the beer to your local Gahan House, we highly recommend signing up today to ensure you do not miss out on the opportunity! The top beers in each category will win cash prizes, with the Best in Show also winning the opportunity and honour of brewing their beer on a big scale! Former winners have gone on to fame and fortune in their own right, and you could be the next to wear the crown! More details are available at the Challenge website above.

Meanwhile, across the Northumberland Strait (or near enough), Nyanza, Cape Breton’s Big Spruce Brewing is hosting the latest in what we believe to be the longest-running homebrew competition in the Maritimes. Now up to the 11th edition, this year’s official title is 11th Annual Homebrew Challenge: Pomona vs Elysium. A face off featuring two brand new (really really brand new, very few commercial breweries have used these) yeast strains from Escarpment Labs, homebrewers are being challenged to make their best IPA. Twenty-five pouches of each strain were available and to date 36 total pouches have been claimed. That means there’s room for fourteen more entrants. A winner for each strain will be crowned and a batch of each winning beer will be brewed on Big Spruce’s pilot system for province-wide distribution. Check the linked official Facebook page for the event for all the details you need!

While our friends at 2 Crows Brewing are enjoying the recent opening of 2 Crows Oxford, their birthday is right around the corner. January 27th will mark their 7th Anniversary with an all day event at the Brunswick Street brewery. There will be 7 new anniversary beers, including collaborations with OK Sea Salt, Yeah Yeah’s Pizza and some returning favourites and a new mystery beer. Food will be served at noon by Luke’s Small Goods and when 8 PM rolls around, it’s time for the beats to drop, as Skunk Motel, Pavel Stroke and June Body will be playing their tunes. As usual, there are no tickets, reservations or cover. Stay tuned to the brewery’s social media for any updates (Sour Sunday anyone?) or changes and we’ll be sure to include a reminder the week of. 

As they have every year for the last half-decade or so, many of the member breweries of CBANS have once again converged to produce a collaborative beer for the year. This year we feel like they’re doing it a little earlier than usual, but we also suspect that’s got to do with the beer and where it’s being brewed. This week saw 30+ folks from 15+ breweries converge on Kempt Road and Stillwell Brewing for this year’s Together We Brew, where they put together a ((possibly double-)decocted, natch) batch of something that’s destined to be called Export Lager. Though it won’t be available until spring, for long-term cold-conditioning reasons, when it is you’ll be able to find it around the province at various breweries, NSLC stores, and private stores as well. Look for our announcement of its availability and tasting notes then! And special thanks to Stillwell Brewing for hosting, Brew Culture, Escarpment Labs, and Shoreline Malting for ingredients support, and (eventually) Hart Printing for the cans!