My thought are with my friends that are still without power after this weeks ice storm. Lets hope you are all back on the grid soon. Here is the beer news for the week.
Upstreet Craft Brewing announced they are working on a fun new Top Stamp campaign. Staring on February 6th, you will have three weeks to collect stamps from 12 great participating restaurants. Get Top Stamps and complete the Pogey Challenge by visiting five locations and then enter to win the prize pack of $600 worth of gift cards to your favourite restaurants, a brewery tour for you and 10 friends, and some Upstreet swag. Keep an eye out for details soon.
Hammond River Brewing has released the S'Mores Graham Cracker Imperial Stout. Brewed with a good portion of Chocolate Malt, Graham crackers, local Crosby's Molasses, Honey, Madagascar Vanilla Beans, and toasted marshmallows. It comes in at 8.0% ABV and 50 IBUs,
Picaroons Traditional Ales asks you to join them at The 5 Kings Restaurant and Picaroons Brewhouse on February 14th for a four course Ganong Chocolate infused dinner prepared by Lisa Aronson. Each course will be paired with a different Picaroons and will be hosted by your favourite Picaroons Certified Cicerone Ian Covey. Tickets will go on sale starting next Tuesday January 31 in person or by phone at The 5 Kings (466-BREW), and at the Ganong Chocolatier for $50 + tax and gratuity.
Tide and Boar Gastropub has a new beer out. Killington IPA is now on tap and has New England at heart. This beer is a dank citrus juice hop bomb that comes in at 7.6% ABV and 80 IBUs. Also new is Sour Otis Grapefruit Berliner Weisse that is made with 24 fresh grapefruits per barrel and is an acidic yet balanced kettle sour.
Trail Way Brewing also has brewed and canned a new DIPA, Hop Stains. It is heavily hopped with Azacca, El Dorado and Citra and backed up with a solid 8% ABV. Available now in limited supply at the brewery.
Have a great week and I will be back in a weeks time.
A very busy week beer wise here in Nova Scotia this week.
After a long wait and a misstart 2 Crows Brewing is opening tomorrow. Their, as they put it soft-opening, is tomorrow January 28th from noon until 10 PM. They will have their core lineup plus a few kegs of special pilot batches and one-offs.
Big Spruce Brewing was brewing yesterday with Bishop's Cellar to create a Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter called Anaphylactic Choc. Look for a release at their tap takeover at Bishop's Cellar on February 25th.
Boxing Rock Brewing have released their Oban Heather in time for Rabbie Burns day yesterday. It's made with Golden Promise Malt to give a malty biscuity base to showcase the Scottish Heather flowers they put into the brew and then all balanced off with local honey. Available now at RockHead Wine & Beer Market, Harvest Wines and Spirits, Cristall Wine Merchants, and Bishop's Cellar in 650 ml bottles. You can also get it on tap right now at the Henry House in Halifax and this weekend at their stalls at the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market, Alderney Landing Farmers' Market and at retail store in Shelburne.
Gahan House - Halifax has a couple of releases this week. The new version of Crosscurrent APA and an English Golden Ale.
The new version of Crosscurrent APA strays form the American hop combos that have been used up to this point. This release was hopped with Magnum and a lot of Dr. Rudi. The NZ variety lends big lemon, dry lime and pine notes for a very refreshing hop profile. It is still 5.5% ABV and 32 IBUs, with a malt bill that includes flaked oats and flaked wheat.
The English Golden Ale is 4.5% ABV and 16 IBUs. Every ingredient used is of British origin. Fuggles were hop of focus here. The beer received a fairly large late addition lending a delicate hop character. Maris Otter was the only malt used. So this is pretty much a SMaSH without intentionally trying to make one. The Maris Otter gives a very doughy character with subtle notes of honey, accompanied by a faint bitterness and an herbal, floral bouquet. Very simple beer, but technically sound for the style.
