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What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 2:39 pm
by 2Hands-1Mouth
Hey guys and gals,

Been a while since I've posted on here, I've been living in Denver for the last 4 years, and I'm currently posted to Ottawa. Since I've left, Good Robot, 2 Crows, Unfiltered, Nine Locks, New Scotland, Brightwood, Off Track and a few others have opened. When I come back for a visit, which places do you guys recommend, and what do you like about them/ what beers are great?

I always hated that the breweries in town (at least back then) were not taproom oriented. I could never understand how Garrison had such an awesome location, and only sold those little samplers, and Propeller I don't think even had a bar in there to sit at. Are there any breweries that hold events for homebrewers other than Garrison's homebrew comp?

Cheers,

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 2:57 pm
by mdentremont
Hey!

Many of the breweries hold competitions, Big Spruce, Boxing Rock, Gahan, Everwood/Propeller, Garrison are ones that I can recall at the moment.

In terms of breweries with taprooms in HRM:
- Two Crows
- Tidehouse (it's tiny)
- New Scotland
- Brightwood
- Unfiltered
- Propeller's Halifax location has one now
- Garrison's location is likely much better now than when you were here, they also have a new location where the Oxford theatre was)
- Spindrift
- Off Track
- North
- Good Robot
(I omitted Keith's from the list.. I also left Nine Locks out because they don't really have a seating area)

Brewpubs/taprooms:
- Stillwell (2 locations + beer garden in summer)
- Stubborn Goat (restaurant + beer garden in summer)
- Battery Park
- Hopyard
- Rockbottom
- Auction house (kind of?)
- Upstreet (is a brewery, but their location is a restaurant)
- Gahan/Pickford and Black (is a brewery, but their locations are restaurants)

Private liquor stores you may want to go to instead of NSLC (more focused on seasonals/imports):
- Westside
- Rockhead
- Bishop's Cellar
- Liquid Assets (in the airport, with the domestic gates)
- Harvest Wine and Spirits


Your best bet to try a bunch of local stuff is at Battery Park or Hopyard (12ish local taps from different breweries), or at the private liquor stores. Some of my favourite breweries aren't from HRM, so you would be better off with this route of you want to try some other NS breweries from further away.

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 3:48 pm
by 2Hands-1Mouth
I appreciate the list, but still the question remains, which are your fav?

I got pretty accustomed to drinking at breweries in Denver, and there's a million micro breweries with tap rooms there. I became a huge fan of going to a place where I could smell the mash or the fresh addition of hops to the boil while enjoying a frosty mug. I was there when Stillwell was opened, and have been to the beer garden in the summer. Great place to try a good amount of beers for sure, but still, not quite a brewery... but the outdoor garden is on point, and nobody can say otherwise lol.

I'm finding that even here in Ottawa, all of the breweries around (or at least that I've been to in the 5 weeks I've been here) are all about marketing to the LC or to local restaurants, which means the taprooms here suck too. Can't wait to get out of this city and back to the coast lol.

Any amazing beers that I need to try? (regardless of style or ingredients)

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 4:47 pm
by ConanTroutman
Top brewery for me is definitely Stillwell, only real local example that consistently puts out the type of beer that gets me equally excited to drink it as it does motivate me to brew more. Pretty fortunate that we have a brewery with that amount of focus on farmhouse and barrel-aging in town.

Beyond that 2 Crows and North but I will admit I don't buy as much of either as I used to (beer is expensive and I have too much beer at home at any given time to be able to justify buying it most of the time). Propeller will also always hold a place in my fridge and my heart since they're the first craft brewery I got into and they've been churning out some awesome stuff over the last couple of years.

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:52 pm
by oceanic_brew
2 Crows for me. Other breweries may make better beer but it’s rare that I leave that place unsatisfied that I’ve had a new experience. Novelty isn’t everything but it’s very underwhelming when the business model is “let’s do what virtually everyone else is doing”

I say this while fully appreciating how lucky I am to have any breweries let alone complain about too many.

