BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER

sometrailsomewhere

Happy Holidays! Or not, depending, I'm not offended if you don't observe. Anyway...

Where in the Joe Jesus is the beer thread? 

I love all things craft beer. The more organic and local, the better, but I do love hearing about and trying different grogs from anywhere. I'm a big single malt fan as well, but I'll leave that for a nightcap discussion, or one on Irish/Scottish breakfast...

Okay, so up here on the east coast of Canadaland we are growing ever more proud of our craft beer movement. In Nova Scotia we boast a pretty decent explosion, if you will, since about 2012. We had some players in the game long before that, but it seems to have really started to thrive in the last few years.

Now I know some of my 'Murican cousins will be loving our low rate Loonie, so if you head my way for a little trip then I have some suggestions for you:

Tatamagouche Brewing: Pure Tatamagoodness. Tatamagouche, NS. Started by the son of the first Nova Scotian winery owner and of German descent, so you know they have good beer. They even have a lagered ale (a Kolsch that you can't call Kolsch) that tastes just like Koln beers, from when I was there anyway. They're organic and occupy an old butcher shop that is a great little spot. The town itself is pretty popular amongst children of the 50s (hippies) and also has the region's largest Oktoberfest in the fall. My choice: the North Shore Lagered Ale, or the Hippie Dippie Pale Ale (one of the few pale ales I really like) Great served with chicken or beef dishes, herby dishes (like my Camp Creeville chicken rub) and things with a bit of heat - or sausages.

Uncle Leo's. Lyon's Brook, NS. The awesome thing about going to Tatamagouche if you're on your way to Cape Breton - you pretty much have to pass the Pork Shop (home of the awesomest sausages and German style thingies in the area) and Uncle Leo's. Their Smoked Porter got me interested in this style. No crap. I actually had the porter with a nice slow burn Indian dish and it paired well.

Big Spruce Brewing: Because "Natural" Means Nothing. Nyanza, Cape Breton. Mere miles from the beginning of the Cabot Trail, stop and see an on farm organic operation run by one of the coolest mavericks in the business. He even put a scare into the big boys of beer because so much of his grog was selling to cruise ship passengers up the road in Sydney. I love, love, love the Cereal Killer Otameal Stout. It is the best stout I have ever had and I have gone so far as to travel three hours round trip just to pick some up. You know the best dish I had with this bad boy? Strawberry shortcake - yeah, try fookin' egging that!

Tatamagouche and Uncle Leo's are intermittently available at our (government controlled and therefore needlessly expensive) liquor agency. You can also get them at the brewery and at select bottle shops in Halifax. Big Spruce takes some google-fu if you're in the city as some places have it on tap regular, but getting a growler may be harder unless you hit the brewery.

Hey, these are just my ideas as a beer lover. If you're from the area and have more insight then feel free to add. I could go on and on about NS beers, but I figured starting at my three faves would be better.

And - cheers.

northGAcock

You guys up there quit with the ice wine? Have enjoyed a few glasses over the years. That said.....love to delve into the crafts myself.

JohnInCarolina

theyolksonyou

I like beer, it makes me a jolly good fellow.  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8i5k4I1AOEI

bgebrent

@theyolksonyou, Roll out the barrel brother!  Merry Christmas!  I like Ambers and Lagers and Murphy's, Murphy's as a desert beer.

johnnyp

I'm a huge fan of Belgian beers.

McStew

These are come of my seasonal favorites 

bgebrent

McStew said:

These are come of my seasonal favorites 

One of my favorites too!  The Pacific organic free range Chicken Broth.  I love the hops in that!  JK, nice beer spread brother!

sometrailsomewhere

I have some Hop Stoopid in my fridge right now (sadly I'm offshore until the 24th) I have to admit, it was a label buy - the girl who rents our granny suit is a hophead so I picked it up for us to share, based on name alone!