Gahan is also going to have a brewmaster’s dinner event. Their Chef, Chris Jeffery and head brewer Kyle Jeppesen sat down and created a 4 course meal with beer pairings. The dinner is February 21st and costs $60.00 for the four course dinner. They would like these events to become a regular thing at Gahan, and they are planning themed courses and pairings for the next dinner. It is a ticketed event. If somebody would like to buy tickets they can contact gahan.halifax@murphyrestaurants.ca
Garrison Brewing says take a picture showing them what you love about this Dirty Ol’ Town of Halifax. Make sure to tag Garrison in the photo and use the #LoveThisDirtyOlTown hashtag on Instagram for a chance to win. They will repost all entries, and whoever's picture has the most likes by February 9th wins a brewery tour for 10.
Lazy Bear Brewing is having a taster night featuring their Orange Kolsch on Friday, February 3 from 7 PM to 9 PM at Bunchberry Nurseries 2779, Hwy 1,, Annapolis Royal. Taste the first beer to ever feature Nova Scotia-grown oranges grown at Bunchberry. They have a limited amount so they decided to share the experience at a tasting night. It will be beach-themed and will feature some local food.
Sea Level Brewing released Callahan's Crosstime Irish Ale this week. It is a malt forward smooth Irish ale using Horton Ridge Malt and Grain floor malted barley and galaxy hops giving a sublime tropical fruit aroma. The ale checks in at 7.3% ABV.
Tatamagouche Brewing released its Barrel Aged Barley Wine to the Giant Beer family. Aged in fresh 13 year old single malt Glenora Distillery barrels were used as well as Horton Ridge Malt and Grain malt as the base to give this American style barley wine a 10.5% ABV. Balanced with spirit and barrel character, this barley wine is great now and is going to age very nicely. Available now at the brewery.
Tidehouse Brewing has an India Saison back on. They say "Think IPA meets a Belgian/French yeast profile". Coming in at 6.8% ABV and jam-packed with loads of Ahtanum, Azacca and Amarillo hops. This one won't last.
Sober Island Brewing and Brightwood Brewing are taking over all 5 taps tomorrow from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Bishop's Cellar. Stop by for a free taste with the breweries plus fill your growlers with three delicious brews from Sober Island Brewing and two from Brightwood.
There was a change in the law this week which is a game changer for Nova Scotia restaurants. Restaurant owners can now serve customers who aren't ordering food up to two glasses of beer or wine. The old law required all patrons to order food if they wanted an alcoholic beverage unless the establishment had a lounge licence. It has been a big frustration for restaurant owners especially during the busy tourist season.
Have a great week end and as always enjoy responsibly.
Hitting the mid January blahs but here is the beer news for this week.
The Gahan House is putting their Homebrewer's Challenge Winning Beer On Tap tomorrow at 11 AM until 8 PM. The beer is Solstice, a winter warmer style beer brewed with molasses and a blend of spices.The winning team is Clayton Harding, Jaime Venturini, Jonathan Green, and Will Panting.
Upstreet Craft Brewing says Top Stamp is available across the Island now and coming to Nova Scotia soon. Top Stamp is an easy drinking honey brown lager with a sweet beginning, a dry finish and a clean aftertaste. Brewed using Maritime Malt and NB Golding hops, it is 5% ABV and 15 IBU's .
Iain MacInnes and Karine Gallant are renovating a historic building in Abrams Village PEI that once served as a court house into a malting facility. Trials on the malt are planned for March, using a facility in New Brunswick that can test the quality of the product so that they can perfect the process at the Abrams Village malt house. They have spoken with several breweries in Nova Scotia as well as Upstreet Craft Brewing and Barnone Brewery and Hop Farm about providing them with malt, and has received promising feedback about keeping the supply chain local. See full CBC article here
Bore City Brewing says at ANBL Moncton North had Mondo IPA on tap in limited quantities and next week look for Spacetime Odyssey Porter available for growler fills. An American-style porter (6% ABV) infused with coffee from Down East Coffee Roasters.
Graystone Brewing created Shiver Stout for Shivering Songs Fest. A coffee stout made with cold brew Whitney coffee. The 4.7% ABV 30 IBU beer is available on tap, The Capital Complex and Fredericton Boyce Farmers' Market
Johnny Jacks Brewery are releasing their new Pond Hockey Winter Ale. In stores soon the 5.4% ABV beer comes in a special 750 ml swing-top bottle.
Have a great week and enjoy responsibly.