Church brewing down in wolfville deserves a mention if you are into interesting taprooms at least. They are literally in an old church. The food and beer are both amazing. Their Enkel is one of the best packaged beers you can buy in NS.


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Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 10:23 pm
by mdentremont
The breweries that have me most excited as of late are Tusket Falls, Tanner & Co and Boxing Rock.

For the atmosphere you're seeking I think Good Robot would be fitting.

2 crows is also a really good spot to check out both in term of location, cool experimental brews, and their brewery always smells great due to all the barrels & foeders they have on the go.

If you so head down to Church, I'd also recommend checking out Schoolhouse while you're down that way, they have a neat setup, and their food menu is decent for a lunch stop. The chicken and waffles at Church were good, but all of the meal options if seen/tried were disappointing.

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2020 8:53 am
by darciandjenn
Nearly every microbrewery in the Province has a taproom these days where you can order a full pint of beer.

If you are looking for that quintessential drinking in a taproom experience, 2 crows checks all the boxes: great beer, plus you can smell the mash and see the canning line. :)

The Tiny Tasting Room at Tidehouse is definitely a fun experience - you'll be sitting within 12 feet or so of their nano system and there's typically a neat atmosphere as friends of the brewery mingle with tourists who stumbled upon the place enjoying a flight.

Propeller has a new arcade / bar in the basement which is a lot of fun (and, yes, you can see some fermenters if you peek around the corner). While I believe Propeller itself does all of its brewing out of its Dartmouth location, both Stillwell Brewing and Granite brew on their old system in the North End.

I hear the new North tap room out in Dartmouth is fantastic...

Beer-wise, Unfiltered, Stillwell Brewing, North, and Propeller have been putting out fantastic, consistent beers for some time now.

A stop at Stillwell (either the Mothership, the beer garden, or the new pub) is obviously a must - especially if you want to try some beers from the other Atlantic provinces. Trailway in Fredericton and Niche in Hanwell, NB are putting out killer beers these days.

Finally, the http://acbeerblog.ca/ has a ton of info about the brewing scene in Atlantic Canada. Cheers!

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 6:43 pm
by jason.loxton
Favorite = Unfiltered and Garrison.

I would say Boxing Rock, but they've sadly become my least favorite. I got a batch that tasted like it was contaminated with a Belgian yeast, emailed them, and they said, "Yeah, that batch got contaminated" (so they knew, but apparently were cool still having it out in the NSLC at retail prices and not recalling). That bad buy was followed that up with a series of massively over-carbed beers. Emailed about those, and didn't even get a response. I know a number of other people in same boat: so many gusher/over-carbed bottles that they've given up entirely. Shame, because when good they're great!

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 7:23 am
by elreplica
Boxing Rock...yeah that’s shitty PR when a brewery responds like that...I had a few Spindrift like that and they made it right...Molson delivered a 24 to my door...Steam Whistle gave me a dozen beer, a ton of swag and four passes for a brew tour because I was short a bottle on a dozen. And come to think of it, my last six of BR Puck Off tasted a bit “clovy” - not something expected from a Kolsch. I’ve made a couple of stops with tourists to BR and given some good press about them. I’m thinking the next time round the Yarmouth Horn, we will do Heritage and Tusket on to Hell and skip The Rock...

And...oh yes...my favourite brewery would have to be Propeller - and for visitability and quality - Off Track. It’s a place where I haven’t dragged a tour group...yet.

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 9:14 am
by PMackie
I would have to say Off Track, but I am biased because I become quite good friends with them being they are so close. Their beer quality is top notch though and I find it super friendly in there. It become a hang out for a lot of regulars.

I find myself always going back to Propeller as the quality is always really good and I have a soft spot for Big Spruce.

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 12:52 pm
by wcturnedec
jason.loxton wrote:
Sun Jan 12, 2020 6:43 pm
Favorite = Unfiltered and Garrison.