I'm also becoming quite a fan of craft ciders, where Nova Scotia with their damned apples seems to have quite a charge on as well (I am a localavore as much as reasonable) But I found a great one out of Upper Canada aka Toronto aka The Big Smoke aka Tranna called Brickworks which is fantastic.

One the icewine: I've never liked it much, but it is still popular. The dude that makes single malt whiskey in Cape Breton tried barreling his stuff in old ice wine casks. Result: a single malt that tastes like his regular grog, like gasoline, only icy. I don't knock it too much, some folks love it and he did tell the stuffy old Scotch Whiskey Association to GFY and got away with it in a court case, so there's that. But the product...I'd rather gargle Draino.

For hard stuff up here: we have this German guy named Thomas Steinhart who started a vodka and gin distillery on the same coastal trail you'd use for Tatamagouche and Uncle Leo's and it is fantastic. Plus, he's German, so a tour includes more than a few tipples.

Back to beer: I have a ski trip planned for Vermont specifically to try and get my hands on some Heady Topper. And bring some Dogfishead home, sadly they don't won't sell it here.

robnybbq

Try Troegs Mad Elf - AWESOME! and @ 11% you can nap after 3 of them.

Foghorn

@johnnyp, what are your favorite Belgians? I'm a fan of Westmalle Tripel and St.  Bernardus ABT 12 - especially the oak-aged version. 

tfhanson

Just brewed my first batch.  Bottled last Thursday.  Already looking into a keging system.

sometrailsomewhere

I can still hammer down a Murphy's with ease!

Phatchris

Phatchris

While in VT be sure to try Focal Banger and anything you can find from Hill Farmstead and Lawson's in addition to Heady... Also 14 star tribute and second fiddle...

sometrailsomewhere

How easy would those be to find around Jay and Stowe? Can't tell you my main direction of travel, likely through Maine, I'd say. Trip isn't till February and I'm offshore working so no access to my files on it all.

Cheers and thanks for the advice.

fishlessman

if thru maine, possibly in vt but not sure get this stuff. a bottle is near twenty bucks so i dont get it too often

Homebrewguy

Well, I got this as a wedding gift recently...

johnnyp

Foghorn said:

@johnnyp, what are your favorite Belgians? I'm a fan of Westmalle Tripel and St.  Bernardus ABT 12 - especially the oak-aged version. 

St. B's ABT 12 is great.  A nice chest is to snap Sam Adams Barrel Room Collections when available.  They make their version of triples and quadruples that are great.

my favorite was the time I was able to snag a westvleteren during their limited distribution run in the US

Phatchris

sometrailsomewhere said:

How easy would those be to find around Jay and Stowe? Can't tell you my main direction of travel, likely through Maine, I'd say. Trip isn't till February and I'm offshore working so no access to my files on it all.

Cheers and thanks for the advice.

Heady and Focal Banger can be found at   most restaurant/bars in Stowe/Waterbury, a little tougher to find resale at liquor stores... Lawsons, Hill Farmstead and second fiddle can be found on Tap at various bars/restaurants as well, some of my favorites that are family friendly ( I have 2 young ones with me) are

Prohibition Pig... Waterbury, worth the trip from Stowe.. Great food , beer, and bourbon.

Doc Ponds.. Stowe, from the folks behind Hen of the woods... Best beer list in Stowe with upscale bar food and vinyl spinning.

Pie-casso Stowe... Good Pizza and they have a good tap list and usually Heady and Focal Banger in cans

Bench Stowe... I haven't been, but great Tap list and nice menu.

Phatchris

fishlessman said:

if thru maine, possibly in vt but not sure get this stuff. a bottle is near twenty bucks so i dont get it too often

Have you stopped by Gary's in a Portsmouth.. It's on the other side of the tracks and kinda shady, but they always have Allagash way cheaper than anywhere else... I've picked up Curieux for $15.

Foghorn

fishlessman said:

if thru maine, possibly in vt but not sure get this stuff. a bottle is near twenty bucks so i dont get it too often

X 1,000,000.