I would say Boxing Rock, but they've sadly become my least favorite. I got a batch that tasted like it was contaminated with a Belgian yeast, emailed them, and they said, "Yeah, that batch got contaminated" (so they knew, but apparently were cool still having it out in the NSLC at retail prices and not recalling). That bad buy was followed that up with a series of massively over-carbed beers. Emailed about those, and didn't even get a response. I know a number of other people in same boat: so many gusher/over-carbed bottles that they've given up entirely. Shame, because when good they're great!
Which beer was the "contaminated" one?

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 7:35 pm
by mdentremont
I am a huge BR fan, but they do seem to have issues with contaminations. I've had a bunch turn into gushers after sitting around at room temp for a few months.

The worst was Tropic Thunder (tropical stout). I opened it at a friend's house and it literally shot out and hit the ceiling, the kitchen was painted black.

This being said, most of the craft breweries are selling unpasteurized brews and usually indicate that they should be kept refrigerated, but if they are being sold unintentionally infected from the beginning that is an issue.

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 10:59 am
by LiverDance
This may not be an infection, Is it possible the beers were under attenuated and this is what was causing the gushing?

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 11:34 am
by mdentremont
In the case of Tropic Thunder it was a lacto infection. I think another was a Brett infection, and the rest could have just been due to under attenuation.


Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 1:06 pm
by GAM
A friend had a 6 of Temptation that was infected. I saw Emily shortly after and she apologized and said to take the box to Agricola St shop for a replacement. Everyone was happy.

S

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 3:34 pm
by mdentremont
Another wrench in all of this, is that the NSLC lets beer sit for weeks/months in one of their non-refrigerated warehouses.

This means that products purchased from NSLC are likely not going to be fresh (which is a huge bummer for IPAs), and increases the likelihood of unwanted activity in the cans/bottles.

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 3:52 pm
by jason.loxton
Which beer was the "contaminated" one?
[/quote]

Hunky Dory. Also: It was definitely contaminated, they told me so themselves in an email: "The Hunky Dory with the 'Belgian' character was from a batch that had come into contact with an incorrect yeast."

Shortly thereafter (September) I had a phenolic gusher (absent head, super loose bubbles) six pack of Temptation Red, new packaging, 2.5 months past bottle date, bought right out of chiller at NSLC. Emailed with Boxing Rock with photos and never got a response.

That was the last time I ever bought them.

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 3:58 pm
by mdentremont
While we're on topic packaging flops - around 50% of all cans I've purchased from Salt Box (usually at their brewery) have been _heavily_ oxidized.

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2020 9:51 am
by wcturnedec
mdentremont wrote:
Wed Jan 15, 2020 3:34 pm
Another wrench in all of this, is that the NSLC lets beer sit for weeks/months in one of their non-refrigerated warehouses.

This means that products purchased from NSLC are likely not going to be fresh (which is a huge bummer for IPAs), and increases the likelihood of unwanted activity in the cans/bottles.
Agree with the freshness issue in IPAs via NSLC, I've seen some pretty old cans of 2C Pollyana even in the HRM.

Most breweries' cans and even BR bottles have a date stamp. I will rarely buy IPAs from NSLC unless I know for sure the brewery just sent them there.

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2020 1:42 pm
by GAM
mdentremont wrote:
Wed Jan 15, 2020 3:34 pm
Another wrench in all of this, is that the NSLC lets beer sit for weeks/months in one of their non-refrigerated warehouses.

This means that products purchased from NSLC are likely not going to be fresh (which is a huge bummer for IPAs), and increases the likelihood of unwanted activity in the cans/bottles.
On this topic a group of us were invited to the Olands Brewery on Agricols St and served "Silver Bullets" that were great, it was Keiths fresh off the floor.

S

Re: What's your favourite brewery?

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 10:32 am
by cagiva650
My favorite beer comes from Unfiltered. My favorite brewery to visit is Lunn's Mill. Great people making tasty beer in the beautiful Annapolis Valley.. A wonderful place to hang out for a few beers with friends.