@johnnyp, if you can get your hands on this or the Allagash Tripel, do so. Allagash is better at making belgian beers than the monks (at least when several of us tasted them side by side).

I did recently acquire a bottle of Westvleteren quad that I'm looking forward to drinking. 

YEMTrey

Nice to see so many craft beer peeps on here. I'm still grinning about the growler of Alesmith Hawaiian Speedway Stout I procured yesterday!  That should help me deal with the inlaws on Christmas Eve. 

"Speedway Stout brewed with toasted coconut, vanilla beans and Ka'u coffee imported from the Hawaiian islands."

sometrailsomewhere

Beauty info, thanks.

Heady Topper seems to be like the mecca of craft beers up here. Everyone has heard of it, few people have experienced it.

I'm curious your thoughts re: Dogfishead? Hyped or no?

Homebrewguy

Some of Dogfish Head's beers are great and others are novelties. I love their 60 minute and 90 minute IPA's.

sometrailsomewhere

Figured as much.

Wife and I visited friends in Ontario this past summer and, oh man, the beers. Flying Monkeys, Beau's, to name but two.

For the love of, well, beer, if any of you visit Halifax make sure that Stillwell is on your hitlist. It's a right downtown beer bar and has the best we have to offer, plus maybe some stuff from Quebec where they have been doing a bang up job with craft beers.

Mosca

Homebrewguy said:

Some of Dogfish Head's beers are great and others are novelties. I love their 60 minute and 90 minute IPA's.

Give a shot to Burton Baton. That is my favorite DFH beer.

The 60 is really well balanced. Some people feel that it is uninteresting, but my take is that other IPAs have fallen victim to the "BIG" craze. Nothing wrong with BIG but that doesn't make small bad.

The 90 is really good, but starting to get kind of strong if you are out somewhere and planning on driving home.

And the 120 is hand-over-the-keys insane. Sometimes I like it, sometimes it's just too much.

TFols

I know I may get flamed for this but I didn't think that Heady is worth all the hype, it was decent but nothing crazy.

DFH 60 and 90 are both solid. 

If you're going through Maine try to pick up something by Maine Beer Co. I've had a few of them recently and have been pleased. It seems that stores by me (Northern NJ) only get a six-pack at a time if they get any at all.

So many great beers out there...I wish I had more time to enjoy

Mosca

I can only have one at a time, so I'll be damned if I waste that one on crappy beer.


In the fridge now:

Lindemann's Framboise and Peche. My daughter is home for the holidays and drinks those. They're fun enough.

Mad Elf and St Bernardus. I love the St Bernardus, but I have to force down the Mad Elf. The Elf is just the wrong balance of winter spices for my taste.

Founder's Breakfast Stout. Mmmmm, chocolate and roasted malt!

Pilsner Urquell. New brown bottles and extra care in shipping returns this to the standard for the style.

Ithaca Flower Power. It tastes like a grassy meadow of wild flowers. My favorite IPA sometimes.

DFH 90. In PA you can only purchase 192 ounces as carryout. I had 144 oz with the Flower Power and Pilsner Urquell, and needed a 4 pack. Why not DFH!

logchief

Mosca said:

I can only have one at a time, so I'll be damned if I waste that one on crappy beer.


In the fridge now:

Lindemann's Framboise and Peche. My daughter is home for the holidays and drinks those. They're fun enough.

Mad Elf and St Bernardus. I love the St Bernardus, but I have to force down the Mad Elf. The Elf is just the wrong balance of winter spices for my taste.

Founder's Breakfast Stout. Mmmmm, chocolate and roasted malt!

Pilsner Urquell. New brown bottles and extra care in shipping returns this to the standard for the style.

Ithaca Flower Power. It tastes like a grassy meadow of wild flowers. My favorite IPA sometimes.

DFH 90. In PA you can only purchase 192 ounces as carryout. I had 144 oz with the Flower Power and Pilsner Urquell, and needed a 4 pack. Why not DFH!

You do have two hands and most drink one at at time, but just don't stop.  One of my favorites

McStew

Aging these now